“No matter how I look at it, isn’t the person drawn on the wanted poster His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Ah, yes, well……”
I’d never openly said Crown Prince. Only I knew that. Was drawing the blonde hair the problem after all? As I scratched my head and mumbled vaguely, Jeffrey calmly placed a coin on the table with a thud.
Was it because he worked on his day off? Today, the coin shone particularly golden.
“……?”
Wait a minute, golden?
My eyes widened. Not silver, but gold gleaming brilliantly.
Right. It was a whopping 1 Gold!
While I stood frozen with my mouth hanging open, Jeffrey smiled gently.
“I’ll pay for His Highness the Crown Prince’s meal as well.”
“Huk, no, th-this much money is……!”
“The change is fine.”
He never intended to take it anyway. Well, I didn’t have money to give back anyway, right?
In case he changed his mind, I carefully tucked the golden coin into my sleeve. At the heavy weight transmitted through my fingertips, my heart sank with a thud.
But Jeffrey still showed no sign of getting up from his seat. Rather, he quietly stared at me intently.
“If even I haven’t eaten it, that would mean it’s food that doesn’t exist in this world.”
“Ah, yes……?”
Though I’d been distracted by the gold coin, at Jeffrey’s following words, my fingertips instantly stiffened.
“I’m older than I look, you see.”
Why is he telling me this? Hehe, I forced out a laugh, but my spine went cold.
His violet eyes soon slowly moved to the seasoning sauce on the table.
“It was in our family’s old records. Traces that an ancestor enjoyed spicy and stimulating food.”
“Ancestral records?”
If it’s spicy and stimulating… don’t tell me, peppers? There was someone who knew about that?
Seeing my face frozen blankly, Jeffrey slowly stood up from his seat as if directing a scene from a long-prepared play.
“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Jeffrey Marches Latour.”
He bowed his head slightly and smiled.
“I am also the Empire’s Mage.”
“Ah, I’m the inn owner, Sion.”
I hurriedly bowed my head, and his hand extended before me. When I hesitantly clasped his hand, a firm grip pulled me close. Then my upper body tilted over the table, and the distance narrowed enough for our breaths to touch.
“……!”
As the violet eyes drew near, a disheveled youngster with a dumbfounded expression was reflected. A stupid face with mouth half-open, unable to even breathe properly.
That was my current appearance.
But what was more dizzying than that was those eyes.
On the surface, a calm color hiding ennui, but from the depths, a damp desire that seemed long-aged was slowly blooming.
Held captive in his pupils without knowing the intention or reason, a strange eeriness climbed up my spine. Jeffrey looked at me like that, curved the corners of his eyes gently, and whispered languidly.
“In exchange for welcoming only me on your day off, I’ll pay 1 Gold like today.”
I was frozen enough not to breathe carelessly, but Jeffrey continued speaking calmly regardless of my reaction.
“However, I want to receive something other than gukbap.”
“……Wh-what?”
Gulp.
The saliva I swallowed went down stuck in my throat. Jeffrey smiled softly hearing that sound. The tone that followed was terribly sweet and simultaneously captivating.
“Your body.”
Body? Is there organ trafficking in this world too? Or does he want to exploit my labor like Gilbert?
I muttered that inwardly, but soon realized. What he wanted wasn’t simply that. The violet eyes looking down at me were far more strange and deep than that.
I wanted to take a deep breath, but because of the hand holding me and the close upper body, I couldn’t move at all.
I could only stare at him with wide eyes, unable to even swallow my breath, like prey facing a giant beast.
However, the fortunate thing was that the beast was a well-fed beast.
Jeffrey looked down at my hand as if contemplating for a moment, then gently stroked the back of my hand with his fingertips. At the unfamiliar ticklish sensation, I trembled finely without realizing it.
“Wh-what do you mean……?”
“It won’t be a bad proposal.”
The bass note resonated long. A strangely sweet yet somehow sharp echo.
Sweat rose on my hand and moisture spread. Just as tension was choking my throat tightly, Jeffrey pulled my hand hard once more. The arm that had been resting on the table was dragged powerlessly, and we faced each other once again at an even closer distance.
