By Zephyria 
Even though my head was already a mess, I didn’t know why Aska was acting like this again.
“……”
“……”
Even after returning to the room, I saw Aska still wearing the mask and awkwardly standing far away. I stared at him for a while before asking,
“What are you doing over there?”
“……”
He didn’t even answer now. Was he thinking he would get scolded for breaking the window on the balcony earlier? But I didn’t think Aska was this afraid of being scolded by me.
Since I couldn’t see his face, I had no idea what he was thinking.
“Come over here.”
As I said, reaching out my hand, Aska dragged his feet and slowly approached me. He stopped a couple of steps away, so I grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer.
“Why are you still wearing the mask?”
“……”
“Hey. Knock knock.”
“……”
I could only sigh.
I had more important things to worry about than just appeasing Aska’s mood.
The biggest problem was Aska’s power, which far exceeded my expectations. Could I really control Aska? If he ever decided he wanted to escape from this place, could I stop him?
Of course, it would be possible if I used any means necessary. It’s just that it would be impossible not to injure him in the process.
He’s relatively docile now, but how long will Aska listen to me? When he gets older and learns about the world, it’s only natural that he’ll want to escape. And since he’s not human, I have no idea what kind of mindset he’ll develop.
For now, I need to postpone going outside and figure out Aska’s limit of endurance. I need to know how much he can tolerate and what he allows so I can prepare myself.
It was similar to how an owner should understand the precautions before raising a wild beast.
……Sniff.
It was then. I heard a very small sound from inside the mask, so faint that I wouldn’t have heard it if I hadn’t been listening closely. With a doubtful heart, I took off the mask and saw Aska’s crying face.
“Why are you crying?”
“Hic……”
Aska didn’t answer my question, squeezed his eyes shut, and sobbed sadly. I tilted my head and hurriedly examined Aska’s body.
Was he hurt? He must have been injured somewhere when he broke the window earlier. Otherwise, why would Aska suddenly cry?
But even after carefully examining him from head to toe, there were no obvious wounds or bloodstains. I was about to examine him again from head to toe when Aska slapped my hand away.
“Get away.”
His voice was nasal. Judging by his tone, it didn’t seem like his mental age had regressed due to an injury… I obediently took my hand away and asked,
“Why are you crying?”
“I got caught……”
“What?”
“Since I got caught, doesn’t that mean I can’t go out anymore?”
What was he talking about? I couldn’t understand the meaning of his words, so I closed my mouth for a moment. Aska sniffled and shed tears like chicken droppings.
“Suddenly, where can’t you go?”
“You said if I got caught by someone else, I wouldn’t be able to go out forever.”
Did I say that? No, I think I said something similar… I just meant it as a warning, not that I was really going to confine him.
“So you’re crying because of that? Because you might not be able to go outside anymore?”
Aska nodded vigorously. Watching him like that made me feel strange. He used to go out and wander around even when I told him not to, so why was he crying now? Of course, he’s been studying hard recently and doesn’t seem to have gone out secretly…
“We were supposed to go out within a week after the banquet.”
His pronunciation was unclear because he was hiccuping and crying, but there was no problem understanding the content.
“So you’re not going out now?”
“……”
Aska asked, his chest heaving. His eyes, looking at me anxiously, were so wet that it seemed like you could squeeze out a bucket of water.
And the reason I wasn’t going out wasn’t because I got caught, but because Aska’s power was too strong than expected, and I wasn’t confident in dealing with unexpected situations.
The reasons were clearly different, but seeing him crying, it seemed that not being able to go out was the most important issue for Aska, no matter what the reason.
“Heo-eong……”
Aska, who had been watching me without a word, finally raised his head and started crying. He even dropped the balloon he hadn’t let go of in all the commotion.
I watched the balloon floating upwards and hitting the ceiling, then got up from my seat and reached out my arm. I tied the string of the balloon to Aska’s wrist.
“Who said you’re not going out?”
Aska’s crying stopped at my words. Tears streamed down his wide, unblinking eyes.
“Then are we going out?”
“Let’s go out in a week. There are some things I need to check before that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah……”
I closed my eyes tightly because I suddenly had a headache, then opened them again. Aska’s expression, which had been as if the world had collapsed just a moment ago, was now blooming like a flower kissed by dew.
