# Chapter 30
The dinner table was quite elaborate. Sandwiches with bread wrapped in bacon, sandwiches topped with thick-sliced salmon and olives, sandwiches with strawberries and honey, sandwiches with roasted tomatoes and eggs, and sandwiches with cheese and honey-glazed nuts. They were all sandwiches. And all made with rye bread as the base.
“…Why are they all sandwiches?”
“So we can eat them quickly.”
Rite answered indifferently while placing a sandwich with thin ham and various vegetables on the table. I nervously glanced at the kitchen, worried that more sandwiches might appear. Rite sat down first, perhaps indicating he had brought everything out.
“Nothing else?”
“What else do you need?”
“Maybe soup…”
“There isn’t any.”
His determination to get rid of the rye bread quickly was impressive. And there was an enormous amount. Could we really eat all this? The table full of sandwiches was overwhelming.
“Is there bread for tomorrow?”
“There’s some for breakfast. So tomorrow, buy white bread.”
Rite picked up a thick sandwich wrapped in bacon and took a big bite. I rolled my eyes, looking for a sandwich that seemed least filling.
“I went shopping today because I thought I’d be busy tomorrow.”
“You’re busy tomorrow too?”
“Yeah. Markus-ssi’s acquaintances collectively assigned me work.”
“Markus gives stingy payment while assigning a lot of work.”
“He’s giving me jobs. I’m happy with that.”
“He makes you do all sorts of things. Does he think Arden is his slave or something?”
Not a slave, but I am a criminal… I thought to myself, shrugging my shoulders as I picked up a sandwich with cheese and nuts. After taking a large bite, I turned my attention to the notebook beside me. Brown, five flowers. Orange, three fish. It was a ledger written entirely in code.
After the Knights searched the house three years ago, I rewrote the ledger in code and burned all the original documents. Suspicious items were unavoidable, but without my admission, they couldn’t rashly confirm any crime.
“You used to find it annoying to go down to the village. These days, you go often.”
“I do prefer being at home. But I still need to work.”
“Then should I go shopping?”
My head turned quickly from the notebook. Rite casually popped the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and dusted off his hands.
“No.”
I couldn’t carelessly send Rite down to the village. Though he controlled his appearance better than before, the villagers still remembered the young Rite from three years ago. Purple eyes weren’t common, and while he had grown taller, his features remained the same, so suspicion was inevitable. Besides, hadn’t Cal and Ea already discovered his horns?
More than that, didn’t Rite himself avoid going to the village more than I did? After the Knights turned the house upside down, Rite struggled even to step outside. Now he occasionally took walks in the nearby forest, but that was still within the Winter Forest.
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’… You know why.”
“Is that really the only reason?”
“What else would there be?”
“Hmm…”
Rite raised his eyebrows and looked away. He scanned the table still full of sandwiches, then picked up his cup of water and drank it in one go. He turned back to look at me and held out the empty cup.
“Arden, milk.”
“Orange?”
“Yes.”
I took the cup and closed my notebook. I immediately stood up and headed to the kitchen. I took out the milk container that had been soaking in hot water and poured milk into the cup. It was only lukewarm, but not bad. I took orange jam from the cupboard and added an appropriate amount to the milk. What Rite had requested wasn’t just milk, but milk with jam mixed in. After I made it for him once when he was young, he asked for it often, and Pini regularly brought jam. It was the first gift from Pini that Rite genuinely liked. I stirred the milk with a teaspoon as I came out of the kitchen.
“Here.”
Though the cup was quite large, it fit securely in Rite’s hand. As I sat down and was about to open my notebook again, Rite’s behavior caught my eye. Instead of drinking, he was fiddling with the cup and staring intently at its contents.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s not warm.”
“Heating milk takes time. Just drink it.”
“…There’s not enough jam either. Put in more.”
Rite held the cup out to me again. When he was young, he insisted on doing things himself, but now his demands for me to do things had grown. If he were still the same as back then, it would be understandable. But seeing him fully grown yet still asking me to do this and that didn’t seem particularly good.
“Then do it yourself.”
I shouldn’t continue doing whatever he asks. Strengthening my resolve, I refused his request. It felt good to firmly refuse, but fearing he might argue back, I quickly turned my attention to my notebook. I pretended to be busy, turning pages while taking a bite of my sandwich. Rite neither made another request nor went to the kitchen to get the jam himself.
* * *
I woke up to a weight pressing down on my entire body. Something hot and heavy was covering me.
“…Rite.”
“Yes.”
The heavy thing pressing down on my body answered in a docile voice. I tried to open my eyes, which wouldn’t open properly, but they kept closing. When I finally managed to open them and reached out my hand, I touched soft hair.
“You should go to your room to sleep.”
Rite didn’t answer. Just like when he was young, he had climbed on top of me and was lying down. At least back then, he was smaller. It seemed he didn’t consider how his body was growing larger; shamelessly, he continued to try sleeping on top of me.
