“Oh, wait a moment.”
As if suddenly remembering something, Diego opened the nightstand drawer beside the bed. Soon, something familiar to Roman’s eyes was held out.
“Thanks to you, I used it well. Thank you.”
What Diego handed over was the perfume he’d had Ruth deliver two days ago. After looking at the small glass bottle for a moment, Roman raised his gaze and met Diego’s eyes. His lips moved impulsively.
“You don’t like smelling the same as me?”
Only after several seconds of silence did he hear an answering voice.
“…No, how could that be.”
“Then leave it and keep using it. You didn’t think I’d ask for it back, did you?”
This time too, Diego held back his answer. Watching him strangely avoid his gaze made his mood sink naturally.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just… it feels like I’m only receiving from you all the time.”
Understanding the meaning a beat late, he let out a laugh like a sigh.
Sometimes, very occasionally, when he saw Diego sitting expressionlessly, he’d suddenly become curious about what was going on in the guy’s head.
A sincere and trustworthy man, a man who inspired inexplicable trust.
It was the common evaluation of people who knew Diego, and Roman’s thoughts weren’t much different. But occasionally, it felt like behind that appearance existed a morass of emotions that others didn’t know about.
‘…Just like right now.’
Roman answered belatedly with a face where his smile hadn’t faded.
“I’m receiving continuously too.”
“What?”
“This.”
His outstretched hand touched Diego’s center. When he kneaded it as if deliberately stimulating, only then did he clear his throat, seeming to understand what he meant. Then a low voice flowed out quietly.
“…If you keep touching it like that, I’ll get aroused.”
Sure enough, he could already feel it hardening. Only then did Roman take his hand away and wrapped one arm around Diego’s neck.
Diego expected a kiss, but his expectation was off. Something soft touched the skin above his collarbone instead of his lips, and soon a stinging sensation came.
The moment he realized it, Diego’s heart began to beat rapidly. Unlike himself, who frantically bit and licked whenever they mixed bodies, it was very rare for Roman to leave marks.
A moment later, Roman raised his head and met his gaze. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but his lips seemed redder and fuller.
“Since Emily is here too, it’s hard to do more, so pound me hard during the next Bloody Cycle. I’ll eat it up deliciously.”
After leaving a short kiss on his lips, Roman was the first to stand up. Watching his back as he opened the door and left without reserve as if it were his own home, Diego ended up burying his face in his palms.
He closed his eyes and forcibly recalled serious situations. It seemed time would be needed to calm down his swollen center.
***
The first thing Roman did upon arriving at the guild office was read the morning newspaper delivered at dawn. Though it was always just the same old news so it wasn’t much help, very occasionally there were times when he obtained useful information.
After that was a repetition of the same daily routine. As he enjoyed leisure while drinking hot tea, at ten o’clock sharp, Hubert came to the Master’s office.
In his hands, as always, were thick ledgers and several letter envelopes. After receiving a brief report, Roman opened the envelopes one by one.
His eyes, which had been moving quickly, stopped at one place. Lost in thought without taking his eyes away, he called someone.
“Isabel.”
Soon Isabel approached with clicking shoe sounds. Roman handed Isabel the brown envelope he’d been holding. A moment later, seeing her raise her head, he spoke first. His brow was slightly furrowed.
“Has Allen reported about additional work?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
Her tone was confident. And for good reason—Isabel was a woman with extraordinarily sharp memory. Not only had there been no report, but she hadn’t even seen Allen’s face all week.
Roman let out a long sigh and sank deeply into the sofa.
From the time he first recruited guild members, he’d considered mutual trust the most important thing. Due to the nature of the job, guild members always performed work externally, and while working, unexpected situations occasionally occurred. Unintentionally making mistakes, not properly completing missions, or having commission periods extended or receiving additional requests.
When variables occurred that way, Roman ordered them to report to the guild unconditionally regardless of the reason. He added advice never to lie or deceive out of fear of the aftermath, since he always thought of the guild members as top priority.
