EP: 81
***
“Where are you going?”
Muriel lifted her legs in front of Fen, who was sitting up, and asked. Muriel had been compiling a list of supplies to be delivered to August, and despite sitting in one place for quite some time, Fen hadn’t moved an inch and stayed by Muriel’s side. Then, with a slight twitch, he stood up.
“Are you going on another errand?”
Muriel had always been by Muriel’s side ever since he returned. They went for walks together, ate together, and slept together. But there were times when he would suddenly disappear without a sound, only to reappear with Kaiton. Around that time, Muriel began to suspect that Kaiton had attached Fen to her as a spy to know her whereabouts when needed.
“Don’t go. If Kaiton comes, he’ll just say weird things again.”
Kaiton, who came to Muriel with Fen, always said the same things.
“Don’t take a shower.”
“Don’t change your clothes.”
“Don’t laugh while thinking of me.”
It was a strange and bizarre order that she couldn’t figure out the reason behind.
At first, she wondered if there was any good reason, so she waited with high tension, hoping he’d come back and say it fine now. But now she just let it slide.
-Crrrrr
As if he could hear Kaiton urging, Fen couldn’t calm down and started spinning in place, restless. Then, he leaped over Muriel’s leg and ran away.
“Fen…! Take this at least!”
Muriel grabbed a necklace she had made just in case. It was a crude letterbox made by attaching a string to an envelope. The letter contained a kind of response to Kaiton’s strange demands.
〈To Kaiton.
Don’t worry, Kaiton. As you requested, I will not take a shower and stay still even when I need to clean up. Of course, I won’t bother changing clothes to maintain noble manners without even properly cleaning my body. In the first place, I’m not a proper lady who changes clothes for a walk or tea time. However, it might be a bit awkward when I suddenly feel the need to take a break. I can’t lie down on a clean, well-made bed wearing dirty and unkempt clothes without showering. In that case, I’ll have no choice but to squat on the floor and sleep. It’s possible that I might catch a severe cold from sleeping on the cold floor since I don’t feel pain, but it’s an unavoidable choice to meet Kaiton’s demands, right? And I always say this, but I cannot fulfill Kaiton’s final request. I don’t think about Kaiton without reason in the first place, so you don’t have to ask me not to laugh absentmindedly. I don’t smile even if Kaiton crosses my mind, so even if you do make such a demand, I cannot comply since it doesn’t exist.
I will sit still like a wooden doll until Kaiton returns and says, ‘From now on, you can do what you want with the free will that God has given you.’ So please stop calling over Poor Fen to be your lackey.
Yours,
Muriel Storm.〉
Muriel, who was staring sadly at the remnants of Fen who had disappeared quickly without catching anything, sighed and reread the letter she had written in a fit of anger last night. It was short, but so childish she couldn’t read until the end. It was filled with twisted sarcastic complaints without a single line of sincerity.
“Haah….”
What was she doing, really…. Muriel was about to tear up the letter, but Kaiton’s hand swiftly came in and snatched it away.
“Did you write a letter to me?”
Despite Muriel’s disapproving look at his unmannered and unruly behavior, Kaiton remained nonchalant.
“I like it.”
After silently reading the letter for a while, Kaiton calmly expressed his feelings.
“You… like it?”
Unable to believe it, Muriel checked to see if Kaiton was also being sarcastic. However, his straight face showed no hint of malice. When Muriel tilted her head in incomprehension, Kaiton, as if to prove his words that he liked the letter, carefully folded it and put it in his pocket.
“I like the last part the most.”
If it was the last part, “I’ll be still and dead like a wooden doll, so leave Fen alone.” Muriel’s expression involuntarily turned bitter.
“I told you I like it. What’s wrong with your face?”
Kaiton burst into a smile and playfully pressed down on Muriel’s sharply raised eyebrows. Then, his touch changed into a gentle one as if to soothe her. Kaiton had been like this lately. He would reach out without hesitation, gently pat her cheek or run his fingers through her hair with a fairly friendly touch.
Muriel flicked away his hand that clouded her judgment and narrowed her eyes even more.
