By Zephyria 
To cross-dress my younger brother, not even my younger sister… If the fact that he’s not a woman is revealed before he dies by my hand, Calderia would be in trouble.
But why?
Is there something unique to the Calderia royal family?
I turned to Aska and asked.
“Perhaps the hair or eye color of the Calderia royals is similar to yours…”
But I had to shut my mouth mid-sentence. Aska was hanging his head low.
“…”
That’s not the only reason. Water was dripping between the slightly obscured white hair.
“…”
So, like water droplets… Drip, drip, drip…
“…”
Could he be dozing off because he’s bored with what I’m saying? Is he drooling while he’s dozing?
I couldn’t even imagine that it could be tears, so I made such strange assumptions before opening my mouth.
“Aska.”
“…”
But there was no response. The water droplets continued to fall in round drops.
Why is he suddenly crying? Is he in a situation like when he drank blood again? So suddenly? But I didn’t give him any blood? Is there an incubation period or something?
I was thinking all sorts of things when I suddenly realized.
I had been too honest with Aska, who had been tricked into coming here…
But I couldn’t take back the words I had already spoken. Even while I was worrying about how to comfort a crying child, a corner of my mind wondered if it was all an act.
Then Aska, who had been dripping water like a broken faucet, turned his head sharply and looked at me. It was tears, not drool, after all.
“…Do you want to go wash up first?”
I asked, finally choosing my words. Aska glared at me for a long time with his tear-streaked face before jumping up and running to the bathroom.
“…”
I stared at the place where Aska had disappeared and recalled what Mahir had told me when I was young.
‘If you have something to say, don’t just keep staring, say it. You have to speak for people to know.’
“…”
Do kids just become quiet around this age? I felt like I understood how frustrated Mahir must have been.
While Aska was washing, I sat up straight, trying to organize my questions in my head. First of all, what I need to know most is…
I was about to cross my arms and sink into thought when it happened. Aska, who had definitely gone to the bathroom just now, strode towards me, completely naked.
“What?”
“…”
“You were saying something about hair and eye color earlier. What about it?”
“…”
His whole body was soaking wet, and water was dripping from his hair. His expression was sullen and messy from being wet, but the sight of him was like a fairy who had just come out of playing by the lake, and I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.
“Hey.”
When I didn’t say anything, Aska frowned and called out to me. I belatedly pulled myself together.
“If the colors are similar.”
“Colors? Everyone was white-haired, but why?”
“All the Calderia royals?”
“I don’t know about all of them, but the people I met were like that.”
Then that could be a characteristic of the Calderia royal family. White hair must not be common. Is that why they bothered to find Aska and send him?
Anyway, more than that, did he come out of the shower naked just to ask this? I muttered with a sullen expression.
“You could have told me after you washed up.”
“I’m done washing.”
“What? You’ve only been in there for like 10 seconds? And why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
“Because I don’t have any.”
“Then you can ask for some.”
“Give me some.”
“…”
Aska held out his hand to me and said briefly. I kept finding myself at a loss for words. I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I got up and looked for some clothes for Aska to wear.
As I looked around, I saw a thin gown hanging on the sofa. It wasn’t ideal, but I handed it to Aska anyway.
“Still, how can you come out without any clothes on?”
“It’s already been revealed that I’m a man, so what does it matter?”
Aska took the gown and draped it over his shoulders, sounding annoyed.
“There’s no one else here anyway.”
“…”
No one else, but I’m here… Am I just being treated like an invisible man?
“But why were you crying earlier?”
“I wasn’t crying?”
He was denying it again like a child, but I let it go because children get angry when you point out that they’re acting like children.
“You said you grew up in the slums, right? So when did people from the castle come to find you?”
“A few months ago? I don’t remember exactly.”
“Did you live like this there too?”
“What do you mean, live like this?”
I stared at Aska, who wasn’t wearing the gown properly and hadn’t even closed the front, and said.
“I mean, did you not wear clothes after washing up? Exposing your face and body.”
