Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 4

Rowy pulled out a bundle of cash and paid the bill. Van’s eyes widened at the sight of an amount that could easily cover a commoner household’s living expenses for a month casually slipping out of a pocket. Come to think of it, he had paid for everything himself at the slave market yesterday too. Surely no one would dare lay a hand on a noble right in the middle of the city, but… Van became a bit more vigilant of his surroundings.

“Hmm, as expected, holding a sword really suits your form.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With a sword added to Van’s well-built physique, he was quite a sight to behold. …Even if that sword cost a tenth of the price of the pasta tongs.

“Still, it would be nice if there were a better sword.”

“This is plenty enough, sir.”

Van shook his head. Truly, this was more than enough. Yet, Rowy was not satisfied in the slightest. According to the blacksmith, to obtain a high-quality sword, one would have to place a custom order in the neighboring country of Marzen. He had mentioned that Serafilla lacked a blacksmith shop specializing in sword-making.

‘Well, who on earth would visit a resort destination to buy a sword?’

Though he understood the reasoning, Rowy continuously stared at Van’s sword with a lingering look of disappointment. To his eyes, it just didn’t look like much. The fact that the gem-studded tongs looked more impressive was probably because he had seen the price tag, right?

“Well, nothing can be done about it. Let’s go buy clothes now. Once we enter the island, we won’t be able to come out for the time being.”

“The island, sir?”

“Did I not mention it? We have to take a boat to get in.”

Rowy offered no further explanation beyond those words. Van roughly understood it as meaning a resort island. After that, Rowy led Van to a clothing store. It was the shop recommended by the blacksmith when Rowy became deeply disappointed over the lack of even a sword holder.

Fortunately, he understood clothing far better than swords, so he was able to chip in on whether things looked pretty or not. Once Van was dressed in a luxurious shirt and trousers that suited Rowy’s taste, he looked less like a slave and more like a knight. Looks the part, doesn’t he? Rowy poured all of his personal tastes and romanticized ideas into Van.

“Oh my, the knight gentleman has such a magnificent build! Customer, how about this vest? If you tighten it at the waist, his chest stands out just like this!”

“Uh-huh, give me that one too.”

The shopkeeper knew exactly who to target and kept pushing clothes toward Rowy. Van, looking flustered, continuously moved in and out of the dressing room. The shopping finally came to an end only after Van was metaphorically wrapped in gold tongs from head to toe. His hands were full of shopping bags. Hearing the total price, Van practically venerated the bags as he followed Rowy.

“Master. This is far too excessive. Even if I were to wear these clothes for the rest of my life, I couldn’t possibly wear them all…”

“Yawn…”

Van kept talking and talking about something beside him. Unfortunately, however, Rowy’s physical stamina reached its limit right there. His body rapidly grew sluggish. Having taken a boat out since the morning, visited the slave market, eaten dessert, and even gone shopping—he had held out for a long time by Rowy’s standards.

Rowy’s footsteps quickly lagged. Seeing this, Van extended an arm to escort Rowy. Dressed in a luxurious jacket with a sword strapped to his waist, Van looked like a knight to anyone who saw him.

“Give me a piggyback ride.”

Rowy spoke impulsively. Rowy had never been carried on someone’s back even as a child. It was truly just a sudden thought that popped into his head. Van immediately bent his knees despite Rowy’s random request.

“Wrap your arms around my neck, sir.”

“Why? Are you going to drop me?”

“How could that be, sir?”

Even while saying so, Van only took a step after confirming that Rowy had wrapped his arms securely around his neck. Van carried Rowy on his back without any apparent difficulty while holding the shopping bags in one hand.

‘It’s incredibly stable.’

Even so, Rowy was a grown man, yet Van carried him effortlessly and moved along.

‘Being carried on someone’s back is remarkably comfortable. I don’t have to walk on my own two feet. And… it’s warm.’

Rowy leaned his head against Van’s shoulder. Van’s newly purchased clothes covered his neck sufficiently, but from this angle, the ugly restraint naturally caught his eye immediately.

‘I definitely need to make a new restraint.’

I’ll make him kneel, make him bow his head… and then I’ll tell him to carry me on his back.

‘And make him cut pies too.’

Recalling Van’s hand as he carefully cut the pie, Rowy chuckled softly.

“Where should we head, sir?”

“Mmm, that building over there.”

Rowy pointed with his hand toward a red brick building at the end of the street. Van nodded his head and began to walk forward slowly. Swaying on Van’s back, Rowy slowly closed his eyes. A lingering smile remained at the corners of his lips.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

The place Rowy arrived at while being carried was the most luxurious inn in this bustling district. While the capital of Serafilla was Seren, if one had to choose the most developed city, it was undoubtedly here—the port city of Seto. Nobles who grew tired of playing in nature flocked to Seto. In this manner, a city built solely for luxury and pleasure was completed.

Rowy also owned a mansion in that city. Since no one expected Rowy to live on an island in the first place, the servants sent from the main estate all resided there. However, Rowy had never once visited that mansion. There was no other reason. He just didn’t want to hear any nagging.

“It has been a while since your last visit, sir.”

“Hello.”

“The room you usually use is vacant.”

