episode_0022

“…Yes. I understand.”

As that short answer fell from his lips, silence filled the room.

But it was not an emptiness cleaving the air. It was a stillness imbued with a clear will.

Sierra, as soon as those words were spoken, very slowly raised her body.

Without an inch of hesitation, without a tremor in her breath.

As if proving something, she approached me very gently and respectfully.

Like someone returning to their homeland after a long exile—no, like someone who would never again lose hold of something precious obtained after a long wait.

Her gaze met my eyes.

Deep and dark, darker than the night sky, eyes colder than moonlight.

There, instead of wavering, was certainty.

A single, unwavering feeling directed at me, at her master.

And that feeling was soon transferred into movement.

Sierra knelt.

And carefully, she placed her knee on top of mine. Her body heat slowly seeped along my leg. It was a very small movement, but within it was contained a yearning that could not be fully expressed in words.

Without even a breath, she looked up at me.

“Master.”

She spoke. Her voice was low, quiet, and subdued.

“This is a contract.”

“A vow, a promise… or a curse.”

Along with those words, her hand was placed over mine.

That hand was cold and soft. As if not of this world’s senses, it brushed past like a transparent, clear ripple. And from her fingertips, a very subtle magical power began to flow out.

I instantly recognized what kind of magic it was.

Mark of Obedience.

Magic designed to make a servant absolutely follow their master’s commands.

But for Sierra, I had not used that mark. No, I hadn’t wanted to use it. Because it was something that forcibly broke someone’s feelings, freedom, and will.

But… she, now—was using that magic towards me.

I quickly opened my mouth.

“Sierra, that’s—”

But she cut me off. Gazing deep into my eyes.

“It’s alright. Because you already permitted it.”

“This is… a blessing you bestowed upon me, Master.”

“So that no one… can take away my Master—a mark of eternity.”

Her fingertips gently brushed my hand. And soon, a magic circle began to be slowly engraved. Red, blue, and golden lines intertwined, forming the shape of an intricate mark.

My skin grew hot.

My heart beat rapidly.

No, this wasn’t simple excitement. It was a feeling as if my emotions were about to explode, as if my entire body was being eroded by her magic.

I did not refuse that mark.

No, I couldn’t refuse.

Because Sierra’s rejoicing face was so beautiful.

Those eyes, that smile with tears in them, held me fast.

“Now Master is mine.”

Sierra whispered.

“I told you, didn’t I? That Master is mine.”

“Young Master cannot escape from me.”

“We will be together until death.”

Those words were frightening and beautiful.

They were like a prison, but at the same time, like a sanctuary.

In that moment, I knew.

I had already accepted Sierra.

It was not a compromise to survive. It was an irreversible choice created by the flow of emotion. I did not resist. No, I had already reached a state where I could not do so.

She slowly raised her body and got off my knees.

And then quietly—she sat at my feet, and bowed her head.

“Now your maid, Master, is completely ready.”

“Just give the command. I can do anything, anytime, anywhere.”

The night deepened like that.

Outside the window, the wind gently brushed the curtains. Each time the thin fabric swayed like waves, moonlight seeped into the room.

That hazy silver light flowed across the floor as if gliding, quietly revealing the figure of a person.

It was Sierra.

She was still there, kneeling beside the bed where I lay.

Her head was slightly bowed, and her hands were placed neatly on her knees. Like a monk praying, sitting upright without a single breath, she looked as still as if she lacked any vitality.

But in her eyes, where the moonlight brushed past—the consciousness that only one who is awake can possess shone clearly.

She was not sleeping.

She merely kept her eyes closed, concentrating her entire attention towards me.

If I shifted my body even slightly, if my breath quickened minutely, Sierra immediately felt it.

Without a single word, without a single sound. But each moment her lips trembled ever so slightly, I could tell.

That even in this very moment, she was watching over me.

Not watching over—but watching over me so desperately it was close to surveillance.

“…How long do you plan to stay there?”

I ended up asking. Like this, I couldn’t possibly fall asleep.

Sierra slowly opened her eyes.

And, instead of answering, she slightly bowed her head. A very subtle smile touched the corner of her lips.

“…Until Master falls asleep.”

That single sentence was so natural, and somehow frightening.

“After I fall asleep?”

“Then… I will rest.”

“On the bed?”

She quietly shook her head.

“No. I like it here.”

“By Master’s side… this spot is the warmest.”

I fell silent.

And that silence, before I knew it, was accepted by her as meaning permission.

Sierra closed her eyes again. But this time, she didn’t simply close them. She carefully placed one hand on my knee. Very carefully, too lightly. As if she were weightless, she seemed to be trying to feel my existence with her fingertips.

Her fingertips were trembling.

But it wasn’t because of fear.

Rather, something she was suppressing—instinct, desire, that love—was slightly leaking out through her trembling hand.

“Alright, sleep.”

I replied as if indifferent and sought sleep.

Midnight.

From somewhere, a subtle breathing sound was heard.

My chest felt strangely ticklish. A feeling that something was slowly, gently touching me.

Even before opening my eyes, I could tell whose breath it was.

It was Sierra.

She was leaning her body on me, burying her face in my chest. Her long hair was tickling my neck, and one arm was carefully wrapped around my waist.

Each time I inhaled, her scent wafted strongly. A familiar floral scent. But beyond that scent, something deeper and heavier was hidden.

She looked as if she was asleep… but she wasn’t.

“Sierra…”

When I called out softly, she quietly raised her head.

Her eyes were awake.

And… they gleamed strangely.

