After finishing the medicine bottle’s contents, Rona and the other maids set out to wash my body carefully.
When the bath was finished, they gave me a massage on my whole body and on my face.
Their pressing hands were skilled, and some parts hurt while others tickled.
They dried off my long hair and brushed it until it became glossy and silky, cascading down my back gently.
Whenever I moved, the scent of roses would gently tickle the tip of my nose.
Then soon they were done dressing me up with a thin, sky blue nightgown with another thick robe over it.
“I purposely tied the ribbon loosely,” Rona said excitedly as she adjusted my nightgown.
But I muttered under my breath, “It’s not going to come off anyway.”
“Look, Milady! With just one touch!”
And the moment Rona touched the ribbon tied over my chest, it came loose at once as though it was magic.
Oh… This is a bit racy, isn’t it.
I was shocked by the white skin that became exposed.
Rona said that the ribbon was made with silk so it would come undone with the slightest touch.
And no matter how many times I tied it up and touched the ribbon again, it really did come loose right away with an accompanying sound of tak and shhhp.
“W-What is this…” I murmured as I closed the robe over my chest in a hurry.
“Are you rehearsing, Milady?” Rona wrapped both her hands over her red cheeks as she squealed, “Oh my!”
I wanted to tell Rona the truth, that Amoide wouldn’t loosen this at all, but I just sighed.
“Now, let me get your slippers.”
Rona brought out the soft, silk slippers in front of me and I put them on.
* * *
Knock, knock.
After briefly knocking on the door, Rona opened the door for me and stepped back.
As I entered the bedroom, I could see that the interior had already been lit dimly by scented candles.
“Please have a good evening.”
Then, after the hushed goodbye, the door closed.
Thud.
The sound of the door as it was closed was particularly loud.
I slowly raised my head and looked forward. Beyond the thick drapes of the canopy bed was the silhouette of a person.
Thinking of the man sitting there, I felt pressured again.
How many times has it been now?
I remembered the moments when I walked into this room to spend the night with him—or rather, to pretend.
This happened enough times that I should have gotten used to it, I still couldn’t.
No matter how many times this happens in the future, I won’t be able to stay calm in this situation. Never ever.
I crossed the room and approached the huge bed that was in the middle.
The space between the door and the bed seemed to stretch so far.
As usual, Amoide just stared at me as he sat on the bed…
Well, um, no, this isn’t exactly the usual.
As he was sitting there, I made eye contact with him.
Amoide simply looked at me, however this time, it wasn’t the thorny gaze that he would direct at me.
I thought about how far it took to get here, then breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s late. You can go to sleep now. I’ll just go to the next room and…”
…And sleep over there, was what I mumbled under my breath as I bowed my head and turned around.
But I heard something completely unexpected.
“Come here.”
“Huh?”
“Come here.”
“……”
My eyes trembled for a moment as I thought what kind of situation this was.
No way. I must’ve heard it wrong.
When I slowly lifted my gaze, deep blue irises met with my eyes.
These eyes told me that what I heard earlier was real.
I carefully took a step forward, hesitating as I approached him little by little.
‘Please don’t look at me like that.’
Doesn’t his eyes hurt? His gaze was fixed on me entirely, not even blinking.
Then, one step at a time, I walked closer. The distance felt longer than when I had walked from the door to the bed.
“I’m here…”
When I arrived within his arm’s reach, I stopped.
“Sit down.”
He looked up at me and patted the seat next to him.
Ah, why was he being like this.
It’s said that when a person does something that he or she doesn’t usually do, they’re about to die soon.
I didn’t want to think about that from a man who I wanted to live as long as possible though.
God. Please.
‘Please tell me to get lost.’
Why was he suddenly doing something that he wouldn’t do?
“Can’t I just stand here and talk?”
I said this without any hesitation. In response, he raised his eyebrows as though he was looking at something interesting. There was even a small smile tugging on his lips.
