Even after hearing such an absurd answer, Rose, who blinked his eyes with a serious face while thinking for a moment, continued with another question.
“Then how do you wake up?”
“You don’t have to wake up. You can wake up or not.”
“Then can I keep sleeping forever?”
“Yeah. Only tomorrow. There’s one day a month when the bell doesn’t ring.”
“Then tomorrow there’s no class either? No meal bell? No class bell?”
“Yeah.”
“In other words, it’s a day off?”
“……Yeah, you can rest.”
“Wow, then we can sleep in today!”
Suddenly Rose bolted upright. His voice, which had grown loud from excitement, must have been heard in the next room, as there was an irritated knocking on the wall.
―You guys are noisy. It’s not just one or two days, I can’t sleep at all.
Igrit’s complaint was clearly transmitted through the wall. Startled, Rose covered his mouth with a “hup” and blinked his wide-open eyes.
How can even his surprised face be this pretty……. Elijah, who had gotten up following him, thought this blankly.
“Elijah, let’s play late today.”
The voice, lowered considerably by Igrit’s warning, brushed against Elijah’s ear.
“……But the bedtime bell just rang.”
“So what? Tomorrow the wake-up bell won’t ring anyway.”
Elijah thought he was doing another strange impulsive action.
Just because there was one day a month when they could rest didn’t mean he had ever actually rested even once. Even if the wake-up bell didn’t ring, Elijah’s eyes would open when that time came, and even if the meal bell didn’t ring, he would eat bread when the designated time came. Even without class, he would recite magic formulas alone, and he always fell asleep at the same time.
The routine ingrained in his body didn’t easily disappear just because the bell didn’t ring.
“But……, I’ve never slept late.”
“Then let’s try it today. We’ll secretly go outside later…….”
At that moment, heavy footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor. Elijah and Rose, whose eyes met for an instant, quickly pulled the blanket over themselves and lay down without either one taking the lead.
The footsteps that gradually grew closer stopped in front of the room. Soon the sound of the wooden door creaking could be heard. However, what opened wasn’t Elijah’s room but Rose’s room across from it.
After a brief pause, the footsteps came a little closer. Eventually, the two children drew in a small breath seeing Master who had entered through the suddenly opened door.
“You two…….”
Deep wrinkles formed on Jade’s brow upon discovering the two children lying close together on the narrow bed. Rose and Elijah got up and came out of the bed.
“Who said you could sleep together?”
Rose, who had stepped forward one step, stood blocking Elijah protectively.
“My room was too cold so I was with Elijah.”
“It’s winter, so being cold is natural. You should know how to endure that much. The other children have lived well without complaint until now, and they haven’t invaded others’ rooms without permission like this.”
“Um, Master…….”
When Elijah tried to say something, Rose, who was in front, reached his hand back to stop him.
“Have you two been using the same room like this all along?”
“No. This is the first time today.”
Rose answered immediately. Elijah suddenly looked down at Rose’s hand.
“…….”
His hand shape was a bit strange. With his index and middle fingers crossed in an X, Rose continued speaking skillfully.
“I’ll go to my room now. This won’t happen again from now on. I promise, Master.”
Elijah, who found that appearance somehow comical, burst out laughing with a “pft.” Jade’s gaze turned to Elijah. Elijah, who quickly rolled his lips in and controlled his expression, looked up at his master with a completely stiffened face.
“Elijah, did you just laugh?”
“…….”
“He coughed. Because it’s cold. It’s too cold here, Master.”
This time too, Rose continued the skillful lie on his behalf. Elijah inwardly admired how he could lie so naturally like this.
Hmm……, Master’s face, which let out a displeased hum, looked quite frightening. It was a face that said he would let it slide this time, though he wasn’t convinced.
“When the bell rings, sleeping in your own rooms is the rule here, Rose. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master. I won’t do it again.”
Jade, who had opened the door, gestured with his chin toward Rose while stepping aside. It meant to hurry and cross over to your room. Rose, who had moved his body hesitantly while reading his mood, tiptoed quietly and scurried across to his room.
“Elijah, you sleep now too. If you keep missing bedtime like this, your life rhythm will collapse and you’ll only be at a loss. Do you understand?”
“……Yes, Master.”