“But why are you so tearful? You cry at the slightest scolding, you cry when you don’t get your way, you cry when you’re hungry, you cry when you’re in pain, you cry at the drop of a hat……”
“Yay!”
Every time Aska jumped up and down in place, the balloon tied to his wrist moved in all directions with him. I calmed down the excited Aska and sat him down next to me.
“Why did you break the window?”
“Ah, that, the door wouldn’t open, so I did it without thinking…… I know I’m not supposed to break windows. I was just flustered. I’ll be careful next time.”
“……”
He apologized so readily that I had nothing to say. I nodded with an awkward expression and asked again.
“Then why did you pick me up and run?”
“Because someone was coming.”
“Okay, good job. Well done.”
Even though I was being sarcastic, Aska seemed to think he was being praised and smiled brightly. There was still moisture in his eyes, so I reached out and rubbed the corners of his eyes with my thumb.
“What if I had said you couldn’t go out anymore?”
“Forever?”
When I nodded, Aska pondered for a moment and asked,
“Even if I study more?”
“Yeah.”
“Forever and ever? Until I die?”
I nodded again. Then Aska’s expression became subtle.
“Why?”
“Do I need a reason? I’m someone who can just lock you up here for no reason at all.”
“Not even sneaking out?”
“Of course not.”
At my question, Aska started to ponder again with a serious expression. Just as I was about to wonder what he was thinking, Aska said as if a good idea had occurred to him.
“We can just make a bet like we did last time.”
“What kind of bet?”
“If I get a perfect score on the test, let me go out.”
“……”
Aska didn’t understand the intention of my question at all. I held back a sigh and changed the question.
“Then what if I hit you?”
“I’ll hit you back?”
“What if I curse at you and ignore you?”
“I’ll curse at you and ignore you the same way. Why do you keep asking such things?”
Aska frowned, as if he was starting to feel something was strange. I took Aska’s hand and examined the black seal wrapped around his forearm.
The magic was still working normally.
“I mean, I’m not talking about playfully hitting you like we’ve always done, but what if I abuse you? How would you react?”
“Abuse? I’ll do the same……”
“No, you can’t. You can’t cope with any unfair actions I take.”
In fact, there was no meaning in these questions and answers. No matter what Aska said, there was no guarantee that he would act accordingly when such a situation arose, and even if he obediently followed my words as I wanted, I couldn’t trust it.
But I didn’t know why I was doing these meaningless things, and I couldn’t understand my own heart. But I had often spoken or acted without knowing what I was doing, so I didn’t think this situation was strange.
“So what if you abuse me? In a state where I can’t do anything?”
When I nodded, Aska said without much thought.
“Then I’ll have to wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“I’ll wait for you to go back to the way you are now, and then when you’re a little careless, I’ll abuse you and take revenge.”
Aska answered with a triumphant expression. It wasn’t a submissive answer, but I liked it quite a bit. At least it doesn’t seem like he has the option of running away. Of course, this could also be a lie.
“But why are you asking such things?”
Aska tilted his head and asked. I was about to gloss over it, but I just answered honestly.
“If you get out of my control, I’ll have no choice but to use violence, and I was wondering what would happen next.”
“Violence? Are you going to stab me with a knife? Are you going to brand me with a hot iron?”
Aska spoke casually about gruesome things as if it were someone else’s business.
“Hey, do you think I would ever do that? Your only good point is that you’re pretty……”
“Then how are you going to abuse me? Are you going to do it messily?”
Knowing the meaning of the messiness that Aska was talking about, I couldn’t help but shudder.
“That word doesn’t mean that! I told you last time.”
“Anyway, how are you going to do it!”
“Why are you yelling again? Anyway, it’s not like that. I’ll just…… lock you up and not let you meet anyone, and give you food only at set times……”
I muttered, thinking of a wild beast locked in a cage, but I couldn’t clearly imagine how I would deal with it. So I just made it up, and Aska’s eyes widened. He looked very surprised, so I tilted my head, and Aska muttered.
“Was I being abused?”
“……”
When I thought about it, it wasn’t much different from my current life.