HRB 141

“Wow.”

Sebastian let out an exclamation the moment Eddie pulled him back inside the convenience store.

At the time, gripped by the fear of being flattened if he stayed any longer, he hadn’t even thought of properly looking around, but now that he was back, he found no space more absurd.

His long-held curiosity, where on earth does Eddie get all these things?, was resolved, but simultaneously, a new question arose: what on earth is this place? It was a bizarre space.

“Want something to drink first?”

Eddie, who seemed quite familiar with this space, casually offered Sebastian a drink first.

“There’s a lot to drink,” Eddie said, gesturing towards the drink aisle. Sebastian followed his gaze to the drinks neatly arranged beyond an invisible wall and his jaw dropped.

Sebastian chose a can of orange-colored drink on impulse, and Eddie, with some mysterious magic, managed to open the incredibly sturdy lid and hand it to Sebastian.

“Ugh.”

The drink he tasted had a strange flavor that hit his throat. Eddie explained with a smile that it was carbonated, but to Sebastian, it was a peculiar drink that attacked his throat.

He eventually switched to an Ion Drink, which was sweet and not fizzy, and Sebastian drank it comfortably, exclaiming,

“This tastes completely new!”

“Everything will be,” Eddie replied.

Eddie seemed very familiar with the space. Of course, it was natural for him to be more familiar than Sebastian, but even so, all these strange new items were things he had never seen before, yet he handled them as if they were second nature. Sebastian, on the other hand, found everything unfamiliar.

It wasn’t just the drinks.

The variety of what Eddie called instant foods filled one entire wall, there were also plenty of ice creams in refrigerators, hot, bitter drinks poured from a coffee machine in real-time, and a plethora of strange daily necessities.

“Eddie… with all these business opportunities, you only opened that many menu items?”

After looking around for a long time, Sebastian finally couldn’t help but say this to Eddie.

“Huh?”

Eddie, who had been casually introducing the items, blinked with a naive expression at his words.

Was this man, who commanded the Shadow of the Imperial Family, assassins, and Magicians, truly the sole heir to the throne? He seemed no different now, openly revealing his royal status, than he had been back at the inn.

Well, thanks to that, I can still treat him casually…

“But if unfamiliar things suddenly appear all at once, how suspicious would that be?”

Eddie, who had been looking thoughtful at Sebastian’s words, seemed to have considered this, and quickly offered an excuse.

Of course, to Sebastian, it was all absurd.

“Banana milk was suspicious from the start!”

In the first place, everything from Fire Chicken Noodles to banana milk to triangular gimbap was suspicious, so why worry about what was suspicious? Eddie awkwardly scratched his cheek. Is that so? Sebastian felt his insides boil at Eddie’s nonchalant muttering.

The two continued their convenience store exploration for a long time afterward. With hundreds, thousands of items, it was impossible to examine them all in just one day, and Sebastian’s mind became complicated.

The reason they visited the convenience store today was to discuss how to operate Eddie’s Inn, which was about to open.

For Sebastian, who had been hired as a mere low-level employee, it was a deeply moving occasion. It meant he had Eddie’s trust, and simultaneously, it meant they had grown closer.

Of course, without even considering why Eddie was showing him these items, Sebastian diligently listened to Eddie’s explanations.

After a long conversation, the two sat side-by-side on chairs near the checkout counter, gulping down drinks. They were thirsty after talking so much.

It was just as Sebastian was chugging down the Ion Drink he quite liked.

“What do you like so much about Gerold?”

“Ptooey!”

At Eddie’s surprise attack, Sebastian ended up spitting out the drink he was drinking with a loud splutter.

Eddie, looking at the POS machine soaked in Ion Drink with a hazy gaze, slowly pulled out tissues to wipe it down, while Sebastian, flustered, stammered,

“W-what do you mean, what do I like about him?”

“No, you two are a couple, aren’t you?”

Gasp. Sebastian inhaled sharply in surprise, then coughed violently as if he had choked.

“How did you know?”

