Chapter 382

I stirred and gently melted the white sugar granules into the red tea water. Ivan, who was blankly watching that sight together with me, suddenly asked.

“Does saying you met a god mean you heard an oracle? And where are Marianne and Benjamin.”

“…Didn’t you say earlier in front of Ruben that you specifically didn’t want to pry?”

“At that time, I had to speak like that out of etiquette. Moreover, aren’t there things I heard today too?”

I read worry in Ivan’s calm gaze.

Benjamin and Marianne were exceedingly close people to me, and also had a close and intimate relationship with Ivan. During the entire three years attending the Academy, we stuck together, studied together, ate meals, and shared our daily lives. We were used to rejoicing together in happy matters and grieving together in sad matters, examining and taking care of each other.

“Black mages are attacking the Cieron Empire, and Michael is going to gather divine relics to dispatch a god; honestly, it doesn’t feel real. If I weren’t close to Michael, it would be news I couldn’t have heard. Because I merely knew that there was a large-scale monster subjugation.”

“…That’s….”

“Even now, I think words like divine relics, black mages, and gods are stories that would only appear in fairy tales, and I don’t have much interest in them. But I must hear news of my friends who are not right in front of my eyes now.”

Ivan’s words are correct, it wasn’t something to specifically hide either. Even if Marianne or Benjamin were in this place, they would have returned the same answer.

I opened the preamble by saying the Ranunculus I sent to the holy site of the Sun hasn’t arrived yet, and therefore I don’t know detailed news.

“According to the message from Felix, it seems both of them have safely evacuated to the holy site of the Sun well, but…. I’m not sure. The entire group was scattered as the cave we were all in collapsed.”

“The cave collapsed?”

“Yes. While trying to dispatch the black mages, it collapsed along with the cave containing the altar, so Ruben and I fell behind. That is also a reason we came to Yulan. Because I thought we could hear news of our group members the fastest and safest here.”

Ivan was a guy who knew very well how to converse with me. Even if I answered intermittently, he understood well, and he picked only the items he thought he couldn’t infer and asked straightforwardly to seek the next answer. The guy asked again with a serious expression.

“What do you mean you saw a god? Did only Michael see it separately?”

“All the group members directly saw the manifestation of the God of the Sun. He had the appearance of a massive Makrir.”

“Makrir? Was that side holding a divine relic or something?”

“No, that’s not it. To begin with, I heard that there are only two divine relics wandering around right now…. They said a divine relic is something the first goddess made and distributed to humans. The God of the Sun doesn’t seem to be particularly involved with the divine relics.”

Talking about this led to that, and talking about that dragged out stories from our school days. There were truly many funny stories and nostalgic stories. When taking the camping class, I never imagined crossing the Saturn Desert. This and that, it is something to be thankful for.

Somehow, I heard the story of what kind of flowers Ivan used and which priest he called for his wedding, and also listened to Ivan boasting about his spouse for a long time. He said Baron Bikoff’s Spouse has good athletic ability and swims quite well. I also heard about a good beach for sea bathing in Yulan.

I suggested how about teaching his spouse the sword and got scolded, and heard that when they go to the capital, the Ivan couple plans to adopt a child of the Eldos family and give them successor education. I also had many things I was curious about regarding successor adoption. We asked and answered this and that again.

I thought we would stop talking after thirty or forty minutes, but as we unraveled our accumulated feelings, a few hours easily passed.

When I greeted him saying let’s stop and sleep now and left the reception room, it was already deep dawn. The cold dawn air dashed from the other side of the corridor and scratched my cheek. I found an open window and closed it.

The subtle moonlight engraved a grate pattern on the floor carpet.

While heading to the room where Ruben would be sleeping, my chest gradually sank heavily. I stopped my steps several times as Ivan’s words rang in my ears like mosquito sounds.

Didn’t he say Ruber being anxious looked exactly like a posture of being wary of him?

I also knew well that the child had a lot of jealousy. Since the Academy days, Ruben was jealous of various guys around me. He had said it with his own mouth. Ruben was jealous of Shaden, and jealous of Bill Brown too. I only realized this time that that was the reason why Ruben and Ivan were awkward with each other.

Even before, I thought I should take good care of him since Ruben originally has a very jealous nature. However, I didn’t even dream that the child’s envy and jealousy were all because of me.

I recalled the day Ruben groomed himself in the Indus Canyon. Just for the reason of looking good to me, the child took a great risk. Because I didn’t give Ruben certainty, he fretted over something like that…

Why is it that other guys know all those inner thoughts just by glancing once, when it is only difficult in my eyes. I forced myself to suppress the sigh about to pour out. I carefully opened the door so that the sleeping Ruben wouldn’t wake up.

Ruben was awake.

He was sitting at the desk where the bed could be seen in an upright posture. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He definitely must have heard the sign of someone’s presence, yet he didn’t look this way. I wondered if he was looking at documents or something, but the desk was neat. Even washing my eyes and looking, not a single piece of paper could be found. Puzzled, I unavoidably asked.

“Why are you not sleeping and.”

“…I said, I would wait.”

Ruben’s voice was deeply husky.

Only then did a chill run down my spine. The face of Ruben biting his lip in distress one spring day came to mind.

I took a large stride and stood in front of the desk that was wide on both sides. Even after I stood facing the child at a close distance, Ruben didn’t raise his head. I looked at the end of the child’s gaze together with him. Instead of documents, a hand-span long box was placed on the desk.