Even if the aesthetic standards of Calderia and Actan were different, this didn’t make sense. How could he have survived in the slums with such a careless personality and such a face?
I was really curious, so I asked, and Aska tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“I didn’t wear clothes until the water dried after washing up… If I had to go out sometimes, I just wore them wet.”
“You just went out like that? Wet? So, just like you are now?”
“…I put on mud, though. But why do you keep asking me this? And why do you have that look on your face, it’s annoying.”
Aska even said it was annoying with a displeased expression, but I could finally understand a little.
Yeah, he must have been safe until now because he put on something like mud.
Now that some of my curiosity had been resolved, I returned to the main topic.
“So you put mud all over your body? Even on your hair?”
“Only on my face and body. I didn’t put it on my hair. It was also very short, and I had to wrap bandages around my face anyway…”
“Bandages? Why bandages?”
“I don’t know, my grandmother told me to. When I go outside, I always…”
That’s when it happened. A rumbling sound like thunder echoed from Aska’s flat stomach.
“…”
“…”
I had never seen anyone make such a loud noise from their stomach in my life. Aska, seeing my slightly widened eyes, moved his lips a few times and said.
“Give me some food.”
“…”
I finally nodded and got up.
“Okay… I will.”
Clothes, food, this was the first time in my life that someone had ordered me around like this, except for my brother.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I told the Servant to bring something simple to eat and closed the door, but Aska, who had been hiding behind me, was glaring at me again.
“Why?”
I had just told the Servant to bring him some food because he asked for it, but what was he unhappy about now that he was glaring at me like that? I couldn’t figure it out, so I asked again.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Not something simple, something plentiful.”
“…”
It was amazing that he had an appetite even though he had just died and come back to life. I sighed and called the Servant again, changing my order to bring a feast.
“Do you even know what your situation is right now?”
In fact, Aska was in a very dangerous situation right now. I was sure he knew it himself, but he was so carefree that it was starting to amaze me.
“My situation?”
“You might die.”
“If I die, I die.”
“What?”
“If I’m going to die anyway, it’s better to die with a full stomach.”
“…”
That was also true, so I couldn’t think of anything to say. Then Aska flopped down on the sofa and said.
“This is the royal palace, so the food must be delicious, right?”
“You’re talking like you’ve never eaten it before?”
“They kept giving me the side-eye and telling me not to eat, so I could only eat fruits and soup. And if I gained weight or got taller, I might look like a boy.”
“The people who came with you from Calderia?”
Aska nodded at my question. I was about to say something, but his lying position was so unrestrained that I could see things I didn’t want to see. It was clear that if I brought a blanket and covered him, he would make a fuss about being hot, so I just turned my head away.
“Okay… eat a lot.”
“Can I eat it all?”
I had no choice but to look at Aska again, even though it had only been a few seconds since I turned my head away. The question was so funny. I bit my lip slightly to suppress my laughter and nodded.
“Eat as much as you want. I’ll give you more if you’re not full.”
“Awesome.”
“…”
I couldn’t help but be surprised to see Aska smiling and happy. Was this the first time I’d seen him smile? No, had I ever seen him? Still, smiling like that like a child… No, he is a child now, but…
It was such a shocking sight that I was momentarily flustered, and then I suddenly felt a little sorry for him being so happy. How much did they harass him about eating for that bad-tempered kid to be so happy?
Or is this his original personality? People tend to get sensitive when they’re hungry, so maybe all the times he was annoyed and bad-tempered with me were because he was hungry.
“How did people treat you?”
“People?”
“The escort knights and Servants who came with you.”
At my words, Aska seemed to think for a moment before saying.
“Just… normally?”
“Is telling you not to eat because you’re gaining weight normal?”
But even if Aska was young, he was too skinny for a boy. Even if he gained a little more weight in that state, he wouldn’t look much like a boy, but they had only given him fruits and soup all this time.
So that’s why his personality is like this…