By Zephyria 
I fastened the restraint with a short chain connecting Aska’s ankles. The reason for this sudden action was simple. I was curious to see how much Aska could endure.
“How long do I have to wear this?”
“Until I say it’s okay.”
Aska’s expression turned sour at my vague answer, not giving a specific time limit. He glared at me for a while and grumbled irritably, but didn’t take off the restraint.
Instead, he hopped around the room like a rabbit, surprisingly well. He clearly seemed uncomfortable, but didn’t try to remove the restraint, which relieved me a little. However, my thoughts changed the very next morning.
“……”
The window was wide open, and Aska, who was sleeping next to me with the restraint on his ankles, had leaves stuck in his hair. Aska, who had been quiet for a while, had secretly gone out again while I was sleeping.
My head throbbed, probably because I wasn’t fully awake yet. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment, then turned my head to find some unidentifiable objects neatly arranged next to my pillow.
A stiff, broad, and long blade of grass, three small, pure white wildflowers, two smooth black pebbles, a blue feather from an unknown bird, and five tiny red tree berries, each the size of a fingernail.
“What is this…”
As I mumbled in a groggy voice, Aska stirred. I shook Aska awake and asked,
“Aska.”
Aska swatted my hand away and buried his face in the pillow, as if he didn’t want to wake up yet. Normally, I would have let him sleep as much as he wanted, but not now.
“Get up, quickly.”
“Why!”
“Did you go out again last night?”
I forcibly sat Aska up, who was shouting. I grabbed his leaning body and asked, and Aska squinted at me.
“I didn’t get caught by anyone.”
“……”
He didn’t even deny it anymore. My sleepiness vanished with the absurdity, and I frowned deeply, but Aska added,
“Isn’t it okay as long as I don’t get caught anyway? That’s why you tell me not to go out, right? Because other people know me as Aegis. And you can’t let them find out I’m not a woman.”
“Knowing that, you still went out without saying anything?”
“No, I told you, I didn’t get caught?”
“It’s not about getting caught, I clearly told you not to go out. Is that so difficult? Seriously…”
I stopped myself from asking why he went out again. Could it be that he needed cold water again? Seeing my momentary confusion, Aska pointed to the unidentified junk next to my pillow.
“I went out because of that.”
“Ah, right. What is all this?”
“A birthday present.”
“What?”
A completely unexpected word came out of Aska’s mouth. I stared blankly at Aska before opening my mouth.
“A birthday present?”
“It’s a bit late, but… you should have told me in advance!”
Aska shouted again, as if he was sulking about something else. Aska, looking annoyed and muttering, took my hand off and burrowed into the blanket.
“This is my present?”
A blade of grass, wildflowers, pebbles, a feather, tree berries… I had never received anything like this in my life.
“Where did you get all this?”
Aska mumbled in response to my question.
“I picked them up under a tree.”
“……”
His voice was fading, as if he was about to fall asleep again. After a little more time, I could only hear his steady breathing. I frowned deeply and stared at the completely asleep Aska for a while before turning my gaze away.
They were objects that could only be described as junk. As I looked at them, a strange feeling arose. I didn’t know what to call it because I couldn’t identify them, but everything inside me was softening endlessly.
I brought the blue feather in front of my eyes and examined it closely before making an impulsive decision.
His sincerity is commendable, so I’ll let him off for sneaking out last night.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I left the still-sleeping Aska and went outside to find Asella.
“Bring me a Wizard.”
“May I ask why?”
“I need to cast a preservation magic… and prepare a glass bottle of appropriate size.”
After saying that, I went to the reception room before the Wizard arrived. I had come out without dressing properly, so the Servants brought clothes for me to change into in the reception room. I put on the clothes as they dressed me, and examined the glass bottles that Asella had quickly prepared one by one.
There were transparent glass bottles with see-through insides, and opaque glass bottles with a bluish tint. There were those with narrow and wide mouths, and many ornate ones with crystal detailing.
I carefully put the junk I had brought in advance into various glass bottles, took them out, and looked for the most suitable one. As I was doing that, the Wizard arrived.
