By Zephyria 
Looking at Aska, who was whining and crying, I started to regain my senses little by little. I patted Aska’s back and said,
“You don’t have to make it fun.”
From the moment I was told not to do it in the first place, the thought of having to marry completely disappeared from my mind. Of course, there will be various difficulties, but somehow it will work out.
“Then?”
As I sighed and continued to soothe him, Aska asked.
“What?”
“Then what can I do so you won’t do it?”
He seemed to have misunderstood what I meant. I stared at Aska for a moment, then suddenly became curious and asked,
“Do you hate it that much?”
“Ung…”
My neck stiffened at the clumsy and short answer. Feeling a bit tired for some reason, I took Aska’s hand and started walking. And as I slowly walked towards Talim, I asked,
“Then why didn’t you say you didn’t like it at first? You could have said you didn’t like it back then.”
When I first said I would marry, he was a bit annoyed, but he didn’t strongly oppose it. So I didn’t know he hated it this much.
“Even if I said I didn’t like it, there’s nothing I can do.”
I agreed with what he said while sobbing. But there was a difference between something that couldn’t be helped and something he didn’t like.
“Still, if you had said you didn’t like it, I would have looked for another way.”
“You son of a bitch…”
Without warning, Aska gritted his teeth and cursed. The face that had been so shy just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen, and he was glaring at me with a ghostly expression.
“Why are you suddenly cursing?”
“Even if I don’t say I don’t like it, you shouldn’t do it! Do I have to say it for you to understand? You stupid bastard! You idiot! You can’t even climb a tree by yourself!”
Was he starting to sober up? I felt a little disappointed at his appearance, which was similar to his usual self, but this side was much more familiar.
“And originally, the royals get married several times. So I naturally thought there was nothing I could do. Even if I insisted, it would just be…”
Aska, looking resentful, sputtered out excuses and then started pouring out tears again. It seems he’s not sober yet…
“Anyway, I don’t like it.”
“Are you afraid I won’t play with you?”
“If you get married again, I’ll get married again too.”
The things he thinks about… I laughed in disbelief, and Aska got angry.
“You’ll never know if I hide it on purpose, will you?”
“…”
That was true, so I had nothing to say. If he just asked properly like before, I would listen to most things, but why does he have to talk such nonsense to feel better?
“What are you going to do if I do it secretly?”
At his coy question, I hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Kill you?”
“I won’t die that easily.”
“Are you stupid?”
“You’re more stupid. You idiot. You can’t even climb a tree. And you can’t run fast, you’re weak, and you can’t eat a lot of bread…”
Aska chanted a long, strange spell that I couldn’t understand or even wanted to understand, whether it was a curse or not.
“You really shouldn’t drink alcohol ever again.”
As I sighed, Aska kicked my leg.
“You gave it to me!”
“That’s right, I did. It’s my fault.”
“It’s your fault, so don’t do it.”
“If you’re going to ask, do it properly.”
At my words, Aska stopped in his tracks. Then he let go of my hand, straightened his back, looked straight at me, and opened his mouth.
“Don’t get married.”
At his polite request, I reached out my hand to Aska again and said,
“Okay.”
“That easily?”
Aska’s eyes widened with a surprised and bewildered expression. I took Aska’s hand and walked a little faster. I realized that this wasn’t the time to be playing around here.
“Heh…”
But I had to stop again before long. When I turned my head, Aska was looking at me with eyes that were still wet, smiling like an idiot.
“Hehehe.”
“…”
“Heeheehee.”
“…”
Crying and laughing… It was a mess. I couldn’t figure out how to react, and then Aska let go of my hand again and took a step back.
Then he politely put his hands together below his stomach and slightly bowed.
“I have another favor to ask.”
Looking at his eyes, which were shining brightly with anticipation, I worried that I might have made a mistake.
“What is it?”
“Give me a piggyback ride.”
“…”
And so, I had no choice but to carry Aska on my back all the way to Talim. As if he was excited, Aska kept shaking his legs and laughing while being carried on my back.
“Can I ask for one more favor?”
“Stop it now…”
I said, exhausted, but Aska didn’t seem to want to stop.
“I heard from Parha that you have a really good sword. Is it true? They said it’s a national treasure.”