“There are many reasons. After seeing a letter full of complaints, you say you like it. Every day, you make strange demands without explaining properly. I thought Fen was my friend, but he’s Kaiton’s lackey. You know that my letter doesn’t mean I will obediently follow Kaiton’s words, right?”
Fen, feeling unjust at being called a lackey, twitched its nose in protest. When Muriel turned her head with a huff and ignored it, Fen nibbled on her arm, venting its frustration.
-Crrrr
It’s frustration could be felt. Although it was a bite, it wasn’t enough to cause any real harm, and it was cute to see it acting all angry, so Muriel just let it be since it didn’t hurt. But then, Kaiton lightly tapped Fen’s back as if to get its attention. In response, Fen let out a grumbling sound, sounding like a protest, and then promptly lay down at Muriel’s feet, as if sulking.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“I know.”
But before Muriel could ask why, Kaiton playfully pulled her ear as if it were natural and said,
“It’s hurting you. That’s something only I can do.”
What a lunatic.
Though she didn’t say it out loud, Kaiton seemed to read it all from her crumpled expression. He raised an eyebrow crookedly, as if sensing her displeasure, and looked down at Muriel.
“I’ll tell you the reason… a little later. I don’t plan on setting you free just yet.”
“Are you saying you’re going to play with me as you please until then, Kaiton?”
“Not you… the insidious wolf s…”
Caught off guard by Muriel’s sharp question, Kaiton hastily raised his head, but Muriel’s patience had already reached its limit.
“Enough. If there’s no good reason, then I’ll bathe when I want, and sleep when I want. I’m thinking of enjoying a hot bath today, changing into soft pajamas, and taking a nap.”
“…Just do that. You’ll end up locked in the closet trying to choose when I use magic…!”
Kaiton growled, showing his displeasure. The two of them glared at each other as if they were going to eat each other.
Muriel was furious at Kaiton’s forcing words. Her desire for victory burned fiercely. Fine, let him try to stop her. No matter what happens today, she would definitely enjoy a hot bath and a nap. She even thought about trying on all the clothes left in the castle and filling up her previously empty wardrobe.
“Just listen quietly for once!”
“Ha!”
Muriel’s expression was so terrifying that Kaiton flinched in surprise and faltered. He became uneasy. There was no way to stop Muriel when she made that kind of face. At least, not for him. He felt anxious. “I was trying to protect you!” he wanted to shout, but Muriel wouldn’t welcome his ‘protection’ so he just bit his innocent lips in frustration. That’s when Muriel’s thunderous declaration fell. Kaiton felt faint.
“You can’t stop me. At all costs, never!”
***
“Hmm…”
Muriel took a hot bath for three hours. Now, with a tired body from the long bath, she was browsing through clothes that she had no interest in. When she entered an unused room that had been left untouched and opened the wardrobe, as expected, it was filled with clothes that that hadn’t been taken during the evacuation.
Muriel quickly rummaged through the pile of clothes, grabbed whatever she could find, and put them on her body. It didn’t matter what color or size they were. What mattered was that she enjoyed the bath until her fingers wrinkled, and now she could change clothes as she liked, into whatever, whenever she wanted.
“Such bad luck, really.”
Muriel muttered softly, recalling Kaiton whom she encountered while coming out of the bathroom after finishing the bath. Kaiton seemed to have been guarding the front of the bathroom while Muriel was bathing. She had seen him circling the entrance like an anxious dog needing to relieve itself, and seeing him still in the same spot when she came out made her think he had never moved. In fact, while she was taking a stubbornly long bath because she didn’t want to encounter him, he didn’t seem to have taken any of her pacio through the sculpture.
Why? Why didn’t he put her in the closet like he said? If he had done that, she would have found a way to escape and given him a good beating.
Muriel couldn’t calm down and struggled in frustration. It was just too absurd no matter how much she thought about it. What difference did it make when someone bathed or dressed? He was interfering in every little thing like he was a pervert or something.