“Rite, you’re heavy.”
“…”
“Get off. Go to your room to sleep. Hurry.”
Sleep gradually faded away. Even after I fully opened my eyes, I couldn’t see well because of the darkness. I felt around for Rite’s collar and tugged at it urgently. I couldn’t continue indulging these whims. Despite my actions, Rite stubbornly resisted and buried his face in my neck. His lips and breath against my neck tickled.
“I had a dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
“A dream with a monster.”
Every time Rite mumbled, his lips moved against my skin, making me unconsciously shrink my neck. Rite paid no attention and buried his face deeper. Seeing him like this sometimes, he still seemed like a child.
“That’s what happens when you read those kinds of books during the day.”
“…The Knights also appeared.”
My hand, which had been stroking Rite’s neck, stopped in mid-air. With the mention of the Knights, one person crossed my mind. A golden-haired knight in dark blue uniform.
“They came here again. They said they would take me away.”
“That won’t happen. I won’t let them take you like that.”
“You just let them take me, Arden. You said it was too difficult now, that you wouldn’t care anymore, and told them to take me.”
Rite’s voice was calm. If someone who didn’t understand our language heard, they would think we were having just a normal conversation. Nevertheless, I was more concerned about Rite speaking so matter-of-factly. I moved my paused hand again to stroke his neck.
“That won’t happen.”
“I know. But I was scared.”
“…”
“So I want to sleep here.”
Rite lifted his head from where it was buried and looked at me. A pair of eyes appeared in my vision, which had somewhat adjusted to the darkness. In the darkness, Rite’s eyes looked as deep as the night sky.
“…Alright.”
I nodded with a sigh. Rite stared at me intently before burying his face in my embrace again.
“But do you really have to sleep on top of me like this?”
“Yes.”
“…You’re really heavy, you know.”
“Bear with it.”
Rite tightly wrapped his arms around my body, as if determined never to get off. It felt suffocating, like being constricted somewhere, but I couldn’t tell him to get down anymore. Dreams reflect the unconscious. If anxiety had formed in Rite’s unconscious and caused such a dream, I bore some responsibility. After all, I was the only person in Rite’s world. He occasionally met Pini, but very rarely.
Did I make Rite anxious? Filled with remorse, I stroked Rite’s hair. Rite, who had been still, rolled his eyes to look at my hand.
“…No fingers.”
“Why?”
I said it just in case, and I was right. It was strange enough that he was sleeping in my arms with a body larger than mine, but sucking on my fingers while sleeping would be even more unusual.
“People would find it strange.”
“Who’s going to see?”
“…Pini?”
“Pini isn’t here right now.”
Rite lifted his head, opening his mouth. He lunged at my fingers like a bird snatching prey, but I was faster. I quickly pulled my hand back. Rite, who had bitten at empty air, looked at me discontentedly. I maintained a firm expression and cut him off decisively.
“No.”
“You’ve been enjoying saying that word lately, haven’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
Rite didn’t answer and lowered his head. His forehead hit my shoulder blade. I winced at the small pain. It must have hurt Rite too, but he showed no reaction. Somehow, it seemed like Rite was sulking.
“I think I’ve spoiled you too much.”
“That’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s not a good thing either.”
“…These days you really don’t give in on anything.”
Rite raised his upper body slightly and looked down at me. It was unfair. I had always thought Rite got the better of me. Hadn’t I yielded to Rite on most things until now? Seeing that I couldn’t admit it, Rite sighed.
“Don’t make that face.”
“What face am I making?”
“A face that says you don’t know anything.”
Rite’s finger poked between my eyebrows. At his touch, the tension released, and the frown I hadn’t realized I was making smoothly disappeared. The purple eyes observing me in the darkness examined my ear.
“You always sleep wearing that.”
“What?”
“That thing in your ear.”
Ah. I murmured quietly and raised my hand to my earlobe. The hard metal touched my fingertips.
“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”
“It was uncomfortable at first… but I guess it became a habit after raising you.”
Rite tilted his head slightly. By now I could take it off to sleep, but it had become such a habit that it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
“It’s no big deal.”
“It’s unusual. You don’t wear any other accessories, but you always wear that.”
“…”
“If it’s not uncomfortable, that’s fine.”
Rite seemed to lose interest and draped his body over me again. He was more uncomfortable than the earring. Though there was a strangely calming feeling from his body being warmer than the blanket, his hot, hard, heavy body made it hard to breathe whenever he shifted even slightly on top of me.
“If you grow any bigger, I really won’t be able to let you sleep on top of me…”
“…I won’t grow anymore.”
As if that’s something you can control. A chuckle escaped. Rite curled his body as much as possible, but that hardly made any difference. It’s not like it made him any less heavy. I kept these thoughts to myself and closed my eyes. Despite the discomfort, I fell asleep easily. Strangely, when something was pressing on my body, sleep came readily.
