Ch. 201
“Not at all! It has nothing to do with me.”
“Hm? I just wanted to see your face for the first time in a while.”
He acted like he’d do anything, then slipped away from my reach in an instant.
Taking Ash’s necklace off was harder than hanging a bell on a dragon’s neck. Assuming that dragon was a Magi.
“That won’t do. Enk and Gale will be back soon.”
“Tch, I save your life and this is what I get.”
“You said clearly it would be just once before….”
“Sigh, this is why saving a black-haired beast is pointless. I went and saved you. Saved you with all that trouble. Aigo, head, shoulders, knees, arms. I must’ve lost too much blood—I think I’m anemic.”
Pretending to feel dizzy and touching my forehead once was all it took.
“…Wait, if that’s the case.”
As expected, wickedness triumphs over righteousness.
I managed to prick Ash’s conscience and get what I wanted.
We stopped under the shadow of a secluded tree before leaving the forest, and Ash once again removed his necklace.
It was always done cautiously and secretly.
What could I say—he acted like someone who could live fine without laws, yet every time he broke this important rule to take off his necklace, I felt an inexplicable satisfaction.
It might be an arrogant desire to confirm that I was special to him.
Of course, seeing those vivid golden eyes was also pleasant. They were more beautiful than the moon in the night sky.
Yes, now I understood.
Ash resembled the night sky of Heidrike.
I toyed with his dark black hair, looked into his eyes, and finally said what I’d always wanted to say.
My little friend—who had grown up without me noticing, and somewhere along the way became a man.
“Ash. I’m really glad you’re alive.”
“…Geenie.”
“Why? Fell for me again? Saying you like me and all… when did you get this big.” (T/N: Errrr, please dirty mind go away. lol)
Touching Ash’s clear cheek to feel the warmth was also my way of confirming I hadn’t been wrong. A small pride that I’d saved him.
“You’re wrong.”
“Huh?”
“I… I’m in love with you. Not just liking you… I want to be your slave if I have to. I can’t stand it.”
While listening to those words, I didn’t know what to say back.
Hearing that confession trapped me in place and left me a little confused.
Kids don’t say things like this. My little friend shouldn’t be looking at me with that burning heat in his eyes. Ash shouldn’t be…
“I… don’t know what love is.”
“I learned after meeting you.” (T/N: NGL, that was smooth as butter.)
“Even if you say you love me, I only think ‘Okay.’ That’s it. I don’t feel anything.”
Ash had already clasped my right hand, the one that had been touching his cheek.
Men’s hands were really big.
“That’s enough. As long as you don’t dislike me and forbid me from holding you in my heart… for now, that’s enough.”
“Your dreams are pretty small.”
“Geenie, I’m someone who dreams of becoming an emperor. And I dream of the most ideal world. Do you think a person like me has small dreams?”
“…Well, when you put it that way.”
“What feels more impossible than that is earning your heart.”
Would it really be harder?
I thought it, but didn’t say it aloud. I just stared at Ash’s face, which looked different from usual.
How could his eyes burn like that? How could he speak as if each word were a vow with those firmly set lips?
I couldn’t take my eyes off his tension-filled face.
A man filled only with thoughts of me, with no room to spare—that face was surprisingly to my liking.
As I stared without blinking, Ash lowered his gaze like he was surrendering, released my hand, and weakly moved his lips.
“This is how it is. Your feelings and mine are going in different directions. So I can only wait. Even right now, I want to kiss you… but you… aren’t thinking anything like that.”
“No. I think about it a lot.”
“That’s not thinking about me, though.”
“Mm, true. I usually think about myself.”
I felt sorry for Ash because even I knew I had no sense for romance. I understood in my head that hearts should race at times like this, but that was the end of it.
Instead, I had other things.
Curiosity, goodwill, and possessiveness.
“But you know, Ash? If you wanted to give me a grateful kiss, I don’t think I’d get mad.”
“…What…?”
“Wanna do it?”
“What… what am… I supposed to do…?”
“A kiss you give to your lifesaver. I’ll accept that much. How about it?”
Ash looked like se was seriously doubting what he’d just heard.
His eyes darting left and right said everything.
“You said you wanted to kiss me. Go on. Preferably on the lips.”
I brightened my eyes and leaned in. To avoid confusing him, I decided to teach him clearly.
I pressed my index finger against my lower lip and smiled, showing my intent.
I knew it was sudden, but Ash had started it.
“Go on.”
When I urged again, Ash stepped back with his lips falling open.
“You’re… joking, right? Is it fun? Playing with my feelings like this?”
“Caught me.”
I was curious what a kiss felt like, and whether it was really as soul-shaking as people claimed.
Since he liked me so much, giving him a kiss wasn’t that big of a deal.
