By Zephyria Ivan did exactly as he pleased.
I only realized then that “washing me” meant washing me all the way inside my body. I struggled, saying “this isn’t right,” but eventually gave up and just held the wall and cried. In the bedroom, I could cover myself with blankets or other things, and the lighting was dimmer, so it was okay, but having to show my bare body in the brightly lit bathroom felt like I was going crazy. I was confused about whether to believe him when he said he liked me even like this.
Several days passed like that.
The laborers, who had been on edge after the initial incident, all began to relax. Ivan now used the cravat to tease me. Last night, he had slipped his own wrist out of the cravat but tied mine tightly, leaving me to suffer, and I had cried my eyes out again.
Still, the four of us—the Captain, Paul, myself, and Ivan—still ate together.
After much pleading, I was allowed to eat without my hands tied to Ivan. However, I still couldn’t stop his hands, which would playfully brush against my thighs. I tried to get revenge by stroking Ivan’s thigh, but Paul caught me, and I ended up with my nose in the dishwater once more. Why was it that he never got caught when Ivan did it, but I always did? There was no greater injustice.
Then, one day, with Songbrue Port no more than three days away.
Today’s lunch menu was cream soup with plenty of herbs and pickled trout drizzled with lemon cream. The Captain boasted about how many times he had sailed the Saras River, and Paul recounted the time I tried to wrestle a cow and nearly broke my back, earning me a kick to the shin. Just as Ivan, feigning great concern, touched my waist, causing me to bury my nose in my soup and grumble again.
Suddenly, a familiar singing voice drifted from somewhere.
Crash! The dining table overturned. The Captain, who had sprung up, tumbled and rolled on the floor. The food on the table spilled everywhere. Perhaps it was fortunate that the soup had already cooled. But there was no time to check on the Captain.
Whether it was because he had gotten up so roughly, or because the Captain possessed the heaviest and most robust body among everyone present. The table leg to which Paul had been tied snapped.
And Paul bolted out the door like a canary from an open cage!
“Uh, uh.”
“Run.”
A familiar piece of cloth landed in my hand.
Ivan, who had somehow loosened his cravat, shoved the brooch and cravat together into the space between my hand and his, then ran out after Paul. We bounded up several stairs in quick strides.
What terrible timing, to have this happen during lunch. The laborers in the main hall were writhing amidst the overturned tables. Their appearances, smeared with soup and mashed trout, were a sight too gruesome to behold. They all struggled to untie the knots around their ankles, but the sailor’s knot, used for securing anchors, wouldn’t come undone with mere pulling and scratching.
As I ran, I scanned for anyone seriously injured, but Ivan commanded in a voice like a knife’s edge.
“Look left.”
“Yes.”
“Thirteen on the right.”
“Left, eleven. All accounted for.”
“There’s really only one missing.”
It was unbelievable. I didn’t know when he had learned to run so fast. Paul, dangling the broken table leg, leaped onto the deck and grabbed the railing, looking out towards the distance. A round island, shimmering gold, came into view at the end of Paul’s gaze.
A terribly beautiful melody struck my ears.
Ahhh, ahhh. Ahhhhh.
And, splash.
Ivan didn’t hesitate for a single moment. Leaning against me at an angle, he tied one end of a rope, which had been draped over the railing, around his waist and the other end to the railing.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“I have to save him.”
“What? No, I—”
“Watch, and as soon as I grab that person, pull immediately. Even if you can’t see, when I pull twice, you pull. I’m lighter than you, and you’re stronger, so I’m entrusting this to you. Can you do it?”
No.
“I love you, Eric Bikoff. I’ll be back soon.”
No, you bastard.
Ivan didn’t wait for my answer. Clutching his cravat, which was now solely in my hand, I looked down. Paul, who couldn’t swim well, was nowhere to be seen, and only the end of the rope that had been around Ivan’s waist was submerged in the sea far below.
Did he catch him? Not yet?
I quickly wrapped the cravat I was holding around my neck and tied it. It felt crooked, but I didn’t have time to care. I held the rope tightly and waited. Twice. He said he’d pull twice. Was this it? No, was this it? This was…
Ahhh. Ahhhhhh. Ahh. Ahhhhh.
Damn it, I’m going crazy. I wish they’d just shut up.
Ahhh. Ahhh. Ahhh. Ahh. Ahhhhh.
Please. Bring them back.
An eternity of seconds, or perhaps minutes, passed. Thump, thump. I quickly wrapped the tugging rope around my arms and pulled. Even for me, dragging the weight of two people wasn’t easy. But from somewhere, a superhuman strength turned me into an Ogre.
