Chapter 21

I was forced to sit on the bed with my arm still being held by him.

He wrapped his arm around, hugging me from behind.

…I can’t see his face…

When I tried to look back, I was stopped by him.

“Don’t look at my face now…”

“Eh…U-un…”

“…When I first saw you, I thought you were Mephis…the spirit that was on the stained glass in the church of the royal capital.”

I was suddenly told the same thing Tarta said last time.

Mephis, aren’t I being compared to you a little too much?

…Don’t get mad at me if you hear about it…

“Even though…I was supposed to have a bad impression of you. I didn’t think I was interested in men in the first place. I was watching you before I realized it. Whenever I saw you, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to run away when you got too close, but when you were talking with Harris, I was furious. ‘Even though I’m right here, why don’t you look at me,’ I thought this every time.”

(T/N: I gave up on adding ‘the previous chief’ for Harris, so I’ll just use Harris from now on)

“Eh…Eh…”

“I mustn’t be attracted, but…I didn’t think I would be attracted to such a person either. But when I saw you working, you didn’t look like a bad person. I didn’t care about what others said, I believed in what I saw instead…”

Then Caesar seemed to be stuck as he sighed.

He hugged me tighter as if he’s saying, ‘No, that’s just a selfish assumption I made.’

“Being able to live in the same room as you, I was so happy. The place I slept on too…I felt like sleeping on the sofa. But thinking about you and Harris sleeping together, I did otherwise.”

No, you’re wrong about that though!

We’ve never actually slept together, okay!?

“I felt guilty for doing whatever I wanted to your body without Harris finding out about us, but… thinking about waiting for you, every day, to eat you, I didn’t want you to move to another room.”

“E-excuse me!!”

I was so embarrassed I wanted to take his hand off me and crawl under the blanket, but I have to fix his misunderstanding!

“Without Harris finding out you say, why are you so obsessed about him? I don’t mind if he finds out though…”

“…That’s…Does that mean you chose me?”

“Eh? Chose?”

He replied incomprehensibly, making a question mark appear above my head.

“Wasn’t Harris your lover? That’s why you were so cautious…”

“Ehhh?”

“It was to prevent any incidents happening, but…I thought it was also an order to not let any other men touch you…”

“Ehh!? O-other men, t-to begin with…tsk!”

“However, I couldn’t endure it and touched you, but…I have no face to meet Harris anymore…”

“…It’s not like Harris is going out with me or anything though.”

When I said so, Caesar continued angrily.

“S-something has to happen if someone stays in a room with someone like you, right?”

Someone like me!? What does that mean!?

What kind of recognition is this!?

“N-nothing happened! Harris is my cousin and I knew him ever since I was born! We’re something like a family!”

“Huh……”

“The bed too, we don’t sleep together! Harris sleeps on the sofa, but it would seem like I forced him to sleep there and it would seem disrespectful, so I couldn’t say it……”

“……I-I…I thought you slept with me because you didn’t want to get found out…”

T-that kind of misunderstanding!?

“Uh~…I don’t care if Harris knows about us…I don’t think he’ll ever do anything more than what a family does…”

I hear a huge sigh from behind.

No, I’m not the wrong one here!? The one who misunderstood is you, okay!?

The silence continued after that. S-say something…

“Uhh…so Lord Caesar thought I was going out with Harris, and that I was a criminal that has been driven away from the royal capital…Right?”

“……I apologize. You can get angry……”

“No…I couldn’t tell you about it…Uh, about Chief…I didn’t think anything about it, it’s just that I didn’t want his talent to go to waste.”

“Is that so…I understand. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen, but I will tell him something he can bear in mind from now on.”

“Thank you very much…”

I’m glad…It doesn’t seem like it’ll end up being too awful.

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

I’m glad Caesar was the only one who was there.

If Harris and the Prince were to be there, what kind of trouble would I get into? In that respect, Chief sure is lucky.

“Lord Louie.”

“Ah, yes?”

“I like you.”

“…What!?”

Surprised at his unrelenting confession, I stared at Caesar’s serious face.

“I wasn’t able to say it for a long time. I misunderstood…I couldn’t stand it even when I thought that I shouldn’t be attracted to you. Even if I wasn’t able to clear the misunderstanding, I was thinking of talking to Harris.”

W-with Harris!? What are you…”

“He went to the royal capital and left you here, and when I thought of you…If I were to go to the royal capital, I would never leave you alone. You’re so defenseless, I’d be uneasy if I left you.”

“Defenseless you say…”

“Are you not aware of it? Even though you weren’t close to me, you could easily…Ahh, As I thought, it’s impossible. I would’ve taken you away even without your consent.”

No, I don’t have any plans to move back to the royal capital though!?

He declared with murderous eyes, and continued

“I went ahead and canceled the engagement with my fiance. You’re a criminal, and I already thought of leaving the house if they oppose to us being together.”

“L-leaving…!?”

You mean to sever connection with your family!?

”

”

“Well, I’m not worried about that anymore.”

“Th, th-that’s good…”

Isn’t it difficult for Caesar, a nobleman, to leave the house?

Caesar’s misunderstanding almost made something ridiculous happen.

The neck that was supporting my head moved away…and I was kissed on the lips lightly.

Trapped in his sky blue eyes, I could feel the warmth and happiness in my body.

There were various misunderstandings, but…there’s nothing wrong now.

Caesar likes me.

Un, let’s say…that I like him too.

“Lord Louie.”

“Lord Caesar…”

“I like you. Marry me.”

“All of a sudden!?”

As I tried to say ‘I like you too,’ I was surprised and raised my voice.

“Are you serious!? I’m a commoner though!?”

“Didn’t I say I planned to leave the house? Such things don’t matter.”

“But marrying is too sudden…”

“Even though Lord Louie doesn’t intend to marry me…you’re letting me do such obscene things to you?”

“Eh, eh, eh.”

“I’m not letting you sleep with anyone other than me.”

He’s still grabbing my shoulders, it doesn’t seem like he’ll let go of me until I answer him.

When I looked at the blonde-haired knight with a serious look on his face…My chest squeezed tightly as I grabbed it.

“Uh…uh, I have yet to think about marriage, but…”

I placed my finger on Caesar’s lip, as he was about to say something, and stopped him while staring into his eyes.

“I like Lord Caesar…as well.”

A few seconds pass silently.

“I-is, that, so…”

After a while, Caesar’s face turned red as he hugged me tightly.

“S-since when did you…”

“Eh…I don’t know, but…before I realized it…When I heard you had a fiance, I was so sad…”

“I-I see. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. I only have Lord Louie now. It’s true. I’ll manage the matter of my fiance as soon as possible.”

As he rambled on, he hugged me even tighter. It was starting to hurt.

You’re hugging too much. Just how much of a difference in strength do you think we have?

“Ah. Uh, it hurts.”

“I-I apologize! Ahh, I don’t know what to do.”

Caesar looks cute for some reason…

He was supposed to be hard to deal with, but now he looks like the cutest man in the whole world!

Just what happened to me…?!