She quietly, very quietly, whispered into my ear.

She replied and slowly leaned her body.

That soft, weightless hand was placed upon my chest.

I felt my heart pounding.

As if her fingertips had noticed that,

Slowly, slowly, they stroked down over my chest.

“You’re trembling.”

“…I’m not trembling.”

“A lie.”

Sierra quietly laughed.

But that laugh was neither joyful nor malicious.

A desperate, lonely laugh.

“Even though we’re this close,

Why are you trying to push me away?”

“Sierra… stop…”

“I don’t want to.”

Along with those words

Slowly, very carefully

she lay down beside Leo and touched her forehead to his.

And whispered into his ear.

“Just once… just even one time…”

“You can lean on me.”

“Master, you had it harder than anyone else, didn’t you?”

“…”.

“Lonely enough to want to be held by someone, aren’t you?”

Sierra’s lips gently brushed my neck.

The sound of a low inhale.

It was like an instinct checking the scent of a beast.

“Master’s scent… it’s still the same.”

Muttering as if whispering, she

lightly pressed her chest close.

“When I had nowhere to lean,

I thought of Master every night.”

“It wasn’t to live.”

“Just… because I wanted to exist.”

Sierra’s hand

cupped my chin and gently turned it.

Our eyes met.

Those eyes,

were dyed red.

Desire

Possessiveness

“If I don’t have Master… I cannot live.”

“That’s why…”

Sierra, as if whispering, gently touched her lips to my chin.

“Now…

You don’t have to do anything that you want, Master.”

“Instead—

Let me do what I want.”

And Sierra,

very slowly, carefully placed her body over mine.

Her body heat was conveyed.

My heart trembled.

It wasn’t undressing, nor was it violent.

Just—as if rubbing her existence onto my body to engrave it.

Sierra kissed my neck,

and wet my ear with her breath.

“Master is…

The first person I wanted to hold in my arms.”

“And the last.”

“I won’t share you with anyone.”

“Even if I die…

This heart, it is mine alone.”

“I will erase everything for you.”

“In Master’s mind… only I will remain.”

I thought my breath would stop.

She slowly raised her head and stopped in front of my lips.

She did not kiss.

But… with her eyes met, she gazed at me from that distance without the slightest movement. As if she were waiting for me to kiss her first.

Through her trembling breath, she whispered again.

“I’m… the most beautiful, aren’t I, Master?”

“You only see me, don’t you?”

Those words did not demand an answer. No, they refused an answer. She was already certain. That only herself, only she could be by Master’s side.

That night, like that, continued without ending.

Along with those words, she wrapped her arm around my side,

gently, very lightly, bit my neck again.

This time, there was no blood.

Instead, a mark remained.

“It’s a mark.”

Along with those words, she burrowed into my embrace.

My heart,

was pounding frighteningly fast.

I did not push her away,

yet I did not embrace her either.

I merely,

silently endured her body heat and stayed awake through the night.

The dawn mist was thick and heavy.

On the bed, Leo was still unable to fall asleep, gazing at the ceiling.

His eyelids were heavy, but strangely, he didn’t feel tired.

The heat from the mark she had engraved last night still remained on his hand.

He raised his hand and looked at the pattern.

A trace of magical power, shining red.

It was Sierra’s magic.

He didn’t say anything, but he knew.

It wasn’t a simple mark.

It was—a mark of possession.

And she called it ‘love’.

“…You’re still awake?”

That quiet whisper was heard again.

When he turned his gaze, Sierra was still sitting on the floor beside the bed, kneeling.

Her head was bowed, and her hand was still holding his.

That appearance felt somehow strange, both beautiful and bizarre.

“Sierra. You can rest now. If you’re going to stay by my side, you don’t need to kneel like that.”

She slowly raised her head.

Her eyes shone red.

Joy, no—a more complex emotion than that was there.

“I… like this posture. Because I can look at Master anytime, from by your side.”

“…How long do you intend to stay like this?”

She laughed.

Softly, but somehow emptily.

“Until Master falls asleep.

And… if you happen to have a nightmare, I will wake you up by your side.”

At those words, Leo was left speechless.

She was sincere.

Without a single false breath, just as her eyes conveyed—she was sincere.

“Sierra.”

“Yes?”

“…You’re too deep.”

She did not answer.

Instead, she slowly rose and sat by the bed.

Without permission, her actions were quiet but unhesitating.

And carefully kissed his hand.

“Just by Master looking at someone else and smiling,

my heart hurts so much.”

“But I will endure it.

Because for now, that smile still remains for me too.”

She shifted her gaze from his eyes to his lips, and then to his neck.

Within that was something primal.

Possessiveness.

Desperation.

And a quiet desire, secretly concealing all those emotions.

“But… if you happen to, give that smile to someone else…”

“Then I, I don’t know what will happen.”

She spoke, slightly raising the corner of her lips.

Her tone was still quiet, even polite.

But the weight contained within it was terrifyingly serious.

“Therefore, Master, look only at me.

And make only me smile.”

She bowed her head, resting her forehead on his shoulder, and quietly inhaled.

“I… like Master’s scent very much.

It is warmer than the morning sun, and more calming than the night.”

Leaving those words as if whispering, she very slowly—

placed her hand on his chest.

Confirming that his heart was beating, she smiled.

“…Today too, it’s beating well. That’s fortunate.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s proof that Master is alive.

And… because that heart is still, the hope that it might be mine.”

At her words, Leo closed his eyes.

The boundary between love and obsession had already vanished,

and her emotion was seeping into his heart like dark yet clear water.