Rowen’s room was filled with the characteristically cool air of the west annex. But it was warmer than his own empty room where Nigel had been staying as a frog.
Rowen walked to the nightstand beside the bed without even taking off his outer clothing. In the drawer below the nightstand, towels that the academy’s maids had always sun-dried and folded were neatly stored.
He took out one of them, poured a glass of clear water, and thoroughly dampened the center of the towel. Then he set the frog down on the soft towel.
Nigel adjusted his position on the damp towel. After spending the entire day running around in a state of tension and being trapped in his room at the end, it felt like all the muscles in his body were screaming. This water wetting his entire body for the first time in a while was like life-giving water.
Then, Rowen’s gaze settled on Nigel’s torso. It was the part where the red ribbon was tied. Sensing the direction of his gaze, Nigel seized the moment and croaked.
‘Untie this.’
Because of how carelessly Veil Khalid had tied it, the knot tightened every time he breathed, making it unbearably uncomfortable.
Rowen’s brow furrowed slightly.
Nigel let out a small sigh, thinking he once again failed to immediately catch on to what he wanted.
But surprisingly, Rowen caught on to his intention.
“That must be uncomfortable.”
He muttered quietly.
“Hold still. I’ll untie it for you.”
He carefully reached out while matching Nigel’s eye level. He seemed worried the frog might not understand his words and run away.
Far from running away, Nigel slightly raised his head and front legs as if telling him to hurry up and finish.
His soft belly, surrounded by skin made sleek from moisture, swelled and deflated with each breath he took.
Large, rough fingers with calluses from swordsmanship training touched his torso. Though not delicate, his careful fingertips, as if trying not to cause injury, reached the ribbon knot.
Veil Khalid seemed to have better dexterity than expected. Rowen wrestled with the small knot, incongruous with his size.
“Who tied this so tight.”
He grumbled softly but didn’t stop his movements, worried Nigel might jump out of his hands.
Rowen’s warm body temperature and regular breathing could be felt very close by. Seeing Rowen up close like this, concentrating solely on him, made Nigel feel strange.
Swoosh.
Finally, the tied knot came undone, and the red ribbon fell limply to the floor.
Ha, done. Rowen smiled faintly with satisfaction.
“Croak.”
Nigel also croaked, meaning he could finally breathe. Of course, to Rowen’s ears it would have just sounded like a frog’s croak.
“Alright, time to sleep now.”
Saying that, Rowen picked up Nigel along with the towel and walked to the desk. On his desk, befitting a Swordsmanship Department student, miscellaneous magical tools were rolling around rather than books.
Rowen swept aside half the desk with his huge arm and placed a box on it. Then he carefully placed the frog along with the towel inside. No, he tried to place him.
Nigel put strength in his legs and bounced off Rowen’s arm. Even though he’d become a frog, he couldn’t fall asleep in such an unseemly bed made from a box that had rolled around the streets. And if he fell asleep there and returned to his original form, it would be a disaster. Sleeping safely on the bed was the best option.
Boing!
“Huh? Hey!”
Where Nigel landed was Rowen’s bed. Right in the center of the pillow. The fluffy down pillow touching his whole body made it feel like all the fatigue from running around all day was disappearing.
“No way. You’ll get crushed to death like that.”
Rowen approached the bed with a troubled expression and tried to catch Nigel. But Nigel quickly burrowed under the blanket.
“This guy, seriously…. Come out.”
Rowen tried to find the frog inside by lifting the blanket. A tussle like hide-and-seek continued.
But on the narrow bed, catching a small, nimble frog was impossible. After several attempts, Rowen finally raised both hands in surrender.
“Haah… Fine, I get it. I give up.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed as if giving up. Only now did Nigel settle down and curl up in the fluffiest spot next to the pillow, as if asking “are you finally giving up?”
Rowen looked at Nigel like that, laughed helplessly, then turned off the lights in the room.
Click, darkness descended. Only the moonlight coming through the wide window dimly illuminated the room.
The bed shifted as Rowen lay down. Worried he might crush the frog while sleeping, he lay down near the edge of the bed and turned his back. Regular breathing could be heard.
‘Is he sleeping?’
Nigel blinked in the darkness. Still, Rowen was the most reliable person in the academy. It seemed Nigel could fall asleep beside him. That was why he’d insisted on this spot where he could see Rowen’s back as soon as he opened his eyes.
