By Zephyria 
I instructed the Servants to prepare several outfits in addition to the one Aska was originally supposed to wear. Aska, unable to complain due to the number of people around, quietly repeated the process of putting on and taking off clothes as instructed.
“This is a veil embroidered with silver thread. It’s not flashy, but every time you move, the bottom hem is visible, and when it catches the light, it sparkles, making it incredibly beautiful. It has an elegant feel without being too ostentatious, so it will suit the Bikke well. The accessories should be platinum and diamonds…”
The Servants all came in with thin cloths tied around their eyes, making it difficult to see Aska’s face clearly. They weren’t completely blind, but even with blurred vision, they managed to pick out things that suited him well.
“This is a gold crown carved with laurel leaves, and it will surely suit the fairy-like Bikke…”
One, two, three, four, five… After changing clothes for the sixth time and putting on and taking off accessories for the umpteenth time, Aska finally reached the limit of his patience and approached me. Then, he whispered in a small voice in my ear.
“Enough is enough…”
At the sound of his grinding teeth, I cleared my throat and dismissed the clothes and accessories that were still piled up like a mountain. Strangely enough, when he wore something flashy, it suited him flashily, and when he wore something light and simple, that atmosphere came to life, and there was nothing that didn’t suit him.
Even a crown with jewels so large and extravagant that only the jewels were visible when placed on his head seemed to lose its brilliance when Aska wore it. No matter what he wore or what he was decorated with, only his face was visible, so I didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing…
And when I thought about it, if I dressed him up like this and took him out, everyone would only look at Aska. I was already anxious because he was too tall, and if the attention was focused even more, some lecherous guy might come along.
I dressed him up beautifully, but inevitably, I ended up covering him with a thick veil again.
“…”
Aska stared at me silently for a moment as everything from head to toe was covered, with only the tips of his fingers and the tops of his feet slightly visible. He must have been cursing me inwardly.
I ignored his fervent gaze and sent the Servants out. But I was still uneasy, so I just removed any accessories that were even slightly noticeable.
“What are you doing?”
Aska frowned as I took off what he had chosen after a long time.
“It doesn’t suit you very well.”
“Why don’t you just wear anything roughly? Why do you keep putting it on and taking it off? It’s annoying. My legs are killing me. What did you put on my head?”
“Don’t move your arms too much. It’s so thin that it’ll probably tear if you touch it even a little.”
“What? This?”
Aska looked at the thin, transparent cloth lightly draped over his shoulders and arms, looking dumbfounded. Then, he swung his arms around like a windmill. The small jewels attached to the ends of the veil collided with the violent movement, making a clear sound.
“Did you make it out of spider webs…”
And as if the spider web was being torn, the thin cloth, which had really been torn, fluttered and fell down.
“…”
“…”
The fabric, which had sacrificed durability for beauty, met its end in this way.
Aska picked up the fallen cloth from the floor with an awkward expression and handed it to me. I sighed slightly, but I had no choice but to roughly clean up the torn cloth, and we went outside together.
After arriving at Sa Dillin in the prepared carriage, we had to walk a little further.
“Tell me if your legs hurt.”
I said, walking slowly to match Aska’s pace. Unlike his usual clothes, his outfit was flowing, so he would definitely step on it and fall if he took even a slightly larger stride.
I should have warned him before we came out, but I forgot. Still, Aska didn’t rush, as if he was being careful.
There were quite a few people around, so we couldn’t have much of a conversation, and we just fidgeted with our clasped hands until we arrived at the banquet hall.
A well-dressed Servant waiting at the entrance spotted us. I tightened my grip on Aska’s hand and sighed inwardly.
I felt like I was going to war.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
The banquet hall, decorated to the hilt with all sorts of flashy trinkets, was so dazzling that it was blinding. It was so crowded that I felt dizzy. While accepting the excited voices that greeted me, Mahir entered.
It was the first time since Khalifa had visited Talim. The absurd assumptions that I had forgotten flashed through my mind, but I quickly erased them from my head as I saw Mahir smile as he spotted me.
As I was talking to Mahir about this and that, Khalifa finally arrived. From now on, it was a real test of stamina. Envoys who had come to offer congratulations and gifts lined up in a row.