Thud, thud. The sound of people colliding with the side of the ship was horrific. Both of them, dangling from the end of the rope, were flailing as if trying to swim away. Ivan’s clear face was looking far away, not at me, and his left arm, damn it, his arm was twisted unnaturally.
Ivan had simply wrapped the rope around Paul’s ankle around his left arm and shoved his other arm inside Paul’s shirt, binding them together. Ivan was coming up right-side up, and Paul was upside down. Still, it was a relief that both were alive and struggling. For now, I tied them securely to the largest mast I could find.
The voices of the water spirits, who had failed to claim their offering, grew louder. I ran wildly across the deck. I spun the helm and mashed buttons. Was it 3371254? No, 3375524. As Ivan had instructed, I tapped the buttons with a loud clatter. Then, whirr, the ship’s horn sounded.
The Eldos Ho turned in the right direction and began to move. I gripped the helm tightly. My palms, scraped by the rope, were stinging and bleeding. My ears were still ringing. They both made it back alive, right? I didn’t know. Tears just streamed down my face. What Ivan had said before falling into the sea was truly, terribly… terrible, and then terrible again.
It was enough to drive someone mad.
When everyone had regained their senses, the surroundings were such a mess that the shock was even greater than before.
The sight of people crushed under the fallen table, the wounds from broken dishes, and the appearance of those covered in mashed food only amplified the misery.
Since there weren’t enough Medical Artifacts, only those with broken bones or sprained ligaments were treated; the rest were given a little ointment and sent away. Everyone was terrified and huddled together, men with men and women with women, to wash in a single bathroom.
The most severely injured among them was, of course, Ivan Bikoff.
His left arm was completely broken. He had also taken several blows to his cheeks and jaw while wrestling with Paul. The bruises on his back and thighs, from colliding with the ship, were even gruesome. Although treated with a Healing Artifact, a Type 3 Healing Artifact could mend flesh and bone but couldn’t completely eliminate pain. That’s why I was still sad.
Facing me, Ivan calmly uttered such nonsense.
“It took 26 minutes.”
“…For what?”
“For the strange Magic to begin and for us to escape. This time, being on deck, I could watch the island disappear with my own eyes. The first time this happened, it took 34 minutes.”
“…Ah.”
“Still, it’s fortunate I brought the Medical Artifacts. Otherwise, I might have been speaking with a lisp for a while. When I came to my senses in the water, I bit my tongue, and it stung more than my arm.”
So what? I clenched my teeth and refused to look up. Ivan tilted his head, trying to peer into my face, then tapped my hand with his fingertips.
“…”
“Will you give me a kiss, my love?”
“…No.”
“Stop being angry. It was my fault.”
“…”
Do you even know what you did wrong?
“No, but how could I just leave him when he’s your friend?”
“…I know. You did well.”
“Eric.”
“…Don’t call me that.”
“Darling.”
“This is really…!”
The moment I bristled and looked up, a kiss touched and then departed my lips, leaving me speechless again. Ivan, knowing I was weak against his smiling face, grinned and leaned his forehead against my shoulder. Unable to push him away or embrace him, I remained still, and he whispered softly.
“I was wrong.”
“…”
“Last time, and now. My confession timing was a bit off, wasn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
“That was the only thing I could think of at that moment.”
“…”
“It wasn’t good. I admit it.”
“Yes. It wasn’t cool at all.”
“To be this resolute… it’s the first time I’ve seen it…”
“It was truly, truly not cool.”
“Alright. Because I was wrong… stop crying.”
“…Damn it, really… If you do it again, I’ll kill you.”
“Alright, alright. Then I’ll die by your hand.”
I knew it was useless to get any angrier. In truth, I didn’t know of a better way either. Was it because Ivan had repeatedly taught me how to steer the ship that he thought something like this might happen someday?
The outcome was good, so I wanted to laugh it off and consider it all good, but it wasn’t easy. The doubt that had settled in a corner of my heart vanished as if it were a lie, leaving no trace.
Ivan smiled and whispered in my ear again.
“I love you.”
I gritted my teeth and didn’t answer. It felt like losing if I answered now.
But inside, I was screaming and cursing loudly. I know you love me now. But you damn fool, you don’t seem to know it, but I love you too. So take care of yourself. …Please, save me.
Swallowing all those words, I simply embraced the man who wriggled and burrowed into my arms.
“…Honeymoon.”
“Yes.”
“We’re not coming a second time.”
“…What?”
Don’t laugh, you bastard. You’ll make me fond of you.
…Is it too late already…