That’s when it happened.
Whooo—
With a big sigh, Rowen’s broad back could be seen swelling and falling.
“Where did you go….”
He seemed to be talking in his sleep. Nigel slowly approached Rowen’s face. He felt good from the moisture in the breath that came out each time Rowen breathed.
Nigel quietly curled up at a distance where he almost but not quite touched the side of the pillow face.
* * *
Chirp, chirp chirp.
If the place Nigel had fallen asleep was his own room, the blackout curtains would have automatically opened with the magical tool he’d installed. But this morning was different from usual.
Nigel slightly stretched his curled-up body, then sneakily opened both eyes. He could see the morning sunlight shining into Rowen’s room. And below that… he could see front legs that were still a frog’s.
‘Damn it.’
Nigel cursed inwardly, having held onto a tiny bit of hope until falling asleep. This change, which he’d thought would be just a day’s commotion, seemed to plan on shaking him for a very long time.
“Mmm….”
Then a large mass moved right beside him. The whole bed shook, so Nigel, who thought it was an earthquake, soon realized the identity of that huge being.
Because Rowen Ashfield’s sturdy jaw and Adam’s apple approached right in front of him.
Fortunately, he hadn’t been crushed while sleeping. The dawn air was slightly cold, and Rowen’s presence was slightly helpful to Nigel, who hadn’t adapted to his damp body and that low temperature.
Rowen also woke to the sunlight seeping into the room and the birdsong heard from outside. He sat up rubbing his eyes with a disheveled face.
It was an appearance Nigel had never seen since becoming close with Rowen, the youngest son of the Ashfield family born in the Imperial Capital. He’d thought he was always cheerful and going around smiling, but surprisingly he seemed to become quiet right after waking up in the morning.
Rowen discovered Nigel in the corner of the bed and opened his dazed eyes wide.
“Ah, you were here.”
Immediately, a smile spread across Rowen’s face with a soft laugh. With that face, he reached out and gently patted Nigel’s head with his index finger.
“Did you sleep well?”
Rowen asked warmly, as if speaking to a person. Nigel just stayed quietly curled up in place without any response.
He didn’t have the energy to bother arguing from the morning about not touching him with his finger, and besides, he felt strange that Rowen’s smiling face was focusing on him like this.
He got up from the bed and stretched, then his expression immediately darkened.
“……”
A new day had begun. If there had been any new news, he’d left word to contact him even while sleeping, so the fact that he’d woken up like this also meant they still hadn’t found out Nigel’s whereabouts.
‘Where on earth did he go….’
Rowen let out a deep sigh and roughly ran his hand through his hair. His longtime friend Nigel seemed like he would come back any moment with a nonchalant face and say, ‘Instead of needlessly worrying about others, you should have just gone to class properly.’
He never dreamed that short conversation they’d had two days ago would be the last conversation he’d have with him.
‘No, I shouldn’t think too negatively yet.’
Thinking that to himself, Rowen entered his bathroom connected to his dormitory room.
Nigel was left alone on Rowen’s bed and heard the sound of water pouring inside the bathroom. He tried moving his front and back legs this way and that to loosen his body that had stiffened overnight.
Now a new day had arrived. Nigel had to decide what to do going forward. Rowen would probably go to attend classes, so he might have to spend the entire day alone in this room agonizing over it.
But Nigel’s complicated thoughts soon stopped. Because the bathroom door opened and Rowen Ashfield walked out, roughly shaking his wet hair.
“……”
He only had a towel wrapped around his waist. Of course that made sense. This room was a personal space used only by Rowen alone, and he wouldn’t dream that the frog on the bed was Nigel.
In this situation, it was fortunate he’d at least come out with a towel wrapped around him.
His blond hair, which usually shone brightly, was slightly darker than usual, perhaps from retaining moisture, and water droplets falling from the ends ran down his jawline past his firm Adam’s apple. Then he could see them sliding down over his sculpted pectoral muscles without an ounce of excess fat.
Nigel blinked slowly without realizing it. Having never scrutinized his friend’s body so nakedly like this, he felt strangely guilty.
Moreover.
Gulp. Rowen, having finished his shower, looked excessively damp and he couldn’t take his eyes off him.