After a long bout of coughing, Sebastian chose to interrogate Eddie on how he knew, rather than deny it.

This time, Eddie wore an expression of disbelief.

“How could I not know?”

At those words, Sebastian’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish several times before he sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“…I’m ruined. If Eddie knows, then everyone must know.”

“You’re swearing quite openly now…”

“It’s the truth. If Eddie knows, then even the children in the marketplace must already know.”

“That much?”

“That much.”

Eddie knew that Sebastian was notoriously unobservant, so he didn’t argue further.

“So, what was it that you liked?”

With a tone that demanded an answer, Sebastian wore a troubled expression before finally opening his mouth after a long pause.

“He’s… cute.”

?

If Eddie’s expression upon hearing that could be summarized in one word, it would be a question mark.

Rather than an answer like he was handsome, or his cold demeanor was charming, the response Gerold is cute? was baffling.

Forgetting entirely that he himself had treated the bear-like man like his cute cat and doted on him, Eddie, without realizing he was being hypocritical, continued passionately,

“He’s cold, but when he sees that I’m struggling or disheartened because of something he ordered me to do, he subtly watches my expression and lingers around.”

Gerold did that?

It was an image he couldn’t quite fathom. Gerold was a loyal subordinate to Eddie, but the idea of him being mindful of others’ feelings or caring about them was difficult to imagine.

After all, when Eddie created Gerold’s character, he made him a cold, genius Magician who stayed indoors.

“He wasn’t like that at first. He was just cold, and I thought he hated me.”

Eddie knew that well. Gerold was cold to everyone except Eddie, and Sebastian was no exception.

“Sebastian, what are you doing?”

“Is that all you can do?”

“I told you to finish it by today.”

Because of that, Sebastian briefly misunderstood, thinking Gerold disliked him, but later realized. This person hates everyone except Eddie! No, he doesn’t even give them that much attention!

While he was stressed out by how difficult Gerold was to deal with, he worked himself to death just to hear a single word of praise.

Why am I doing this? It’s not like there are no other jobs available… Of course, the conditions here were good, but there was no reason to work while being so criticized. Muttering to himself, he somehow managed to stick around, and over time, he gradually came to understand.

That it was just Gerold’s personality, and not because he disliked or hated Sebastian.

Rather, seeing his efforts, Gerold occasionally gave Sebastian words of praise. Vague compliments like, ‘You’re not bad, though,’ but each time, he felt an immense thrill.

It felt so good to hear praise from that man, of all people.

As he grew to like that, before he knew it, he had also grown to like the person who spoke those words.

“He wasn’t like that at first, but he gradually changed. And then, it became so… cute.”

The day Ebon first visited, seeing Gerold take care of Ebon, Sebastian had harbored such ugly jealousy.

Sebastian was very displeased that Ebon was included in this expedition and would spend a lot of time with Gerold, but thanks to Gerold and Ebon both claiming they had known each other for so many years and only saw each other as friends, that ugly jealousy had somewhat subsided.

Of course, he still didn’t like them being together.

Starting with that trivial jealousy, his feelings overflowed, and the moment he saw Gerold awkwardly comforting him after realizing he had no talent for Sorcery, he could no longer hold back.

His heart, which had sprung up, turned into action, and before he knew it, he was holding that smooth face and kissing him.

Looking at the face blinking with beautiful blue eyes, not even thinking of pushing away the scoundrel who had kissed him so presumptuously, Sebastian realized at that moment.

Ah, I’m truly going crazy for this person.

Of course, after kissing so passionately, he was punished for that impulsive act, receiving a kick to the shin, but the memory was imprinted on Sebastian’s mind as utterly blissful.

After that, Gerold exceptionally let Sebastian off the hook several times. Even when Sebastian brazenly held his hand, pleaded for his time, or showed his ugly jealousy towards Gerold’s acquaintances, instead of looking disgusted, Gerold allowed Sebastian to stay by his side.

…And yet, how could he not fall for him? How could he not love him more? How could he let go…