The One and Only Sami Chapter 40

Well… if I were to say this harassment and teasing was strictly for such solemn reasons, I’d be a liar. And that’s exactly why I couldn’t be totally open with Sami about it.

I realized that I didn’t just enjoy breaking in a stiff, inexperienced virgin—I actually liked scaring him and making him cry. It wasn’t even just the scaring; I felt a certain thrill in pushing him with “affectionate” threats until he was cornered, forcing him to trudge through and do exactly what he hated while whimpering and sobbing the whole time.

I really am a piece of work. Razard clicked his tongue, facing his own twisted desires anew. He wasn’t the type of man to make excuses for his own shitty personality. (Not that he was in a position where he needed excuses, anyway.)

He’d always had wicked tastes, but lately, he was being a real prick. He’d thought he was doing a decent job as a ruler—not draining the treasury, appointing the right talent, and lopping off the heads of bad Mages. But the glory of his reign had been getting a bit muddy from bullying this kid.

Thanks to Sami, he was learning a lot about tastes he’d gone twenty-six years without ever knowing.

Anyway, the main goal of this “pet human” game was to get Sami out of the crosshairs of the Mages who wanted nothing more than to see Razard’s head on a platter.

“It’s hard enough to weed out the spies the Mages have planted around me.”

Magic was blocked inside the palace, but there were surely people who had been bribed, or those looking for an old-fashioned assassination, or bastards who had set things in motion beforehand to pull strings from afar. Razard had lived under the shadow of those constant threats.

He had always eliminated them without a hitch, but that was simply because Razard was that good.

The Mages never sent half-hearted amateurs after him. If Sami were to become one of their targets, it would be a major headache. He would protect him, of course, but the mere fact that the boy was in their sights was annoying in itself.

“I think Sami knows what’s going on and is playing along, more or less.”

Even if he didn’t know the specifics, it seemed that from what Razard had said the night he carried him around, the boy had caught on that the “pet human” act was a suitable cover-up. (Though it was a secret that Razard was also using said cover-up to satisfy his own private greed.)

Of course, catching on to the act was one thing; being shriveled and depressed from the constant harassment was quite another.

Because of that, once they were inside the bedroom, Razard made a show of groveling just a little so Sami could catch his breath, but…

“I can’t go on like this.”

It clearly wasn’t enough.

“Just being carried around by Razard like this, doing nothing, being touched here and there whenever you feel like it… I’m going to get so depressed that I’ll start having really bad thoughts about Razard.”

“Really bad thoughts?”

Even in this state, the words he used to resent him were so soft and cute. Razard burst into laughter at the almost foolishly simple expression.

“It’s okay to hit me in here, you know. Want me to give you a cheek to slap? Or somewhere else?”

“What? No! Not that kind of thing…”

Razard leaned his cheek toward Sami with his eyes closed, but Sami pushed him away with both hands. The fact that the man looked so brazenly sweet, as if he were expecting a kiss on that cheek, was exactly what made it so infuriating.

“Whenever I ask for a reason, you always slide away like a snake, so I won’t bother asking. …You’re really, truly obnoxious, man.”

“Haha.”

“I hate the bullying so much, but at least when you say ‘this is the last one,’ you don’t lie and you actually stop. That’s why I’m putting up with it. Honestly, I don’t even know how to fight back.”

“Yeah. I’m glad you’re a cute little servant who knows his place. It would’ve been a pain if you were someone who was just strong enough to try and take a swing at me.”

That was a sincere answer.

To Razard, there was nothing more annoying in this world than people who tried to “resist.” Trying to hit a steel pillar with a club only results in a broken club. But because Sami was small and weak, he didn’t harbor such delusions of grandeur in front of Razard.

He liked that very much.

“Doing nothing but being carried by Razard and handled however you want… feeling my body go limp the second I hit the bed… I’m sure it’s because I’m depressed and powerless.”

The reason for the depression and lethargy. It wasn’t just that, but Razard decided to just listen for now.

“If this keeps up, I might start crying so much that Razard won’t be able to take me anywhere.”

