By Zephyria 
He fixed his gaze on the small, stiff-looking leaves and said nothing. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, but he couldn’t figure out what to say.
Was it because he was a monster that he was fine even after suffering such a serious injury? Or, could that even be called an injury in the first place? At that level, it wasn’t just recovering from an injury, but creating something that had been lost. Was it not a big deal, so he didn’t bother telling me? Why did such a thing happen anyway?
In any case, he was alive, so maybe his magic didn’t activate because he wasn’t dead, but had suffered an injury close to death.
Trapped in a vortex of countless questions, he was just blinking when Aska’s voice reached him.
“I’ve confirmed the location of the village, and we’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning when it’s light. The shortest route seems impassable for a carriage, so we’ll have to go around a bit.”
“Theodore also said there’s no rush, so let’s take the long way with the baggage cart.”
“Okay, let’s do that. Take this with you. It’s sweet and good for recovering from fatigue. Share it with everyone.”
“Ah, yes. Just a moment.”
Abyss brought a wooden bowl and began scooping up the fruit. Meanwhile, Aska picked up the fruit one by one and put them in his mouth. He didn’t know what they tasted like and didn’t really want to eat them, but he just accepted them as they were given.
“How long until dinner is ready?”
“It will be done within an hour.”
“Then we’ll go wander around nearby for a bit.”
Nearby? He looked at Aska with a puzzled expression at the sudden words. He hadn’t said anything, but Aska grabbed his hand and suddenly started pushing through the bushes and going inside.
“Where are we going?”
“Just follow me.”
“……?”
He felt strange at the somewhat forceful words. He wasn’t walking fast, and he cleared away any small branches or grass that might hinder his walking, so it was easy to follow.
After walking for quite a while, a small bird landed on Aska’s hood with a ‘pi-roo-roo’ sound. The cat was already at Aska’s feet, and a large wolf was following behind him.
The further they went inside, the taller the grass became and the more gigantic the trees. At this point, it was almost a jungle. Even in the cold weather, it was like this, so it seemed like it would be an environment where you couldn’t even walk properly if you came in the hot season.
Just as it was starting to get difficult to walk, Aska stopped.
“Put your arms around my neck.”
Without saying anything in particular, he just did as he was told. Then Aska hugged his waist tightly and jumped upwards without warning. Each time his feet left the ground and he opened and closed his eyes, the place where he had been standing grew further and further away.
Tap, tap, tap…….
He could only faintly hear the sound of Aska stepping on the branches. Suddenly, he felt like it was a familiar situation. Had there been a time like this before? He tilted his head, and a strong wind blew.
He closed his eyes tightly and stayed like that for a while, then the arm around his waist loosened slightly.
“Open your eyes.”
At the somewhat ticklish voice, he slowly opened his eyes, and an orange world was beneath his feet.
“…….”
He opened his eyes wide and slowly turned his head to scan the forest dyed with the sunset. He had climbed so high that he couldn’t even see the ground.
“This tree is the tallest around here.”
“…….”
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
“…….”
His voice sounded somehow proud. For some reason, his throat felt choked, so he swallowed a few times and asked.
“Did you tell me to follow you to show me this?”
Aska looked at him intently and nodded. He couldn’t think of anything to say, so he hesitated, and then he heard a strange sound.
“Are you perhaps scared because it’s too high?”
“What?”
“I won’t drop you. Even if I do, I’ll catch you.”
“…….”
The strange things he was saying, the way he was playfully smiling with the corners of his mouth raised, it seemed like he was more excited than usual. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Aska before asking.
“Did you bring me all the way here on purpose because I looked like I was in a bad mood? To cheer me up?”
“…….”
This time, Aska closed his mouth. He looked surprised, and also a bit embarrassed. Then, in a noticeably smaller voice, he muttered.
“Anyway, it’s pretty, so look at it quickly. The sun will set soon.”
“So that’s why you were smiling so brightly earlier too?”
At the continuing questions, Aska finally sighed.
“But I’m really curious, do you really need to get an answer for everything like that?”
“I was just curious too.”
“Okay, I did it on purpose because you looked like you were in a bad mood since earlier. Are you happy now? Are you?”
Why was he getting angry? He was asking because he was grateful and thought it was sweet.
But it seemed like he was more embarrassed than actually angry, so he couldn’t help but laugh. Aska frowned at him as he tried to suppress his laughter.
“Don’t laugh.”
Why was he being so cute? He was the only one who should know this.
“Just thinking about someone falling for you and chasing after you already gives me a headache.”
