By Zephyria 
I took Aska, who had drunk blood, to the bathroom. He hadn’t washed in so long that when I shampooed his hair, it wouldn’t even lather. I almost nagged him, but I knew I’d only get cursed at, so I just kept my mouth shut and washed him.
“See? Don’t you feel better after eating and washing up?”
“Shut up. Unless you want to get your ass beat.”
His tone was harsh, but his expression was much better than before. Freshly washed, he was sprawled on the bed, all fluffy and warm, and didn’t seem threatening at all.
“Just sleep for now. We’ll talk after you wake up.”
“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”
Aska asked, looking at me with resentful eyes. Stupid all of a sudden? I actually did think he was a bit stupid, but a person should know how to lie sometimes.
“What are you talking about? Why would I think you’re stupid?”
“You think I don’t know it’ll take me over a year to memorize everything you gave me?”
“…….”
A year……. It’ll take ten.
It seemed better to just keep quiet, so I shut my mouth. Sparks flew from Aska’s eyes.
“I knew it all along.”
“Um…….”
“I knew it. I’m the idiot for saying I understood without checking.”
“…….”
Was he angry about this? I thought he was studying without eating or sleeping because he wanted to leave quickly, but it seemed he was really staging a protest because he was mad at me.
I felt a bit guilty, so I didn’t say anything and subtly avoided his gaze. Then Aska looked straight at me and said warningly.
“You better keep your promise not to leave either.”
“Promise?”
“You said so. You said you wouldn’t leave until I finished studying everything.”
“…….”
Uh……. Did I say that? Now that I think about it, I think I did. But I had no intention of keeping that promise from the start. Isn’t that obvious? It would take Aska at least ten years to learn everything I gave him, and I couldn’t stay in the castle until then.
I just said it casually, thinking that after a while, he would get tired of studying and give up on his own……. Now that I think about it, I couldn’t even sneak out.
First of all, Aska’s sense of smell was better than a dog’s, so he could gauge my location just by the scent. If my scent suddenly disappeared, he would definitely think I had left the castle.
“If you don’t keep your promise…….”
I was in a difficult situation, so I closed my mouth with a sullen expression, and Aska glared at me. I stared at Aska for a moment and asked.
“If I don’t keep it?”
“…….”
Aska closed his mouth. But I could roughly guess what he was going to say without hearing it. The biggest rebellion Aska could do to me was to run away.
“If I don’t keep it, you’re going to run away?”
I asked with a sigh, and Aska opened his mouth.
“I’ll never believe anything you say again.”
“…….”
Was it because it was something I didn’t expect? I was strangely flustered and incredibly surprised.
When you think about it, nothing would really change whether Aska believed me or not. Nevertheless, I didn’t like this situation.
When I frowned, Aska added.
“I’m going to lie to you too.”
“I told you not to lie.”
“You do it, so why can’t I? And I’m going to sneak out every day when you’re asleep. I’m going to eat a lot of dried fruit before I go to bed, and I’m going to show my face and body to other people, and if someone talks to me, I’m not going to cough and I’m going to talk to them.”
“…….”
Contrary to his determined face, what he was saying was playfully cute. It was a much more modest rebellion than I had expected, so I wondered if I should just let it go, but I still didn’t like it, so I asked again.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you really going to do that?”
“That’s what I’m saying. You do it, so why can’t I?”
Well, of course, we’re in different situations……. I asked again with a serious expression.
“You’re going to show your face and body to other people if you meet them?”
“Yeah. I’m not going to wear a veil either. I’m going to walk around naked.”
“…….”
What kind of threat is this? He was threatening in a strange way. The problem was that he seemed serious from his expression.
“I’ve always told you when I sneak out because I’m bored.”
“I told you not to go out.”
“That’s why I told you. At least I’ve never gone out without telling you.”
“You have.”
“I told you everything later!”
Isn’t that the same thing? No, why is he getting angry at me when he’s the one who’s saying things weirdly? I stared at Aska with a sullen expression, as if telling him to continue.
“I was always careful when I went out. Because you told me not to run into other people. Anyway, I tried really hard to keep what you said.”
“…….”
It’s normal to listen to what I say, but Aska was saying it proudly, as if he had done something great. And in the first place, it was an effort that didn’t need to be made if he hadn’t gone out.
“But you don’t keep what you say. So I’m not going to listen to what you say anymore. I’ll never believe anything you say.”
“…….”
It wasn’t much of a threat. But the surprising fact was that Aska’s clumsy threat was working on me to some extent.
If that stubborn Aska declared that he wouldn’t listen to me, how difficult would my life be in the future? Really like a crazy monkey, walking around the garden naked, running at people when they see them, picking up anything and eating it with their hands…….
Just imagining it was terrible, so I frowned and opened my mouth.
“Then I’ll put shackles on your ankles and get a cage or something and lock you up.”
“Go ahead and try.”
“…….”
“You think I can’t break that?”
How could he break steel with those thin arms? I knew it was obviously a bluff, but I had a feeling that Aska would keep headbutting the cage even if his head was broken.
Aska, who was banging his head against the cage until he bled, punching and kicking, in order to escape……. It was so plausible that I couldn’t even laugh.
“Do you want to go out that badly?”
I finally sighed and asked. Aska glared at me and turned his back with a whoosh. He gathered a lot of blankets, hugged them, buried his face in them, and mumbled.
“You always go out and play by yourself…….”
“…….”
A moment ago, he was glaring and threatening people, but now he was sobbing and crying. He kept mumbling something in a very hoarse voice, but it was too quiet to hear.
His small back and slender shoulders that had turned away were trembling. I watched for a moment, then reached out and extended my hand.
“Stop crying and come here, ugh!”
As soon as my hand touched his shoulder, Aska swung his arm. His clenched fist struck my face. I got hit in the mouth, and my teeth and gums ached.
Tears welled up, and I frowned and opened my eyes, and Aska’s face was right in front of me.
“……?”
Before I could think about anything, Aska stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of my mouth. As soon as his moderately warm and soft little tongue brushed against my lips, Aska let out a flustered “hot” sound.
Aska, who had quickly moved away from me as if he had seen a ghost, looked at me with a shocked expression. His face was full of embarrassment.
“…….”
“…….”
A beat later, I came to my senses and raised my hand to wipe the corner of my mouth that Aska had licked. The tip of my finger was slightly stained with blood, and it seemed that I had been scratched while being hit a moment ago.
I stared at my finger stained with blood for a moment, then turned my gaze to Aska.
“You’re still hungry, aren’t you?”
“…….”
“Why did you stubbornly starve yourself?”
When I clicked my tongue and said that, Aska, who had been gaping in embarrassment until just now, shouted.
“You were the one who came out cheap first!”
“So I was the one who acted cheap, so why are you starving yourself? Are you stupid?”
“You said you never thought I was stupid!”
“Of course it’s a lie, do you believe that? You’re stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid, you liar!”
Aska screamed, hitting me with a pillow. I blocked the pillow that was trying to beat me to death with one arm, and wiped my mouth again with the other hand.
I didn’t know how much I was hurt, but my lips were still burning.