Not long after that, Ruvlian stopped moving. Soon the burning hot cheek withdrew, and the relatively cold room air quickly touched my hand.
Even though I didn’t stop him, Ruvlian stopped. To stop the skinship on his own. I wondered if he caught some fatal disease while making the barrier magic. I was surprised enough to imagine such an absurd thing. As if realizing my thoughts, Ruvlian laughed gorgeously.
“I want to say I like you more, but if I do, your face seems like it’ll burst.”
Soon he ticklishly whispered while lightly touching my cheek with his index finger. Making the cheeks reminiscent of spring flowers even redder.
I bit my lower lip tightly. I pressed down the inner feelings that were stirring to see the light of the world. It was no easy task to calm the heart trying to jump out. Only in the case of Ruvlian who sincerely confessed love and smiled like that.
“……Stop playing tricks and tell me the story that got cut off earlier. You didn’t do anything dangerous, did you?”
“Mm? Me, not Sihyeon?”
I couldn’t strike back at the barbed words. Ruvlian and me. If I compared the frequency of dangerous actions between the two, I was overwhelmingly more.
“If you grant me just one request, I’ll tell you right away.”
Ruvlian, who had been staring at my tightly closed mouth, said while smiling sweetly.
As the soft and cozy atmosphere faded even slightly, the problem of the parallel world Ruvlian and the Evil God came to mind again. Since it would be related content, I had to listen, but I was anxious about what this request might be. It was even more so because he was looking as if to enchant someone. He was exactly like a fox swishing its tail.
“What is it?”
“Will you grant it?”
“After I hear it.”
“Mmm. If you give me a definite answer, I’ll tell you, Sihyeon.”
Ruvlian, who stretched out the end of his words coquettishly, took one step closer. He lowered his upper body, buried his face in my shoulder, and lowered his eyelids. The tips of his delicate eyelashes as if made from crushed stars touched my skin.
The action of lowering his height that was taller than mine seemed to show he was submissive and gentle while expressing he had no intention of harming me. I sighed while pushing away his face.
“……I got it. Step back.”
“I stepped back.”
Though his eyes said it was regrettable, he listened well to what I said. Ruvlian gazed at me docilely as if asking if this was enough. When I nodded, his lips stretched and the corners of his mouth turned upward.
“Please tell me you like me.”
It was an unexpected request. So I couldn’t move as if adhesive had been applied to the soles of my feet. Not even one step.
“I want to hear it.”
“……”
“Sihyeon also has something you want to hear from me.”
Ruvlian was giving me justification right now. To me who kept suppressing my inner feelings, since I needed to know the reason he dimension traveled from that crazy bastard’s world without notice, for that purpose, to speak the feelings hidden deep inside.
If there was one thing Ruvlian didn’t know, it was that no matter how much it was because of justification, the moment inner feelings are spat out. From that moment, they don’t control well.
How many times had I wavered just from the fact that Ruvlian remembered the confession that I liked him? But to take out the hidden inner feelings again? If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to control my true feelings afterward. A heavy breath flowed out between my lips.
Still, I had to listen. Wouldn’t it be fine if I removed as much emotion as possible and spoke without inflection like usual? It was like being on a boat shaking in rough waves.
My head and heart played separately. One side scolded asking if now was the time for this, and one side said to reveal my inner feelings. The choice was difficult.
“……I like you.”
In the end, the winner was my heart. The moment I saw the earnestness contained in the eyes that captured the clear sky as is, the scale tipped. Being weak to Ruvlian doesn’t change.
Though it was a small voice, there were only the two of us in this huge room and Ruvlian had good hearing. Having heard my confession, Ruvlian drew a smile that seemed like it would make the world into a land of pink flowers with a face saying he couldn’t be happier. It was like a painting. It was such an unrealistic smile.
“Now tell me.”
“I will, Sihyeon. First, after regaining my memories, I made a contract with the God.”
A calm yet quite coquettish voice was heard. I was puzzled that he made a contract with the God, but knowing an explanation would come, I kept my mouth shut and waited.
Ruvlian took my hand and led me to the sofa. When I sat on the sofa full of cushioning, he took the seat next to me. Then he opened his mouth.
“That was to help make barrier magic to prevent that crazy uncle over there from crossing into this world. Indirectly, of course.”
“What does the God gain from it?”
If the parallel world Ruvlian doesn’t dimension travel, the Evil God also has no reason to cross over. However, that was something that could be easily done if the higher-ups in the divine realm just gave permission. In this situation, there’s no way they wouldn’t give permission, right?
“Even though the God is omnipotent, stopping one human might be easy, but there’s a penalty.”
“Ah. Permission from the higher-ups.”
“Yes, that. Now it’s been revealed that the Evil God is still parasitizing him, but it wasn’t then. Even when I first made contact with the God after Sihyeon turned back time, the divine realm was in the middle of stabilizing.”
Ruvlian, who had been explaining slowly, took a breath in and out once, then added words.
“Since it was also a chaotic time, and the Evil God’s whereabouts were unclear, there was no way the higher-ups would permit the parallel world Ruvlian’s dimension travel, so we mutually helped each other and decided to make it in advance as a preventive measure to stop things. Plus, if that uncle doesn’t cause trouble, I don’t have to write an incident report.”
Honestly speaking, the very last part seemed like the real reason the God helped make the barrier magic. It seemed to be because the God kept going on about incident reports, incident reports in my head.
