“What are you chattering about. Are you the only ones washing? Hurry up and get out, half-breed.”
Ren hastily grabbed the towel wrapped around his waist. Pepe, with a bucket tucked under his arm, quickly left the bathhouse before the red-faced Ren could snap at him.
“That crazy bastard. Making a scene again.”
Ren grumbled while tightening the towel knot that had slipped slightly. Beni looked at Ren like that before looking around the bathhouse. The only ones with towels wrapped around their waists to cover their lower bodies were Ren and himself.
Beni had thought everyone did that since Ren did, but that wasn’t the case either. Come to think of it, he’d never seen anyone cover their lower body when washing at the Count’s estate either.
Was he embarrassed? He became curious, but as Pepe said, he needed to wash quickly. Pepe seemed like a bad guy, but seeing how he informed them of things like this, he didn’t seem entirely bad either. Ren particularly disliked Pepe intensely—what had happened between the two of them?
Though Ren generally disliked all servants, he was especially sharp with Pepe. He hated it when he even came near. Sometimes Ren would pick a fight first. Mainly when their eyes met while walking.
〈What are you staring at.〉
〈I’m going to look with my own eyes, got a problem?〉
When they growled at each other and Beni stood beside them watching, that was the end of it. Pepe would turn his head sharply first and go on his way.
Due to Pepe’s sudden outburst, the question of how Ren knew he was going out was forgotten, and Beni’s head became completely filled with other thoughts.
After finishing washing, on the way to the dining hall for breakfast, Ren whispered lowly.
“Be careful when you go out at night.”
“Hm?”
“If you occasionally run into a demon with a nasty temper, you might get into bad trouble, so be careful. Especially you……”
Ren looked down at Beni who was looking up at him from beside him. Beni’s appearance stood out even among the servants. He was called “that pretty one” among the servants. His white hair with a soft texture unbefitting a servant, and his skin was as clear and white as his hair, pale without being sickly.
More than anything, Ren felt Beni’s eyes were unique. His eyes were like delicately crafted jewels. It had been like that when he first saw him, but as days passed, they seemed to sparkle more transparently. A quiet sparkle as if light dwelled within.
Ren had seen similar eyes before. That woman who had been especially dazzling even among the masses steeped in the poverty and suffering of the slums. The time she’d spent in the slums was long ago, and the period she’d stayed was only about a year, but Ren still occasionally recalled that person.
About her who had suddenly disappeared one day, people all said the same thing. Since she was a beastkin, she must have died without living long.
Ren somehow thought the now-faint impression of her and Beni were quite similar. Was that why he’d secretly been concerned from the beginning?
As Ren just stared at him wordlessly, Beni tilted his head.
“Ren, what’s wrong?”
“Just…… anyway, be careful. If some weird bastard comes up and talks to you, run away immediately. Don’t follow them around like an idiot.”
“……I’m twenty years old…… I’m the hyung……”
“Does being a bit older make you a hyung?”
Isn’t that usually the case? Since Beni’s only younger sibling was Trellou who’d bullied him, he’d secretly regarded Ren as his younger brother. Though they weren’t blood-related, he felt much closer to him than Trellou.
He didn’t like being treated like a child, but he decided to ask about this later. There was something more urgent now.
“Is it okay to openly walk around at night?”
Walking around at night when living at the estate was unthinkable. Though he had to spend all day in a small room anyway, at night they’d even lock the door from outside so he couldn’t go out at all. Once when he’d secretly gone out, they’d confined him for 4 days giving him barely any water, so after that Beni never even dreamed of going out at night.
He’d just…… gone out because the moon in the estate garden sky was pretty and he wanted to see it directly with his eyes rather than through a small window.
So Beni had naturally assumed the Demon King’s Castle wouldn’t be much different. Though they might not impose cruel punishments like the Count’s household, he’d believed sneaking around at night was definitely forbidden.
He had seen demons walking around at night while living as a rabbit, but he’d thought that was all because they had legitimate reasons. Since servants and attendants would have things to do at night too.
In Beni’s narrow world, that was such a natural principle, but Ren, who didn’t know his past, looked at Beni with eyes that couldn’t understand instead.
“As long as you don’t cause problems, it’s fine to walk around. I heard the High Priest even visits the castle in the middle of the night.”
“What kind of problems……?”
