In reality, Basileon’s left eye reminded me of a rose burning red. His curly hair fluttered in the night breeze under the moonlight. I slowly crept closer, taking in Basileon’s presence.
“Beautiful!”
“…Are you talking about the roses?”
“You’re the one I’m talking about!”
“Don’t you have any other compliments?”
You used 〈Interaction〉 on 〈Rose〉.
〈Remaining uses: 0〉
I used the skill that can only be used once a day to catch a rose. Then, I tucked it into Basileon’s ear.
“…What are you doing?”
“Then, how about ‘elegant’? Or… ‘captivating’!”
I could see Basileon’s ears and face turning red in real time.
“I’m a man, Evien. Expressions like that are a bit…”
“What does it matter? If something’s beautiful, you just say it’s beautiful. Come here.”
I guided Basileon to the fountain nearby.
“Look. Your reflection in the water. Isn’t it beautiful? Hm?”
But Basileon, seemingly creeped out by his own reflection in the water, couldn’t bear it and pulled the rose away.
“….”
But noticing my slightly disappointed look, he obediently placed the rose back behind his ear.
“Hehe. Pretty.”
“….”
Just as I was smiling happily—Boom!
“….!”
Suddenly, a loud bang came from the direction of the duke’s residence, as if a window had been slammed shut.
“What is it…?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Basileon seemed to know the source of the sound and spoke nonchalantly.
“It’s just that some shameless platinum-haired human was watching us through that window.”
Basileon pointed to a window that was brightly lit.
‘A platinum-haired person… could it be Evan?’
Come to think of it, there was something strange.
“Basilleon. You know exactly where that human is, so… why aren’t you going after him?”
I couldn’t understand Basileon’s sudden change in attitude.
“Because today… I want to stay with you.”
Basileon spoke the slightly embarrassing line in a calm, steady voice. The infamous murderer, Basileon Ravenwood—saying he wanted to be with me. When had he started becoming like this?
Just a while ago, hadn’t he insisted that he had to kill humans? I studied Basileon’s eyes. They were shining, as if regaining a light they had once lost. Not the unfocused gaze of someone brainwashed, but the clear, steady eyes of a person with a firmly defined sense of self.
Has he found a way to break free from the Evil God’s brainwashing? Or… is there some other reason? Of course, since I’m supposed to stop Basileon from killing anyone in the first place, this is a good thing for me, but still…
“…Don’t tell me you’re planning to stay outside this whole time?”
I wondered how he intended to stay with me in the first place.
“Follow me.”
Then Basileon led me to a small cabin hidden within the rose garden.
“This is a place I’ve used as my hideout since I was a child.”
Inside the cabin were a bed, a few toys that looked like the ones he used to play with as a child, and several books.
“Lie down, Evien.”
Lie down…? The unexpected words made me flinch. But then I realized that even if a wraith like me lay down on the bed inside the cabin, nothing particularly strange would happen. Noticing my reaction, Basileon let out a small, amused laugh.
“I wanted to see you sleep.”
“You saw it earlier, didn’t you?”
“It’s not enough.”
Suddenly bringing me here just to make me sleep?
“Evien, I know there are changes happening to your body. You need to rest for now.”
“What if I’m not sleepy?”
“I’ll wait until you feel like sleeping.”
“….”
What was that? With just a single sentence from Basilion, drowsiness washed over me as if summoned out of nowhere. Did he cast some kind of spell? Sprinkle a pinch of sleep-inducing magic dust or something?
In the end, I gave in and lay down on the bed. As the tension drained from my body, a wave of accumulated fatigue washed over me. When my eyes fluttered halfway shut, Basilion gently pulled a blanket over me. What was this? It felt… warm. Comforting. Far too comforting. A moment later, I finally drifted off completely.
* * *
Thud—thud—thud!
“Um…”
Thump! Thump!
“What are you talking about…”
As I slowly opened my eyes, the warm morning sunlight was gently spilling into the quiet little cabin.
