Robot Protection Zone Chapter 81

“Lie down.”

“Master, I’ll just sleep on the sofa….”

“I said lie down. I’m not going to do anything.”

“……”

The Master stared at me with low, sunken eyes.

I cautiously gauged his mood. His blue eyes were blazing. It seemed like he would get angry if I insisted any further.

I had no choice but to lie on the bed, positioning myself as close to the edge as possible and turning my back to him. I could feel his piercing gaze on me, as if he was displeased with my actions. A moment later, the Master silently lay down beside me.

Soon, the light went out.

I slowly blinked my eyes in the darkness. The bed was so wide that we could barely feel each other’s warmth. Even though I was lying in the same bed as the Master, it felt as if I were alone.

A slight sense of disappointment and a very small touch of bitterness lingered. If I just moved a little closer, I could at least fall asleep listening to the sound of his breathing….

I was about to unconsciously turn over when I suddenly came to my senses.

‘What am I thinking right now….’

I hurriedly shook my head and returned my body to its original position.

But my body kept trying to turn toward the Master, against my will. If I fell asleep like this, I might end up in his arms again in my sleep.

I have to give up on my feelings for the Master, but this won’t change anything.

Making a firm decision, I quietly picked up my pillow. Then I gently placed it down between the Master and myself.

“…What are you doing?”

The Master must have opened his eyes at the rustling sound. And the moment he discovered the pillow placed next to him, his face crumpled into a deep frown.

The pillow was so big that its silhouette made it look like another person was lying between the Master and me. Thinking that the Master might be offended if I told him the real reason, I made a clumsy excuse.

“I was worried I might toss and turn in my sleep. So you don’t have to worry about it, Master….”

“……”

The Master looked at me as if he was dumbfounded, then reached his hand toward the pillow that separated us.

“Ah, the pillow…!”

The Master snatched the pillow and threw it. I heard the sound of the pillow flying to the corner of the room, hitting the wall, and then falling to the floor.

As I reached my hand in the direction the pillow had been thrown, the Master grabbed my arm and pulled. Pulled by a force that was neither strong nor weak, I ended up in a firm and warm embrace.

“Didi.”

The Master buried his face in my shoulder and murmured my name in a low voice.

“How long… are you going to keep this distance.”

“I, I….”

My breath caught in my throat, and I couldn’t say a word. I could only manage shallow breaths, not even finding the courage to turn my head.

After a long silence, I finally managed to open my mouth.

“Master, as I told you yesterday… I no longer love you… mmph!”

Before I could finish my sentence, a soft sensation engulfed my lips.

A large palm cupped the back of my head. Along with the heat transmitted from his fingertips, a warm breath settled onto my lips. His slightly rough lips pressed lightly against the corners of my mouth, as if rubbing them.

“Euhh… uht….”

A fine tremor spread through my entire body. The kiss, the first in a long time, was dizzyingly sweet and so enchanting it made my mind go blank.

A hot piece of flesh licked my lips as if asking me to open my mouth. I was about to open them without realizing it, but I snapped to my senses and hurriedly pushed the Master away.

“Y-You can’t do this…!”

My breathing was extremely ragged due to the lingering sensation on my lips and my confused heart. I wiped the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and forced myself to continue speaking.

“You said you weren’t someone who does things like this with a robot….”

I said that and then shut my mouth tightly. My chest ached. The person most hurt by the words I had just spoken was me.

I couldn’t see the Master’s expression properly in the darkness. But I could clearly feel that he was looking down at me in silence. The Master’s gaze, his breath, even the heavy silence that flowed between us. It was all directed at me.

I suddenly became afraid to hear the answer that would follow.

I hastily pulled away from the Master’s embrace and turned my back to him. Then I pressed my body tightly against the edge of the bed and pulled the blanket up over my head.

I squeezed my eyes shut, just hoping to fall asleep quickly. As I held my breath and tried to sleep, I felt an arm carefully reaching out from behind me.

