By Zephyria 
For a moment, I had to retrace whether I had properly understood her words.
“What did you say?”
“You and Ardian like each other… right?”
Clona, who was receiving a fiercely burning gaze and had shrunk back as if intimidated, looked at me cautiously. The tone that had been full of confidence quickly changed to an uncertain tone.
I furrowed my brow without realizing it.
I had never said such a thing myself, so I didn’t know why things had turned out that way. Clona seemed flustered by my reaction, fidgeting with her fingers.
“Um… maybe… not?”
“No.”
“Oh, but last time…”
“Last time?”
I mean, when was last time?
Lost in thought, I glared at her again, and Clona shrank even smaller than before, hesitantly sticking out her pinky finger. She wiggled it shyly. Suddenly, I remembered Melicsa shaking her pinky finger and talking about homosexuality.
‘Ah.’
I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless. In the midst of all this, Ardian’s brazen face, lying and saying “That’s right,” popped into my head, and I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
‘To dare deceive me like this.’
If I had known I would be misunderstood like this, I should have asked what the pinky finger meant back then…
I was pressing my temples, feeling a headache coming on, and sighing when Clona, who seemed lost in thought, suddenly exclaimed with a nuance of understanding.
“Ah. So it’s still an undecided situation!”
Of course, I didn’t understand what she had understood.
An undecided situation… what was she talking about?
This is frustrating.
Is this girl even talking to me?
I didn’t know how to react, so I just stared blankly at her, and Clona’s eyes sparkled with a somewhat excited expression.
“Hey, who do you like the most?”
“…What?”
“Ah! You said it’s not decided yet, so is this hard to answer too? Then… then, what’s it like to have someone who loves you?”
She’s asking me and twisting her body shyly. I couldn’t follow the flow of the conversation with her, so I ended up silent. Clona, belatedly disheartened, pursed her lips and looked around. I decided to go over it step by step from the beginning.
“So, someone has feelings for me?”
“Huh?”
“Who has such feelings for me?”
At that, Clona, rather flustered, widened her eyes and hesitantly began to count on her fingers.
“Ardian, Herman, Zeon.”
“Ha. I’m so speechless.”
To think I was being serenaded by one guy like that and two servants. Especially the fact that Zeon was included in those three was enough to make me faint. It was like insulting his loyalty, who had served me as his ‘only master’ his whole life.
If you looked closely, you could tell that it wasn’t that kind of feeling.
This person seemed to have no tact at all.
But I could be generous.
It would be difficult for Clona to properly understand the relationship between Zeon and me, which was more than what met the eye. Herman was the same, and Ardian was… just a simple misunderstanding.
So I told her clearly.
“Listen carefully. Nothing you said is right. They may feel some kind of familiarity with me, but that doesn’t mean they sexually like me.”
Then Clona opened and closed her mouth as if she was speechless for a moment. I wondered why and looked at her, and she said in a calmer voice than before.
“Don’t you… often hear that you have no tact?”
That’s what I wanted to say to her.
“Why is the story going there?”
I frowned, feeling somehow uncomfortable.
Clona, whose excitement had subsided much more than before, smiled and sat gently in the seat opposite me.
“You seemed perfect, but you weren’t quite like that.”
The look on her face as she looked at me seemed more comfortable than before.
“Hmph. How rude. There is no one as perfect as me.”
Clona, who let out a chuckle at my complaint, soon looked across the terrace. Then she glanced at me and asked.
“Do I look weird? Liking stories about other people dating… liking fantasy novels, things like that.”
I quietly looked at Clona. She kept fidgeting with her fingers and wetting her lips, looking anxious. I don’t know why. However, I could definitely answer her question.
“Well. It’s not really something to call weird.”
It’s not like I should interfere with what she likes. It’s just simple indifference. But after hearing that, Clona, whose cheeks were flushed, sparkled with lively eyes as if she had gained courage and continued.
“My parents are very strict… They always nagged me not to be interested in vulgar things that commoners like. But, it’s fun! I really like those stories that make my heart flutter when I watch them.”
I… was just listening to that.
Honestly, I don’t know why she’s telling me this story and I don’t have an obligation to listen, but it was just a whim that I didn’t kick her out.
Clona, who had been chattering alone like a chirping bird for a while, checked the time and got up from her seat. She seemed to be going back to her room.
“I’m going back to get some sleep. I don’t know when the attack will start tomorrow… I guess the probability of an attack in the early evening is low? Thanks for listening to my story today, Raymond.”
She smiled shyly and turned around.
“I hope you quickly realize where your heart is going. The people who like you will be waiting.”
Then she left the terrace and disappeared.
I slightly twisted my lips behind her. I clearly said it wasn’t like that. She seemed to want to believe what she wanted until the end.
I shook my head with a sigh.
After that, I also got some fresh air and changed my mood, and when I thought it was time to sleep, I left the terrace and went inside the villa. Some of the kids still seemed busy chatting until that time. Herman and Tom were already gone, and Zeon was not in that group either.
‘I should sleep when I can.’
They said the attack would start unexpectedly, but the most vulnerable time is when you’re sound asleep, so the attack is most likely to come in the early morning.
So, as Clona said, it wasn’t a bad idea to take a nap in the early evening when most of the kids were awake and active.
“Ah, Raymond.”
It was then.
A familiar voice calling me was heard from the top of the stairs. I was going up the stairs to return to my room, so I looked up. Zeon was standing there.
“Are you going to sleep now?”
“Yes.”
“Then please put this by your pillow when you sleep.”
He seemed to have been waiting to give me something.
When I got to the hallway, Zeon, who had come closer, carefully grabbed my hand and made me spread my palm, then put something on it.
When I checked, it was a flower.
It looked like a wildflower that could be seen anywhere, but a subtle, pleasant scent spread from the leaves, and as I smelled it, my mind became cozy and relaxed… It didn’t seem like an ordinary flower.
Zeon, who was watching my reaction, added an explanation.
“It’s a Zela flower, which is said to help with sleep.”
“…Where did you get this?”
“It seems like this area is its habitat.”
Zeon, who was rolling his eyes with an awkward look, smiled brightly.
Suddenly, Clona’s story flashed through my mind. The story that Zeon liked me in the sense of love. I was sure it wasn’t, but I wanted to check it, so I asked to confirm.
“Zeon.”
“Yes.”
“Do you perhaps like me? In a sexual sense.”
“…Yes?!”
Zeon, who heard my words, was startled and blushed red. It was a reaction as if I was spouting nonsense.
I thought it was nonsense too.
As expected, Zeon, who was very embarrassed and flustered, avoided my gaze and struggled to speak.
“H, how could I have such an outrageous thought…”
“I see. If not, then it’s fine.”
I seemed to have embarrassed him for no reason. Even so, he couldn’t have questioned his master, saying, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
Anyway, it was now clear that all of Clona’s guesses were wrong. I took the flower Zeon gave me and turned around to let this topic go for his sake.
“Then I’ll go in first.”
“Ah… that…”
Zeon, who had suddenly reached out as if to grab me, hesitated and moved his lips. I tilted my head.
“Um? Do you have something to say to me?”
But Zeon didn’t readily open his mouth. Maybe he couldn’t. In the end, he kept me standing in front of him for a long time, wetting his lips, and then shook his head.
“…No. Have a good dream.”
I felt a lingering or uneasy hesitation in Zeon’s attitude… but I didn’t take it to heart because I thought it was nothing, and Zeon watched me go back to my room for a long time.