<Chapter 112>
#13. Seeds of Chaos (1)
Roughly brushing his hair back, Calix moved quickly. Originally, he hadn’t planned to waste this much time, but as he had to explain various things to Kamin Patel and Lila, several hours had suddenly disappeared completely.
“But why did Durasen-ssi cause all this trouble? It’s not like he had bad relations with the Tuanivel family.”
The question raised by Lila, who had been nodding and listening attentively, stuck firmly in Calix’s mind. Kamin Patel, whose face still showed signs of shock, agreed with Lila’s words. And though he didn’t show it in front of them, Calix also concurred.
Through the drought crisis, if the price of grain increased, the family could see great profits, but Durasen wasn’t a greedy enough person to cause trouble for just that. And as Kamin Patel had mentioned, he had been fond of young people regardless of their family background. As Kamin Patel had also mentioned, Iel Tuanivel was one of those who had received his affection.
Based on the evidence gathered so far, he had pointed to Durasen as the culprit, but Calix himself hadn’t been able to find out why Durasen had caused this incident. Durasen had always maintained neutrality and had taken on the role of mediator when disputes arose at exchange meetings and such.
‘What’s important is the reason why he committed such acts.’
Though he hadn’t gone into detail with Kamin Patel and Lila because it was bothersome to explain, Calix had already become convinced that there was a connection between Bain Spangky and Durasen Botenta. It was a conclusion reached through the origins and mercenary registration locations of those who had tried to secure Bain Spangky when Calix had deliberately sent him out to discover his backers, and who were subsequently eliminated by Malek Crosel.
‘Whether the goal was Padrian’s Tonka herb fields or if there was malice toward Padrian, I don’t know.’
After Calix’s statement was proven true with the discovery of Iel Tuanivel’s body, Durasen maintained his silence despite the barrage of accusations. People from Tuanivel raved and pushed him, but Durasen showed no signs of guilt.
The reason the mansion could be somewhat quiet now was because, to prevent any potential chaos, Durasen had been confined to a room rather than a prison. Since the surveillance was also handled by people from other families, it was clear that the mansion’s employees would only fully grasp the situation by tomorrow.
‘Though that won’t do much good anyway.’
Calix, who had wrinkled his nose bridge, soon relaxed. Although there were many variables as he didn’t fully understand the situation, containment was more important for now. Calix’s expression, which had been stiff and deep in thought, softened as soon as he saw the firmly closed door.
Carefully opening the door and entering, Calix looked around for Melty, who would be inside the room. Calix’s face showed slight disappointment as he had expected Melty, who was always lively, to come running with pitter-patter steps and hug him as usual.
“Melty?”
Not wanting to startle him, Calix called his name in a not-too-loud voice and moved cautiously. Despite considering whether he needed to check the bookshelf area and dressing room, Calix was able to spot him quickly.
A pleasant breeze flowed through the gap in his lips as soon as he discovered the small mound on the bed. Approaching carefully so as not to wake him from his sleep, Calix sat on the chair near the bed.
Melty’s cheeks, unaware of anyone’s arrival and deeply immersed in sleep, looked as soft as marshmallows. Calix, with his elbow on the armrest and his chin propped up, observed Melty’s face.
The chair near the bed and the changed positions of the scattered items compared to before he left the room suggested that Malek had come by. As the number of outsiders visiting the mansion increased due to the Tuanivel incident, Durasen had partially withdrawn the ban on outsiders. Taking advantage of this, Malek had been frequenting this place quite often.
‘So he had a conversation with Malek Crosel and then fell asleep again…’
As Calix gently stroked Melty’s hair with a face tinged with amusement, his ears twitched slightly.
“Mmm…”
With a whimpering sound, fingers slightly peeking out from under the blanket grabbed Calix’s hand. Calix flinched at the sudden grasp. Melty, firmly holding onto Calix’s pinky finger so that it couldn’t escape, wiggled and rested his cheek on Calix’s hand.
Calix’s smile deepened at the sight of him rubbing his fluffy cheek against his palm as if he was sleep-fussing. He felt a welling desire to play with the slightly parted red lips. Erasing all the complicated thoughts he had before entering the room, Calix focused on Melty’s face.
“Your husband is here, and how long are you going to just sleep?”
The slightly discontented words were uttered in a voice close to a whisper. Afraid Melty might wake up, Calix had reduced the noise as much as possible. While he wanted to hear Melty’s chattering voice soon, he also didn’t want to disturb his sound sleep. These two conflicting thoughts waged a fierce battle inside Calix.
‘Come to think of it, he does seem to be sleeping too much lately.’
Calix’s expression, which had been warmly gazing at the sleeping Melty, changed to a serious one. In the past few days, Melty’s sleep had increased explosively. To the extent that it felt like he spent more time with his eyes closed than open.
Since they spent burning nights almost every day after Melty’s eyes had opened to sex, Calix had assumed that Melty’s deep sleep was due to their strenuous nightly activities. But seeing Melty so out of it now, he couldn’t help but worry.