“Hmm… and?”

Sami, who had been sitting hunched with his knees together, finally relaxed his posture. Looking at the way he stared Razard down, one had to wonder if this was the same pet human who had been coughing a moment ago after having pomegranate-stained fingers shoved in his mouth.

A tree might snap in a gale, but a supple blade of grass eventually survives. He wondered if the boy was this resilient because he simply had no intention of dying…

“Give me a rag or something.”

…Say what?

“…Huh?”

Razard asked back, an unusual reaction for him. He looked like he was deep in thought, wondering if he’d heard correctly. There was probably only one person in the world who could make the peerless, arrogant Ruler Harut wear such a blank expression.

“I’d like it if you gave me a rag. There are so many vases, bed decorations, incense burners, and braziers in this bedroom. I want to do something.”

“Hah…”

Harut Razard, Ruler of the Desert, rested his chin on the head of the bed and stared at Sami. He briefly wondered if he should take back his earlier thoughts.

Would it be better to just crush the spirit of someone who came at him with a knife?

“Didn’t I tell you before? Your role is to be cute and roll around doing nothing.”

“I know. But honestly, being draped in necklaces and silk and just sitting on Razard’s lap doesn’t suit me. La—lately, every time Razard strokes me, I start sweating, my heart pounds… and my whole body starts aching. Please? I won’t let anyone else see me.”

“Really? Your heart pounds whenever I stroke you?”

“How can you take what I said and just twist it into whatever you want like that…?”

Razard burst out laughing. He looked down at this pet human, a former servant who was now chattering away at him, demanding the “freedom to clean” and the “joy of sweeping and wiping.”

That industrious nature wasn’t just a role he’d had as a servant; it was Sami’s true character. Razard watched him closely to see if he had some ulterior motive, but he couldn’t see a hint of deception in those round, clear amber eyes.

“You said I could do what I want in the bedroom, right? Then I want to at least clean up in here.”

Razard’s eyes lowered half-way. His gaze drifted to the side as he thought for a moment.

The incense burner showed no signs of going out, sending up plumes of fragrance that draped the room like a veil of thin white smoke. Lying on his side in that shimmering space, Razard exuded a strange, magnetic charm just by rolling his eyes in thought.

Soon, a smooth, slick smile drew across his calm face.

“Alright, then.”

He answered shortly.

“But only this bedroom. Don’t let anyone else find out you’re a meticulous, hardworking servant.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Because no one is allowed to enter this room without permission.”

Sami hadn’t felt the full weight of it yet, but one of the reasons Razard treated him so carelessly was specifically so they could share this bed.

Harut’s bedroom was a special, forbidden chamber. It was a space where even his closest aides and those in charge of his grooming couldn’t linger. Yet, Harut’s pet human was lying there and even sleeping with him.

To make that look like a mere whim, he’d done things like leave him on the back of a predator or build a giant birdcage next to his own seat of honor.

Since the debauched Ruler would personally lay his pet human in bed even if he went out for a night stroll, the eyes of the palace couldn’t help but stay fixed on Sami.

Naturally, they assumed he was using that body and sharing affection every night. Otherwise, there would be no reason to keep him in his bed every night to sleep together.

…Or so everyone believed without a shadow of a doubt.

“Get some rest for now, Sami. I’ll have things ready for when you wake up.”

“…You mean it?”

“Yes. I mean it.”

“Then I’ll start by wiping those ivory decorations first. And I want to straighten out the tassels on the carpet with a comb…”

“And?”

“And… under the bed. There’s an incense burner tucked deep under there. I’m curious to see what it looks like…”

Feeling the tension break now that Razard had given his permission, Sami slid down to lie on the bed. Razard pulled the blanket up over Sami’s body. The fragrant smoke drifted over the covers, and the faint scent of nameless flowers and honey filled Sami’s nose. it was a nice smell.

“You’re curious about the strangest things.”

“Aren’t you… curious, Razard?”

Razard gently patted Sami’s shoulder and back.