episode_0069

“……?”

“What do you think?”

The Snake subtly asked.

The girl, frozen for a moment, soon grasped the meaning of the sentence and reacted belatedly.

Heat suddenly rushed to her face.

“Wha—wha—what did you say…?”

Her creaking lips even stammered.

Her pupils shook violently.

“H-how can you say something so, so shameless so casually…!”

“Hmm?”

The villainess cried out in shock.

However, even at her accusation, the blond boy merely wore a question mark.

As if asking what the problem was.

“But aren’t you struggling even now? I merely wanted to offer my help.”

“E-even so…!”

“If you say you don’t want it, I will withdraw.”

“Ugh.”

The defiant girl closed her mouth.

It was because of their locked gaze.

Looking at his thinly narrowed eyes, the promise he once whispered grazed her ear.

The memory remained vivid.

-I wish you would live for me.

In truth, the villainess had no right to refuse.

Because she had made a contract to dedicate everything to him in exchange for her life.

But.

“That’s a shame.”

Could it be this sudden?

Even if one side held feelings, she had heard that such progress had stages.

She was a girl lost, with no experience with men.

‘W-well, of course, last time we even kissed, but that, that was when I wasn’t in my right mind…!’

Emilia fretted internally, stomping her feet.

Of course, nothing changed.

At least for the Snake, vanity was a hopelessly powerless emotion.

The girl, lost in anguish, finally reached out a hand.

“Wait… w-wait.”

She timidly grabbed his sleeve.

Intense shame washed over her.

She tried her best to speak confidently, but even to her own ears, her voice trembled pitifully.

Emilia held out the bottle she was holding and asked.

“……Please.”

“Young Lady?”

“Help me apply it. So my skin doesn’t get sunburned.”

Her face flushed as if it would burst.

***

A short while later.

Emilia was lying on a mat.

She had even taken off the light cardigan she was wearing. Thanks to this, her hidden white skin was fully exposed.

Only a single sky-blue swimsuit covered her body.

Her distinct feminine curves flowed.

Her blue hair was disheveled.

Between those waves of hair, an undeniable voluptuousness resided.

Her meticulously sculpted figure was like a painting, captivating the gaze of both men and women.

True beauty was like that.

“……”

Perhaps it was because this situation was embarrassing.

The girl could not lift her head.

Because if she showed her face for even a moment, her terribly flushed complexion would be exposed.

She was merely lying face down, resting her head on her arm.

“You don’t have to be nervous. It won’t hurt.”

“……Be quiet.”

The Snake whispered as if soothing the villainess.

The boy wore a faint smile, then scooped sunscreen into his palm.

Immediately after.

“Then, I shall begin.”

*Pat.*

His hand touched the villainess’s back.

Perhaps it was due to his cool body temperature. Emilia, who had been holding her breath, unintentionally let out a sound.

His palm, coated with the cream, felt slippery like scales.

“Ugh…”

A back, allowed to someone for the very first time.

Before her startled heart could calm, the clinging hand moved, broadly sweeping over the girl’s skin.

*Slide.*

His calm touch continued.

A pristine white trace was left on her soft skin, and after a few rubs, it would repeatedly absorb.

The boy carefully spread the sunscreen.

“Ugh… huff.”

Unfamiliar sensations repeatedly made her groan.

Emilia bit her lip hard.

A strange sensation lingered.

The villainess trembled at her shoulders, yet tried not to show it.

She didn’t want to lose her dignity.

*Slide, slide.*

Even amidst that, the boy was moving his arm.

Perhaps because he had ample experience with women (?), it was indeed a continuous, unhesitant assault.

She felt subtly annoyed.

‘How annoying.’

His thinly narrowed eyes curved into a faint smile.

She disliked his purely smiling expression, as if he had no ulterior motives whatsoever.

At this rate, she felt like she was the only one acting strangely.

“Ahem.”

Of course, it was a misunderstanding.

In fact, the boy had no ulterior motives.

He merely wanted to help, but some distortion occurred in the process of conveying his intentions.

Emilia, too, was unaware of this.

The deeply rooted misunderstanding thus deepened.

“How long, huff… will you be applying it?”

“It’s almost done.”

Her breath came out faintly.

The villainess had to endure, lying face down.

Until the moment his cool palm left her back, her piteous trembling did not stop.

***

After the sunscreen application was finished.

Emilia staggered to her feet.

The villainess, whose pupils seemed strangely unfocused, soon collected herself and glared at him.

Her gaze was as if looking at trash.

“……Pervert.”

The girl reacted like a fierce cat.

She backed away, creating distance, and even hid herself behind Regia, who was standing nearby.

He asked why, but all he got was a hiss.

Suddenly, he had become a strange fellow who got cursed at despite offering help.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t come near me.”

“Can’t you at least tell me why?”