The place he had found instead was this very inn. Rowy always stayed here whenever he occasionally came out of the island. Though he didn’t visit often, Rowy was a customer the inn eagerly anticipated, as he spent a fortune every time he came.

The staff member politely guided Rowy to his room. The employee’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, even though Rowy was arriving piggybacked on someone’s shoulders. This kind of discretion was precisely why Rowy sought out an inn instead of his family’s mansion.

“Please have a comfortable rest.”

Click. The staff member, polite to the very end, closed the door and left.

“I’m going to sleep.”

Slipped down from Van’s back, Rowy immediately collapsed onto the bed. After that, he squirmed around and thoroughly covered himself up with the blanket. Van, who had been watching Rowy for a moment, slowly looked around the room.

It was a large suite consisting of a living room, a bedroom, and an additional small room. Furthermore, the furniture and decorations were uniformly luxurious. He had experienced all day long that his new master possessed a vast amount of wealth, but… finding himself standing awkwardly in an unfamiliar space, Van felt intimidated once again. Having been burned by money once before, he was cautious about everything.

‘Surely he won’t tell me to pay for the carpet if I get it dirty.’

Fortunately, thanks to his master who had coordinated his outfit from head to toe, even his shoes were brand new. Van arranged the luggage with careful movements. He felt overwhelmed with gratitude since most of it consisted of his own things.

‘Will I ever even have an occasion to wear these?’

He wondered why his master had bought so many tailcoats. It felt as though he would need to attend at least ten parties just to break even. No, considering the price, he would have to attend every single day… Van’s hands became a step more cautious.

Knock, knock.

Just then, accompanied by a polite knock, the staff member entered again. The efficient employee had retrieved the clothing items to be worn at Rowy’s mansion. Van received them and busily began to organize them once more.

“Master. They brought some clothes, so for now, you should change into… Master?”

‘Was he that exhausted?’

Rowy, who had been swinging his legs playfully as if thrilled to be carried, had gone quiet and gone completely limp at some point. Van had brought Rowy in as carefully as humanly possible. Seeing him lie down on the bed the moment they entered the room, it seemed he was considerably tired. Even so, he should probably wash up and change his clothes. Van approached Rowy with a worried look.

“Master?”

“Sniff.”

Van stopped dead in his tracks. Did I hear wrong?

“Sniff.”

“…”

“Sniff.”

Why? Van’s face turned pale. Suddenly? He was clearly excited until just a moment ago, wasn’t he?

“Sniff, whimper…”

“…”

Van’s eyes wavered violently. Since this is my first time being a slave… what am I supposed to do when my master is crying?

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

While Van was pacing anxiously around the bed, completely at a loss, Rowy was shedding a stream of tears beneath the covers. His head throbbed, and he lacked even a shred of strength in his body. His mood plummeted boundlessly. He had clearly been fine when he was being carried on Van’s back.

‘I just need to get through this night.’

Without fail, depression always sought him out when night fell. Having been born with the blessing of mana, Rowy naturally possessed immense mental fortitude as well. To the extent that he didn’t even need to consciously defend against ordinary mind-altering magic. For that very reason, this situation felt all the more unfamiliar. The emotional turbulence he was experiencing for the first time was slowly consuming him.

‘The ice cream was delicious. The cake and pie too.’

Rowy recalled the moments when his mood had been pleasant. He tried his best to remember the flavors, but he could only taste salt in his mouth. It was the taste of tears, the taste of depression. Ice cream, pie, cake, cookies.

‘Ice cream.’

Rowy forcefully brought the image of ice cream to mind. Sweet vanilla ice cream, a melting taste. The ice cream in his imagination soon melted away. Just like tears. Tears are… depressing. The depression rolled in like a wave.

‘I have to sleep.’

Rowy closed his eyes tightly. Tears spilled out in drops. The long night began once again.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“Sniff.”

Van stared at the bundle of blankets on the bed. It was rolled up so tightly that no part of his body was visible; only a small amount of silver hair poked out from the edge. The blanket, which had been wriggling toward the center, soon began to curl into a round shape. Now, even the hair was completely enveloped within the blanket.

“Sniff.”

Only the sound of weeping and intermittent trembling allowed him to guess at the person inside. Van paced around, not knowing what to do.

“Sniff, sniff.”

“…”

“Whimper.”

The weeping continued without end. And it grew louder as time went on.

“Hiccup, hiccup.”

Now he was even hiccupping. He didn’t think even a child would cry like that. Van looked at the bundle of blankets with deep concern. …Why was he crying like that?

‘He was smiling like that just a moment ago.’

Over a single piece of ice cream, Rowy had smiled brightly. That smile, which had instantly cast over his vacant-looking face, was like sunshine. To the point where Van, upon seeing that face, had found himself smiling along with him without even realizing it. And now…

“Sniff, sniff.”

He felt like crying along with him. No, seriously, what is a slave supposed to do when his master is crying?

‘Is it alright for me to comfort him?’

He might not know what to do when a master cries, but he did at least know how to comfort a child.

“Hiccup, whimper… hiccup.”

Staring at the bundle that had started hiccupping once again, Van opened his mouth.