“…This is.”

“It’s yours.”

I opened the box without a word. …It was fragrant oil. What I, had requested from Ruben.

Ruben still didn’t raise his gaze.

The child’s voice continuously being husky weighs on my mind. During the entire time moving from Owen to the Saturn Desert, Ruben never showed this kind of appearance even once. It is truly difficult. It is only fortunate that Ruben didn’t imagine placing Benjamin and Marianne by my side.

I placed the tip of my index finger on top of the fragrant oil bottle. At that cool sensation, my breath somehow became increasingly stifled.

I leaned on the desk with my right hand and bent my upper body; I was curious about Ruben’s face. I wanted to look into it a little more. I wanted to altogether take out the child’s inner thoughts like jewels spread out on a stall and examine them thoroughly.

“Ruben.”

“….”

However, Ruben didn’t even budge.

So I grasped the hand the child didn’t give me.

Ivan Bikoff said I am like a dog waiting in front of a chunk of meat.

Indeed, an incredible insight. I needed to be a docile and obedient dog. I had to become a loyal dog protecting this beautiful child well so his heart wouldn’t get hurt.

Even without the child ordering, I pressed my lips to those fingertips. Ruben didn’t shake off my hand. I kissed and exhaled breath on the round joint at the tip of his thumb, the prominent knuckle in the middle of his index finger, the folding inner part of his middle finger, and the part where a ring would touch at the bottom of his ring finger.

Only then did the child raise his head. That face was already red. The tightly closed lips out of disappointment were the same, but his black eyes sparkled brightly with joy. That face was so cute that I unconsciously smiled, and the child let out a sulky voice.

“…Mika, I am…. not used to the act of waiting for someone.”

He is not getting angry, it’s a complaint full of acting like a spoiled child. I stopped smiling and immediately apologized.

“I am sorry.”

“…Hah….”

Then Ruben left the hand caught by me as it was and covered his face with his other hand. Swallowing deeply the long exhaled breath, he altogether slumped down on the desk. The hair tied high poured down to one side and became disheveled. My gaze directly touched Ruben’s red ear and nape.

The child mumbled, revealing only a very little bit of his profile like that.

“…Still, I will keep waiting. So… just come back like this.”

“…Yes.”

It tickled as if I swallowed down.

Hiding my boiling inner thoughts, I quietly, quietly swept the back of the child’s hand with the tip of my thumb.

Ruben was quiet the whole time. I wanted to smile for him this time, but a smile wouldn’t easily come out.

Not even knowing what I want to ask, how can he give me the answer I want to hear?

I was just in the middle of resolving that I should send Ruben back to the capital.

If the place I have to go becomes clear, and I become able to attach trustworthy guards to Ruben, I thought it would be the right thing to definitely escort the child to the safe rear, the precious palace of the Cieron capital.

I don’t know why Wesley Kiadris is still keeping Ruben and me alive. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] The Emperor is an entity receiving the love of the first goddess, and the Imperial Palace is the space where he stays, so I only guess that would be a great stumbling block.

Separate from that, an unexpected worry sat like indigestion.

By any chance, even by a very slight chance. What if the child harbors someone else in his heart while I am not by his side?

I no longer had the confidence to look at Ruben’s bride and child with a nonchalant face. If such a thing happened, I thought I would have to quit being an Imperial Palace Knight or whatever and live holed up in the Ehrenhart County. But again, isn’t living my whole life without seeing Ruben’s face too harsh for me?

Does Ruben’s anxiety also come in this way? Are these anxiety symptoms also affection? Even if I was curious, I couldn’t ask. I was just in the midst of chewing over a sorrowful future with our hands clasped like that for a long time.

The child let go of my hand.

I was wondering if he was going to bed now, but Ruben pulled the box placed in front of him and grasped it. Ruben, with a determined expression, stared up at me. The cheeks of the child, who had been lying on the cold desk for a long time, were still flushed.

“Then, go wash up and come now. I’ll teach you how to use this.”

“…Yes?”

Teach me what?

Is there a separate way to use fragrant oil?

Even after entering the bathroom attached to the side room unable to overcome Ruben’s urging, I was dumbfounded.

Growing up in a noble family, I had already used something similar to that several times. I also saw Ruben use fragrant oil several times. Usually, mixing it in washing water to give off a scent, or applying it to a dry body after washing completely to add luster to the skin, or applying it to wet hair to make a slick luster circulate, was all.

What other method is there besides that for him to step up to teach me.

Suddenly, a vain thought flared up, so I poured cold water instead of hot water over my head. Losing one’s mind has a limit, I don’t know where I dropped the heart that was desperately longing for the person in front of my eyes until just now to be in this state.

Come to think of it, even when Ruben tied his hair, he didn’t tie it all at once. The sight of him dividing the hair into two or three sections to tie it, making the tail of the hair rise high so it fluttered every time he walked, was truly beautiful. Even when tying just a common knot, he was good at twisting and tying it this way and that to decorate it stylishly.

In the Young Count Ehrenhart’s residence, I learned nothing other than letters and the sword. It seems my grooming skills looked lacking in Ruben’s eyes. Still, having the desire to look good to the child, I made up my mind to diligently learn whatever it is before the child’s heart distances itself from me.

Swallowing an empty laugh, I finished rinsing my body.