The One and Only Sami Chapter 35

“…!”

“Ahaha… you’re listening way too intently. You’re frozen stiff from nerves, but your skin is burning up.”

Razard threw his head back and let out a clear laugh. His Adam’s apple bobbed rhythmically and his shoulders shook. Realizing the situation through his playful gestures, Sami’s face gradually flushed a deep, searing red.

“Razard, you suddenly put your—to my forehead, I mean…!”

“Right, keep acting like that.”

Satisfied with the way Sami stammered and raised his voice, Razard bared his teeth in a wide grin. In that moment, focused on looking back at Razard, Sami finally noticed a presence behind him that he hadn’t sensed before.

He whipped around and saw a red turban and a curved feather. It was a guard patrolling the hallway. Instead of prostrating themselves, the massive warriors showed their respect to Harut by striking their spears against the floor with a heavy thud and dropping to one knee.

Gradually, Sami felt the weight of people’s eyes on him. Ignoring Sami’s tension, Razard whispered contentedly.

“It would be troublesome if you became all meek like a well-behaved servant right away. Don’t go exposing your usefulness to others.”

For Sami, who had spent his entire life being an observant, “well-behaved” servant, this felt rather unfair. He pressed his lips together so tightly they crinkled. Finally, he opened his mouth in a small ‘o’ and let out a long, careful breath.

As if fueled by that deep breath, Sami tilted his head back and leaned his face toward Razard. His fluffy hair fluttered like feathers following the movement.

“Uh…”

Sami whispered, barely parting his lips so the shape of the words wouldn’t show.

“How am I supposed to look like a bratty kid…?”

As they passed the guards and entered the hall, the presence of people began to grow. Maidservants holding silver trays piled with fruit knelt, and the musicians changed their tune to a melody praising the Ruler of the Desert.

Even if they didn’t look directly up at them, it was obvious that all attention was focused simultaneously on Harut and the boy in his arms.

With an expression that looked like he might shrivel up and die, Sami gazed desperately at Razard. He seemed to have forgotten he was daring to grip the ruler’s robes tightly. His palms must have been slick with cold sweat, as the fabric crumpled messily in his grasp.

Razard gave a light snort. He found it quite amusing that the boy didn’t even realize he had already failed—his tone was already like someone talking to an older brother from next door.

“You’re doing great, aren’t you? Just do what you’ve always done. Why are you getting self-conscious now?”

“…! That wasn’t being bratty, that was me being flabbergasted!”

“Sure, sure. Exactly like that.”

“Razard!”

“Should we go for a more dim-witted vibe? No, you’d be caught in a heartbeat. I don’t think you could act to save your life.”

“You just do whatever you want…!”

“I told you. It’s only natural for me to have things my way.”

Sami was struck dumb. Even while bickering and making small talk like this, Razard walked through every corner of the palace. In front of the crowds, however, that mischievous smile from before was nowhere to be seen. His gaze was languid and bored, and he didn’t part his lips more than necessary.

It was irresponsible of him to say Sami just had to act the same when the man himself wasn’t the “Razard” Sami knew.

Every single person they encountered in the palace bowed to Razard, and as they rose, they stole glances at Sami.

He felt like a rare animal put on display for people to gawk at.

“…You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Hmm?”

“On purpose… showing me off everywhere.”

“Of course. I’ve taken a liking to you since the very first day.”

Another answer like that. He spoke readily enough, but there was a sense of distance, as if he were talking about himself in the third person—like he was describing “Ruler Harut” as a character in some fantasy tale.

Which ‘first day’ do you mean? Today, the day I became your pet? …Or the day we met in the market?

Sami still couldn’t forget the man’s face when he had spilled scented oil on him. He had been smiling brightly, but it was a face more terrifying than one filled with rage. Sami still remembered the words he’d muttered through a twisted grin.

‘I wondered what kind of stupid insect had crawled into the magic.’

