PMEVBO 28

It was now a familiar low, rough voice.

The lamp’s light swayed as hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.

At the end of a gasping breath, Iser appeared.

When our eyes met, his pupils dark as the night sea in the shadows, I slowly lowered the hand that had been clutching my throat. I gasped for air like someone who’d been submerged underwater for too long and finally crawled onto land.

Iser lowered the lamp slightly to look at my face.

“What are you doing here? …Are you hurt?”

The worry was plain on Iser’s face as he asked. So, without meaning to, I laughed.

“No, I’m fine. I just accidentally dropped the lamp and was about to pick it up.”

Fortunately, the lamp was intact on the floor.

I forced myself to act calmly, picked it up, and stood. But I couldn’t stop my trembling fingertips. Maybe it was the darkness, but Iser seemed to believe my lie.

“Your lamp… looks like the candle’s burned out?”

“Yes. I forgot to replace the candle and just came over.”

“…Are you an idiot?”

Iser asked. It was phrased as a question, but the tone was closer to a scolding. The absurdity of being scolded by a mere child made me chuckle softly.

“Yes. I guess I am.”

I looked down at the lamp light in Iser’s hand for a moment before lifting my head. Our eyes met instantly, and before I could choose my words, my true feelings burst out.

“I guess I’m lucky after all. Seeing you here like this.”

I almost stroked Iser’s head, but my wrist was caught before I could. The child gripped my wrist over my clothes and asked in a low voice.

“…What about your gloves?”

“Ah… I was in such a hurry to see you, I forgot and just came like this.”

I mimicked yesterday’s Iser, who had nodded obediently at the joke about waiting for me, and said a similar line.

They say bone broth needs multiple simmers to deepen its flavor, but jokes lose their punch when overused. So instead of nagging about what kind of mind I had to come without gloves, I figured I’d just get a disapproving look and be done with it.

It was then that the strength left Iser’s hand, which had been wrapped around my wrist. Simultaneously, a familiar clatter echoed down the hallway.

Crash!

The lamp Iser had been holding fell to the floor. I reflexively dropped to one knee and checked Iser’s foot.

“Hey, are you alright? Did you hit your foot?”

There was no answer from Iser. But the way he was covering his face with both hands made him look exactly like someone who’d hit his foot and was in pain.

Feeling all the pain myself, I gently rubbed his foot. A moment later, Iser weakly pushed my shoulder away with one hand. The other hand still covered his face.

“……I didn’t hit it. So stop it.”

“Really?”

“Yes…….”

What a relief. But then why is he acting like that?

The confusion didn’t last long. I looked at the lamp that had fallen to the floor. Fortunately, the flame inside the lamp was perfectly fine.

“Ha…”

I sighed in relief.

The only flame here right now was the one inside this lamp. With the divine power useless, if this lamp’s flame had gone out, there would have been no way to relight it.

If that had happened, well, what could we do? We’d just have to happily scratch the wall together.

As I picked up the lamp and stood, Iser lowered the hand covering his face and glared at me. His gaze was a mix of heat and irritation.

“Don’t say things like that carelessly…”

“Things like that? What things?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Iser snatched the lamp away and turned to walk off. Yet he kept a tight grip on my wrist as he led me along, and I could only shrug.

…I have no idea what’s going on.

By the time we reached the hideout, my body had finally calmed down. Even so, irritation outweighed relief.

Yeah, right. Like I have time to worry about trauma that isn’t even mine. I should be pouring every ounce of focus into the quest.

To quell the rising irritation, I decided to take a shower. My body felt sticky and unpleasant from the cold sweat.

This is my first time showering at the hideout.

I approached Iser, who was sitting on the sofa, and asked.

“Can I take a shower?”

It was a classic line in a friend’s apartment, right up there with “Can I use the kitchen?” I’d said it dozens of times, but this reaction was new.

Iser’s face flushed so bright red it blended with the candle beside him.

“What? Why do you need my permission to wash your body…!?”

“Ah.”

I murmured in quiet admiration at the novel approach, then burst out laughing.

“I wasn’t asking your permission for my body, but for the bathroom. There’s only one bathroom here, right?”

Iser’s lips twitched, but he couldn’t form any words. Instead, he hugged the cushion and buried his face in it.

