<Chapter 41>
#5. Be Assertive in Your Advances (3)
“…Pardon?”
Melty tilted his head to the right, unable to comprehend Calix’s direct question. Seeing that Melty didn’t understand the sudden change in topic at all, Calix decided to explain in more detail.
“Well, you know… it was the same when we went down to the village before, right?”
“…Ah!”
Melty clapped his hands lightly as the memory belatedly came to him. The day he went down to the village with Calix for the first time, they definitely had that conversation at the restaurant. He had completely forgotten about it since he thought it was an insignificant exchange, and he never expected it would resurface like this.
Gulp. Calix swallowed dryly as he gazed at Melty, tension visibly dripping from his demeanor as he waited for Melty’s answer. Not noticing Calix’s nervousness, Melty pursed his lips and said:
“Well, you’re a con artist, Calix-ssi.”
“Who? Me?”
Flabbergasted by this unexpected statement, Calix pointed at himself with his finger. Melty nodded emphatically at Calix’s twitching index finger. Upon seeing Melty’s affirmation, Calix responded with an indignant expression.
“When did I ever con you? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“You seem to have forgotten already, but I remember my contract very clearly.”
Melty puffed out his chest with his hands on his hips, acting tough. His stomach, which had grown plump from eating his fill, led the way. Calix’s attention was drawn to Melty’s adorable yet completely unthreatening posture, and he found himself staring at the gentle, rounded curve of Melty’s belly.
“My memory isn’t that bad. I was really angry at you after I found out, remember?”
Thinking that Calix had forgotten about the situation, Melty kindly added an explanation. From Melty’s story, Calix finally realized what he was talking about. The employment contract that Melty had eagerly signed didn’t include any contract duration.
It was a contract he had prepared to prevent Melty’s possible escape after discovering through his Gift that Melty was a precious connection to him. He never expected that this would brand him as a con artist and a liar in Melty’s mind.
There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the contract itself. So technically, not noticing that part was entirely Melty’s mistake. Of course, Calix did feel a slight regret about deceiving a beast-person who had just reached adulthood. However, that minimal regret had mostly disappeared when the furious hamster had pulled his hair after finding out that the employment period in the contract was infinite.
Calix quickly assessed his situation and devised a solution. The first thing he needed to do was positively transform the image Melty had of him.
With an exaggeratedly casual shrug of his shoulders, Calix spoke sincerely:
“If that’s what you’re upset about, I feel a bit wronged.”
Seeing him act like he knew nothing, Melty pushed his lower lip out. Since he had already pulled Calix’s hair quite a bit over that incident, he wasn’t particularly angry or surprised anymore. Still, thinking that Calix’s feigned ignorance was rather shameless, Melty pushed his lips forward in a pout.
“If you’re going to say it was my fault for not checking that the contract duration wasn’t written in, don’t bother. I know it was partly my fault for not catching it beforehand. Now I know that should be included in any normal contract.”
Having worked as Calix’s assistant for a while and figured out his thought patterns, Melty meticulously pointed this out. Caught off guard by Melty’s assertive statement, Calix cleared his throat loudly.
Melty’s words contained exactly what Calix had been planning to say, as if he had seen right through his mind.
But a truly competent person always has several alternatives prepared. Quickly regaining his composure, Calix brazenly spoke with his usual thick-skinned expression.
“Did you sign the contract with me? No, you didn’t.”
“…The contract… I received it from Angel-ssi.”
“See?”
At Calix’s matter-of-fact statement, Melty was left speechless. And Calix was a man who knew not to miss an opportunity when given one. As Melty looked at him with a perplexed expression, thinking ‘something’s not right here,’ Calix swiftly continued.
“Who were you with when you signed the contract?”
“…Angel-ssi.”
“Did Angel tell you that there was no contract period written in the contract before you signed it?”
“No.”
As Melty’s head shook gently from side to side, Calix raised his nose even higher and said:
“Then it’s Angel’s fault! My only crime was receiving the document that he had already gotten signed.”
Since the contract itself was meant for Padrian family employees, it naturally went through him for completion. When Calix first handed the contract over, it was Angel who frowned at the unfair contract terms. Calix completely erased from his memory how he had prepared several additional documents in case Angel raised any objections, and how he had pushed Angel to get them signed. Instead, he grinned.
“What else?”
“You swore to the Beast God that you wouldn’t eat me, but you didn’t keep that promise.”
The memory of being bitten by him at that time was still vivid. Melty covered his ears with both hands. Seeing this, Calix shrugged his shoulders and replied:
“I canceled my oath before I bit you. And I didn’t really eat you anyway.”
The issue was that he had lightly bitten Melty because his eager fluttering looked so cute. Melty’s lips trembled at Calix’s confident assertion, as he wrinkled his nose.
