<Chapter 43>
#5. Be Assertive in Your Advances (5)
Melty walked with heavy, stomping steps, putting all his strength into his feet. He intended to give a stern talking-to to the man who had thrown his otherwise perfectly fine self into confusion. It was incredibly troublesome how Calix freely wandered in and out of his thoughts, making his heart race.
While it was meant to be a threatening gesture on his part, his plump bottom wiggling from side to side and his adorable little tail didn’t look frightening in the least.
“Master Melty. Where are you going?”
A servant watching him with an amused gaze spoke up. Melty turned his head back so quickly it made a swoosh sound, and relaxed the tension in his arms which had been folded across his chest. He knew very well that it wasn’t appropriate to take out his mood on someone uninvolved.
“Do you know where Calix-ssi is right now?”
“Master Calix? Well, since there’s a banquet going on all day today, he’s probably in the banquet hall or his office.”
At his words, Melty nodded emphatically. Calix had expressed his distaste for the banquet multiple times, claiming he only held it because he had no choice. Remembering how Calix had stood throughout the banquet with an expression like he was chewing raw ginger, Melty could easily guess where he might be.
Melty gave a bright smile to the servant who had spoken to him, thanking him, and then resumed walking toward Calix’s location with his characteristic “angry walk.”
There weren’t many people in the corridors, perhaps because the staff was concentrated on entertaining guests due to the large-scale Exchange Meeting. Thanks to this, Melty had more time to organize what he wanted to say when he met Calix.
‘You shouldn’t surprise someone like that and then tell them to think about it. Right? I mean, how shocked was I!’
As Melty was organizing his scattered thoughts while snorting angrily, the strength gradually left his footsteps. Eventually walking at his normal pace, Melty stared blankly at the seemingly endless corridor stretching out before him.
“…But can I really call that wrong?”
Melty quietly bit his lips, chewing on them. It might have been a problem that he’d gotten lost in thought while on his way to see Calix, as the distance was considerable. Melty gazed intently at the ring on his finger. The flower ring, made with lavish use of what he was told was a precious flower, was still displaying its fresh petals on his finger.
“Even the flower is so pretty…”
If Calix had really just brought up those things to tease him, then he was truly the worst of the worst. But thinking back to how Calix had looked as he spoke while putting this beautiful flower ring on his finger, he had seemed quite serious at the time.
After alternately looking at the innocent ring and the direction of the office where Calix was likely to be, Melty gave up on going to the office after some deliberation. He needed some fresh air to clear his complicated thoughts. Naturally, Melty’s steps turned toward the garden.
“But I can’t exactly say, ‘Why do you keep appearing in my head?'”
Sitting with his bottom on the steps leading from the main building to the garden, Melty sighed deeply and muttered. No matter how confident Calix was, there was no way he could control what went on in Melty’s mind.
Melty clutched his head with both hands and let out a pained groan. The toes of his outstretched shoes scuffed against the ground. As Melty forced the innocent grass to lie down by pushing it this way and that, Calix’s fluffy face surfaced in his mind again.
“Calix Kuse Padrian is a perfect person. There aren’t many men with both outstanding looks and ability.”
Lila’s face flashed through his mind for a moment, as she had spoken excitedly, wondering why he didn’t know this. Angel, and many others who worked at the mansion, were of one mind regarding Calix’s “appearance,” “wealth,” and “abilities.” Retracing the thoughts that came up one after another, as if following Lila, Melty muttered softly:
“…He is handsome. And rich…”
When he wasn’t smiling, his impression was extremely sharp and cold, but he always drew smooth curves with his eyes and mouth. When they first met, Melty had thought his smile was like that of an evil villain, but now it seemed like a pleasant expression full of mischief.
Thump.
Melty pressed down firmly with his hand on his heart, which had been racing recklessly without understanding the situation, and his expression turned serious.
“I hope I’m not developing a heart condition…?”
He had just gained the freedom to go outside as much as he wanted, and he didn’t want to be confined to bed again. Fortunately, his heart, which had been vigorously asserting itself, settled down after a while. As he exhaled in relief with a small sigh, Melty rubbed his cheeks in circles with both hands.
“Then think about it.”
“…About what?”
“What else? Dating me, of course.”
Recalling his conversation with Calix, Melty stared at the ring on his finger. Perhaps because it was catching the moonlight, the Dolmaui flower emitted a soft glow.
Having received such a flower ring, he should think about “dating” as Calix had suggested. Melty felt relieved just by finally deciding on a direction for his thoughts.
But then a serious problem occurred to him.
Having at some point crouched down on the dirt floor at the bottom of the stairs, Melty organized his thoughts while writing letters on the ground with his finger. The first word written on the ground was:
<Dating??>
After staring intently at the large letters he’d written, he drew about 15 more question marks around the word. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the dictionary meaning. What mattered were the specific details included in that word. The “dating” that Melty knew meant two people with mutual feelings meeting each other. According to his eldest brother, “Dating is what you do before you get your nose caught by marriage.” Based on his brother’s explanation, dating was the step directly before marriage.
“So to get married you need to date, and to date you need two people who like each other… Ah! Come to think of it, I never heard him say he likes me!”