His expression made me feel suffocated. It reminded me exactly of the fake first night.
It looked as though he would eat me up at any moment, a wicked expression like that.
‘Ah, why are you being like this!’
How foreboding. How ominous.
Whenever he smiled like that, I would recall what had happened and my body would just immediately react on its own.
My heart was pounding as my breathing sped up. There were obvious signs that there’s something threatening my survival.
“Why are you so scared?”
“Me? No, not at all.”
“Really? Then never mind.”
He smiled again as he looked up at me.
“I heard something funny.”
And his voice was languid.
Perhaps it’s because it was deep into the night, but his calm voice right now was different from how he usually sounded.
“But… then?”
“I want to hear it from you, too.”
“What story?”
He was smiling sweetly, but this just made my heart skip a beat ominously.
What, why, what’s he going on about. Why did it feel like there were warning bells ringing loudly in my head?
“Are you curious?”
He smiled again, his eyes half-lidded.
“I’ve been wondering why everyone’s been so worried about my physical condition these days. I guess I’ve caused you a lot of concern.”
There was a meaningful look behind his eyes.
Tak, stab.
Again, it felt like I was being stabbed by a needle somewhere in my heart.
“It’s… It’s because everyone is worried about you with only your well-being in mind…”
As I answered, I slowly took small steps back. Somehow, I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“It seems like I’m not doing what I have to do, that’s why everyone’s worried.”
I smiled awkwardly and sneaked back one, two more steps. As he looked at me like that, he tilted his head to the side as though he was curious.
“Don’t you want to sit down and talk?”
“Well, um, rather than that…”
I barely saw him rise from the bed.
Hwick.
My arm was instantly caught in his grasp, and I was pulled into him in an instant.
Flop.
And suddenly, I could feel the soft texture of the bed on my back.
When I opened my eyes slowly, a large black shadow was cast over my body.
“Then what about this?”
Two bright blue eyes were glimmering in the dark.
And apart from that, I could feel the cold over my chest.
As soon as I looked down, a surprising sight was revealed to my eyes.
‘No way.’
The ribbon on my chest was loosened at once just because of the sudden movement.
Why was it coming undone now?! Why! Can’t this damn ribbon cooperate or something?!!
[ I purposely tied the ribbon loosely. ]
I saw Rona’s smiling face at the back of my mind.
‘Rona, Rona! What did you do!’
I called Rona desperately, but it was just a silent scream.
Unlike my shocked face, his expression was extremely calm.
However, somehow, I couldn’t get out of my mind the image of an active volcano biding its time right before exploding with scorching lava.
Even so, what was bothering me the most was the breeze I could feel over my chest.
“Oh…!”
I lowered my gaze and swallowed a scream as I saw that the front of my chest was barely covered.
I tried to twist away somehow so I could cover myself just before the robe would fall off completely, but it was futile.
The hem of my robe, which was barely hanging onto me now, slowly slid down as I twisted my body awkwardly.
“What have you done so wrong that you can’t even look me in the eye?”
His languid voice fell from above. It felt like I had lost my senses completely, but just then, they came back because of his voice.
“…W-What do you mean.”
Slowly, I lifted my gaze that had been focused on my almost completely exposed chest.
I forgot for a moment.
He’s above me right now.
“…Amoide.”
Like a hunter, his blue gaze looked down at me as though he was about to kill me.
“Stop joking around…”
In the meantime, I tried to lift myself up, but nothing was going right for me today.
Flop.
I was pushed back on the bed immediately by his hand.
“A joke?”
His voice became even more deadly. No matter who heard this, no one would think he was joking.
‘Then just why are you being like this?!’
I repeated this in my head, but then he spoke again.
“Sure. It’s a joke.”
No, uh, I don’t think you’re joking.
“So I’ve been playing a joke on you all this time. Then it should be fine if you accept these jokes a bit more.”
Without me even realizing it, he suddenly had both my wrists in one hand, keeping them immobilized over my head.
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