“Wh-what is all this?”
The decorations Formo encountered upon entering the room were all equally bewildering. From paper with his footprints dotted all over it to two strange pebbles, white bandages and pillows—it was a combination of bizarre ornaments. It was surprising that such a room even existed in the palace, but there was something even more surprising than that.
It was that the framed paper with his name written on it and the letter that they’d promised to hang in the office were hanging on the walls of this room. Formo narrowed his eyes and looked around the room. Was it a room where only odds and ends were collected? If items related to him were placed together in such a room, he didn’t feel very good about it. Unless it was a room where only items related to him were collected.
“…What? N-no. That would be even more unpleasant!”
Shocked by the thought that suddenly came to him, Formo strongly denied it and hurriedly left the room. Formo, who waddled back to the bedroom, flopped face-down on the bed. His earlobes were still thoroughly flushed. Formo let out a low sigh and buried his face in the blanket.
Perhaps because so much had happened, today felt particularly long. At times like this, he needed to make his body languid with a bath. So he could go to sleep without thinking about anything and greet the morning quickly. Formo, who sprang up from his spot, gathered his nightgown and underwear, then hopped out of the bedroom on one foot.
Using the grand bath alone made him feel quite proud. The thought of monopolizing this spacious area all to himself made him hum a tune spontaneously. But then, suddenly remembering an episode with Serdin, his earlobes heated up for no reason. Especially that thing hanging below Serdin… Anyway, just thinking about its size made his insides flutter.
Could something that existed for reproduction even be that large? Formo grumbled pointlessly while glancing down at his own lower half. His own wasn’t that small either.
“…Isn’t it?”
Could it possibly be on the small side? Formo furrowed his brow, then soon recalled what Serdin had said when he had just transformed into a beastman.
‘It’s okay, Pipi. You can rest assured. Your size isn’t embarrassing to show anywhere. Ah, Pipi. Just because I said this, it would be better not to think about showing it anywhere. Got it?’
At the time, he’d wondered what on earth that meant, but now he thought he understood the meaning a little. Since he’d said it wasn’t an embarrassing size to show anywhere, it probably didn’t mean it was on the small side. Relieved, Formo enjoyed his leisure while splashing in the grand bath. Completely forgetting about the bandages wrapped around his calf.
After staying in the warm water for quite a while, Formo discovered his fingerprints had become wrinkled and sneaked out. If he stayed any longer, he might shrivel up like dried fruit. Humming a tune, Formo took a dry cloth and wiped off the water on his body. He also vigorously rubbed the moisture from his hair with the cloth.
Formo, who had properly put on not only his underwear but also his nightgown, was about to leave the grand bath when he remembered the bandages wrapped around his calf.
“…Ah!”
Formo, who let out a small sigh as he recalled the fact he’d completely forgotten, crouched down and examined the area around his calf. Sure enough, the bandages were thoroughly soaked with water. If he returned to the bedroom with the bandages on like this, the blankets and sheets would all get wet. It would naturally be unpleasant.
After pondering for a moment, Formo unwrapped the bandages from his calf. Although he hesitated a bit as Serdin’s face meticulously wrapping the bandages came to mind, it seemed that even Serdin couldn’t say anything about this one time. Formo, who had completely unwrapped the bandages, left the grand bath without hesitation and headed to the bedroom. Walking had become much more comfortable.
As soon as Formo entered the bedroom, he threw himself onto the bed where moonlight was pouring in. Then, enjoying the languidness while burying his face in the blanket, he wriggled around and lay down with a pillow under his head. Formo, who tossed and turned for a while with his eyes closed, soon fell asleep.
Some time later, Serdin entered the bedroom where only Formo’s soft breathing sounds had been quietly present. His face clearly showed signs of fatigue from keeping his seat until the end at the tedious banquet. Still, it seemed the fatigue would completely disappear if he saw Formo. Serdin roughly took off his coat and headed straight to Formo.
Formo was sleeping curled up inside the blanket. Seeing the white hair sticking out slightly from under the blanket, Serdin wore a faint smile on his lips and gently pulled back the blanket. A tingling feeling rose in his palms at the sight of Formo’s clear face, deeply asleep. Serdin bent down to his waist and quietly gazed at Formo, then impulsively kissed his round forehead.
“…Formo.”