“Kyle, I heard you called for me.”
The junk was too insignificant to go well with ornate glass bottles with detailing or decorations. So I chose the most common, appropriately sized glass bottle.
“I want to cast a preservation magic on this.”
Looking at the things neatly placed on the table, the Wizard was silent for a moment before asking.
“Do you mean each one individually?”
I nodded, carefully placed the blade of grass, wildflowers, pebbles, feather, and tree berries into the glass bottle, and handed it to the Wizard after finally closing the cork stopper.
“Also cast an enhancement magic on the bottle, in case it breaks.”
“Understood.”
I kept my eyes glued to every action of the Wizard, thoroughly monitoring him in case anything went wrong. Perhaps feeling burdened by my gaze, the Wizard, who was sweating profusely, successfully completed the task and carefully handed me the glass bottle.
I shook the received glass bottle vigorously and turned it upside down. The contents inside moved and collided with each other, but the relatively soft tree berries were also intact, so the magic seemed to have worked well.
Finally, I slammed the glass bottle down hard, confirming that the wooden table was shattered, and I stood up from my seat with satisfaction.
When I returned to the room, Aska, who had already woken up, hopped towards me.
“Where did you go?”
“Let’s take that off now too.”
I released the restraint on Aska’s ankles and suddenly became curious, so I asked.
“But how did you go out with this on?”
“I just ran out.”
“Did you hop around outside too? Like a rabbit? How didn’t you get caught? It makes noise when you run. And why didn’t I hear it?”
As I spoke, I was filled with questions. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, so I had been thinking about paying attention from before, but I couldn’t figure out why I was so absent-minded these days.
I released the restraint and threw it carelessly into a corner, then placed the glass bottle on the bedside table, where it could be easily seen from anywhere in the room. Aska, as if he wasn’t interested at all, went to the desk as soon as his feet were free. Then he untied the balloon tied to the armrest of the chair and held it in his hand.
He had brought it on my birthday and was still cherishing it.
I thought he would like it because he’s a child, but I didn’t know he would like it this much. Should I buy him another one when we go out later? It would be nice to let him blow it up himself.
A little later, the Servants brought breakfast. I had hardly ever eaten breakfast in my life, but these days, eating something as soon as I opened my eyes had become a daily routine because of Aska.
I looked at Aska, who was diligently eating, and said,
“We’re going out the day after tomorrow, but individual activities are absolutely prohibited.”
“I know. Don’t take off the hood, don’t talk to other people… But come to think of it, aren’t we going out secretly? Those people don’t know who you and I are, so can’t we talk a little?”
“Still, we should be careful, just in case.”
In fact, what Aska said was correct, but if I let him loose when he’s like this, I don’t know what will happen. It’s true that Aska listens to me well, but he prioritizes his own judgment over my words, so it was easier to just say no unconditionally.
“Are we going to buy delicious things to eat at the market?”
“I’ll buy them for you if you listen well.”
“Like chicken skewers? I really wanted to try them.”
At those words, I tilted my head.
“You’ve eaten a lot of chicken here too.”
“It’s a different feeling from that.”
I didn’t know what was different, but there was no reason not to buy it for him if he wanted to eat it.
“If I listen well and keep being careful, will you take me with you when you go out to play next time?”
I was looking at the jujubes mixed with green and red when I asked in bewilderment.
“Do you think I go out to play every day?”
“Then why do you go out?”
“……”
It was true that I was going out to play, so I couldn’t think of anything to say. I stared at Aska for a moment before putting the jujube I was holding into his mouth.
“Just eat that.”
Then Aska shoved the bread he was holding into my mouth in the same way. But it didn’t hurt as much as the first time, so it seemed like he was really controlling his strength.
I chewed on what was in my mouth and asked out of curiosity.
“But why do you always give me what you were eating? If you’re going to give it to me, give me a new one.”
I had never eaten what someone else had eaten in my life… As I frowned, Aska said without even looking at me.
“That’s delicious.”
So give me a new one of that delicious thing… He wouldn’t listen even if I said it, so I just sighed and gave up.