It embraced me very slowly, as if asking for permission. I could have avoided it or pushed it away, but I couldn’t. As I remained still and stiff without a word, the Master’s arm carefully pulled me into a hug.

“Then… allow me this much.”

“……”

My lips felt as if they were glued shut and wouldn’t part. The corners of my eyes stung a little.

For some reason, I felt like I was going to cry.

As always, my eyes opened on their own around sunrise.

A firm arm was still wrapped around my waist. For a moment, I wanted to pretend I knew nothing and just close my eyes again, but….

I quietly slipped out of the Master’s embrace. Fortunately, he was in a deep sleep, so it wasn’t difficult to release the arm that was holding me.

Even in his sleep with his eyes still closed, the Master’s face was slightly furrowed. Perhaps it was because of his messy hair.

I reached out to brush away the golden strands that were tickling the corners of his eyes, but then I quickly withdrew my hand. He might wake up from just my small touch.

I gazed at the Master’s face for a moment before leaving the bedroom. Then I perched on the sofa and sat there, doing nothing, quietly waiting for the Master to wake up.

Bzzzz.

I was passing the time without even turning on the TV, worried it might wake the Master, when a vibration sounded from somewhere. My smartphone had been missing since I returned to the Master’s side, so it wasn’t mine.

That meant the source of this vibration was the Master’s smartphone….

The vibration coming from inside the bedroom showed no sign of stopping. I hesitated for a moment, then got up from my seat.

As I entered the room, I saw the Master sleeping without a single stir. And on the nightstand, his smartphone was continuously vibrating.

If it was an alarm, I was going to turn it off and wake the Master myself. But what was displayed on the screen was not an alarm, but a phone call.

[Thomas]

I saw the caller’s name and thought for a moment.

If it was Thomas, would it be okay for me to answer the phone? If it was an urgent matter, I could wake the Master and hand him the phone, and if not, I could just pass on the message when he woke up.

With that in mind, I answered the call.

— William, don’t tell me you made me work overtime and are planning to skip work again today?

As soon as I answered, I heard Thomas’s familiar voice. I cleared my raspy throat and spoke.

“Mr. Thomas, it’s Didi.”

— Didi…?

“The Master is sleeping right now….”

I said, glancing at the still-sleeping Master. Thomas replied from the other end of the line.

— William’s asleep? Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped. It’s probably been a while since he’s slept, so let him be.

“Yes….”

— By the way, are you okay? I was shocked when William brought you in a few days ago, you were covered in injuries.

Ah… I didn’t have any memory of it, but I could guess. It seemed that after finding me collapsed and powered off at my former master’s mansion, the Master had taken me straight to Thomas.

In that case, Thomas would know everything that happened without me having to explain all the complicated details. He must have been with the Master during the time I was gone. He might even know more than I did, having only returned to the Master’s side two days ago.

“I think… I’m okay.”

— You do? That’s a relief.

Seeing as he immediately asked about my condition after I told him the Master was asleep, it seemed it wasn’t an urgent matter. In that case, this call would probably end soon. But there was something I had to ask before that.

“Is Eve okay?”

— Ah, don’t worry about that. She’ll be repaired soon. The product we’ll be using for Eve’s main body is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

I let out a small sigh of relief at Thomas’s answer.

So what the Master had said about being able to repair her within three days wasn’t a lie to reassure me. The thought that I would be able to see Eve sooner than expected made my heart feel a little lighter.

— Sorry, I was going to have her repaired before you came back, but I forgot while I was dealing with the fallout from William suddenly canceling the new product launch.

“What? The new product launch was canceled?”

— Oh, you didn’t know? William….

Just as Thomas was about to continue his answer, the smartphone in my hand suddenly disappeared. Surprised, I turned my head to find the Master, who had woken up at some point, standing behind me. In his hand was the smartphone I had been holding just a moment ago.

Thomas was still saying something on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t hear the exact words.

“Thomas, I’ll call you back later.”

The Master said in a low voice and ended the call.