“Why are you just gossiping instead of training?”
“Is it true? Do you really have something like that?”
The arms around my neck started to tighten. It seemed like he was going to strangle me until I answered. I thought he wouldn’t answer honestly unless he was drunk, so I took the risk of suffocating and asked,
“Do you have fun talking nonsense with him?”
“It’s not that it’s fun… I just talk for a bit. It’s not like I’m just training without saying anything. And I have to be nice to him.”
“What?”
What’s with the sudden kindness? As I stopped walking, Aska rubbed his body against my back.
“Parha is Mahir’s subordinate.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“He might think badly of me and say strange things to Mahir.”
“So what does that have to do with it?”
In the first place, that wouldn’t happen, but a fundamental question arose. Whether he says strange things or not, and whether Mahir thinks strangely of Aska or not, why does he care?
“You don’t want my brother to think badly of you?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
No, why? Why does he care about that?
I didn’t understand and my mood started to deteriorate rapidly. Come to think of it, Aska usually listened to Mahir well. They didn’t meet often, but when they did, he would ask how he was doing, greet him well, and listen to his nagging in a docile manner. He even answered well when asked something.
Just as all of that was starting to seem strange, Aska muttered,
“He’s the person you like.”
“Me?”
“Do you hate him?”
“No.”
Was it because it was an unexpected answer? I was dumbfounded.
“Isn’t that something you cherish a lot?”
“What? My brother?”
“No, not Mahir, it was three letters… Parha said you used to carry it around every day? But it hasn’t been seen since. Why is that? Did you lose it?”
Aska’s speech became noticeably slurred, as if he was getting sleepy again. He was asking questions, but it was almost like he was talking to himself. I felt like he would fall asleep like this if I didn’t answer, but I blurted out as if possessed.
“If you’re talking about Almas, I can summon it, so I don’t always have to carry it around. So I don’t even know where it is. It’s probably stuck in a corner of the warehouse? Or Asella probably took good care of it somewhere.”
“Then summon it now.”
“It comes out too loudly, so I can’t. And I don’t like it because it’s cold… I’ll ask where it is later and show it to you. But why suddenly that? Is asking to see it a favor?”
“No, I want you to give it to me.”
It was impossible to officially transfer it, but it didn’t matter if he just used it secretly. Aska can use magic, so… But what attribute can he handle? I should release the Sealing Magic later and check this too.
“Can you give it to me?”
“If you can use it, I’ll give it to you.”
“What if I can’t use it? Isn’t it just swinging it around if it’s just a sword? But isn’t it something you cherish a lot? Why are you giving it so easily?”
While we were talking, we arrived at Talim. Asella was waiting for us, as the coachman who left earlier had told her in advance. When I gestured, Asella brought a blanket and covered Aska.
“Why are you giving it so easily?”
I was worried that he would complain about not wanting to be covered, but fortunately, Aska’s attention was all elsewhere.
“Why are you asking that when you’re the one who asked for it?”
“Actually, you don’t cherish it that much, do you?”
That’s true. But it wasn’t something that could be given to just anyone. But I was more curious about the intention of the question.
“Why do you want to have it?”
“It’s something you used to use. And you cherish it a lot.”
As soon as we arrived at the room, I tried to put Aska down on the bed. But Aska didn’t loosen the grip of his arms around my neck.
“We’re here, so lie down.”
“Are you going again?”
“I’ll just show my face and come back soon.”
“You always say you’ll be back soon, but you never come back soon.”
In the end, I had no choice but to sit on the bed with Aska on my back. Aska even wrapped his legs around my waist. I wanted to just lie down like this, but Aska would get crushed if I did.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Stop asking for favors now. I won’t grant them.”
“Can’t you not go? It’s the last favor, I promise.”
“…”
I couldn’t see his face, but his voice was as earnest as could be.
“Let’s just sleep…”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end at the voice whispering in my ear. I frowned and looked straight ahead, then tilted my head slightly.
“Aska.”
“Yeah?”
I don’t know why it suddenly came to mind, but I felt like I had to ask what I had always been curious about now, or it wouldn’t happen.
“When you were being healed, were there times when it wasn’t really healing?”
It was a strange sentence, but there was no other word to replace it.