“They say the current Demon King His Majesty sleeps early, so being too noisy, entering the main palace, or trying to attack His Majesty the Demon King, and also……”
Ren somehow hesitated, not easily continuing his next words. What kind of problem was it that Ren was hesitating like this? Could it be that beings who weren’t pure-blooded demons like Ren or himself shouldn’t walk around?
When Beni tensed up and stared up at Ren, he finally opened his mouth.
“……You can’t raid the food storage or kitchen.”
Unlike the long silence, it was an anticlimactic problem.
“That’s obvious.”
“……I know that!”
Ren suddenly got worked up by himself and turned his head sharply. Beni wondered if he’d said something wrong, but Ren would never tell him.
* * *
Late at night, Beni gently opened his eyes. As quietly and secretly as possible, he bent his upper body down from the second-floor bed railing. Ren had fallen asleep again with the candle lit and a book dropped on the floor. He definitely seemed to be asleep, but…….
Even while climbing down the ladder, Beni moved more carefully than usual in case he made even a small sound.
Beni picked up the fallen book and placed it on the table, then properly pulled the blanket that had slipped halfway to the floor up to Ren’s chest. Looking at Ren’s chest that swelled and deflated evenly, Beni waved his hand slightly in front of his face. With no movement at all, he was definitely asleep.
Then how exactly had he known he went out at night? Even when he came back at dawn, Ren was always sleeping.
It was puzzling, but before more time was wasted, Beni left the room.
Normally he would have transformed into a rabbit in a corner of the hallway and slipped out, but today was different. Now that he knew he could freely walk around the Demon King’s Castle at night, going in his true form was much more convenient.
If he became a rabbit, he’d have to take detours hiding here and there, but as a servant he didn’t need to do that!
Beni walked confidently, and as soon as he came outside, the air was cold and his shoulders hunched. He fastened the front of his outer garment even more tightly.
It felt strange to be walking around like this in the pitch-black night. With anxiety and tension different from when he’d hidden as a rabbit, Beni unknowingly kept looking around.
He hadn’t run into anyone yet. Just as he was hoping he wouldn’t meet anyone at all, a shadow faintly appeared ahead in the corridor. Flutter—startled, Beni almost hid reflexively before collecting himself. The closer they got, the clearer the figures became—there was even more than one person.
Act casual, natural, don’t look like you’re up to something bad!
Beni repeated to himself while walking stiffly with his gaze only thrown straight ahead. Then when he saw those who’d fully revealed themselves, his tension completely released.
“What?”
It was Pepe. Specifically, Pepe and his friends. Pepe looked at Beni who was alone before glancing once behind him.
“Where’s the half-breed?”
Though he knew it was a term referring to Ren, Beni pretended not to hear. Anyway, seeing how Pepe didn’t say anything particular even after seeing him, it really was okay to walk around! Now the path to see the Demon King would be much easier.
When Beni tried to pass without answering, Pepe shouted furiously.
“Hey! Are you ignoring me? Where is that bastard! You guys are always stuck together, stupid!”
“Why is this guy so worked up again? If we’re late there won’t be any spots, let’s go.”
A friend beside the frowning Pepe dragged him along. When Beni glanced back, a tall demon behind Pepe waved his hand.
“Hey pretty boy. Want to come with us?”
On that face speaking with lips twisted up at the corner was not playfulness, but an expression full of wanting to openly pull nasty pranks. At the fishy air underlying every word, Beni instinctively glared. It was a tone and face that reminded him exactly of Trellou.
When his yellow eyes filled with wariness, he shrugged his shoulders and said dismissively, “If you don’t want to, whatever.” As they turned and left, they giggled saying, “Hey, be careful. You might get your nose broken by a tray too.” Beni’s face flushed hot as he rubbed it with his hand and hurried his steps.
After that he did run into a few demons, but they were all either uninterested in Beni or just glanced at him once. Beni was able to safely arrive at Orte Palace where the Demon King was.
Since he’d been told not to wander around the main palace at night, it seemed better to transform into a rabbit from here. Beni headed toward the side door where Orte Palace’s kitchen was and took off his outer garment and top in order.
In case someone discovered the clothes while he was gone, he planned to fold them as small as possible and organize them. It was when he was about to take off his pants as well.
“……Beni?”
“Eek!”
Pop—his tail popped out.