But does life ever flow only as one wishes? Though he thought he looked at people’s character when recruiting newcomers, there were always one or two guys who caused headaches.
Allen was like that too. Was it two months ago? During a conversation with a client, Roman coincidentally learned that Allen had received additional payment for extra work but hadn’t reported it to the guild. The amount wasn’t the problem. As he kept saying, he considered mutual trust very important, and there was no reason to keep someone who couldn’t properly keep even that one thing as his subordinate.
Of course, anyone can make a mistake once. But in Allen’s case, including the client’s letter he’d just received, this was already the fourth time just from what Roman knew about.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t given advice. When an anonymous internal report came in, Roman had called Allen separately and given him a stern warning. He’d thought he’d straightened up after that, but learning that he’d committed the same act again gave him a headache. All the more so because he knew there was someone in his family who wasn’t in good health.
“What are you thinking of doing?”
“What do you think would be good?”
When he asked back without much thought, he heard a voice answering decisively.
“At this point, you need to handle it according to the rules.”
“You mean fire him?”
“That’s what it comes to.”
“…How cold.”
Unlike Roman, who smiled briefly, Isabel didn’t even blink.
“If it were someone else, maybe, but that’s not something for the Master to say, is it? And you’re thinking the same thing as me anyway.”
Since everything she said was right, there was no room to refute. Since repeating the same mistake meant it was no longer a mistake, Roman set aside personal feelings for a moment and made a decision.
“How long has Allen been working here?”
“It’s been 2 years and 5 months.”
“Then prepare 300 gold for me. Go tell Hubert that I’m looking for Allen.”
“If you look closely, you’re actually quite soft.”
Isabel left her true feelings behind as she departed. A moment later, a heavy pouch was placed on the table. Knowing it was prepared exactly right, he didn’t bother with the trouble of counting again. As he waited while drinking the cooled tea, Allen, who had been summoned, entered the office.
Without being told, he sat down across from him, then asked with an expectant expression.
“Has a new commission come in?”
Instead of answering the question, Roman put a different question in his mouth.
“Don’t you have anything to tell me?”
“……!”
Roman didn’t miss the moment Allen’s ash gray eyes wavered. Instead of drawing out words, he held out the brown envelope toward Allen. Seeing him hesitantly unfold the letter, he continued after a slight pause.
“I clearly remember giving you a warning last time, did my words sound ridiculous to you?”
“N-no!”
“Or. Are you planning to say you forgot to report it?”
Roman had a rare expression completely devoid of any trace of laughter. Detecting the ominous mood, Allen hurriedly fell to his knees on the floor.
“I was wrong, Master. This time it really was a mistake. I was going to report it the next day, but I was busy and forgot. Really.”
Roman wasn’t foolish enough to believe such an absurd excuse. It would have at least been honest if he’d said he was greedy for the money. Watching him persist with excuses until the end made him feel pathetic for even briefly thinking ‘Should I give him just one more chance?’
“Stop with the shabby excuses.”
“…! P-please give me one more chance. Please, I’m begging you.”
Finally, Allen grabbed Roman’s pant leg and pleaded. But it was already too late to turn back. The expression looking down at Allen held no emotion whatsoever.
“This is in appreciation for your hard work so far. You don’t need to come in starting tomorrow.”
“Master…!”
“Just leave. I don’t want to call someone to drag you out either.”
An emotionless gaze looking down, a voice that was languid yet firm. Only then did Allen realize. That this wasn’t a stronger warning or threat, but a sincere termination notice. That no matter how much he begged on his hands and knees for forgiveness, the Master’s mind wouldn’t change.
Knock knock—
“May I come in?”
At the voice from beyond the door, Allen’s shoulders flinched. After glancing once toward the door, he slowly stood up. His bloodshot eyes turned toward Roman. Glaring with a gaze mixed with humiliation and anger, his lips trembled before he snatched the money pouch from the table and turned around.