Elijah finally answered quietly. Soon the door closed, and he alone remained in the narrow room.
Elijah, who had returned to bed and lay down, quietly crossed his index and middle fingers. Occasionally Igrit had shown specific gestures with his fingers when activating fire magic, but he had never seen this shape.
As soon as the footsteps going down the stairs completely faded away, the closed door opened smoothly again. Rose, who peeked his face out through the narrow gap, grinned silently.
Elijah, who had moved his body, naturally made room for him. Rose, who had lowered his voice much more than before, whispered.
“We almost got in trouble, right?”
“……You know, I have something I’m curious about.”
Elijah, who had been watching him lie down next to him, carefully began.
“What was that earlier?”
“Hm? What?”
“Like this, you crossed your fingers behind your back.”
Elijah clumsily tried to imitate that shape.
“Ah, that.”
Rose explained while holding out his fingers in front of Elijah’s eyes.
“The blacksmith owner ahjussi where I used to work taught me. When you lie, you have to ask God for forgiveness.”
“…….”
“Then the other person will definitely believe that lie.”
“Really? If you do this, you can lie well?”
“I don’t know……. That’s what he said.”
Suddenly Rose narrowed his eyes and glanced at Elijah.
“But don’t use it on me too. You can’t deceive me, Elijah. I know everything.”
“Okay.”
“Promise.”
The crossed index and middle fingers uncrossed, and instead a slender pinky finger was held out.
“Not lying to me.”
“……Then you too, promise not to lie to me.”
The two short fingers firmly entwined each other. With their hands clasped like that, the two children gazed into each other’s eyes in silence for a moment.
“How did you live before coming here?”
As always, Rose broke the silence first.
“I don’t really know. ……I just lived on the streets. I came here when I was eight.”
“I see.”
“……You.”
Elijah also began to ask what he had been curious about, gathering a bit of courage.
“You……, what was your original name before coming here?”
He had never been curious about other children’s names until now, but he was really curious what name Rose had originally been called. Because the name Rose suited him so perfectly, as if it had been his from the beginning.
Rose blinked his eyes and answered calmly.
“Me? Pretty One.”
“……Pretty One?”
“Yeah, people just called me that. Pretty kid, Pretty One.”
It was quite a ridiculous name, but Elijah didn’t laugh at all. Could there be another name that suited him this well?
If he didn’t have the name ‘Rose,’ he would have called him ‘pretty kid’ too. It seemed like Rose was the only person in the world who could be called by such a name.
“Since when were you called that?”
“I don’t know.”
What kind of people were those who first casually called him a pretty kid? Elijah wanted to know everything about Rose before coming to this place.
“Then……, how did you live before coming here?”
Did you have people you were close to there too? Pretty enough that everyone called you pretty kid, smiling this prettily, speaking kindly, and to other people like you do to me……. The rest of the words he couldn’t finish were swallowed inside.
“I lived at a blacksmith’s and also at a stable.”
Very small conversation passed that could only be heard by each other.
“I cleaned, delivered bread, and washed dishes. Then people would give me money. Sometimes food too.”
“But why did you say you were twenty? Can’t you work unless you’re twenty?”
“Ah, that’s only at Allen-ssi’s tavern. On the first day I was supposed to work there, I even received new clothes, but Master got incredibly angry and took me out.”
“Master did?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know……. He said a lot of bad things to Allen-ssi……. And he told me that if I followed him, I wouldn’t have to do hard work anymore and I could make a lot of friends.”
That dress was pretty though, kind of a waste……. Rose, who had muttered the rest with a sigh, burrowed into Elijah’s arms and said.
“But I’m glad I met you. I don’t like the other kids. I’ll only be friends with you.”
“…….”
Elijah was awkward, not knowing what to do with one arm spread out. His arm that had been floating in the air very slowly descended onto Rose’s back.
“……Don’t regret that dress. You’re pretty no matter what you wear.”
Rose raised his head. Eyes filled with innocent curiosity shone brightly in the darkness.
“Am I pretty?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled brightly and stroked Elijah’s head.
“Elijah is prettier.”
“…….”
Perhaps his courage had run out, Elijah couldn’t say anything more.
His heart was pounding like it would burst.