Who talks like that about someone they “liked since the first day”?

The words reached the back of his throat, but he didn’t dare ask. No matter how softly he whispered, talking about that here would surely be “forbidden.” A pet human who had been chosen by Razard’s favor was supposed to know nothing.

Sami remained silent for quite a long time.

“Why?”

“I… I thought Razard would hate carrying someone around like this.”

The more he thought about their “first” encounter, the more he felt that way.

The man was smooth-talking, but unlike the impression his eloquence gave, his physical contact hadn’t been deeper than necessary. Sure, he’d poked and tapped him playfully, or touched Sami lingeringly to reclaim the Marut… but that was exactly the point.

Unless it was a very light touch, he didn’t lay hands on someone unless he had a specific purpose.

Therefore, the way he was grabbing and carrying a person around just because he “liked” them was quite different from the Razard Sami knew.

It was a comment born of a simple, honest thought. Yet, Razard’s reaction was peculiar.

His eyes, which had looked bored all along, rounded. Just by opening his eyes a bit wider, Razard looked quite different from his usual arrogant self.

“Is that so?”

Just when Sami thought the man was about to say something eccentric, Razard looked surprisingly pleased.

He suddenly kissed Sami on the cheek. This time, instead of jumping in surprise, Sami just placed a hand over the spot where his lips had touched. A honey-like voice pierced Sami’s ear. He whispered sweetly.

That’s right. I do hate it.

He carried Sami like that and walked through the palace for quite a while. To show the man he had taken as his pet the rare and beautiful sights of the palace, Ruler Harut personally dedicated his own footsteps.

Razard wore a constant smirk. Sami had no idea if that face was sincere or a facade. What was he thinking? Even though he knew the man’s identity now, Razard still felt like magic, like a fantasy.

…He felt like a mirage.

The two—or rather, Razard carrying Sami—walked for a long time. Firstly, because the palace was so vast, and secondly, because he seemed to like Sami’s reactions.

Sami, who was initially dazed by the various sights, songs, and brilliant lights of the palace, eventually grew accustomed enough to look around.

Still, whenever his eyes met someone else’s, he hurried to look down, not knowing what to do. From then on, every time they encountered someone, he would steal a glance and then roll his eyes back down, a pattern Razard watched without saying a word. He seemed to be enjoying it.

“Have we made it this far?”

Razard, who had been carrying Sami the whole way, came to a sudden halt. It was a deserted hallway.

He had thought every corner would be as bright and sparkling as if flowers had been plastered to the walls, but this hallway, which looked like it led to the palace backyard, was more brightly lit by the light spilling in from outside.

Thanks to that, deep shadows were cast between the arched pillars with their pointed tops. Without a word between them, they gazed at the scenery outside from between those pillars. After spending so much time looking at the glittering things inside the palace, it was their first look at the world outside.

A crescent moon hung over the rounded dome of a mosque.

Sami stared at the moon as if possessed.

Sitting on that very roof, he had watched the fireworks go bang with Razard.

Even though it had happened today, it felt unbelievable. Even more than his current situation, that exact moment felt the most like a mirage—to the point he wondered if it had been a dream.

‘Nothing has been as clever or as pretty as you.’

Perhaps the magic of that moment was a fantasy that shouldn’t have existed.

“Sami.”

The man called to Sami, who was staring blankly at the moon. Sami looked back, but Razard’s gaze wasn’t on him. Instead, he too was looking at the moon. Razard’s profile, revealed under the lights of the banquet and the faint moonlight, caught the delicate glow and held a strangely chilly air.

Sami had always thought of him as like gold or the sun, but seeing his face like this—catching the dim light so only a white outline remained while the rest was swallowed by the blue darkness—seemed to suit his enigmatic nature.

“What are you thinking about?”

Still without turning his head, Razard asked with a smile.

“…Nothing.”

“I told you to be bratty, but I never said you could lie to my face.”