To fulfill his sinister desires, I slipped a ring onto my left hand, specifically on my ring finger.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
The Master raised my hand to admire the ring for a while, her lips curling up in a pleased smile.
A truly beautiful sight.
Gazing at her, despite not having any children yet, a smile that felt like a father’s crept onto my face.
The Master, still smiling at me, said,
“Put it on me yourself. Thank you.”
As she said this, she patted my head.
Her smooth, soft fingers danced gently across my forehead.
Each joint of her fingers left traces of my hair as they glided by.
“…”
As a result, my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth twitched, but…
I forced myself to hold that back and opened my mouth, which was having a hard time cooperating.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“What’s nothing? A thank you is a thank you.”
Seeing the Master’s innocent, bright smile lifted my spirits.
…Of course, I did feel a little guilty about how much like a child she seemed to enjoy it.
I had said it didn’t mean anything to her, but…
That couldn’t be true.
The left hand’s ring finger certainly held a lot of significance.
…For example, it could symbolize something between lovers.
Having lived secluded in the mountains for so long, the Master was blissfully unaware and I felt a tinge of guilt for deceiving her just to satiate my own wicked desires.
But this was her fault, after all.
I had no need to feel guilty.
Besides, I had my own justification for this act.
In the past, the Master had said that ignorance is a sin.
So I could argue this was a small atonement.
And eventually, I would properly slip the ring on her myself.
I could just think of this as a little sample, right?
Thus, I felt my lips curving up alongside the Master’s.
“…”
But that feeling soon settled down.
“Ahem…! Isn’t the bond between a master and disciple a bit too good?”
A man sitting opposite the Master had been irksome.
“Hmm… I thought it was normal…”
“Is that so…?”
The Master replied, briefly chewing on her lips, and the man tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
He furrowed his brow.
The Master, who was generally indifferent to others, might not have been known by him, but it seemed like he had something weighing on his mind.
‘And that something is probably…’
I glanced at the ring wrapped around the Master’s ring finger,
the other ring was still sitting untouched in its box.
‘…It must be related to that.’
Somehow, a sense of realization crept in, and I bit down hard on my lip.
…That cockroach.
As my emotions intensified, my grip on the armrest of the chair tightened, and veins popped out.
“Nameless?”
Noticing my strange behavior, the Master tilted her head slightly in confusion.
“Is something wrong?”
“…”
The Master leaned closer to me, her eyes wide.
Normally, I would have tried to engage in conversation to take in her presence longer, but her worried gaze made me stammer a bit before I said,
“…It’s nothing.”
I shook my head slightly.
There were certainly many things I wanted to say to the Master, but…
I just couldn’t open my mouth.
I suddenly questioned why my emotions were so stirred.
Usually, I wouldn’t care much even if someone crossed the line.
After all, I wouldn’t want to show the Master a bad side, would I?
So, I thought carefully about how to act, weighing my words.
But.
Right now, I found it strangely hard to control my emotions.
If it was just emotional instability, it would be understandable.
After all, this was concerning the Master, wasn’t it?
It made sense for my feelings to be heightened.
But.
The strange thing was, I hadn’t noticed a thing until the Master looked worried like that.
This was clearly strange.
Also, my chest felt tight.
I furrowed my brow and placed my hand on my chest.
‘…Why is this happening?’
It wasn’t like the ticklish feeling I usually felt when with the Master.
It was more like I couldn’t breathe.
I had a feeling these kinds of things had been happening more frequently lately…
The only thing that came to mind was that my attitude toward the Master had been getting lighter.
That I was prioritizing my own desires rather than thinking of the Master.
But the reason eluded me, and I kept my mouth shut.
As I sank into thought like that, the Master pulled away from me.
“Hmm, right.”
Even though there was still worry in her eyes, she seemed to have no intention of pushing the matter further since I said I was fine.
…Though for some reason, it felt like her gaze lingered a bit longer around my chest.
I simply felt a twinge of guilt at the Master’s image and closed my eyes.
Still, I felt awful, nearly the worst.
I would rather take the Master and flee from this place immediately.
‘…It’ll be fine, won’t it?’
I quietly looked at the man.
*
As the conversation continued, it seemed to be nearing its end.
To summarize the discussions I had had with the Emperor so far…
The Emperor would keep proposing things even if I declined,
and I simply turned down his suggestions out of sheer annoyance.
It felt like a rather shallow summary, but the overall flow was accurate.
But that was just until a moment ago; now it was different.
“…I understand.”
The Emperor, seemingly having given up, nodded and leaned back in his chair.
…Is it finally over?
I, too, weary of the lengthy conversation, sagged back in my chair.
So I could finally go home…?
For some reason, immersed in emotion, I turned to look at Nameless, wanting to share this feeling.
To which Nameless smiled lightly and placed her hand atop my head.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Aren’t you glad too?”
With the Emperor around, my voice was low enough for only the two of us to hear.
“Yes, indeed.”
Nameless pulled her chair a bit closer and began curling a lock of my hair around her finger.
…This might end up touching my hair soon.
Of course, physical contact was something that happened often, but I thought of my unkempt hair and distanced myself a bit from Nameless.
At that, her expression froze as if she had been shocked.
Well, thinking back, it seemed like Nameless had been more touchy recently.
But, it was probably just my imagination.
Not wanting to dwell too much, I turned my gaze back to the Emperor.
To fully wrap up the conversation.
“Is your business finished?”
“Not quite.”
The Emperor nodded and stroked his beard before glancing back at me.
…His lips were curving up.
Was it not finished yet?
This guy always came up with some ridiculous proposals at this point, didn’t he?
“By any chance, do you have any special plans in two weeks?”
“…Nothing in particular.”
“In that case.”
And just as I feared, he proposed something to me once more.
“I’m thinking of holding a small banquet in honor of your reward…”
No, it was more of an announcement than a proposal.
“Will you be able to attend?”
“…”
I briefly locked eyes with the Emperor.
He had an expression that seemed to say, ‘Would you dare refuse this offer?’
For some reason, I felt my temper flare.
Of course, I could refuse the proposal, but…
Nameless’s eyes lit up a little at the mention of a banquet, showing genuine interest.
I sighed heavily and poked her in the side.
“…Do you want to go?”
“Yes, a banquet should be enjoyable, don’t you think?”
Nameless added a short disclaimer, saying it’d be fine if the Master didn’t want to go, and smiled slightly.
“Hmm…”
Well, I suppose I had no choice.
It was rare for Nameless to show interest in something.
And according to the Emperor, it was supposed to be a small banquet, so it shouldn’t be too bad, right?
Surely I wouldn’t get dragged into more annoying activities…
As I was about to nod to answer the waiting Emperor, I heard Nameless mumble softly.
“…I’ll just make sure to do it there.”
“…?”
What exactly did she mean by “do it there”…?
A small question arose, but I didn’t pay it much mind.
Nameless wouldn’t do anything to harm me; I often mumbled to myself too.
It was best just to ignore it for both our sakes.
I nodded once more and turned back to the Emperor.
“Well, I suppose that’s fine.”
“Well thought out!”
The Emperor replied with a smile that I’d never seen before.
Seeing him smile like that made me truly regret my choice, but I held on, thinking of Nameless’s smile.
As the conversation wrapped up and I was about to get up to leave, the Emperor spoke up again.
“I’ll have the details conveyed through a servant; is that alright?”
“Hmm, there’s no reason to refuse.”
Similarly, I nodded and ran my hand over my forehead.
…For some reason, it felt like the time to return to our cabin was dragging on endlessly.