His words were correct. They were correct, but it felt unsettling to just accept it and move on. Not missing Melty’s hesitation, Calix quickly spoke up.
“So, have I cleared things up now? Anything else?”
“……”
“Nothing, right?”
“Please don’t talk to me for a moment while I’m thinking.”
This couldn’t be the end of it. With a serious expression, Melty had to rack his brain to find any anecdotes he could use against Calix. Calix shrugged his shoulders confidently, as if saying ‘take all the time you need.’
Pouting and glaring at Calix, Melty soon had to admit that Calix was right. The tension in his furrowed brow relaxed, and Calix noticed that Melty’s thoughts had concluded when he saw him sneaking glances.
Already certain of the situation, Calix grinned, which prompted Melty to grumble in a sulky voice.
“I don’t have anything else…”
“See? Strictly speaking, the liar is that guy Angel.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Calix sacrificed Angel to preserve his own image and shrugged. He could almost hear Angel’s indignant voice when he would eventually find out about this fact in the distant future, but Calix decided to completely ignore it.
As Calix strongly emphasized that he himself had done nothing wrong, Melty tilted his head in confusion but eventually had to agree. Thinking about it carefully, Melty realized that Calix truly hadn’t lied, just as he said.
“I understand if your first impression was bad, but even that wasn’t really my fault, was it?”
It was Melty who had fainted with a scream just as they were about to see each other’s faces and have a conversation. At Calix’s words, Melty, who had been staring up at his face, nodded his head obediently.
“And now you know that you had the wrong idea about Gifts, right? So the misunderstanding should be cleared up. Naturally, I’d like the prejudice caused by that misunderstanding to be removed as well.”
Gradually swayed by Calix’s eloquence, Melty had already reached the point of nodding his head in docile agreement. Pleased with himself as Melty now nodded up and down in assent, Calix gently wiped away the crumbs at the corner of Melty’s mouth with his thumb.
“Then you should take back what you said before.”
“…Take back?”
Seeing Melty blink in confusion, not having any idea what he was talking about, Calix gave him a kind smile.
“That I’m not your type.”
“…Eh?”
“Why not? We’ve established I’m not a liar, not a con artist, and the bad first impression was all a misunderstanding.”
Calix suddenly leaned forward, bringing his face closer, which made Melty shrink back in surprise. It wasn’t the sudden approach that felt uncomfortable, but rather the sparkling eyes that seemed full of expectation. Unaware of Melty’s uneasy expression, Calix confidently asked:
“That may be true… but that doesn’t mean you become my type.”
His voice came out as a muffled mumble, as if he was holding back the sound in his mouth. Though it wasn’t a direct retort, it was clearly audible to Calix’s ears. With his characteristic relaxed smile, Calix leaned his upper body towards Melty and said with a grin:
“Why not? Excluding those parts, I’m exactly your ideal type.”
“…Not at all. That’s not true.”
“You said you like someone who’s kind, gentle, and good-natured.”
Everything Calix was listing were items Melty had heard somewhere before. Belatedly recalling the conversation about “ideal types” he had with Lila, Melty’s face turned pale as he opened his mouth wide. Noticing his obvious surprise, Calix chuckled and playfully pinched Melty’s cheek before letting go.
“Y-you eavesdropped on that?!”
“No, I listened proudly. Your voice was so loud, I could hear it clearly.”
Calix replied nonchalantly, having no intention of telling Melty that he had been hiding behind a pillar. As Calix continued speaking, Melty’s face grew increasingly red. Calix smiled as he looked at Melty’s cheeks, which seemed like they might burst if he poked them with the tip of his finger.
“That wasn’t meant for you to hear. And I don’t like you, Calix-ssi.”
The words came out sharp because Calix’s face, full of amusement, seemed to be mocking him. After bluntly spitting out these words, Melty surreptitiously glanced at Calix and added in a small voice:
“…That’s not to say I dislike you. Just that you’re not bad as a person…”
Melty’s words jumped around as he lost his train of thought. Calix skillfully caught the essence of his rambling explanation.
“So you’re saying that our relationship as people is fine, but you’re not thinking about dating yet?”
At Calix’s question, Melty’s head nodded vigorously up and down. Watching him, a smile spread across Calix’s lips. The hamster who once only knew how to run away from him had now come to say, “It’s not that I dislike you.”
It wasn’t difficult to guess what the next stage would be. Having never failed to achieve what he wanted, Calix was confident he could make Melty say the words he wanted to hear. Tapping Melty’s plump lips, which kept drawing his attention, with his index finger, Calix smiled.
“Is that so? Well, I do. I have thoughts about dating you.”
