Living Together (1)

Living Together (1)

… Even though I’ve assigned guards to protect her.

I was worried about leaving Rumi in the middle of enemy territory, so I suggested she come to live at my house.

Rumi stared at me with a stiff posture, as if she were broken.

‘She must dislike the idea, given that reaction.’

It was an understandable response, if anything.

Not only did I attempt to kidnap her, but I also used violence, and on top of that, I even tried to rape her…

My very existence must be quite disgusting to Rumi.

‘My thinking was too short-sighted.’

I thought to myself that I had lost my consideration while continuing to act as Deren.

Just as I was about to tell her to forget what I had said earlier.

I noticed Rumi quickly nodding her head with a stern face.

“I-I’ll go. Right away even…”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by this unexpected answer.

To be honest, I thought she would refuse and maybe even slap me.

I couldn’t believe she would agree to come to our house so readily.

‘I’m not sure if it’s because she has a personality that can’t refuse, or if she feels sorry because of the help I’ve given her so far.’

Whatever the reason, I just felt sorry as I nodded my head.

“Then let’s go together after we finish today’s class.”

“… Yes!”

Is it my imagination that she seems to be happy?

I thought I couldn’t quite understand the emotions Rumi was feeling, and slowly turned my gaze away.

* * * * *

Sien rushed to the old school building after hearing that a big problem had occurred there.

However, contrary to what was reported, there was no problem at all, only a peaceful scene greeted them.

“Huh… what?”

The initial reporter, seeing this, looked embarrassed and showed a disappointed expression.

It seems they’ve only now realized that it wasn’t right to report to her without even assessing the situation properly.

In this situation, she stared at him blankly and spoke in a calm voice.

“Next time, it’s better to check the situation first, no matter how urgent it is.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Anyone can make mistakes.”

Saying this much should be enough to make them try not to make mistakes next time.

If they just have that thought, they’ll improve eventually, so for now, I decided to wait for them to grow and turned around.

‘Then now I’ll go to the student council room and take care of the remaining work…’

I was planning to meet Deren on the pretext of returning the clothes I borrowed from him.

At the thought of meeting Deren again, I was already in a good mood and returned to the student council room with a smile, but.

“……”

The clothes of Deren that I had surely placed on the desk had disappeared without a trace.

Just in case, I searched under the desk, in the drawers, and so on.

I checked all the places I could think of, but no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find even a shred of the clothes, let alone the whole outfit.

As I was blinking in confusion at this fact, suddenly one thing crossed my mind.

‘A false report.’

Clearly, a report about the former teacher came in, and as soon as I went to check on it and came back, the clothes were gone.

I thought it might be a false report just to steal some clothes.

But the situation fit together too well for me not to be suspicious.

‘If this assumption is true… the biggest remaining question would be who stole it.’

If we catch the person who made the false report, we could roughly figure it out.

With that thought in mind, I asked the initial reporter who the informant was, but.

“Uh… I was in such a hurry to report to the student council president after receiving the report… I don’t remember much except that it was a girl.”

The only answer I got was that they couldn’t remember.

After silently looking at him in response to that answer, I slowly raised my gaze and closed my eyes.

‘A girl…’

Considering that it was a girl and that the only thing missing from the student council room was ‘Deren’s clothes’, the range of people who might have stolen it narrows down considerably.

‘Delia or Rumi.’

Thinking of those two who have been getting entangled with Deren too much lately, I calmly continued my thoughts.

‘Additionally, if we filter for people who knew that I had Deren’s clothes.’

Only ‘Rumi’, whom I accidentally met in the hallway this morning, remains.

“……”

When that conclusion came out, I silently looked down out the window, then bit my lip hard and shook my head.

I wanted to hold her responsible for this, but.

Since this was just speculation and not an official conclusion, I had to stop for now.

‘Moreover, if we make this issue bigger, it could even harm Deren.’

Ignoring it would probably be the most ideal choice.

Despite coming to this conclusion, I’m trying to calm my emotions as I feel an unnecessary emotional disturbance.

In the distance, I noticed Deren coming out wearing ‘that outfit’ I had lost earlier.

‘……’

It seemed that the culprit had stolen the clothes from me and then given them to Deren.

As I realized this, I could feel my expression sinking as a mix of displeasure and irritation spread through my mind for the first time.

‘I won’t forget this.’

Although I shouldn’t assert it since the culprit hasn’t been confirmed yet.

I bit my lip hard, thinking that the person named Rumi, who was anxiously following Deren, was likely the culprit.

* * * * *

As all the lectures ended, Rumi quickly approached me and started staring at me blankly.

Thinking that her appearance oddly resembled a dog waiting for its owner, I spoke in a calm voice.

“Let’s go then.”

“… Yes.”

I slowly left the lecture hall, watching Rumi who was hesitating but still sticking close to me.

After that, we took the carriage that was waiting for us and returned to the main house.

I could see several maids, including the one who had taken care of Rumi last time, waiting for us.

I made a gesture to entrust Rumi to them and immediately headed to my research lab.

‘I should probably complete the area-of-effect magic first.’

Since the maids will take care of Rumi anyway, I decided to ignore her for now.

As I’m focusing all my attention on finishing the large-scale area attack magic,

Someone gently knocks on the door of the research lab.

“Um, can I come in?”

A cautious and trembling voice.

I paused my work for a moment and gave a brief reply to that voice.

“No.”

“… I-I’m sorry.”

In response to my firm rejection, Rumi quickly apologized and said to me.

“Then… I’ll wait here. Please let me know when you’re done with your work.”

Hearing that, I thought it would be better for Rumi to rest in her room, so I continued my research without much hesitation.

*

After a few hours of research.

I was about to leave the lab for a light meal as I was getting hungry, when I felt something blocking the door.

Wondering what it was, I checked and saw Rumi curled up like a slug in front of the lab.

‘… Don’t tell me she’s been like this for hours?’

I rejected her with the intention of letting her rest comfortably in her room.

I didn’t expect her to wait for me so uncomfortably like this, and I let out a long sigh.

‘This is giving me a headache.’

Wondering why she was doing this, I tried shaking her body to wake her up.

But she seemed to be in a deep sleep and showed no signs of waking up.

‘Well, she’s been in an environment where she couldn’t even sleep properly at home, constantly being watched.’

For Rumi, this place where no one bothers her probably feels more comfortable.

I looked at Rumi and sighed inwardly, then slowly picked her up and moved her to a nearby guest room.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

As I was walking.

I had to stop for a moment when I heard Rumi apologizing even in her dream.

‘… A fate that must be unhappy.’

While I was pondering over those words that the Heaven God Cult people had brainwashed Rumi with, which strangely echoed in my mind.

Rumi seemed to have woken up, looking up at me with teary eyes.

Then she smiled brightly at me before falling back asleep.

‘How tired must she be to fall asleep so quickly.’

Well, if I were to describe it as in the original novel.

They would splash cold water on Rumi just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, or forcibly wake her up to make her do housework at all hours.

Except for our home, she probably never had such a deep sleep before.

As I was carefully laying Rumi down on the bed so as not to wake her, intending to head to the dining room.

Suddenly, Rumi grabbed the hem of my clothes and started pulling me towards the inside of the bed.