<Chapter 61>
#6. Waves of Change (8)
No one had deliberately awakened him, but strangely, Melty’s eyes snapped open. Ignoring the throbbing headache and the aching in his stomach, Melty steadied his breathing while staring at the high ceiling. His throat was so dry that he urgently needed water. But he could barely move a finger.
“Why are you just lying there if you’re awake?”
Hearing the voice beside him, Melty turned his head. Calix chuckled as he watched Melty blinking his dry eyes to grasp the situation, and supported his back to help him sit up easily. Then he brought a pre-prepared glass of water to Melty’s lips.
Like welcome rain after a drought, Melty hastily emptied the glass in one go. Perhaps because of the cool water, his mind became much clearer. And he felt a bit more alive than before. Watching Melty exhale a long breath, Calix clicked his tongue.
“I told you to share the drinks, but you kept emptying the glasses as soon as they were filled. How’s your stomach feeling?”
“…I…I feel like I’m dying…”
A voice resembling that of a corpse who had barely returned from the edge of a cliff escaped Melty’s throat. Feeling like it wasn’t even his own voice, Melty quietly closed his mouth.
“I asked for some warm soup to be brought. You’ll feel better after eating it.”
At Calix’s kind words, Melty nodded vigorously with a grateful expression. It was exactly what he had been craving. That’s when Melty felt something was off.
“But why is Calix-ssi here?”
With a puzzled expression, Melty looked at Calix standing beside him as if it were the most natural thing. This was definitely his room.
“Is there a problem with me bringing back someone who was so drunk they couldn’t even stand?”
“Oh. Really? I was like that?”
“Yeah. You were.”
As he spoke, Calix sat down on a chair he had pulled near the bed and crossed his legs. His smile carried an inexplicable sense of composure. Though he wasn’t much different from his usual self, Melty sensed something different in his demeanor.
“Just to check, you don’t completely forget what happened yesterday, do you?”
“Ugh… I remember bits and pieces. Hehe.”
The memory of clinking glasses excitedly with Kamin Patel was clear. But that was the limit of Melty’s recollection. Strangely, he only remembered that the last glass he drank had a strong scent of orange juice.
“Wow. Even if you were drunk, that’s too much. Isn’t it a bit harsh to forget your lover in just one day?”
“L-lover? W-who? With whom?”
“Me with you.”
Calix, his expression unchanged, pointed his finger alternately at himself and Melty with a bright smile. Following his gesture blankly, Melty moved his finger similarly. His short finger pointed at Calix sitting in the chair, then at himself. And he tilted his head slightly to the right in question.
Watching Melty diligently moving his finger to imitate him, Calix smiled brightly and nodded significantly. It didn’t take long for Melty to realize the situation his drunk self had created the previous night.
***
A whole week had passed since Calix had shocked him with talk of a “temporary relationship.” When he first heard it, Melty had jumped up saying he had no memory of such a thing, but ended up giving in to Calix’s eloquent persuasion.
“It’s not like it’s disadvantageous to you anyway. I’m just saying I’ll wait in a closer position until you fully agree.”
He rolled the words so smoothly, like his tongue inside his mouth, that it was impossible not to nod. True to his word that it wouldn’t be disadvantageous, he kept his distance very well. Unlike how he had pushed for a relationship, his lukewarm attitude left Melty rather confused.
“Hahaha! I don’t know who did it, but you’ve been had!”
“…This isn’t something to laugh about.”
Melty glared at Kamin Patel, who was clutching his stomach with laughter, then buried his face on the table again. Staring at the round, fluffy brown hair, Kamin Patel reached out with a pleased expression and rubbed the back of Melty’s head. He felt like this must be how it feels to have a young grandchild.
Though Melty had said, “This is a story about someone my acquaintance’s acquaintance knows…”, Kamin Patel easily figured out it was Melty’s own story. Of course, he also knew the other party was Calix.
“People your age would understand this better.”
“But Lila-ssi already went down more than two days ago.”
After the first meeting, the exchange meeting proceeded with two more sessions. After the second meeting, people started leaving, saying urgent matters had been resolved. Kamin Patel’s close friend Durasen and Lila, who always gave generous advice, both returned to their own mansions at that time.
“Didn’t you get any advice from her before that?”
The people who had shared drinks together naturally made it a daily routine to gather after that day. Calix glared at the group members with a disapproving expression, but let Melty do as he wanted.
Initially following Melty around closely, Calix now often let him go alone, perhaps having developed some trust. Today too, Calix had mentioned urgent business as soon as the meeting ended, dropped Melty off here, and went elsewhere.
“I can’t use Lila-ssi’s advice.”
“Why?”
“…Well, she told me to pounce on him.”
