“Wow.”
“How is it?”
“…It’s truly beautiful.”
It really was. Van was purely amazed. There was something deeply moving that made one’s heart ache about the red sun hanging at the edge of the endlessly spreading vast ocean. Even though the sight of the setting sun was something he’d seen countless times in his life. Van kept expressing his admiration at that scenery.
“You’ve always watched this beautiful sight alone?”
“Mm-hm. There was no one to watch it with.”
At the words that somehow sounded lonely, Van, who had taken his eyes off the sunset, pulled Rowy’s shoulders into an embrace. Then he whispered in an affectionate voice.
“From now on, you can watch it with me.”
“Together….”
“Yes. I’d like to watch it together every day.”
…Those were quite nice words to hear. Yes, it seemed he’d always wanted to watch such scenery with someone. There had been no such person in Rowy’s life until now, but….
‘…Will he really stay by my side?’
Glancing at Van, Van hugged Rowy even tighter. Rowy completely nestled into Van’s embrace.
* * *
On the way back too, Van carried Rowy on his back. It wasn’t that Rowy asked to be carried first; Van proposed it first for Rowy, who was in a somewhat subdued mood. Having no reason to refuse, Rowy readily got on Van’s back and hummed while dangling his feet.
“The castle has changed so much, everyone will be surprised when they come.”
“When everyone comes tomorrow, ask them to make apple pie.”
“Yes.”
“…Then let’s go take a bath.”
“…Should I run?”
“What? Hey! I’m getting dizzy!”
Rowy, startled by Van running recklessly, hit his shoulders thump thump, but there was no way Van would stop at such cotton-fist punches. At that urgent pace, joyful laughter eventually burst from Rowy’s mouth. The castle was no longer submerged in darkness. The two ran into the castle brightly lit with lights.
And the next day. Until late afternoon,
No one came to the castle.
* * *
“What could have happened?”
They noticed something was wrong this morning. Van, who had headed to the kitchen at Rowy’s insistence singing apple pie, apple pie as soon as he woke up, discovered the kitchen completely empty with no one there. Thinking they might have gone to help someone else, he searched the castle, but only learned that not just Fin, but the butler and the twin brothers were all nowhere to be seen.
At first, Van thought nothing of it, assuming they were just a little late to work because of yesterday’s storm. However, when no one came even as late afternoon approached, he finally began to worry that some kind of accident might have occurred.
“Nothing happened, right? Like a boat accident….”
“That’s never happened before.”
Unlike Van who was restless, Rowy didn’t think much of it. There had even been times when a typhoon hit and he’d been alone for over a week. They might not come for a day or so.
“Have they ever not come without any contact like this?”
“…No, this is the first time.”
Only then did Rowy’s expression become slightly serious. Van, who had been looking out the window for a while, finally got up saying he’d go check the dock at least. Rowy followed behind Van.
“Can’t you contact them with the artifact the butler has?”
“Mm-hm. I tried earlier but it didn’t work.”
During typhoon season, it was common for the servants not to be able to come to the island for days because they couldn’t launch the boat. However, losing contact… come to think of it, this was the first time. Since Rowy wasn’t very close with the servants, he didn’t know where to contact if he couldn’t reach them.
‘I’ve never even had a proper conversation with them.’
Van, who he hadn’t seen for a few days, was probably closer to them. Rowy, looking at Van whose expression had hardened stiffly with worry, pouted his lips sulkily. …He really was an affectionate person regardless of who it was. Feeling mischievous for no reason, Rowy dangled from Van’s arm. Of course, Van easily lifted such a Rowy and tucked him under his side.
“I hope they’re just arriving a bit late.”
The dock they arrived at with Rowy dangling like that was indeed empty.
“What should we do? We’re trapped on the island too.”
“That’s right.”
Come to think of it, that was true. The butler always called the boat. Well, if it really came down to it, they could contact the estate in Seto. Or Seilan. They had exchanged communication devices when parting with Seilan. If it was Seilan with his wide network, he would be able to look into not just the boat but things about the servants as well.
