บท 20: CHAPTER 20 "DAILY ROUTINE" (1)

Witnessing his erratic behavior caused chills to run down my spine. His actions were frightening. Sejan smiled brightly, though the glint in his eyes still terrified me.

"Your Highness," he began sweetly, but his tone put me on edge. "Ah, I'm not good at being polite, so I'll just speak comfortably."

"What do you wish to talk about?"

What else does this man, a ticking human time bomb, want to say to me?

"How about you become my master?"

Huh? In an instant, the frightening atmosphere around us crumbled and I felt a wave of embarrassment rising in its place. Though I couldn't see his face, I sensed Noxis gape in astonishment behind Sejan.

I was also taken aback at his request but for a slightly different reason.

Why would he ask me that question?

Wasn't that the request he was supposed to make toward Marina?

"How about it?"

"How about it?" he grinned.

Oh my God. He's even following up his request with the same, exact lines he originally says in the novel. What the hell is this?

I stared at Sejan with the calmest expression I could muster, but internally I was in turmoil. From a practical point of view, I knew that having him on my side would help me in the long run, since his abilities could help me reach the fifth floor. At the same time, I also knew that he was a man who was hard to understand and prone to easily losing interest in things. What if he suddenly lost interest in me while he was guarding me?

He'd just smile and watch me get assassinated right in front of him.

I figured it would be impossible for me to tame a complicated man like him.

Especially since I'm not the heroine of this novel.

On that note, I made up my mind to turn down his request. I quickly glanced at him.

"I refuse," I steadfastly held my ground as my eyes met his. "I have no use for a guard who would play pranks on me by hiding in a tree. That's all for today. I'm going back to the mansion now."

As I departed from the shade of the large tree overlooking the training grounds, I turned my head toward Noxis.

"Oh, by the way," I added, "you did a great job today, Noxis. I asked the kitchen to prepare plenty of cold, lemon sherbet for you and the rest of the knights. Please help yourselves after practice is over."

"Ye..Yes!" Noxis loudly answered in excitement. "Thank you, Your Highness!"

I could hear Sejan laughing behind me.

What's so funny? What a crazy person.

I looked over at Sejan, who was still snickering like crazy, before I continued my walk. It was time for me to get out of here.

****

Time flew by quickly, and a week passed before I even realized it. By now, I was used to life in the Romani manor. Of course, Kyle still liked to throw all three levels of his 'don't do it' challenge at me every day, so I had no choice but to lessen how much I pestered him. I didn't leave him alone entirely, but I made sure to give him more space than before since I was afraid he would dislike me for always sticking to him like a leech. Maintaining some distance between us to give him some breathing room seemed like the right decision.

… At least, that's what I had thought.

"Archduke…" I sighed in exasperation, "why don't you dry your hair?"

"…"

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't dry it."

"It's troublesome to do."

"Give me the towel."

Every night, Kyle would take a bath and then come into our room without drying his hair. Thanks to that, the water that still clung to his hair would drip all over the place, causing the floor to get all wet and his robe to become soaked.

The damp cloth stuck to his skin, accidentally revealing his toned physique to me. In certain positions, his robe would occasionally slip open, exposing his chest and collarbone. I mused that whoever created this world must have really pulled out all the stops to craft such a well-balanced figure. Even though I knew I was the original author, my writing was messy and rife with mistakes—I definitely hadn't been this detailed.

Ah, I am so fascinated by him… I should stop staring, though.

Anyway, drying his hair before bed soon became part of my daily routine because he never did it himself, for whatever reason. We still bantered during the process, with the only difference being where we sat relative to one other. Before, I had sat behind him while I dried his hair. Now, I would sit in front of him. The main problem with this change was the fact that he constantly stared at my face the entire time. As a result, I always tried to avoid his piercing gaze because it was starting to become too burdensome to address it.

Tonight was no exception as we bickered while I dried his hair, which was usually the case.

"You're bothering me," I frowned tersely as I tried to concentrate on wicking the remaining drops from his glossy hair, but Kyle was distracting me.

"I've never disturbed you," he responded flatly.

What do you mean? I'm so disturbed right now.

Instead of sitting quietly like he normally did, Kyle had started mimicking my actions.

"Ah, why do you keep trying to dry my hair?" I sighed, perplexed. "It's annoying."

"… Why can't I touch you when you touch me?"

"I'm not touching you for no reason. I'm just drying your hair. I know that you're trying to mess with me right now."

"But, I don't joke."

"Then, what are you doing?"

"I'm only touching you because you touch me, too. You're the one who touched me first."

Ahh, what should I do with this guy?

He said that it was too troublesome for him to bother with his own hair, yet he didn't mind touching mine? Honestly, he was so weird.

After a while, I was satisfied with my work. Kyle's fingers still wove themselves through my golden locks.

"If you're done drying my hair," I said as I set the towel aside, "then let's sleep."

"…"

Only

"Can you get your hands out of my hair? I'm sleepy."

It was surprisingly difficult for him to detach his hands from my hair. He just kept touching and playing with each wavy strand.

Are you having fun?

Eventually, he did stop, and I went to the bed. He followed soon after and lay down beside me, although he made sure to keep a large distance between us as usual.

"You're not going to move closer?"

"No, I won't. Don't talk to me."

"I have no energy to talk to you anymore, anyway."

As I settled myself in, a familiar scent wafted over to my side of the bed. I had grown accustomed to having Kyle's scent beside me as I slept.