Kamin Patel burst into loud laughter at Melty’s whispered words as he covered his cheeks with both hands. Melty stared at the innocent teacup until Kamin Patel’s laughter, which included pounding the table with his fist, subsided.
“That’s just like her.”
“When are you leaving, Kamin Patel-ssi?”
“I should go this afternoon.”
“There used to be so many people, but it feels strange now that everyone’s leaving.”
Melty’s lips protruded forward, filled with regret and dissatisfaction. Kamin Patel looked at him fondly.
Durasen, who always quietly smiled and led the atmosphere warmly, left first. Lila followed after, and then Johaim returned home without having properly conversed during the exchange meeting. Now there weren’t many guests left at the Padrian mansion.
“Don’t feel sad, just come visit. You’re always welcome whenever you come, little one. Hahaha.”
Melty’s lips formed a faint smile at his hearty laugh. He nodded repeatedly, saying he would certainly do so. Kamin Patel gave him a pleased expression and continued.
“And just in case, don’t ever forget what I taught you about that sinister guy! You know what it is, right?”
“The brow, philtrum, and solar plexus.”
The “sinister guy” Kamin Patel referred to was, of course, Calix. The first drinking gathering was arranged because the relationship between Kamin Patel and Calix wasn’t good, and their relationship hadn’t improved at all by the end.
“Right! And how did I tell you to make a fist?”
At Kamin Patel’s question, Melty clenched his hand as taught. It was a downy hand that anyone would recognize had rarely done rough work. After carefully examining Melty’s fist, Kamin Patel didn’t hold back his final advice.
“When making a fist, keep your thumb outside, that’s right. And if your grip strength seems weak, be sure to hold something in your hand, even if it’s just a cotton ball…”
“What exactly are you teaching him?”
A cold voice cast a shadow over Melty’s eyes. Looking up, Melty discovered Calix with an icy expression. Arriving late due to backed-up work, Calix’s face was full of displeasure.
“Hmph! Someone might think I’m teaching something useless!”
“It is useless.”
Calix stated firmly, glaring at him with a sour expression. Despite his words, Kamin Patel simply turned his head to the side, pretending not to hear. Melty, who had been staring at their confrontation, tilted his head slightly.
“But you two don’t seem to fight as much as before, right?”
In response to Melty’s whispered question, Naru, who as always was positioned on his wrist, nodded vigorously. Melty’s face brightened, glad to receive at least some agreement from Naru.
“So when are you departing?”
At Kamin Patel’s question, Calix kept his lips tightly sealed. The result of the first meeting, where he had almost been saddled with all drought-related matters, had been reduced to a level somewhat satisfactory to Calix after two more meetings. Nevertheless, he still needed to go down to where the current head of the Padrian family resided as originally planned.
While the exchange meeting was known to be making decisions to resolve the drought crisis, a natural disaster couldn’t possibly be resolved by mere investigation. Calix’s interest was focused more on the family head position than on the drought. To other families, it would appear he was leaving to solve the problem, but his plan was to formally secure the position of family head or heir apparent.
“First, we need to send off all the guests who came to the mansion, and then depart. It won’t make much difference, just a few days.”
“Is that so? Then stop by my mansion too.”
“I’ll decide after seeing how things go.”
Calix nonchalantly dismissed Kamin Patel, who had brought up the topic with sparkling eyes, with a snort as if he had expected it. Though he used the expression “after seeing,” it was obvious without looking that he had no intention of visiting Kamin Patel.
“After all the help I gave! So ungrateful, so ungrateful.”
“I would have navigated just fine without your help.”
Calix didn’t back down at all from Kamin Patel’s words. In the two meetings following the first one, Calix had been able to secure everything he wanted as planned. He did take on some annoying tasks, but it was far less than what had initially been assigned to him.
The progress of those meetings was indeed greatly influenced by the help of Kamin Patel and Durasen. However, that didn’t mean he was willing to be dragged along by someone who didn’t think highly of him.
“Looking at what you’ve taught, I don’t feel particularly indebted.”
Kamin Patel, seeing that Calix had no intention of backing down, clicked his tongue and shifted his gaze to Melty.
“Then just the little one can come.”
“That won’t work. He obviously needs to come with me.”
“Eh? Go? Where to?”
Melty looked alternately at Calix and Kamin Patel with a bewildered expression. He couldn’t quite understand the conversation passing between these two from earlier.
Melty hadn’t been able to attend the exchange meeting’s sessions, and due to the accident he suffered on the first day, even his office work was canceled because it was deemed dangerous. As a result, he knew nothing about what was discussed in the meetings.
To Melty’s head movement, looking back and forth between them for an explanation, Calix, who had confidently kept Melty at his side, whispered:
“The place where my parents are.”
