“On the lips?”
Serdin asked back nonchalantly. When he showed a somewhat interested reaction, Formo nodded with a noticeably brightened expression.
“Yeah. On the lips!”
He shouldn’t not know what meaning a kiss where lips touch carries, yet Formo was excessively delighted. To a degree that raised doubts.
“Why are you so happy about it, Pipi?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“You hated kissing me.”
Until just recently, Formo had been horrified at requests for kisses, so he was puzzled by the reaction that was so opposite from that time. Of course, there had been a change in their relationship, but Formo didn’t seem like the type to change his attitude over such things.
Rather, it seemed like he’d snap at him to stop talking nonsense.
“Mmm. Back then we weren’t anything to each other. Not family, not companions…”
“Then what are we now?”
When Serdin asked indifferently, Formo fidgeted with his fingers and replied in a small voice.
“You said we’re lovers.”
“That’s my thought. Pipi’s thoughts could be different.”
“…I think so too.”
“What did you say.”
“L-lovers.”
At Formo’s answer, Serdin narrowed his eyes. He quite liked Formo answering so obediently, but it was disappointing to end it this easily. He couldn’t miss the golden opportunity that had come to him.
“Lovers call each other pet names or use names, but Pipi doesn’t.”
“Th-that’s…”
Formo’s lips pressed together. Come to think of it, he’d never called Serdin’s name even once. Until now, he’d been reluctant to call his name, citing the reason that Serdin also called him “Pipi” instead of his name.
But he couldn’t keep referring to Serdin with terms like “hey,” “you,” or “there” forever. Since Serdin had also called him by his real name, he naturally should too. And above all, if they liked each other as Serdin said, it was right to call each other pet names or names.
Why was he so nervous about something like this? Formo hesitated a bit, then parted his lips.
“…Serdin?”
It was a very small voice, but it reached Serdin’s ears clearly. Formo’s voice calling him by name. Serdin suppressed his satisfaction and responded to the call.
“Yeah, Pipi.”
“Is it okay now?”
“No, not yet.”
“What else is left?”
“The kiss is left.”
Ah. Formo, who let out a brief interjection, scratched the back of his head and then resolutely held Serdin’s cheeks. Some determination appeared in his gentle eyes. A strong determination to properly soothe Serdin who had sulked.
After taking a short deep breath, Formo lowered his head and slowly pressed his lips to Serdin’s. The two lips gently overlapped. Formo was kissing him as sincerely as possible, hoping Serdin’s mood would improve. The sunlight that filled the glass greenhouse embraced the two of them.
Formo, who had been pressing his lips against Serdin’s for quite a while, straightened his back. Then Serdin smacked his lips with a disappointed expression.
“Is it done?”
“No. It’s a bit lacking.”
“What?”
“I think I’d be satisfied if Pipi did it one more time.”
Formo glared at Serdin, who was shamelessly continuing to speak. To think he’d greedily want one more after already kissing twice. It was utterly shameless. Moreover, seeing his eyes crinkling, his mood seemed to have improved long ago.
Yet demanding more kisses was probably to tease him.
“No. I won’t do it anymore.”
Formo, who flatly refused, picked up the fallen book and returned to his spot to sit down. Then he started reading again as if he’d never had a word fight with Serdin.
Serdin looked at Formo like that with eyes mixed with laughter, then turned his gaze toward the entrance where he felt a presence.
“You were both here! I searched for quite a while without knowing!”
Kert’s voice, too loud to ignore, was heard. He was walking from the entrance, waving his arms. Kert, who quickly reached in front of Serdin and Formo, caught his breath that had risen to his chin, then opened his mouth.
“Whew… I came to deliver this to Lord Pipi.”
“What is it?”
Serdin asked with an indifferent expression.
“It’s a reply from Arancha.”
Until then, Formo’s eyes, which had shown no interest in Kert’s appearance, widened. Formo put down the book he was reading, looked up at Kert, and asked back in a loud voice.
“What? Really?”
“Yes. Since I would never dare tell lies to Your Highness and Lord Pipi, it must be true.”
“Let me see!”
Formo, who sprang up from his seat, held out his hand to Kert. Kert looked at Formo, who was acting impatiently, with puzzled eyes, then handed over the reply he was holding. It was a slightly dried leaf. Perhaps there was no suitable paper left, so the long-tailed tits had written the reply on a leaf and sent it.
