Chapter 48
“What, what? Yesterday too? What are you talking about?”
“Hahaha! I kept pretending not to notice before, but don’t you think you’re overdoing the innocent act? You know—those kinds of things that happen between a man and a woman!”
“……A m-man and a w-woman, th-those kinds of things?”
I was completely speechless.
‘My last memory from yesterday… right. I put Kin to sleep, and then I fell asleep beside him…’
Don’t tell me that bastard didn’t wake me and just carried me here as I was?
“The Lord carried me while I was asleep… did what, exactly?”
“He carried you back! On his back!”
“Who saw that…?”
“The whole castle did!”
At Ricky’s bright, straightforward answer, I grabbed my head and lowered it deeply.
‘This has to be a dream. No, it must be a dream…’
From what I gathered, the rumor that Kin personally carried me—Ash—back to my room had already spread throughout the entire castle before sunrise.
Everyone was dying to know what on earth had happened, so Ricky, Bernard, and Chuck—who were closest to me—had come as representatives.
“I knew something felt strange. I kept saying it, didn’t I? I was right. I knew it!”
Chuck snorted dramatically.
“Our lord has finally been struck by something pink and romantic! …It’s a bit unfortunate that the target turned out to be a swindler fortune-teller like you, but I still support him!”
He winked and gave a greasy smile, and I nearly recoiled in horror.
“That’s not it! Are you going to keep spreading weird rumors like this?”
Ricky cut in.
“Then you’re not that kind of relationship?”
“No! The Lord and I aren’t anything!”
“Then why did he carry you back?”
Bernard chimed in.
“And why is the Lord only kind to you, miss?”
“……Ugh!”
I was at a total loss for words.
At that moment, there was a knock.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened at once—more of a notice than a request. Typical bad manners for this place.
The moment Ricky saw who stepped in, his face lit up like a puppy spotting its owner.
“Captain! Good morning!”
“You’re awfully noisy this early in the morning.”
‘That’s all your fault!’
I ground my teeth inwardly and shot Kin a subtle glare.
“My lord, you’ve come in person this early. What brings you here?”
“I have something to announce.”
Nothing Kin had ever told me had been good news, so I tensed immediately.
As I pricked up my ears, one corner of his mouth lifted slightly in a cryptic smile.
‘I don’t like this.’
“Ash, I’ve come personally to inform you that I’ve appointed you as my temporary adjutant.”
We had that long conversation yesterday, remember?
‘This is the conclusion you reached?’
I was sure we’d agreed to keep a reasonable distance. And Kin had seemed to accept that to some degree…
‘But not even a full day later, you carry a sleeping person to their room and then appoint them as your temporary adjutant?’
What kind of nonsense is that?
‘This is distance? Distance? Diiiiistance? Keeping distaaaaance?’
I wanted to rush at him and demand an explanation, but there were too many eyes watching.
Bernard whispered to Chuck.
“Wow. Looks like the Captain was right after all.”
He’d whispered loudly enough that Kin definitely heard.
“What were you discussing?”
Seizing the opportunity, Bernard began to chatter.
“Well, we were saying that the relationship between you two doesn’t look ordinary. Otherwise, how could something like yesterday or today happen?”
“Something like yesterday and today?”
“You carrying her back… and just now appointing her as temporary adjutant. Both seem rather special to us.”
Bernard’s eyes sparkled, clearly waiting for more drama.
There was probably no one else in the world bold enough to poke at Kin purely for entertainment.
Kin looked at Bernard coldly, then glanced over Ricky, Chuck, and finally me. We all held our breath, waiting for his answer. He frowned irritably.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘special relationship,’ but it’s certainly not what you’re thinking.”
“Huh? Then why?”
“We’re not close. If anything, we’re ‘far’ from each other.”
He stressed the word far strangely, as if he were still sulking about yesterday.
Ricky tilted his head.
“But Captain, people who aren’t close don’t usually—”
“If I must explain, we’re in the process of trying to become closer.”
“No, no, no, no!”
At Kin’s absurd statement, I couldn’t help but shriek.
“We’re not that kind of relationship! Why do you keep explaining it in a way that makes it worse?!”
“Then how should I explain it?”
“Th-that’s…!”
That was about when Ricky, Bernard, and Chuck slowly began backing toward the door.
“We’ll be going now…”
“Captain, have a good talk.”
“That was quite a sight to see.”
“Lovers’ quarrels are like cutting wat—ghk!”
“Shut up!”
“Goodbye!”
The three of them vanished in a flash. The cramped room instantly felt spacious.
Empty.
I stared blankly at the door they’d disappeared through.
“I’m doomed.”
I’d clearly seen the sparkle in their eyes. All three of them were thrilled by what they’d just witnessed. Naturally, the first thing they’d do after leaving was—
“They’re going to spread weird rumors! This is all because of you, my lord!”
I snapped, forgetting even to be afraid of Kin.
But he didn’t even blink.
“Rumors? If anyone talks nonsense, I’ll cut out their tongue.”
He seemed fully prepared to solve the issue in a highly violent way.
I paused to consider.
‘Is it better to leave it alone and let the rumors die out? Or have Kin forcibly silence everyone?’
Oppressed crowds tend to rebel.
“…It’ll just remain a rumor. There’s no need to go that far.”
Groaning, I pressed my hand to my forehead and paced the room.
There were so many things I needed to ask him.
First:
“My lord. Why didn’t you wake me yesterday?”
“I tried. You wouldn’t wake up.”
“Still…”
“I shook you several times. You slept like the dead.”
There wasn’t a trace of guilt in his eyes. Which meant he was probably telling the truth.
‘But I’m usually a very light sleeper. That’s strange.’
Then again, I hadn’t woken even when someone carried me on their back, so I must have been completely exhausted.
Next question. This one was a little harder to ask.
“But why did you personally… carry me back?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Excuse me?”
“Is there a problem?”
His shameless answer left me speechless.
‘Well… this man does have an absurd sense of personal closeness with me…’
And since he still projected the image of a three- or four-year-old Ash onto me, he probably hadn’t even considered the repercussions of that action.
‘When the other party is this shameless, what am I even supposed to argue?’
And finally:
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him as politely as possible.
“What on earth is this adjutant business about?”
“Oh!”
“…Oh!”
“Oho!”
Every step I took down the corridor drew piercing stares. Everyone looked at me with wide, startled rabbit eyes.
‘Well, for rabbits, they’re all rather fierce-looking.’
Because of Kin, strange rumors had spread not only throughout the castle but even to the surrounding area.
At first it had simply been, ‘The Lord seems to have taken a liking to the astrologer and is trying to get closer to her.’ But as it passed from mouth to mouth, it became more and more exaggerated…
‘To the point where people are saying the master of the Ashen Fortress has fallen hopelessly under the spell of the mysterious Esmeralda!’