“So we made the barrier magic and the Gods issued Divine Oracles to the worlds they manage. To worlds without mana like Sihyeon’s inherent world, they temporarily dispatched excellent mages like the Hero. You don’t know how hard it was to adjust the barrier magic to be as easy as possible, so that an Archmage could use it.”
He complains and sends a look asking for praise. At the sparkling gaze that caused the optical illusion of emitting light, I carefully swept down the blonde hair with rough hands. Silky soft hair wrapped around my hand and slipped out.
He curved his eyes thinly like a beast that had given its side, then followed the withdrawing hand and rubbed his head. The way he clung was also like a large dog that liked its owner. Though what he did and his tone were definitely fox-like.
“So that uncle can’t come to where we are. The same goes for other worlds. He probably sincerely isn’t afraid of death, but he won’t really plan to die.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t like it, but I’m also ‘Ruvlian.’ He’d also hate being controlled by others, and since he’s feeling interest in you, he won’t die easily. I can be certain.”
I nodded at the eyes filled with certainty that it would really be so. I also know Ruvlian well, but how could I know as well as himself? He was a different person and the same person at the same time. Since I believed him, I asked the next question.
“Is this the end of what you agreed to do with the God?”
I hoped it was the end. Though it was a God who treated me kindly, separately from that, he couldn’t be trusted. No matter how human-like he felt, a God was a God. There was nothing good from making deals with Gods.
I only asked for possible situations, but Ruvlian let out a clear laugh quietly.
“Sihyeon, are you worrying about me now? It feels good since you’re doing it.”
“……Who knows.”
“Yees. I understand.”
It wasn’t a nuance of understanding at all. Rather, it was a tone as if knowing all about the worry. No matter what more words I added, Ruvlian would interpret it favorably for himself. When I became quiet, he, still holding a smile, answered the previous question.
“This isn’t the only thing we agreed to do. They made a proposal from the other side. Of course, I also got compensation. Aren’t you curious what the compensation is?”
His eyes asked me to hurry and ask. There was also a hint that if I didn’t ask, he wouldn’t say the next words. Letting out a small sigh, I opened my mouth to hear the rest of the story.
“What is it?”
“Living with Sihyeon in Sihyeon’s inherent world.”
At the unexpected compensation, it was like someone hit my head with a hammer. Unable to believe what I heard, I divided the sentence Ruvlian uttered into words and chewed over them again several times. I realized I hadn’t misheard.
“Why would you do such a thing……”
“Sihyeon. Why else? Because I like you.”
I lost my words because his face said that reason was truly the end. Though it was a confession regardless of time or place, my pulse raced rapidly again. Strangely, it felt like the air was heating up.
“Before, it wasn’t Sihyeon’s world, but anyway, we lived together once. Um, from your perspective, it’s the modern era. Anyway, at that time, I didn’t feel any mana, divine power, aura, or anything from Sihyeon.”
That was because the God had taken away all my abilities. Like before awakening my latent abilities. Ruvlian was saying he would be the same way now.
“You, get a grip.”
Ruvlian and magic had an inseparable relationship like Ruvlian and shamelessness. It always stuck to him. But to eliminate such mana? I wondered if he was thinking normally right now.
“Sihyeon. As long as I can be with Sihyeon, I don’t need anything. Mana, my world. All of it.”
My heart rate accelerating at Ruvlian who calmly confessed he could throw away everything for me—I also wasn’t in my right mind. Normally, being so devoted, trying to throw away everything would be burdensome, but perhaps because I could also willingly give my life for him. Rather than being heavy and burdensome, the feeling of being happy was stronger.
When Ruvlian shook me, I swayed as much as he shook. When it came to him, it was difficult to properly maintain balance. Especially the problem was revealing my inner feelings twice. Once is difficult, but the next time is easy. It felt like the words in my heart, the words I couldn’t say all this time, would pour out all at once.
“……Tell me again later.”
“Mm? What? Life plans for living long and happily with me later?”
“Ruvlian.”
“Yees. Why are you calling? Are you asking what I think? If it’s living long with Sihyeon, of course I’m happy.”
He shyly lowered his eyes and fluttered his eyelashes. Such a bashful face and the words he uttered didn’t match. He was shameless enough to give a sense of disparity. Who knew “tell me again later” would change into life plans? I was dumbfounded. There would be no one who could follow him in bullshit and shamelessness.
“Stop it. You said there was one more thing you agreed to do besides the barrier magic circle. What is it?”
At my question, Ruvlian went “Hmm” and pondered. He seemed to be pondering where to start talking.
“I heard from the God. Do you know why the Evil God is trying to annihilate the human realm?”
Though we had fought, we had never had such a normal conversation. When I shook my head left and right, Ruvlian nodded and continued speaking.
“In the past, really in the early days when the world was created, multiple Gods existed in one world. There were also multiple temples.”
His gentle voice was sweet. I had the idle impression that he would be good at storytelling.
“When there are multiple Gods in one world, what would happen if they worship different Gods? There would be conflict, right? So what broke out was a religious war…… The Evil God was almost sealed at that time.”
Sealed? At the unexpected words, I thought no way. The Evil God in the parallel world Ruvlian’s memory disliked humans without fail every moment, and I wondered if the reason was because of the sealing. Somehow, I had an intuition like certainty that it would be correct.
Seeing me like that, Ruvlian curved his eyes gracefully, as if drawn smoothly in one go without stopping. As I looked at him waiting for the next words, soon he warmly rubbed my hand and then intertwined our fingers. The moment warm body temperature was transmitted, his red lips opened.
“What you’re thinking now is correct. The other thing we have to do is sealing. We have to seal.”
The Evil God, too.
