<Chapter 81>
#9. Each One’s Role (5)
A familiar sharp voice filled with irritation and a recognizable back blocked Melty’s path. Calix, who had boldly inserted himself between Johaim and Melty, glared at Johaim while crossing his arms.
“This isn’t a matter for you to interfere with, is it?”
“How could I not intervene when anyone can see you’re up to something?”
“Up to something…”
Johaim frowned at Calix’s retort as he shrugged his shoulders. Despite Johaim’s displeased gaze, Calix didn’t budge. Naturally assuming Melty would still be in the library, he had gone there only to be greeted by an empty space.
It was almost by chance that he spotted Johaim while looking around for Melty. But he certainly couldn’t let it slide.
“Didn’t you come to the mansion in the first place to receive this?”
Calix threw a cloth pouch from his chest toward Johaim. Instinctively reaching out to catch what was thrown, Johaim frowned and pushed up his glasses.
“If your business is done, you can leave now.”
“I was in the middle of a conversation with Melty-ssi. Don’t you know the basic courtesy of not interrupting when others are having a conversation?”
“I don’t know about such courtesy, but I do know very well that pesky flies that buzz around without knowing their place need to be dealt with quickly.”
Completely unaffected by Johaim’s words, Calix countered with a gentle smile and a relaxed demeanor. From the very first meeting, when Johaim had arrived at the mansion in the same carriage as Melty, he had been irritating. Even when his feelings toward Melty were unclear, Johaim had annoyed him to the point of rage. Now that he was actively courting Melty, there was no way he could view Johaim favorably.
Left out of their conversation, Melty blinked and looked up at the back of Calix’s head. Without the slightest sign of backing down, Calix and Johaim exchanged verbal blows. Calix, who had suddenly appeared and created a confrontational atmosphere, could hardly look good in Melty’s eyes.
With a heavy sigh, Melty reached out and firmly pressed against Calix’s back. Calix flinched at the finger attack from behind that had no actual impact and turned his head back.
“What?”
“Johaim-ssi is right. We were having a conversation, so why are you being spiteful to Johaim-ssi as soon as you arrived?”
Melty asked sternly, placing his free right hand on his hip while still holding the book. As if shocked by Melty’s question, Calix froze in place. His lips trembling, he looked at Melty with wide eyes and asked:
“…Are you taking his side right now?!”
“No, I’m not taking sides…”
Somewhat flustered by Calix’s deeply shocked expression, Melty gently took one of Calix’s hands that hung limply at his side. Calix’s mood improved significantly as the small, warm hand grabbed his own. However, he made an effort not to show how quickly his mood was improving.
“We can’t continue our conversation because you keep getting angry.”
Calix’s mouth corners crumbled at Melty’s mumbling voice and the brown eyes cautiously looking up at him. Firmly pulling back the corners of his mouth that nearly broke into a loose smile, Calix cast a sidelong glance.
“What kind of conversation do you need to have with that guy alone?”
“Why wouldn’t there be? Johaim-ssi said he would show me around the temple here. He had promised to show me the temple before, but it fell through.”
As Melty spoke, he nudged Calix’s side with his elbow. Initially, Calix had played the biggest role in causing Melty’s promised meeting with Johaim to fall through. Then as now, Calix had found Johaim disagreeable.
Though Melty understood perfectly well why the two didn’t get along, he had no intention of rejecting Johaim. As a beast-person, Johaim had been extremely kind from their first meeting. Moreover, while Calix had mentioned that relations between their families were poor, there didn’t seem to be any direct issues between him and Johaim.
Completely unaware that a problem that hadn’t existed before was about to emerge, Melty giggled. Calix, who had been staring at Melty’s bright, sparkling eyes, shot a burning gaze at Johaim, who was maintaining his silence.
“Where are you two planning to go? No. Someone might think this place is the Sarvie family’s residence. Why would someone else be taking credit in our family’s territory?”
“I wasn’t particularly trying to take credit? And this is strictly between Melty-ssi and me, so there’s no reason for you to interfere.”
“What do you mean there’s no reason?”
Just as Calix was about to snap back at Johaim with his forcibly upturned lips trembling, Melty’s eyes lit up as if he’d had a good idea and shook Calix’s hand that he was holding. His excitement was fully conveyed to Calix through that small movement.
Calix, who was about to tell Johaim to “Stop hitting on someone else’s lover and get lost,” held back his rising anger and turned his head to the side.
“What?”
“Calix-ssi should come with us too!”
“…What?”
“Then it works out, right? Is that okay, Johaim-ssi?”
“……”
Melty looked at Johaim with a bright smile. Johaim slightly frowned at this unexpected turn of events.
“I’m sorry, but could you explain that again?”
Whether he truly didn’t understand or simply didn’t want to understand the situation, Johaim’s question was met with Melty’s wide smile. Firmly believing that Johaim and Calix were only on bad terms because of the current situation, Melty thought this would be an opportunity for them to become friendly.
“Going to the temple tomorrow. If Johaim-ssi is okay with it, let’s all three go together. Then Calix-ssi won’t have any complaints either, right?”
“…I think I might be the one with complaints.”
“Huh. Same here. Why exactly do we have to go with that guy?”