There had definitely been small scraps of paper in Formo’s small bedroom that he’d seen in Arancha.
“How unique. To send a reply on a leaf.”
“They must have written the reply on a leaf so natural enemies wouldn’t discover it.”
Formo replied quietly as he looked at the leaf. On the palm-sized leaf, someone’s footprints were stamped messily.
Kert, who was standing behind and glancing at the leaf, shook his head. The long-tailed tits used a completely incomprehensible language. So much so that he didn’t dare try to guess what was written.
Kert had looked at the leaf several times while moving to deliver the reply to Formo, but there wasn’t a single footprint from which he could infer meaning. Thus, his curiosity about the content had grown like a snowball.
“What does it say?”
“Mm-hmm. Well, they’re doing well. The barrier is being maintained well too.”
“Really? Is that really what it says?”
“Yeah. Armo must have written it.”
“No… You can know all that from footprints?”
Instead of answering, Formo nodded. For Formo, who had lived his whole life as a long-tailed tit, it was a very familiar script.
“That’s a relief, Pipi.”
Serdin, who got up from his seat, said that and placed his face on Formo’s shoulder as if to show off. Kert’s body stiffened, witnessing that sight right in front of him. Formo’s angry voice would surely be heard soon. Perhaps he’d transform into a long-tailed tit and peck his superior’s cheek. The charge would be “terrible behavior.”
Kert swallowed his dry saliva as he stepped back a couple of steps from them. The problem was whether he should pretend not to know about the situation where his superior would get a beating, or watch it.
“Mm-hmm. It really is a relief.”
“You don’t need to go to Arancha for a while. Right?”
“That’s true, but just in case…”
Kert’s eyes widened as he listened to their conversation. A situation different from his expectation was unfolding. To think Formo and Serdin were having a normal conversation without fighting. What on earth was going on? When had Formo and Kert, who were practically arch-enemies in vulgar terms, become this close? Could they have even signed a peace treaty without him knowing?
Kert couldn’t close his mouth, even imagining such things.
“If you want to go, come with me, Pipi.”
When Serdin, with his face on Formo’s shoulder, spoke while sending a subtle gaze, Formo was startled and blushed.
“I-I was going to.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm. Really.”
The conversation the two shared was truly a spectacle. Formo blushing every time Serdin spoke, and Serdin staring at such a Formo with a strange gaze as if seeing him for the first time, was enough to fluster Kert.
Kert stepped backward, unable to close his mouth. Formo and Serdin, who hadn’t noticed such a Kert, were still absorbed in their own world.
“And Pipi, I’d like it if you’d call my name often from now on too.”
“Th-that’s.”
“Is it difficult?”
The more he listened, the more extreme it became. Kert’s legs trembled as if they’d collapse at any moment.
“It’s not difficult. Just a little…”
“A little?”
“I-it’s embarrassing…”
“Ah, Pipi.”
Serdin, as if unable to contain his overwhelming emotions, gritted his teeth and tightly hugged Formo from behind. Formo was quietly accepting it with flushed cheeks, as if he was quite used to Serdin’s embrace.
Kert, who had witnessed that unbelievable scene, stopped stepping backward and stood still, covering his mouth that wouldn’t close.
“Hu-huk…”
At the sudden noise, Serdin and Formo’s heads whipped around.
“What. You haven’t left yet?”
Serdin asked in a voice with a clearly annoyed tone and turned Formo’s face toward him.
“Pipi, don’t look. He seems to be in a really bad state.”
“Wh-what?”
When Formo asked back absurdly, Serdin shrugged. Then he spoke to Kert, who was still standing stupidly in place.
“Kert.”
“…Y-yes!”
“If you’ve seen everything, get lost.”
“That…”
Kert hesitated for a moment, then shouted in a loud voice. He looked urgent, as if trying to express his grievance.
“I-I didn’t see anything, Your Highness!”
“What.”
“Your Highness embracing Lord Pipi…”
Kert, who had been continuing his words, urgently covered his mouth with a pale face. However, there was no way sharp-eared Serdin would have missed those words. Serdin, who heard the following words clearly, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
“For someone who claims to have seen nothing, it seems you saw properly.”
Kert’s eyes squeezed shut. Why on earth had he come to the glass greenhouse and ended up seeing something he shouldn’t have? He should have just left the reply in the office and come out. It was a moment when belated regret washed over him.