“Pervert.”

He couldn’t reason with her.

He eventually gave up on getting an answer and instead asked Irene, who was standing in the shade.

Because she had watched the entire situation right beside them.

“Irene, do you know why the Young Lady is acting like that?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“Trash.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s not wrong.”

“……”

Pervert, freak, trash.

Having been hit with three insults in quick succession, he quietly shut his mouth.

It was truly a sorrowful world.

Anyway.

With the UV problem solved, the children officially dipped their feet into the ocean.

The wind swept along with the incoming waves.

It was a cool sea breeze, enough to blow away the entire heat of summer.

“It’s c-cold!”

“Of course, it’s seawater.”

“Still, I think this is the first time I’ve seen such a clean ocean! W-when I was traveling the continent, places like this were rare…”

“Alright, just walk properly. Don’t stumble and fall.”

“Yes, yes…!”

The protagonist and the villainess.

The two girls walked side by side along the coastline.

Their steps advanced, treading on the waves.

He sat in the shade a little distance away, watching their backs.

He planned to only watch, not enter the water.

“It’s peaceful.”

He murmured softly.

As he breathed in the refreshing air for a moment, he suddenly felt a presence and turned his head.

Where his gaze landed, the fox was sitting.

She, too, seemed to have no intention of entering the water.

“……”

The girl was silent as if dead.

He lightly threw out a remark.

“Since we’re here, why not at least dip your feet? We came all the way to the ocean.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit anyway.”

“You can just get wet and change later. We have plenty of spare clothes.”

“No thanks.”

Irene firmly refused.

Her voice was strangely weak.

As he showed a question mark at her strange reaction, the fox added another word.

It was a faint murmur.

“……It’s just. I hate the ocean.”

Her gaze was strangely misaligned.

She seemed to be reflecting on something.

Her fox ears, attached to her head, were also drooping.

While waiting for the silently contemplative girl, a question came from her this time.

“What about you?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not going into the ocean either. Why are you just sitting here like this?”

“Well.”

He answered calmly.

“Rather than saying I hate the ocean, I’d say I don’t want to wear a swimsuit.”

“A swimsuit?”

“Exposing clothes make me feel embarrassed.”

“You’re twisting your words again.”

“It’s true. My body isn’t one to boast about to anyone.”

“Aren’t you in pretty good shape…?”

“Heh heh.”

He smiled silently.

He was evading the answer.

Because everyone has a few traces they wish to hide.

“People have different thoughts, I suppose.”

“……Right. If you say so, then it must be so.”

Irene didn’t ask further.

She simply closed her lips.

A calm stillness settled.

Until the sunset and their time at the ocean ended, they merely respected each other’s silence.

Only the sea breeze grazed their ears.

***

After their enjoyable schedule, the four returned to their accommodation.

The children had spent the entire day at the beach.

Perhaps it was due to exhausting their energy.

They seemed to be getting hungry.

They gathered in the room to have dinner together.

As they had discussed that morning, dinner consisted of dishes personally cooked by the Snake.

The children sat at the table, half-worried and half-expectant.

“Alright, you may eat now.”

Fortunately, the boy’s cooking was edible.

No, it wasn’t just edible; it was excellent, comparable to a high-class restaurant.

For Regia and Emilia, who were trying it for the first time, it was nothing short of astonishing.

“It’s, it’s delicious…!”

“No way.”

The children exclaimed in admiration, each with their hands paused.

The boy, wearing a pink apron, smiled gently with his eyes.

“I’m glad it suits your taste.”

“It tastes better than the restaurant we went to this morning! I didn’t know Young Master-nim was such a good cook, I-I even want to learn…!”

“Heh heh, I suppose I should treat you like this from time to time.”

Regia’s eyes sparkled.

“……How can a person not be bad at anything?”

“I merely have a little bit of knowledge in various areas.”

“This is really annoying… I wanted to laugh at you freely if it tasted bad.”

“Because I’m quite the family-oriented man.”

“You know, trying to appeal with that won’t win me over…?”

“Oh, what a shame.”

Emilia grumbled, yet acknowledged his skill.

The Snake wore a proud smile.

“It’s rewarding.”

Dinner continued in a harmonious atmosphere.

The relaxed conclusion to the day.

However, there was one person who couldn’t blend into such an atmosphere.

It was none other than Irene.

“……”

The girl kept staring blankly.

She only answered when her name was occasionally called, her consciousness seemingly somewhere else entirely.

She had been in this state ever since returning from the ocean.

“Irene.”

“……”

“Irene?”

“……Ah. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

The fox reacted belatedly.

The Snake subtly spoke, as if concerned for the girl with hazy eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“What?”

“It seems you haven’t been able to concentrate for a while now. Is something bothering you?”

“Bothering me? No, there’s nothing like that.”