‘He seems to have a slight fever…’
Calix placed the back of his free hand on Melty’s forehead and wore a serious expression. It was a hypothesis he hadn’t considered until now, but the increase in sleep could also be due to poor health.
This suspicion intensified because he knew that Melty had been quite weak before his coming-of-age ceremony. The unexpectedly prolonged schedule also began to bother him belatedly. Just as Calix was seriously contemplating whether to call a doctor while frowning, his pinky finger warmed up.
Calix, who had flinched, let out a hollow laugh as he discovered Melty putting his finger in his mouth and nibbling on it. He didn’t know what dream Melty was having, but the tantalizing flicker of the soft flesh moving inside his pursed mouth was too stimulating to ignore.
“…Ah.”
He had been sucking so eagerly that as soon as Calix pulled it out, a “chu” sound echoed. Simultaneously, Melty, who had awakened from his sleep, blinked his dazed eyes diligently.
“Where on earth did such a cute and lewd hamster appear from?”
At Calix’s voice, laden with many implications, Melty blinked slowly. With each appearance after hiding behind his eyelids, his brown eyes became clearer.
“Calix-ssi?”
“What dream were you enjoying so deliciously?”
Melty chuckled at Calix’s touch patting his cheek and let out a big yawn. As if regretting the departed sleep, he smacked his lips, and Calix wiped the corners of his eyes with his hand.
“A snake picked strawberries for me.”
“A snake?”
At Calix’s echo, Melty nodded his head vigorously. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed connected to a dream he had when he had just entered the Padrian mansion. The part where a small thread snake that appeared while he was swallowing his saliva at a delicious-looking strawberry suddenly became huge was the same.
The snake that opened its mouth wide in that day’s dream had been so scary that even after waking up, the snake beast-people in the mansion felt frightening. This time it was the same dream, but the snake picked strawberries with its widely opened mouth. He was so grateful, especially since he had been struggling to reach the strawberries.
“And it kept rubbing its face, and it was so cute.”
Melty chattered away as he drank the water Calix had brought. Calix’s lips curled into a smile at the sight of him expressing regret that he had woken up just as he was about to take a big bite of the strawberry.
“Are you listening to my story? I’m telling you it was really cute!”
“Yes, I’m listening. It is cute.”
Calix replied as he rubbed Melty’s soft cheek with his slightly bent finger. Melty narrowed his eyes and looked at him with a discontented gaze.
“It doesn’t seem like you were listening to my story.”
“I heard enough. Though you were quite deliciously eating my finger instead of a strawberry.”
“Your finger, Calix-ssi?”
Calix smiled slightly at Melty’s round, wide eyes. The blanket that had slipped down revealed Melty’s neck and shoulders, even more colorful than the day before, making Calix even more pleased.
“Were you dressed like that when your brother came?”
“I was wearing that when Hyung came.”
The tip of Melty’s finger pointed to an outer garment that had fallen in a corner of the floor. Calix smiled slightly at the sight of the outer garment designed to wrap around the neck area.
“Didn’t he say anything?”
“He just took care of a few things… He waited with me saying he had things piled up to say to Calix-ssi, but he had pending work so he couldn’t stay long and left.”
“I don’t think it would be good for me to meet him anyway.”
At Calix’s muttering, Melty awkwardly laughed and agreed. Though Melty hadn’t told Calix, the item Malek had given him to never remove from his embrace was a small dagger. Wiping his hands on the hem of the blanket and rolling his eyes around, Melty got up from the bed.
Calix, who had stuck close behind Melty as he wandered, realized what he was looking for and smiled.
“Hungry?”
“…Hehe.”
At the sight of Melty nodding with a shy face, Calix quickly ordered a simple meal to be brought by an employee of the mansion. While waiting for the food, Calix gave a very brief summary of what had happened today. Soon, quickly prepared food arrived, and only after Calix tasted each dish first for safety did Melty begin his meal in earnest.
“You’re eating well.”
Calix, who had been staring at Melty’s cheeks puffed up with food, caressed his chin. Judging by his vigorous appetite, it didn’t seem like he was sick. Having confirmed that his increased sleep was due to their active nightly activities, Calix decided to exercise restraint for a while, even if Melty urged him. Unaware of Calix’s thoughts, Melty finished all the food neatly and then patted his plumped-up belly.
“…I think I might be gaining weight.”
Melty made an excuse while checking Calix’s reaction, perhaps embarrassed that he had inhaled an amount sufficient for at least three people. Calix, who was staring at Melty with a look that just screamed how adorable he was, smiled slightly and said.
“You’re sweating hard every day, so you might need more food than usual. I like that you eat well, why worry?”
At Calix’s affectionate voice, Melty smiled broadly and swung his feet back and forth. Melty, who had obediently entrusted his head to Calix’s gentle touch, could only recall the Durasen-related incident he had heard from Calix after his stomach was full.
“But why did Durasen-ssi really do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. He’s been keeping his mouth tightly shut since then. We’ll take follow-up measures through a meeting tomorrow, so it will work out somehow.”
Deep in thought at Calix’s reply, Melty rolled his eyes slightly and looked up at him.
“Calix-ssi. Should I meet with Durasen-ssi tomorrow?”