‘Morning?’
It had definitely been night. How was it suddenly morning? I shot upright and looked around in alarm.
“Tsk. You sure wake up loudly, don’t you?”
Standing beside the bed was Adolf.
“What the—Adolf? Where’s Basilion?”
“Hey, evil spirit. I’ve been standing guard here for hours to keep you safe—am I just an invisible shield to you?”
Adolf spoke in an overly gruff tone.
“Why are you protecting me?”
“Well, it’s because the young master earnestly asked me to look after you. He cares about you so much… It’s a shame, really.”
I could hear birds chirping outside and the splash of water from the fountain. It was morning. Just like when I was human, I ended up sleeping deeply and waking up refreshed.
‘I feel strange…’
At that moment, Adolf asked a question.
“I mean the young master. Did something happen to him? His complexion really doesn’t look good….”
“Ah, that. I don’t know the details either, but it seems like he went through something bad. Something to do with an evil god, maybe….”
I told Adolf what I had guessed. If that’s the case, I should have asked exactly what happened yesterday. But Basileon suddenly turned his attention to Rose, so I didn’t get the chance to ask. And after that, he brought me here and let me sleep.
“Huh?”
Adolf spoke in a slightly annoyed, challenging tone, as if he wasn’t pleased.
“That won’t do. Starting today, I’m going to cancel that whole ‘friend’ thing we had going.”
Suddenly, Adolf made an unexpected, abrupt declaration.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? We promised we’d be friends in exchange for you opening the armory!”
“You missed the most important part. That is, we never set a duration. So when I say ‘friend,’ today is the last day!”
To think this is the reward for saving him… I felt like I’d been hit right on the back of the head.
“How could you do that to me!”
Adolf ignored me and turned his back.
“Evil spirit. You need to pay a bit more attention to our young master. Do you even know where he went after he entrusted me with the task of protecting you?”
“…Isn’t he just sleeping? Basileon has to rest when the sun rises, after all.”
“You idiot! The young master came looking for me at the crack of dawn, before the sun even rose. And he said that you’re becoming more and more human, and that he’s going to find out the cause.”
Basileon… for me? I widened my eyes in surprise and looked at Adolf.
“So I got curious about what exactly he was doing, and ordered my weapon spirits to secretly keep an eye on the young master.”
“So? And so? What happened?”
Kiiiek—!
Adolf, seemingly with no intention of answering my question, just walked outside.
“Hey! Where are you going in the middle of telling me?”
I followed Adolf all the way, trailing behind him as he stomped along indifferently.
“Ugh. What a persistent little evil spirit.”
Adolf, pretending he couldn’t win, turned back to look at me.
“The young master spent the whole night searching every corner of the territory. For you, evil spirit! They say he dug with a shovel, and even tried digging with his own hands.”
“Dug…? Why?”
“According to the combined reports from the weapon spirits, the common thread is that the young master ‘dug into the ground.’ Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“Digging into the ground? Is there some hidden treasure or something?”
It was a bit surprising that Basileon would do something so strange. But he did say it was for me before he left.
“Because your matters are more important.”
The words Basileon said to me yesterday came back to mind.
“How would I know? You shameless little evil spirit. I wonder what you were thinking to make your nose turn red, really.”
I nervously fiddled with the bridge of my nose. After finishing his words, Adolf stomped off in his own direction. But… was it really something to get so mad about? I didn’t force Basileon to do anything, after all.
“You stingy old shield geezer. Go get peed on by a cicada or something.”
But maybe he heard me, because Adolf glanced back briefly from afar. I whistled and turned away, pretending I hadn’t said anything. But then…
“Excuse me…”
“Hng?”
When I turned around, a ghost maid was staring straight at my face, unblinking.
“Hello, Miss Evien. My name is Ella.”
She was one of the ghost maids I saw at the laundromat last time. The one who was gossiping with another maid about how handsome Evan was—and got caught by me! Ella seemed a bit awkward around me, bowing her head and avoiding eye contact.
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