Hiding only his face and trembling, he looked like a kitten burrowing deep into a blanket. Finding Iser adorable, I plopped down beside him and added one more thing.

“But if you want, I can ask your permission before washing from now on?”

“You really are…”

A muffled sound escaped from between the cushion, like someone begging to be killed already.

Iser lifted his head from the cushion. The boy, who had been glaring at me coyly with his lips tightly pursed, started pushing my chest with the cushion he was holding. Actually, it was less pushing and more like he was hugging me tightly.

Honestly, I could have resisted all I wanted, but I just let myself be pushed aside, chuckling softly. The hand holding the cushion paused for a moment. Then, a beat later, he spoke in a low, trembling voice.

“…I told you not to say things like that.”

“That kind of thing?”

Only then did I understand what Iser had said in the hallway earlier. ‘That kind of thing’ seemed to refer to the silly jokes I occasionally made.

“I see. I’m sorry. I’ll stop teasing you now.”

Of course, that was a lie.

How could I not tease him when his reaction is this cute?

I swear, given the chance, I’d tease him again.

At that moment, Iser narrowed his eyes and looked at me appraisingly. Whether he saw right through me or not, he pushed me all the way into the bathroom.

Honestly, half the reason I needed to shower had already vanished before I even started. It was all thanks to Iser being so adorable.

But while my mind felt refreshed, my body still felt sticky, so I decided to shower as planned. After about five minutes of that refreshing shower, I realized something astonishing.

“Ah, I didn’t bring any clothes…”

I should have brought a change of clothes into the bathroom, but I was so thrilled by Iser’s send-off that I completely forgot. Fortunately, there was one towel.

Well, one towel should be enough.

Without hesitation, I wrapped the towel around my lower body and stepped out as I was. And there I was face to face with Iser, standing there holding a bundle of clothes.

“You, you’re crazy!? Why did you just come out…!?”

He must have noticed I hadn’t brought clothes and tried to bring them to me. But before I could even feel touched, the clothes in Iser’s arms fell to the floor.

Oh, that’s already the second time today.

Being trapped in this hideout without eating properly must have weakened his body. …Maybe I should dig up some wild herbs and boil them for him. As I bent down to pick up the fallen clothes, Iser urgently reached out and stopped me.

“No. You just stay still.”

I hesitated, then quickly understood.

“Yes, I guess it would be a bit awkward for me to pick them up looking like this.”

Iser, usually so capable in everything, awkwardly gathered the clothes and handed them to me. It was a bit funny, and I chuckled softly as I said,

“Thanks for picking them up. And thanks for bringing them over.”

“……Enough. Just put your clothes on already.”

Iser, who had been sitting on the sofa staring at the floor, finally looked up at me when I finished dressing and sat down beside him. Staring at the butterfly birthmark on my left index finger, Iser spoke.

“About that butterfly birthmark. I saw one on the top of your foot too…….”

He must have seen it when I picked up his clothes earlier. I nodded while boiling water in the pot.

“Oh, yes. I have them all over my body.”

“…How many do you have?”

I looked up at Iser without much thought. He quickly averted his gaze and muttered in a barely audible voice.

“I was just curious… I asked.”

I chuckled softly and replied.

“Who said anything? It’s normal to be curious.”

“…Then will you tell me?”

Iser asked cautiously, unlike his usual self. I was confused for a moment, but nodded readily. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Seven.”

“Did you… count them yourself?”

“I’ve counted them myself and…”

I stopped mid-sentence and clamped my mouth shut.

Whoa, that was close…

I almost blurted out that his sister had counted them herself.

In the original work, the only adult-rated act between Lucariel, resurrected as a demon, and Isabelle was cannibalism.

But back when Lucariel was still human, before he killed himself… there was plenty of this and that.

That’s why early on in the original work, I was horrified, thinking, “No way, is this nuclear waste bastard Lucariel the male lead?” Fortunately, it wasn’t long before it was revealed there was a separate male lead.

The situation had come dangerously close to revealing a major spoiler. I didn’t know how he interpreted my reaction, Iser frowned and abruptly turned his head away.

“…I shouldn’t have asked.”

After that, Iser fell silent. I couldn’t find anything appropriate to say either. In the now quiet room, only the distinct sound of water bubbling and boiling filled the air.