“What are you suddenly talking about? What do you mean, falling?”
“There will definitely be someone like that someday. It’s inevitable. At least a hundred of them…….”
“What are you saying?”
Aska had an expression that showed he didn’t understand. That innocent face that knew nothing. His chest felt tight. Who would understand his feelings? He was worried, so he could only sigh.
He couldn’t lock him up somewhere…….
Aska would hate him if he locked him up, right? It seemed like he didn’t like feeling trapped anyway. Judging from how he secretly went out when he was young, he wasn’t the type to stay inside even if he was locked up.
Or should he just create a village or something and build a castle there? If he prohibited outsiders from entering in a remote location and controlled everything, a very large cage that only he didn’t know about would be completed.
It would inevitably be deceiving, but if he let him do everything he wanted there and have everything he wanted, wouldn’t that be somewhat excusable?
The imagination that started as a half-joke was gradually becoming more concrete.
“Aren’t you cold?”
As he was seriously contemplating, Aska asked, tightening his arms around his waist. His stomach felt constricted, but the pressure gave him a sense of stability.
He quietly looked at the sky dyed red and said.
“If someone ever chases after you because they like you, you have to tell me.”
“Who would chase after me? And I can handle things like that on my own.”
“What do you mean, handle it? Are you going to have tea with them and persuade them? To ask them not to like me?”
Aska tilted his head as he frowned.
“What are you talking about since earlier? I can just run away.”
“But what if they keep chasing you?”
“If I decide to run away, they won’t be able to catch me.”
“…….”
His chest suddenly felt cold. That statement applied to him as well. His heart tingled, and he kept frowning, so Aska asked.
“Are you that worried about someone liking me?”
“Of course. You’re so pretty.”
“…….”
Aska paused for a moment, then opened his mouth again with a strange expression.
“Aren’t you worried that I might like someone else?”
“You?”
This was another unexpected question. So he couldn’t answer easily. Aska liking someone else? He couldn’t even imagine it.
“I don’t really think that would happen…….”
“What? Why?”
“Who in the world would treat you better than me? Do you think there’s someone who would like you as much as I do? If there was a contest for who likes Aska the most, I would definitely win. But there’s no way you would leave me for someone else.”
“…….”
Aska, who had been looking at him with wide, surprised eyes, suddenly contorted his face. Then he muttered with disgust.
“No, this is really annoying……. It’s true, but……. It is, but……. No, really…….”
He couldn’t tell if he liked it or hated it. Even that wavering appearance was so lovely that he took some time to appreciate it before asking.
“Have you ever worried that I might like someone else?”
He expected him to say no, but he didn’t answer. Just looking at his expression, he looked like someone who had thought about that before. He couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.
“How could you think that? Then have you ever worried that someone might chase after me because they like me?”
“I haven’t.”
No, why? He was good too. There might be someone who likes him. He suddenly felt a surge of emotion, but Aska continued.
“What does it matter if someone chases after you or not? As long as your heart stays the same. I’m not interested in things like that. But if your heart changes, that’s a different problem.”
“…….”
That was true. But he felt like the direction he was worrying about was different from his, so he didn’t quite understand.
“Why would my heart change?”
“Because you like pretty things. If you see something prettier than me, you might like that more.”
“What?”
What kind of nonsense was this again?
He was about to say that was absolutely not true, but he closed his mouth. Aska’s face, when he was shocked by the word ‘ugly’, flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, his head throbbed, so he closed his eyes and sighed.
This was why he couldn’t ask easily.
What exactly happened that day in Actan, why were you so injured……. To get an answer to that question, he would have to talk about the lump in the water.
He couldn’t understand why he was like this, but it seemed like it was a very important issue to Aska whether he looked pretty to him. So there was no way he would tell him about the unidentified lump that wasn’t even in human form.
He was hiding it so much, would his heart really be at ease if he pressed him, pried, and urged him to tell him? Would Aska’s heart be at ease if he was forced to say something he didn’t want to say?
With a heavy heart, he opened his eyes and saw Aska looking at him with a sulky expression, his eyes red-rimmed. Even in the midst of feeling so sorry for him, he couldn’t help but think he was pretty.
How else could he express it besides saying he was pretty? Was his vocabulary really this bad? He felt like he was going crazy.
“Do you think I only like you this much because you’re pretty?”
“Isn’t that it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why do you like me?”
“…….”
That short question tore through his chest like a knife and shattered it into pieces. He closed his eyes tightly and swallowed his breath inwardly. It was the moment his heart was shattered for the second time, in a different way.