ITYVA 27

Chapter 27

“……”

“Haha, it’s bedtime now, isn’t it? Yes, right. So let’s talk tomorrow instead…”

I forced a mechanical laugh while trying to carefully pull my hand free from Akes’s grasp.

Not liking that, Akes narrowed his brows slightly and tightened his grip, pulling me down onto the bed.

“……!”

My body sank softly into the sheets.

A heavy weight pressed down over me as he leaned his broad frame closer.

His elegantly wavy black hair spilled down, tickling my cheek.

“Tomorrow is too far away, Einra.”

He whispered.

“We have so much to talk about.”

An unknown, predatory tension crawled over me—like I was being hunted.

I blurted out words without even knowing what I was saying.

“T-the room! I need to clean the room—it’s filthy! And there are corpses…!”

“Ah.”

Murmuring lowly, Akes lifted his body back from where he had leaned close.

Just as I began to brighten, thinking I’d gotten through to him, he grabbed the small decorative figurine sitting on the bedside table and infused it with a trace of aura.

In an instant, the wrecked, chaotic room was restored, as though time itself had been rewound.

I gaped at him blankly in shock.

Placing the figurine back, he looked down at me with a gentle smile.

“I saw a cleaning spell tool here, so I used it. I have one at home as well.”

“……”

Well…

Since Akes was one of Harnen’s few allies, it wasn’t strange for him to have the exact same magical device as me.

Especially since that tool’s true purpose was evidence erasure.

It reverted a space to its preset condition, wiping away everything that occurred afterward—including incriminating traces.

…Of course, they gave it to me under the pretense of “cleaning.”

“B-but if you use that, the bodies of the dead will be…”

“You don’t need to worry. Assassins don’t get funerals anyway.”

The leader of the assassins said it flatly.

“But still…”

Of course, there were a thousand things I wanted to ask, but now was not the time.

I tried to wriggle away from him, but his smile slowly faded.

“…Don’t go.”

His large hand tangled a lock of my hair.

“Why do you keep trying to avoid me?”

Again, he slowly leaned down over me.

His long black hair fell, brushing across the bed like spilled ink.

Under the pouring moonlight, his lashes cast a dark shadow around his eyes, making the atmosphere all the more decadent.

His hand, which had been toying with my hair, now caressed my cheek.

“Is it because you don’t like me?”

His breath grazed my skin.

My mind spun wildly, tangled with countless thoughts.

I steadied my shaky breath and barely opened my lips.

“Akes, it’s not that…”

“If not, then I don’t understand why Einra keeps avoiding me.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“If it isn’t dislike, then why do you keep pushing me away?”

“T-that’s…”

I fumbled for an excuse but, after opening and closing my mouth several times, I fell silent.

How could I possibly tell him straight to his face—
“That being this close to you makes me feel strange, and my heart feels like it’s about to explode”?

‘This is insane…’

Tears threatened to spill.

As I faltered and averted my gaze, Akes’s eyes cooled, their warmth disappearing.

“It’s fine, Einra.”

“H-huh?”

The hand on my cheek slid down, brushing over my lips.

“You said it yourself—you wouldn’t dislike me even if I asked you to put me to sleep.”

“That…”

My lips parted reflexively, but I snapped them shut in the next instant.

My instincts screamed—
Don’t say, ‘I said that to little As, not you.’

“That alone is enough for me. For now.”

He added softly, a faint smile touching his lips.

‘…Enough? For now? What does that even mean?!’

My brain was short-circuiting.

Frozen stiff, I couldn’t even twitch a finger.

“You know something, Einra?”

His half-drowsy voice brushed slowly against my ear.

“I have nightmares every night.”

I flinched at the quiet confession.

“…Nightmares?”

“When I dream them, I’m terrified… and it hurts.”

His fingers slid into my hair.

“Eventually, I couldn’t endure it anymore and went to you… and you said you’d help me sleep. That you wouldn’t hate me for it. That you wouldn’t regret it.”

A shadow of sorrow crossed his face.

“I only believed those words…”

“……”

“You said you’d never hate me. I was content just being by your side. But then—you made me hope again.”

“……”

“And if you run away from me now… what am I supposed to do?”

He raised his eyes to meet mine.

My breath caught.

As if entranced, I couldn’t look away from those eyes.

“You regret it, don’t you? Putting me to sleep, once you learned As was really Akes?”

He asked, his voice laden with grief.

Tears shimmered faintly over his crimson eyes, like drops of wine.

My mind was still overloaded, but the moment I saw those tears, everything else vanished—leaving only one thought.

‘I have to comfort him!’

“N-no…! I don’t regret it at all!”

I cried desperately.

But Akes only lowered his gaze gloomily, tears welling further.

“…Lies.”

“I-it’s not a lie!”

“You’re still trying so hard to avoid me.”

At last, tears rolled down his cheeks.

Panicking, I scrambled to wipe them away with both hands.

“No, I’m not avoiding you! Not at all—I don’t want to avoid you!”

At my frantic shout, his downcast eyes slowly lifted toward me.

“…Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“You won’t avoid me?”

“Yes, never!”

“You won’t regret it either?”

“Never, I swear!”

I nodded vigorously, again and again.

As he looked down at me, a slow smile finally spread across his face.

“You said it yourself, Einra.”

“Mm-hm.”

I nodded again.

As the tension eased, a vague unease crept in—like I’d been swept along somehow.

But looking at Akes’s bright, relieved smile, that unease was pushed aside.

‘Well, whatever. It’s not like the country will fall or a war will break out over this.’

The tight coil in me loosened, and suddenly a yawn escaped.

Sleep, absent until now, struck me all at once.

“Haahm…”

My head felt heavy.

Blinking against tears from the yawn, I heard his gentle question.

“Einra, are you sleepy?”

“Mhm…”

“A lot happened today. You must be tired. Go to sleep. We can finish talking tomorrow.”

His tender voice washed over my ears.

Mhm, I answered—whether aloud or only in my mind, I didn’t know.

My blinks grew slower.

I sank into slumber, lulled by the steady beat of his heart.

Whiiish—

A clear birdsong brushed my ears.

As I became aware of it, sunlight pierced sharply through my eyes.

“Mmm…”

I burrowed into the blanket—then, suddenly remembering last night, my eyes flew open.

“Gasp.”

I bolted upright.

Last night… I had fallen asleep with As.

Then I’d woken from a strange dream, gotten thirsty, and when I tried to get out of bed…

“…A whole bloodbath had unfolded.”

And As turned out to actually be Akes.

The very same Akes who refused to let me push him away.

…But now that I thought about it, it all felt too unreal.

Maybe it was just a dream.

I glanced at the spot where Akes had lain last night.

It was empty.

“…So it really was a dream.”

Maybe I’d been so desperate for him not to hate me that I ended up dreaming a muddle of good and bad visions mixed together.

The thought left my chest hollow, strangely empty.

I shook my head hard to clear it, then got out of bed.

As soon as I stepped outside the room, the savory scent of food drifted up from below.

I could faintly hear the sound of chopping, too.

“As?”

I muttered instinctively, hurrying down the stairs.