“Then?”

“It’s just… I guess I’m tired. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Irene vaguely brushed him off.

She moved her paused utensils and calmly continued her dinner.

As always, her face was expressionless.

“Hmm.”

Her black eyes, like extinguished lights.

The Snake quietly observed the girl’s somber atmosphere, even as she pretended otherwise.

And so, dinner time passed.

***

That night.

Irene couldn’t fall asleep.

“……”

Her dark eyes were open, staring blankly.

The time had already entered the early hours of dawn, but for some reason, her suffocating chest made it hard to lie down.

The fox, who had tossed and turned for a long time, eventually got out of bed.

She thought she’d just get some fresh air and come back.

*Creak.*

When she stepped out of her bedroom, the first thing she saw was the blond boy.

He was leaning against the sofa with his eyes closed.

It seemed he had fallen asleep early.

She carefully left the room, being careful not to wake him.

Since it was just a short walk, she didn’t leave a note.

The fox simply moved her feet.

“……”

Irene headed to the coast located near the accommodation.

*Roar.*

As she crossed the wide sandy beach, the sound of waves swelled in her ears.

The blowing sea breeze made her think of various things.

The fox took in the dreadful scenery.

The sky poured down starlight.

The transparent ocean reflected the colors of the night exactly on its surface.

It was clearly a beautifully reflected scene, yet.

What came out between her lips was a completely contrasting sentence.

The girl mumbled as if chewing on words.

“……As expected, I hate the ocean.”

Perhaps it was because of a nightmare.

When she looked at the rippling surface, she kept seeing herself trapped in iron bars.

It felt as if those waves would swallow her whole at any moment.

On the other hand, she also felt like she had come out for no reason.

Because it only made her feel worse.

The distinct fishy saltiness of the ocean.

Irene chewed on it, simply leaving slow footprints.

The air was silent, without a single whisper of sound.

*Whoosh.*

She swept back the bangs that fluttered in the wind.

As she walked for a long time, lost in thought, she had unknowingly reached a secluded corner.

“Should I go back?”

She was gradually thinking of going back.

Just as she was about to turn back her stopped steps.

-……!

An unfamiliar noise came from somewhere.

The fox’s ears automatically perked up.

The girl, who had focused on her hearing for a moment, soon realized that the sound was someone’s scream.

It wasn’t too far away.

“A scream…?”

Irene furrowed her brow.

Her shoes kicked off the ground, and she ran towards the source of the sound.

It was an alleyway close to the coast.

*Clatter, clatter.*

Several large carriages were lined up.

Around them, soldiers wearing robes were positioned here and there, seemingly on guard.

They gave off a strangely familiar feeling.

The eyes of the fox, watching from hiding, trembled.

She immediately recognized their identity.

How could she not recognize them?

They were the ones who had plunged her life into hell.

‘Slave traders.’

*Clench.*

Her fists instinctively clenched.

She hadn’t encountered them since her escape, and she never expected to see their transport carriages in a holiday resort like this.

Their method of moving only through secluded alleyways seemed unchanged.

-How dare you try to escape!

-H-help me…!

-Shut up! Get in quietly if you don’t want to die!

-Gasp…!

Had she tried to escape and been caught again?

A woman, grabbed by the collar by a soldier, was being loaded back into the transport compartment.

It seemed the previous scream had been this one.

‘What should I do?’

She had to save her.

She wanted to jump in immediately, but the problem was that she couldn’t gauge the number of opponents.

Furthermore, the number of people to be rescued was also unclear.

If they were transport carriages, there would likely be more people trapped inside.

She might only make the situation worse.

‘Ordinary guards aren’t a problem.’

Because they were at a level she could easily handle.

But if there were ‘hunting dogs’ mixed among them, it would be a different story.

She might even get caught in return.

‘Even so, if I don’t do something…’

While she hesitated, her hand on her sword.

By then, the carriages with closed doors began to depart one by one.

“Damn it…!”

She couldn’t let them get away like this.

Irene cursed under her breath, then moved to avoid the guards’ eyes.

She lightly climbed onto the last carriage.

It was a cargo compartment filled only with supplies.

The fox held her breath, hiding herself among the rattling boxes.

*Neigh!*

Behind the vigorous neighing of a horse, the carriage began to gallop.

In the end, the girl ended up blindly following.

Meanwhile.

Someone watched the departing carriages, smiling meaningfully.

Their thinly narrowed eyes were particularly ominous.

“The protagonist’s part is over… it seems a supporting character’s growth event is starting this time.”

An incomprehensible murmur.

A clap echoed immediately after.

*Clap!*

The shadow standing in the darkness had vanished without a trace.

Only the flowing night breeze filled the void.

[EP.10 Slave Traders]

-Crashing waves, sinking iron bars-

It was the beginning of a new episode.