“If it really comes down to it, I can ask Seilan to look into it.”
“I see.”
Van, who had thought of Seilan, nodded.
“The weather is this nice… what could have happened? Ah, don’t just sit down.”
Van stopped Rowy, who was about to plop down on a nearby rock, took off his clothes to lay them down, and sat Rowy there. Then he sat close beside him and hugged Rowy tightly.
“Even if the weather is nice, it’s a beach so the wind is cold. Let’s watch a little longer and then go in.”
“Mm-hm….”
“……”
“…But why do you keep feeling my waist?”
“……”
Won’t it work? Van awkwardly withdrew the hand that had been around the waist. Rowy’s gaze was cold. Just last night he slept well in his embrace. I really don’t understand. Sometimes clingy, sometimes disliking it like that. Ahem. Feeling embarrassed, Van turned his eyes back to the sea. And….
“Huh? A boat is coming there.”
“Huh? Where? Why can’t I see it?”
“Over there. In a little while, you’ll be able to see it too, Master.”
Rowy looked where Van pointed. After a moment, just as Van said, a boat approaching the island became visible to Rowy’s eyes as well.
* * *
“Captain-nim?”
“Hello!”
The visitor was an unexpected person. The captain who had brought Van and Rowy to the island had come to the island.
“What brings you here?”
“I came at the request of Fin’s sisters! Fin didn’t come home yesterday, you see. You know Fin, right? The kid who works here. We’re neighbors!”
“He didn’t come home? We were just worried because no one came. Not just Fin, but the butler-nim, Henry and Hudson brothers all didn’t come to the island.”
“Everyone didn’t come? I heard they said they were going to the island yesterday… I should have checked first before coming.”
Yesterday? That was unexpected. Van expressed his doubt.
“Yesterday? Didn’t it rain yesterday?”
“Didn’t the rain stop in the afternoon? They said they left then… but they didn’t come to the island at all?”
This is serious. The captain’s expression became grave. Accordingly, Van and Rowy also looked at each other and hardened their expressions.
“Could there have been an accident?”
“That’s possible.”
The island where Fin lives was said to be not far, about an hour by boat… it seemed something had happened on the way. However… the captain seemed to think differently. This time the captain looked at Rowy and asked.
“Are you sure, really sure they didn’t come here yesterday? You didn’t miss seeing them?”
“No one came yesterday.”
“How could we not know if someone came?”
Van also nodded, agreeing with Rowy’s words. However, the captain still seemed suspicious of something.
“Were you in the castle the whole time?”
“Well, ah….”
Van, who was about to nod saying yes, suddenly remembered watching the sunset with Rowy yesterday.
“We were outside briefly. But it was only an hour or two.”
No one came yesterday for sure. Van shook his head again.
“Isn’t there a possibility of an accident at sea? There’s no boat at the dock in the first place.”
“Well, the sea was particularly calm yesterday afternoon… and….”
The captain, who had stopped speaking, looked at Rowy.
“You know well, don’t you? This island is cursed.”
* * *
At the suggestion to go to the castle and talk, the captain turned pale and adamantly declined, so the three ended up settling in the cabin on the boat. The captain offered them each a glass of strong liquor saying this was all he had to offer, but naturally Van confiscated Rowy’s glass and refused. The captain didn’t mind the refusal, took the glass, and began drinking repeatedly by himself. During that time, Van fussed over Rowy excessively, and eventually got an earful from Rowy.
“I’m not going to get seasick on a stationary boat.”
“Yes….”
Van, who had been continuously rejected since earlier, was now openly sad.
“Phew… to think such a thing would happen. I thought peace had come.”
And meanwhile, the captain, who had gotten appropriately drunk, began his story mixed with lamentation.
“This island is cursed.”
Then he paused for a moment and let out a big sigh before slowly opening his mouth again.
“On this island… a demon lives.”
“……”
Ah, yes.
…Surely if it hadn’t been for yesterday’s incident, they would have been surprised. Since this was a story heard after already meeting and dealing with the demon, it wasn’t very surprising.
However, what was surprising was,
“What? Demon worship?”