Sentences appeared one by one next to the question marks as he organized his thoughts. Upon this belated realization, Melty jumped to his feet. Come to think of it, Calix had only said “Let’s date,” but he never said he liked him. This was an extremely important, profound, and critical… anyway, it was a huge deal.
“Good. Now I finally know what to ask.”
The clearly written letters on the ground were enough to erase the image of his foolish self who had just stood there with his mouth gaping in front of Calix. Feeling satisfied, Melty stood up and dusted off his bottom, which was covered in dirt.
First of all, he needed to meet him and ask what dating meant, and also whether Calix actually liked him. After asking straightforwardly, it might become easier for him to answer too.
“…Huh?”
Just as Melty was about to turn around and go back inside, an unfamiliar sound caught his ear. Because of this, he stopped his movement and slowly scanned the garden with his eyes. Thanks to the light coming from the mansion and the moonlight, it wasn’t too dark to see, but the outer areas were hidden in darkness and not clearly visible. His ears, perked up in search of the sound, twitched diligently.
“Is someone there?”
Though he threw out the question in a small, timid voice, there was no answer. As everything suddenly went quiet around him, Melty gulped and shrank his body. The desire to just go back into the mansion because he was scared and the curiosity to find out what the rustling sound was clashed intensely within him.
“…Maybe I’ll just take a quick look.”
What stimulated Melty, who had been agonizing while innocently nibbling on the tip of his thumb, was the rustling sound that came again. Perhaps it was a nocturnal animal that had entered the garden. The back of the mansion was slightly removed from the village and had mountains behind it, so it was entirely possible.
In the end, curiosity claimed victory. Melty lowered his posture and moved stealthily. Due to the bushes scattered throughout and the deep-set darkness, Melty blinked diligently to secure his vision.
“…Foot, where the hell is it.”
Melty’s ears perked up at the faintly heard voice. Although he couldn’t hear exactly what was said, the words that flowed out sounded like a human voice.
‘Aren’t all the people supposed to be at the banquet hall?’
Melty created wrinkles on the bridge of his nose and then smoothed them out as he tilted his head at an angle. As befitting the garden of the Padrian family, this place focused more on practicality than beautiful scenery. Angel, being close to Calix, had emphasized several times that planting flowers for aesthetic purposes was a highly unusual occurrence.
There was no way an outsider could freely access such a place. But today, the employees were busy managing the banquet hall and attending to the visitors who came to the mansion because of the Exchange Meeting.
‘Then who…?’
As Melty tilted his head in puzzlement, his field of vision finally captured the back view of a person. The man, who was crouched down, was rummaging through the bushes with his hands. His hands were rough as he parted the grass, like someone who had left a precious treasure in this place.
In front of him was an object illuminating the surroundings. A round sphere about half the size of a palm was emitting light that softly illuminated his surroundings. However, the brightness was so low that it wasn’t particularly noticeable from a distance.
“Damn it.”
A low curse flowed through the gap in his lips. Melty flinched and looked around for somewhere to hide. He hid behind a tree not far away and clutched his pounding heart.
‘S-should I not have come?’
He thought he would meet a cute animal, but instead, he encountered a strange person. Frowning, Melty carefully exhaled. Even though he hadn’t faced the person or exchanged words, he could tell that the person before his eyes was bad.
“This isn’t it either! Where the hell did they hide…”
As Melty was slowly moving his body backward again, he held his breath as the man’s gaze suddenly turned toward him. He had no idea how the man knew, but his cloudy eyes were staring directly at Melty.
“…What’s this.”
“I-I was just taking a walk here, and wondered if perhaps you were lost…”
Melty immediately regretted blurting out words in confusion. It belatedly occurred to him that if he was going to speak, he should have lied more convincingly, but the situation was already too late.
“Is that so?”
The man slowly got to his feet. His cloudy yellow eyes gleamed ominously. Detecting danger, Melty hesitantly backed away. It was more urgent to leave this place than to shout “Who are you!” at him. The man was scrutinizing Melty with narrowed eyes, as if measuring something. Melty couldn’t tell if his ridiculous story had worked, or if this was the leisure of a carnivore enjoying the struggling of its prey before the hunt.
“I, uh, s-so…”
The word “escape” filled Melty’s mind. With an awkward smile, Melty rolled his eyes around inconspicuously, looking for someone. As he had felt when coming here, there was not even a shadow, let alone a person, in sight.
Feeling dismayed, he completely turned the foot he had been carefully pulling back and ran desperately. He could feel the person standing behind him pursuing him with a shallow sneer.
With his breath rising to the tip of his chin and fear filling his mind, there was no room to scream. At the sound of rapid footsteps clattering behind him, Melty ran desperately with his fists clenched.
The pounding of his heart and his increasingly rough breathing filled his ears. Hope dawned on Melty’s face at the bright light pouring out from a place not far away.
If he could just get inside the mansion, he might find someone who could help him somehow. Mustering all his strength, Melty opened his mouth.
Help! Save me!
The shout he was about to let out was scattered in the air by a hand that covered his mouth. Subsequently, his body fell to the ground due to his arm being roughly seized.
“Ugh!”
Swallowing his scream in pain, Melty turned his eyes and met the man’s savage gaze. The fierce look in his eyes was more terrifying than the pain of his body colliding with the ground from the rough handling. The man with the savage expression muttered in a voice that cracked unpleasantly:
“If you scream, I’ll kill you.”
