By Zephyria 
After getting hit while constantly provoking him, I had a late breakfast with Aska and asked,
“You said you remember everything even in that state. What does that mean? When you come to your senses, do you just recall what you did, or does your ego exist in that state?”
I couldn’t tell if one ego awakens and the other falls asleep like a split personality, or if the two egos coexist. Aska, holding a large chicken leg in his hand, tore off a piece and said to my question,
“I am conscious then, but…”
“You’re conscious?”
Aska nodded.
“So, you’re telling me you’re biting and sucking in a conscious state?”
I naturally assumed that he would do things like a drunk person and then remember his actions when he came to his senses, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t help but be surprised when I thought about not only the biting and sucking but also the crying, whining, and clinging, refusing to let go.
“It’s a bit ambiguous…”
Aska’s answers kept getting delayed because he was busy eating. I put down the soft bread I was holding and asked again,
“What’s ambiguous?”
“I am conscious, but at that time… I get a little dizzy, it hurts all the time, and the smell…”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I don’t know, it just hurts all over. There’s nowhere that doesn’t hurt.”
“How does it hurt?”
“It throbs, it stings, it’s hot, it feels like it’s being squeezed… Anyway, it hurts a lot.”
“…”
I couldn’t understand how it hurt even after hearing about it. But the problem wasn’t how it hurt, but why it hurt. I was the only one who knew that Aska wasn’t a normal human, so there was no one around to ask.
I felt like I had to search through the Forbidden books in the tower again, but I hesitated because Mahir would really not let me off the hook this time if I got caught. Because I was at a loss about what to do, I put this problem aside for now and asked Aska,
“What’s with the smell?”
Aska, who had eaten a chicken leg bigger than his head, leaving only the bone, picked up a steaming soup and said while drinking it,
“You smell delicious, but I’m so hungry and thirsty at that time that I can’t think about anything else.”
“……?”
A delicious smell? I tilted my head, wondering if he had made a slip of the tongue while eating, and Aska swallowed everything in his mouth before saying again,
“You always have a strong smell of blood, but at that time, that’s the only smell I can smell.”
“My blood?”
Aska nodded at my bewildered question.
“Do I usually smell a lot of blood? Is it because I’m hurt?”
“I don’t know, anyway, it’s a bit ambiguous to say, but what’s certain is that it hurts a lot and I’m very hungry.”
“…”
At those words, I fell into thought again.
If blood is his staple food, Aska may not be able to get the calories he needs from food. It was reasonable to assume that he was a big eater and ate a lot compared to his size and weight, not because he didn’t know that it was useless no matter how much he ate, but because he was eating to satisfy his hunger.
If so, Aska would be suffering from hunger and thirst every day, but wouldn’t he usually endure it well and lose his mind when he got hurt? To heal the wound, his body goes into emergency mode, and in the process, for some reason, he is left with only instinct and craves my blood to satisfy his primal desires.
Another question arose here. Then why does Aska only want my blood? Is it just a matter of taste that he doesn’t like other people’s or animals’ blood? Or is it because my blood was the first he ate, so a kind of imprinting phenomenon occurred?
“Why aren’t you eating?”
Aska looked at me and asked while I was lost in thought. When I turned my gaze, which had been blankly staring into the air, Aska, who had already emptied the plate in front of him, was looking at me. I handed Aska the bread that I had taken a bite of and put down a little while ago.
“Eat it. Or should I ask for more?”
“No, why aren’t you eating?”
I was hungry when I woke up in the morning, but I didn’t have much appetite, maybe because I kept starving. I looked at the bread for a moment and suddenly became curious, so I asked.
“Do I smell like blood now?”
“A lot.”
“Do you want to eat it?”
“…”
Aska’s eyes widened slightly at my question. Seeing that he couldn’t hide his expression, I asked again.
“Are you still hungry?”
Aska hesitated for a moment and nodded lightly. I thought for a while and said,
“From now on, don’t eat food, just eat my blood once. It seems like it’s hard for you to fill your stomach with what people eat anyway.”
“Don’t eat?”
I opened my mouth to calm Aska, who was startled.
“I’m not saying don’t eat anything at all, just my blood…”
I had no choice but to trail off at the end of my words. It was because Aska’s expression was distorted like a hungry child who had his meat taken away from him right in front of his eyes.
“I’m not saying we should keep doing that, let’s just do that for a few days.”
“A few days? A day? Two days?”
“…”
I was thinking about a month, but if I told him the truth, he would probably swear at me to starve myself. Still, this was a necessary process, so I compromised as much as possible and made a decision.
“About a week?”
“Are you crazy? How can a person starve for a week?”
Looking at Aska, who was still protesting, I smiled.
“You can do it. If you think your condition is too bad, let’s think about it again then. Let’s try it first.”
“…Can’t I even have snacks?”
“Of course not. Don’t drink water as well as snacks. Just think that the only thing you can put in your mouth for a week is my blood.”
Aska became gloomy, as if he had heard that he might die tomorrow. It was amazing that he could be so desperate just because he couldn’t eat for a week.
“You’ve already eaten today, so let’s start fasting from tomorrow, and eat as much as you want now.”
“…”
I quietly watched Aska, who was nodding and putting bread in his mouth, and I also took a bite of a green jujube on the plate. The crunchy texture was good, so I quickly ate it all and reached out to eat more when I heard a knock.
“Ha…”
I couldn’t help but sigh. I was really just planning to eat and sleep today, but why are so many people looking for me? I suddenly lost my appetite, so I put the jujube I was holding back on the plate, went to the bed, and fell face down on it.
“Isn’t someone here?”
“I’m sleeping now.”
“What are you talking about.”
After that, I heard another knock, but when I didn’t answer, it soon became quiet. I felt sleepy when I lay down, so I closed my eyes, thinking of just falling asleep like this, but I suddenly felt that the sound of Aska eating had also become quieter, so I slyly opened my eyes.
As expected, Aska seemed to think I was asleep and was eating more carefully and secretly than before. There wasn’t much chewing sound, and I couldn’t hear the sound of the dishes clashing, so I chuckled.
“I guess it’s better for me to educate you.”
I closed my eyes again and muttered to myself in a small voice, and an questioning voice was heard.
“Educate?”
“Wouldn’t it be easier for you to receive basic education?”
It was better to complete not only the imperial etiquette but also how to write letters and simple educational courses that could be learned at school. Anyway, I wasn’t planning on making Aska do external activities under the pretext that he was weak, but it would be easier for him to know basic common sense.
I’ve never taught anyone before, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it well…
“…”
I opened my closed eyes and looked at the ceiling, making plans to escape from the castle. This was because I needed textbooks to teach Aska.
Of course, I could have asked the Servant to get them, but I wanted to handle everything related to Aska myself. If someone found out, they might ask why I needed books that only young children would read…
“Aska.”
“Why.”
“Call me teacher from now on.”
“Go to sleep.”
I nodded at the short answer, lay down again, and closed my eyes.