Still, fortunately, thanks to the privilege of being Khalifa’s son, Mahir and I were able to give our gifts first. I had never been so happy to be Khalifa’s son as I was today.
Asella had prepared the gift, so I didn’t even know what I had given. But as always, she would have prepared something appropriately expensive and precious.
“I’m hungry…”
Aska, who had been sitting quietly next to me, started to whine, as if he was slowly reaching his limit. Since the banquet was still a long way from being over, I discreetly handed Aska a cookie one by one.
“Eat slowly.”
“It doesn’t matter what I do, you won’t be able to see it anyway because the veil is so thick.”
“I guess so.”
“It was stuffy at first, but I think it’s better to wear this.”
At those words, I carefully looked at the side where his face was. When I tried to look closely, I could see a slight outline beyond the veil.
“What kind of expression are you making now?”
“Guess.”
He was doing something he wouldn’t normally do, probably because he was bored. I was bored too, so I thought about it for a moment and just said what I wanted to see.
“Are you smiling?”
“Nope?”
“Then?”
“I was sticking my tongue out?”
“…”
I was serious about his childish prank, and a small giggle came from inside the veil. As soon as I heard that sound, I burst out laughing. Maybe it was because I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I kept giggling at things that weren’t even funny.
We were both so bored that we had gone crazy.
“I want to drink blood.”
“Let’s go out for a bit later.”
“I want to grab a handful of the cookies I ate earlier and stuff them in my mouth and gobble them up.”
“That’s a bit…”
He seemed to have already eaten all the cookies, so this time I handed Aska a small piece of bread about the size of a bite. Every time a white hand popped out from inside the veil and took the bread, my heart tingled.
It felt like I was feeding a small animal hiding.
“My legs are numb.”
Aska, who had been nibbling on cookies and bread for a while, made another complaint.
“Why are your legs?”
“I guess it’s because I’ve been sitting in the same position.”
I glanced around for a moment, then put my hand inside the layers of cloth and touched Aska’s knee.
“Here?”
“Lower.”
I grabbed his calf with one hand and massaged it with a little force, and a satisfied sigh escaped from Aska’s lips. As I went further down and pressed down on the hollow near his ankle, Aska’s waist began to lose strength.
“Sit up straight.”
“I can’t lie down, can I? I’ll just pretend to be in pain.”
“No.”
I would have considered it if it was Talim or at least Jihad, but it was absolutely not allowed here.
“Can’t you hold me even if I do?”
“I said no. Just bear with it a little longer. There will be time to go out and rest later.”
Aska quickly crossed his legs and held out the other side as I took my hand away from massaging him inside the cloth.
“Do this here too.”
“…”
Did he think I was a masseuse? I felt a little bad, but I massaged the other side in the same way. Then, I deliberately squeezed his calf with my hand, and Aska’s shoulder twitched.
Aska punched my arm a few times with his fist, so this time I pressed the soft flesh behind his knee with my fingernail. I thought I should check it later because there would definitely be a mark, but this time Aska quickly poked my side with his elbow.
At that time, I accidentally hit the wrong spot between my ribs, and a small groan escaped from my mouth without me realizing it.
“Ugh…”
Aska seemed to realize what he had done and turned his head away, pretending not to notice. I pressed down on my throbbing ribs with my hand and felt a gaze. My brother was staring at me with a smiling face from a short distance away.
I thought that some other people must have seen Aska and me fidgeting. Feeling embarrassed, I poked Aska with a face that was as expressionless as possible.
Aska seemed to have noticed Mahir’s gaze and folded his hands demurely and lowered his head.
“…”
“…”
For a while, we endured the boring time in silence again.
“I’m thirsty…”
But it wasn’t long before Aska started whining again. There happened to be a drink nearby, so I gave it to him to drink, and I heard a small gulping sound next to me.
He must have been really thirsty, because he emptied the glass in one gulp. It seemed like the procession would be over soon, so I was looking towards the entrance when Aska grabbed my hand tightly.
“…?”
It wasn’t a big deal that he grabbed my hand. But his body temperature was unusually high and he was shaking badly. When I looked down, Aska’s hand, which was holding my hand tightly, was red as if it was about to burst.