Sigh…
A sigh leaked out before she knew it. She thought she was growing more and more fond of Kaiton and developing feelings for him. It was true that she was pleasantly surprised by his unexpectedly gentle eyes and actions. But… people don’t change easily… After experiencing Kaiton’s unpredictable whims, she really couldn’t tell what her own feelings were anymore.
“I hate you, too.”
Muriel glared at Kaiton’s persistent lackey, who chased her to the end even if she told him to go away, and let out another heavy sigh.
It wasn’t love, afterall.
The kiss with Kaiton was so good, like a flash of lightning… Then, was this just lust?
“I must be crazy, Muriel Storm.”
Muriel let out a loud sigh and slumped onto the bed. The old dust piled up on the bedspread billowed up. It was a moment that made three hours of bathing seem wasted, but Muriel didn’t care and fell asleep while sulking.
Whether it was a passing thought or a dream that came at just the right time… A giant dream butterfly came in and swooped down as if to engulf Muriel. As Muriel followed the fluttering butterfly, gradually sinking into a deep sleep, screams-like cries could be heard from outside the castle.
“The moat is broken!”
“The monsters are escaping!!”
Muriel couldn’t wake up despite the commotion. As the commotion grew closer, the persistent Fen nudged Muriel with its tip and tried to wake her up to no avail.
– Crrrrrr
Monsters poured out from the broken moat. The shattered cover of the moat, now useless, crumpled like sheets of paper, and the land of the estate was covered in a swarm of dark, wriggling monsters, almost reminiscent of a night of disaster. All the wizards stuck together and tried to contain the situation, but the numbers were so large it was out of control.
As if releasing their pent-up anger from being trapped in the moat, the monsters became even more frenzied and rampaged, turning the fiefdom, which had gradually taken shape, into a mess.
Hungry monsters followed the scent of humans into the castle. Fen swiftly dealt with one monster that had broken through the door, then decisively tugged at Muriel’s clothing, as if determined.
Even if Muriel didn’t wake up, the plan was to carry her on his back and escape, but contrary to his intentions, he ended up throwing Muriel on the floor. Thud. The sound of Muriel’s head hitting the ground rang loudly in the room.
-….
This was bad. He thought Muriel would get angry and start scolding, so Fen became frozen in ice, but surprisingly, Muriel didn’t wake up and continued her deep sleep. He thought the sound was quite loud… Wasn’t it painful?
Fen, who had considered Muriel fragile, concluded that she was stronger than expected and moved more boldly. It tried biting her neck with its tip, as if to lift her up on its back, and shook its head while wriggling around. It even tried grabbing her neck and forcefully tilting her head, thinking that throwing her like a ball might make it easier to carry her on its back.
Successful in putting Muriel onto its back with a groan, Fen’s confidence soared. So, with that excitement, it dashed out, but his back felt too light.
-Crrrr?
Startled, Fen turned around and saw Muriel lying sprawled next to the bed as if she had fallen to the floor as soon as he set off. Her face was pressed against the ground. Embarrassed, Fen thought it would definitely get scolded this time, but Muriel was quiet again. A little too quiet. Was Muriel really this strong? Could it be… she’s not sleeping, but that she’s already dead? An anxious Fen cautiously approached Muriel, its tail stiff, and licked her palm. Suddenly, Muriel, who had been sleeping as if dead, opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
“Fen…”
She’s not dead! TFen jumped with joy and ran towards Muriel, but then realized it wasn’t the right time and growled, meaning they should escape quickly. It went from being excited to growling suddenly, then excited again, panting heavily. Muriel tilted her head, looking at the pen.
“Hmm… I feel a bit jittery… Why is that?”
– Crrrr
Steadying itself, Fen grabbed Muriel and pulled her, trying desperately to divert her attention. It wasn’t solely to avoid getting caught for its own mistake. It had a duty to protect Muriel, and the most important thing now was to take her to the safe Kaiton’s side. He could put off the little things and give Muriel time later to ponder about why her head and face hurt.
– Crrrrrr…
LMAOO FEN
And Kaiton was def happy about the ‘yours’ at the end of the letter