Serdin, who spoke Formo’s real name in a small voice, straightened his back again and pulled back the blanket covering his legs. Formo enjoyed bathing, so he must have spent a long time in the grand bath today too. There was no way he would have fallen asleep leaving the damp bandages as they were. When he pulled back the blanket covering his legs, sure enough, his calf was revealed, fully exposing the wound. It seemed the adhesive bandage had come off together when he removed the bandages.
Where the generously applied ointment had soaked in, a scab had formed slightly. Serdin stared at it for a moment, then brought the box containing medical supplies. Then he disinfected the wound again. His touch was meticulous as he dabbed ointment on the disinfected area and applied an adhesive bandage over it. He thought about wrapping it with bandages again, but since Formo had been quite uncomfortable, it seemed better to just leave the adhesive bandage on.
While Formo hopping around on one foot was cute, if he wrapped bandages to see that sight more, Formo might properly sulk. Serdin, who had been staring at Formo’s calf with the long adhesive bandage attached, tidied up the box, gathered his robe, and left the bedroom. As soon as the sound of the bedroom door closing rang out, Formo’s eyes snapped open.
“Wh-what was that…”
Perhaps because he’d taken a nap, his sleep was particularly light today. Thus, while tossing and turning, he’d heard signs of Serdin entering the bedroom and ended up waking. But facing Serdin in that state would have been quite embarrassing, so he’d pretended to sleep… His heart pounded violently.
“Why, why…”
Not only had Serdin called his name, but he’d even pressed his lips to his forehead. And then he’d even treated the wound on his calf again… Formo’s face, hidden inside the blanket, turned bright red.
When he had kissed Serdin first, it hadn’t been this embarrassingly hot or made his heart pound like this. But Serdin’s kiss was different. Hearing Serdin kiss his forehead and whisper his name, strangely, it felt as if his whole body was floating up. Wasn’t it against the rules for him to feel this way?
Formo forcibly ignored his pounding heart and squeezed his eyes shut. When he woke up from sleep, this inexplicable trembling and sensation he was feeling for the first time in his life would be gone. Formo, who clenched his fists tight, tried to sleep again. However, there was no way sleep would come when even his head had become hazy.
In the midst of this, Serdin, who had finished bathing, returned to the bedroom. Hearing Serdin’s movements getting closer and closer, Formo’s body tensed up completely. Formo curled up his body as much as possible, his back turned to Serdin’s side. Soon, the bed swayed and he felt Serdin lying down beside him.
Formo squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath as much as possible, worried Serdin might realize he’d woken up. Then, not long after, he heard the sound of Serdin breathing evenly. It seemed he’d fallen asleep. Only then did Formo let out a sigh of relief and fidgeted inside the blanket, just waiting for the heat on his face to calm down.
Only after the heat had somewhat subsided from his face did Formo stick his face out from under the blanket. He turned his body and looked at Serdin sleeping beside him. With his eyes closed, Serdin wasn’t wearing any expression, so he looked cold.
The faces of Serdin that Formo had seen thus far had either contained a hint of laughter or were slightly relaxed, so they had aspects that looked quite gentle. Only once in a while did he see an expressionless face. Even that was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Seeing an expressionless face after so long felt strangely unfamiliar. Formo stared intently at Serdin’s face, then quickly turned his head. His earlobes, which had calmed down, were being colored again. That was because the moment he saw Serdin’s face, the scene of him kissing his forehead filled his mind.
Formo cleared his throat quietly and looked around various parts of the bedroom for no reason. Seeing as he kept being conscious of Serdin sleeping beside him, it seemed he’d probably finished sleeping for today. Just as Formo, who let out a sigh, turned his head again to try looking at Serdin’s face.
“Pipi, do you like looking at my face that much? You can’t take your eyes off me.”
At some point, Serdin had opened his eyes and was looking at Formo with a crooked smile on his lips. Just when exactly had he been awake? Formo, who was startled with shock, couldn’t continue speaking and stammered, then ended up feeling a familiar sensation. A very familiar sensation of his head churning.
“…Chirp.”
[…Ah.]
Because he’d been flustered by Serdin’s voice that suddenly rang out, he’d lost control and transformed into an animal. Formo squeezed his eyes shut.
It seemed he’d need to search for a mouse hole to crawl into and live in soon.