Besides, lips don’t wear out.
I wanted to try it once, just for the experience.
The problem was that whatever I thought was apparently written all over my face, because Ash began getting angry.
“Isn’t this too much? Even if it’s you… I’m serious. Don’t treat my sincerity lightly just because of your whims. Even if you don’t accept my heart, please treasure it. Geenie.”
“I am treasuring it. That’s why I’m giving you a kiss.”
“Geenie!”
“What’s the problem? You were the one who said you wanted to.”
Some countries even used kisses as greetings. Why was it such a big deal?
Ash, unlike me, was far too earnest.
Thinking you must love someone to kiss them was something straight out of a fairy tale.
“This isn’t what I want.”
“So, you’re not doing it?”
Ash’s face was more clearly visible than usual from my higher position on horseback. I could now see subtle changes I’d never noticed before.
He struggled, suffocated, then firmly refused.
“Not like this. Unless the moment is true for both of us…!”
Stubborn boy.
That only made me want it more.
A pure man’s first kiss—how tempting.
[Ugh, demon… Ash is going to cry at this rate.]
[You told me to see him as a man, didn’t you? Who knows? Maybe once we kiss, I’ll see him differently. And most of all… I like Ash. I’m marking him while I can.]
[That’s literally saliva!]
[Exactly!]
My plan was perfect.
I’d satisfy my curiosity, and I’d keep the obedient prince in my net.
The only obstacle was that Ash wasn’t easy prey.
So I decided to try a different method. I let my golden hair fall over my shoulders and leaned closer.
As he confessed earlier, I confessed too.
“This is my first kiss.”
Ash froze mid-retreat.
“You really won’t?”
“I… uh…”
“What if another man is beside me when my whim flickers? Can you guarantee there won’t ever be someone more charming, kind, obedient, and exactly my type than you?”
I understood. Men were adorable. When they couldn’t overcome their feelings for me, when something in them bent and they fell to me—that moment was delightful.
I reached toward Ash, who was collapsing inside.
I touched the tip of his chin, then traced his real face—his nose and cheek—while laughing softly.
“Ash, what does kissing someone you like feel like?”
“…I can’t say.”
“Hm? Teach me. I’ll kiss you.”
I was curious.
Whispering, I brought my face closer. Then our lips overlapped. So naturally that I didn’t know who moved first.
But I could feel through our lips how tense Ash was.
Since I was slightly higher on horseback, I had to lean down, and Ash had to lift his chin.
His fingertips tucked my hair behind my ear and gently cupped my cheek.
I liked that touch.
Closing my eyes, I wondered.
Who was kissing whom? Me, or Ash? The one trembling was obvious.
Touching lips wasn’t much of an act. But that strange flow—making us press our lips together again—was more stimulating.
Even when we parted, the look in his eyes was dazed, and I found myself kissing him once more.
I parted my lips slowly, realizing it felt better when slow and deep. I also realized when this act truly shone.
When I felt how much the other person liked me.
When I felt how strongly they wanted me, touching me with warmth.
—
Not long after arriving at the empty house, Enk and Gale returned.
Hearing hooves break the silence, I looked out the window and saw a horse loaded with a heavy hunt.
I couldn’t not welcome a source of fresh meat.
“What did you catch?”
Leaning halfway out the door, I asked, and the two men brightened and rode straight over.
“Miss Geenie! You’re awake!”
“Thank goodness! We were so worried!”
I soothed the overly excited men once and checked what they’d caught.
Naturally, that was what interested me.
The biggest was a boar, and they had plenty of rabbits and birds too. All plump and heavy.
I couldn’t eat today since my stomach wasn’t well, but I’d be able to tomorrow or the next day.
“We didn’t know what you’d like, so we caught everything!”
“Our lifesaver likes meat, so we worked hard!”
“Gale was so fired up he nearly wiped out every beast in the forest!”
“Good job. Saving you was worth it.”
Just that much—the size of a fingernail. I made a tiny hand gesture, and they laughed before looking around.
“But where’s Ash? He was with you the whole time.”
“Yeah? He’s not someone who leaves your side.”
“There.”
I pointed out Ash, who was using some extreme stealth technique at the moment.
He was sitting in the shadow of a collapsed wall, absentmindedly wiping his sword. He’d been like that the entire time since we arrived.
In other words, ever since I kissed him.
“What’s he doing…?”
“…Why is he like that? Did something happen?”
It was obvious he was completely out of it.
Sitting in a dark corner like that, he wasn’t even actually wiping the sword. And despite Enk and Gale returning, he hadn’t moved a muscle.
“I don’t know.”
“…”
I shrugged lightly, but Enk and Gale didn’t believe me.