“……!”
“Don’t you also need knowledge to survive in this place?”
It was a strange statement. Because it was as if he was asserting that I wasn’t a person of this world.
Come to think of it, didn’t he also say earlier that his family’s ancestor enjoyed spicy food?
Before I could harbor doubts, he put more and more strength into the hand he was holding, and soon reached for my bangs. I reflexively lowered my head to cover my face, but he grabbed my chin instead of my bangs.
“You’re not a person of this world, are you?”
“……!”
I tried to shake off his hand immediately, but his grip was much firmer than I thought.
Damn it, what well-fed beast.
From the moment he arbitrarily judged, it was already a trap. I’d been firmly bound from the moment I stepped in, so there was no reason to be hasty. There was a reason for his composure.
My face turned white in an instant, and my body trembled. With emotions fully revealed, it was clearly the appearance of someone caught doing something.
How did he know?
No, actually, there were many ways to know. I served dishes that don’t exist in this world and even made seasoning sauce. Besides, the existence of the Inn on the Boundary itself was already abnormal, wasn’t it?
…Wait.
Then before I transmigrated, Sion wasn’t running the inn?
Recalling the broken and rotting ingredients I encountered on the first day, it seemed that was the case.
Then how had Sion been living until now?
My mind spun in a white whirlpool with the questions that only now occurred to me. Before I could grasp the thread of thought, Jeffrey’s touch slowly rose along my jawline. Cold fingertips slid along my skin, then eventually brushed over my lips and moved slowly.
“……Wa-wait……!”
Before the words stuck in my throat could flow out, Jeffrey’s low voice covered them.
“So let’s make a deal.”
Violet eyes shook and gleamed dangerously. As if to devour the other person, yet simultaneously like a skilled negotiator making a proposal.
“If you accept my proposal, I will answer your questions.”
“……Why, why are you making this proposal to me?”
At that question, Jeffrey’s eyes curved thinly.
“You should already be familiar with it.”
When I stared blankly, unable to even gauge the hidden meaning, Jeffrey tilted his head very slowly. At that moment, his long black hair fluttered softly and filled my vision.
What filled my eyes before I knew it was the all-too-familiar black hair.
As if knowing I’d unconsciously been captivated by that hair, Jeffrey smiled broadly. But it was a smile full of ambiguity rather than refreshing.
“You don’t know that my ancestor crossed over from another world?”
“……!”
I didn’t know.
Such words didn’t appear anywhere in the original novel. All I knew was the ending where long ago a dragon and its companions established the Boundary Line, and the Saint and her companions stopped the signs of war that appeared again in the present.
Jeffrey maintained his smile and slowly dug into me.
“Isn’t it ridiculous to assert someone is ‘a person of this world’ when they don’t even know the Empire’s origin?”
“Th-that’s…… I lost my memory……”
“The cliché excuse of memory loss would only work on those who are ignorant or still young.”
“……”
There was no gap or opportunity to make excuses. The moment silence settled heavily, Jeffrey’s fingertips slowly brushed my lips. Chillingly, yet strangely softly.
“How about it. My proposal.”
My throat was parched, but I barely swallowed and opened my mouth.
“……Why specifically my body?”
The corners of Jeffrey’s mouth curved thinly. An expression that seemed like mockery.
“Consider it a preference.”
“……!”
To think the word preference would sound this chilling. And if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean there’s another intention after all?
“Then… how far will you demand?”
At those words, Jeffrey put down my hand he’d been holding. I quickly pulled back my body and created distance, but Jeffrey remained calm even seeing me move away.
He slowly raised the finger that had brushed my lips and licked it with the tip of his tongue. Inwardly, I was horrified.
“Let’s start with something light.”
So, what? What are you starting with?!
As if my confusion was fully revealed on my face, Jeffrey asked with an impossibly calm expression.
“So, what do you say?”
…What answer can I give here? If I refuse, the secret gets out, and if I agree, it’s a deal where I don’t know where I’ll be dragged.
In the end, I silently nodded.
And so our secret agreement began like that. Once a week, meetings between just the two of us continuing every holiday.
