By Zephyria 
I squatted next to Aska. Looking closely, it seemed he was trying to draw a house. His drawing skills were at the level of a five-year-old, so I would normally tease him, but I wasn’t in the mood right now.
“There’s a small waterfall a little ways from here, and I found a space behind it. Judging by the traces of people living there, it seems like they stayed there.”
“Is that so?”
“There were also broken stone pillars, and they had almost the exact same energy as the bracelet, so I’m probably right.”
“Hmm.”
I took the twig from Aska’s hand and drew lines on the snow. I didn’t particularly want to draw anything, so I just moved my hand and listened to Aska.
“It doesn’t seem like the Ruins we went into… It seems like they just used it as a place to seal Relics. There wasn’t anything else strange.”
Then there might be quite a few places like that in these mountains. There must be more besides the guys who died here. And we still haven’t seen the group we saw at the lake.
“It’s so vast and hidden that it’s not easy to find. I would have had a hard time finding it without the bracelet.”
I nodded at Aska’s words. Then it might be better to look for traces of people first rather than finding the Relics themselves. But since this isn’t our territory, it’s hard to move rashly.
So meeting the King was the priority. And taking revenge for Aska while we’re at it. Ah, I should write a letter to Mahir before going to the capital.
I was thinking about that when Aska suddenly dropped his head on my shoulder. It was such a strong force that my body swayed to the side, and I had no choice but to put my hand on the ground to keep my balance.
The chilling cold of the snow seeped through my skin and into my bones. But it didn’t end there, Aska kept pushing me to the side with his head and body.
I thought I was going to fall over, so I braced myself as much as possible and asked in a flustered voice.
“What are you doing?”
“……”
“Hello.”
“……”
Aska just kept pushing me without saying a word. I couldn’t figure out if he was sulking or if he wanted something. I couldn’t tell because I couldn’t see his face, so I reached out and took off his hood.
Strands of long, white hair fluttered in the wind before slowly falling onto his shoulders. Perhaps because his skin was so pale, the red marks left on his cheeks from last night stood out even more like bruises.
“Why isn’t this going away?”
I panicked and rubbed the stain-like mark in the middle of his cheek, but of course, it didn’t disappear. Rather, the friction made the area around it even redder.
Beyond the robe, his neck and behind his ears were also mottled with messy bite marks. Did I bite him that much? I was so out of it that I didn’t really remember what happened last night.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Aska, who had been pushing me with his head, slightly lifted his head and asked me. Looking at his eyes, he seemed to be sulking again. I fluttered the hem of the robe that Aska had put on me and said.
“I’m not cold at all wearing this? No wind gets in, and it’s not too hot either.”
“It’s because it has magic on it. If you think about it, it’s also a Relic. I found it here.”
“Ah, when you first came here?”
Aska nodded.
“It automatically adjusts the temperature and doesn’t burn or tear, so it’s convenient. I’ll give it to you.”
I widened my eyes at his generous words. Just a moment ago, the muscles in my face weren’t moving well, but I burst out laughing without realizing it.
Actually, if you think about it, it wasn’t a big deal.
“Thank you.”
Aska’s eyes narrowed as he watched me bow my head and speak politely.
“I’ll pass it down as a family heirloom.”
“You can’t have children.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
I was startled and widened my eyes.
“Do you want one?”
“A child? No? Then I’ll have to take this with me when I die.”
Aska hugged the robe and muttered, then suddenly asked a random question.
“Are you acquainted with that man who was in the tent earlier?”
I tilted my head at the question.
“Acquainted? Of course not. I’ve never seen him before. I don’t even know his name.”
“But why are you getting hurt by what someone who doesn’t even know you well said?”
I swore I wasn’t hurt, but I had no choice but to shut my mouth. Ah, he must have heard all the conversations inside. Aska gently tickled my forehead with his fingertips as I retraced my steps to see if I had said anything strange.
“It was something that happened before you were born.”
“That’s not why. I wasn’t hurt in the first place.”
Do I look like such a sensitive person? I chuckled, and Aska this time grabbed my eyelashes with his index finger and thumb and tugged them forward. I could feel my eyelids sticking to my eyeballs and then coming off. He was playing with my face like a toy.
“Then why did you make that mean face when you saw me again?”
“What’s that?”
“That awkward face like you saw someone you didn’t want to see and wanted to run away.”