“……”
He thought it was a pretty good solution, but the two men seemed to think differently. Watching the conversation between the two that showed no signs of ending if left alone, Melty let out a big sigh. The sound of his sigh cutting through their tense standoff drew both Calix and Johaim’s attention.
With slumped shoulders and protruding lips, Melty released Calix’s hand. Taking a big step away from both men, Melty spoke in a resolute tone.
“Since both of you seem only interested in fighting, I’m going to excuse myself.”
“Huh…?”
“Melty-ssi?”
“Neither of you seems particularly interested in listening to me anyway. What’s the point of me standing here watching the two of you fight?”
With a puffy face, Melty turned abruptly and headed toward the garden. After taking about five large steps forward, Melty turned his head back and glared at both Calix and Johaim, who showed clear signs of bewilderment.
“You know what? It’s extremely childish and immature for adults to fight over something so trivial.”
Having finished speaking, Melty turned away as if he had no lingering attachment. Calix and Johaim, who had been blankly watching him walk away with unconcealed displeasure, found their gazes colliding in mid-air. After a brief moment, as if by agreement, both men caught up to Melty with quick steps.
“Melty-ssi.”
“Wait a minute, stop.”
Ignoring both men calling out to him urgently, Melty continued walking while diligently petting Naru’s head, which was peeking out docilely. Seeing that Melty had no intention of looking back, Calix frowned and glared at Johaim beside him.
“This is all your fault. Why are you bothering someone else’s person?”
Johaim let out a bitter laugh at Calix’s words, spoken through gritted teeth like a ventriloquist. If only Calix hadn’t appeared, he could have smoothly made plans with Melty.
“Don’t you know how ugly it looks to blame others? No matter how carelessly you live your life, shouldn’t you at least know when to step in and when to step back?”
“I didn’t know you were a mind reader. I’m amazed at how well you know exactly what I want to say. But if you know, shouldn’t you put it into practice too?”
“I knew you were someone who couldn’t be reasoned with, but I didn’t realize you couldn’t listen either.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Even as they quickly followed behind Melty, the verbal sparring between the two didn’t cease. The intense eye contact between Calix and Johaim continued, as if to prove that neither had any intention of backing down. With a deep sigh at the fierce battle taking place behind his back as they followed him, Melty deliberately made loud footsteps and turned around. Then he raised his voice forcefully at the two who didn’t know moderation.
“Stop fighting, please!”
***
Melty sat down on the sofa, breathing heavily in anger. Cautiously observing Melty’s thoroughly irritated appearance, Calix took a seat beside him without making the slightest sound. Even after Calix had settled in, Melty continued staring straight ahead without giving him a glance.
Scratching his cheek awkwardly at the difficult situation, Calix inwardly hurled a barrage of curses at Johaim, who had caused this mess and then escaped alone. Seeing that Melty still showed no signs of improving his mood, Calix’s hand moved carefully. His index finger lightly touched the tip of Melty’s stiffly upright tail. As soon as his hand made contact, Melty’s fierce eyes turned to Calix.
“Don’t touch me! I’m still angry, you know?”
“Ah, I already apologized for that. I mean, come on, some damn bastard was approaching my lover—how could I possibly have a pleasant conversation?”
Melty silently watched Calix, who was grinding his teeth and claiming that the guy had deliberately approached Melty in his absence, and shook his head.
“We were just having a conversation. Why do you react so sensitively only to Johaim-ssi?”
Come to think of it, even before establishing a “temporary lover” relationship with Calix, he had been wary of Johaim. Recalling how Calix had calmly driven Johaim away from the mansion with words likely to cause misunderstandings, Melty frowned.
At Melty’s question, Calix quietly closed his mouth. From the beginning, Calix had found everyone who approached Melty disagreeable. Knowing that bringing up such matters now would only earn him another frosty glare, Calix refrained from speaking.
“In this world, there are just people you dislike for no particular reason.”
“Still, there’s no need to fight like that.”
Melty also understood well that their relationship was complicated. He didn’t intend to blame either side, but at least from his perspective, there wasn’t a fundamental problem in the relationship itself. It didn’t seem good that two people who could have been good friends if not for the tangled situation fought whenever they met.
Despite their bickering, Johaim and Calix had coordinated the most to resolve this current issue. The Sarvie family, who made their living treating people, and the Padrian family, who supplied medicinal herbs, were families that had no choice but to work together.
‘Even if getting along well is too much to ask, there’s no need to get along poorly.’
Examining Melty’s dissatisfied expression, Calix cautiously extended his arm. He quickly embraced Melty and sat him on his lap, then wrapped his arm around Melty’s waist to prevent him from moving, and rested his cheek on top of Melty’s head.
“That’s why I agreed to go together as you wanted. Stop being angry.”
“How can I stop being angry when I’m still upset?”
Despite his grumbling, Melty’s voice had noticeably less anger in it. Seeing Melty’s ears twitch and move, Calix smiled slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. As a small punishment for making him so tense, he firmly rubbed his cheek against Melty’s hair.
“Aah, stop it~”
Melty squirmed, rapidly moving his ears at the ticklish sensation. And then the stack of papers that had been firmly held in his arms while nestled in Calix’s embrace fell to the floor with a thud. The first thing that came into view was a bright pink cover, vivid enough to catch the eye even from a distance.
“…What is that?”