It was a pretty specific description. I didn’t know what kind of face that was, but I couldn’t make excuses because I felt guilty.
I definitely had the thought that I didn’t want to see him right now. Does he really have mind-reading abilities? How does he know? I was amazed every time this happened.
“I’ll have to take you with me wherever I go from now on.”
Was getting my eyelashes pulled out a punishment? Fortunately, Aska let go of my hand quickly.
“I can’t have you getting hurt all the time when I’m not around.”
It was a reassuring thing to say, but I had to clear up the misunderstanding.
“I’m not hurt. It’s not like I’m really hurt.”
“Then why are you like that? Didn’t he say something to you that made you feel bad?”
I shook my head. It was the work of my ancestors, so there was a responsibility I inherited, but I knew it wasn’t my fault. Besides, if I did something wrong, I could offer a solution and apologize, so there was no reason to be hurt by it.
While I was thinking that, the scene of the fallen face rolling around and hitting the corner suddenly came to mind. The eyes that stared at me without blinking were not normal.
My criticism must have touched the guilt that the man had been trying to cover up, so he eventually lost his mind. That’s why he was desperately looking for excuses, rambling on with illogical words and reaching back to the past of 100 years ago.
If he admitted my words, he would really become a murderer who killed innocent people. Until now, he must have been living with the thought that it was something he couldn’t help because it was ordered from above. Perhaps the fact that I brought up his family was the biggest shock.
“Then why do you keep feeling bad?”
Aska asked as I stared at the footprints on the white floor. Seeing his worried face made my heart sink.
“Should I kill someone next time when you have to?”
“……”
Perhaps because I kept saying no, Aska guessed another reason. Seeing him trying so hard to make me feel better only made me feel worse.
“I can’t ask you to do something like that.”
I took Aska’s hand, which had been playing with my eyelashes a moment ago.
“Why did you feel bad?”
Aska asked again. I couldn’t help but think that he was strangely persistent today. Perhaps I made a troubled face without realizing it, because Aska frowned.
“You don’t say anything unless I ask, and you just keep sulking by yourself. So from now on, I’m going to keep pestering you until it’s annoying, I can’t help it.”
“You seem to be making a lot of resolutions today…”
But when did I ever sulk? I couldn’t admit it, but I didn’t say anything because it seemed like it would lead to a long lecture.
Actually, I could have glossed over it this time too, but I felt too bad to do that. I wanted to tell Aska something, anything, who was worried and trying so hard on his own.
But I couldn’t because I didn’t know exactly why I was like this. Even now, I didn’t know why my heart was beating like this. Why did I feel bad when I saw the man rambling nonsense?
It was different from simply being angry at hearing nonsense.
I sighed as I rummaged through my messy head that wasn’t organized.
“I keep thinking about Khalifa these days.”
“Why? Do you miss him?”
Aska didn’t seem particularly surprised by my sudden words. I stared at his dark red eyes and reached out to stroke his eyes.
“No, it’s not that I miss him.”
How could he say such a thing? I was a little taken aback. I chuckled for no reason and continued.
“The man from earlier and Khalifa looked similar.”
“Was he just annoying?”
“That too, and the fact that he wasn’t in his right mind… It made me think that I might become like that someday.”
Aska’s expression became serious at my words. I had never explained my feelings to anyone before, so I wasn’t used to this. That’s why I still wanted to run away, but I held back and tried my best to explain.
“It’s not that I’ll go crazy from feeling guilty about killing people, but I just feel like if I live like this, something will break down for some reason someday. It seems like some things already have.”
“……”
“Especially after my memories came back, I realized it even more.”
I didn’t know which parts were broken or how, but I kept thinking that I wasn’t normal. Not being normal ultimately meant not being ordinary, and I was worried about whether I could have an ordinary and happy love with Aska.
What if I eventually went crazy like Khalifa because of something I didn’t even know? The worst thing would be not even realizing that I was crazy.
The man who died here earlier probably didn’t know that he would lose his mind like that in that place. People’s hearts are so fragile and weak that they eventually shatter with even the smallest ripple.
What if Abyss or Zero had died here today? What would happen if something bad happened to Aska someday? What if I suddenly lost my mind for no reason?
I pulled Aska’s eyes to the sides with my thumb. His eyes were pulled up, making a strange face, but I couldn’t even laugh.
The lovely Aska, without any countermeasures, was still too pretty in the midst of all this, making me even more uneasy.