Benjamin took out the notebook and pen he always carried.
They were items that Diana had given him long ago.
「I can’t speak 」
While pretending to be mute, he worried whether Yerena would believe the hastily made excuse.
But thinking about it, Yerena was trusting and compassionate.
So he thought there was a good chance she would believe it. Well, if she didn’t believe it, he could just force the issue.
It wouldn’t be difficult.
“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry for forcing you to answer without knowing your circumstances.”
Should he call it a lack of prejudice or naivety?
He couldn’t dislike her kindness.
Benjamin unconsciously chuckled. Then he quickly stifled his laughter.
“Anyway, I should get going now. So goodbye…”
At those words, Benjamin grabbed her wrist again.
Having met her again like this, he couldn’t let her go easily.
「Payment for helping」
“What can I do for you?”
「…I’m hungry」
Benjamin stared down at the paper bag Yerena was clutching like a lifeline.
Since he didn’t like eating with others, he intended to devour those numerous fish skewers himself.
Though he detested the fishy smell…
Yerena hesitated awkwardly, as if someone she was going to eat with really existed, but eventually nodded.
“Would you like to eat together on the bench overlooking the sea? It’s perfect for eating fish skewers.”
Benjamin nodded briefly.
Thus, he ended up walking with her unexpectedly.
Fearing that Yerena might try to distance herself from him again, Benjamin lightly held her wrist.
Perhaps because he wasn’t gripping tightly, Yerena didn’t shake off his hand. That was strangely satisfying.
After walking a short distance, they reached a quiet shoreline. Yerena walked familiarly to a certain bench.
It was the same bench where Yerena had sat alone the previous morning, listlessly gazing at the sea.
‘If you ran away abandoning everything, you should be happy. Why show such a face.’
Why did she show such a pitiful appearance, making his heart feel strange?
Benjamin found it odd that he couldn’t treat Yerena carelessly as before.
And sitting side by side on the bench, leisurely eating the skewer Yerena offered…
“Isn’t it really delicious? I can’t believe how much fish meat there is. It’s even better when dipped in sauce, but unfortunately, the sauce is at the inn where I’m staying.”
Silently listening to Yerena’s everyday talk, why was it so…
“….”
Why was his heart so… peaceful?
It was a peacefulness he hadn’t felt since Diana died.
He hadn’t even felt it while being with Olivia, who resembled Diana.
That familiar yet somehow unfamiliar sentiment felt awkward.
At that moment, a sea breeze blew and mercilessly stripped off the hood Yerena was wearing.
“Uuugh. Why, why is the wind blowing so strongly?”
Yerena hurriedly put her hood back on.
But as the wind kept blowing it off several times, she eventually gave up and brushed back her disheveled hair.
“Wait, why isn’t your hood coming off? Is that specially made too? I think my hood is the worst…”
It wasn’t specially made; Benjamin was simply using his ability to keep the hood fixed in place.
But since he couldn’t tell her that fact, he responded with silence.
“Can’t be helped. I’ll just stay without it. Try to endure even if you’re blinded by my beauty.”
Was the ugly doll always this playful?
Thinking back, Yerena had occasionally said absurd things to get out of situations.
But she had never joked around this comfortably.
If they were in a different situation, say, not as an Esper and Guide, but in a more comfortable relationship, would something have been different?
Benjamin thought that the comfort and warmth he felt now could be ‘happiness’.
It could be that mysterious emotion he hadn’t felt even once since Diana died.
While thinking these useless thoughts, the fish skewer he was eating had nothing left but bones.
Though he definitely hated the fishy smell, this lousy food was just delicious.
Yerena, too, was holding a skewer with only bones left, wearing a happy smile.
It was a face he had never seen when she was in the capital.
“Shall we get up now? I think I need to go back because there’s someone waiting for me.”
So those numerous fish skewers were indeed meant to be shared with someone else.
Benjamin hastily wrote in his notebook.
「With whom?」
“My life companion.”
“….”
“…Hello?”
「A m…an?」
“Yes.”
Duncan? The master of the Hot Potato Guild? A new man she met in Philia Islands?
Does she also share everyday conversations with that man, show him a happy smile, and make cute expressions for him?
Benjamin’s face began to harden.
A menacing aura flowed from behind his back.
He felt like revealing his identity and kidnapping Yerena back to the capital right away.
How dare you forget your duty as my Guide and frolic with another man?
Just as Benjamin’s fingertips were turning purple…
“…Oh! My companion has come looking for me.”
Yerena was seen waving her hand somewhere.
Benjamin looked there hastily. What he faced was some bird.
And somehow, a familiar small bird.
The bird very familiarly stopped in front of Yerena’s face and rubbed its body against her cheek.
“Isn’t it cute?”
「That’s your life companion?」
“What do you mean ‘that’! It’s not ‘that’, it’s Bless. And yes, it is my life companion.”
What? The dining companion was just a baby bird?
Benjamin, whose mood had suddenly improved, nodded lightly.
“Anyway, I really have to go now! See you next time.”
Benjamin nodded in agreement, but in reality, he had no intention of parting with her like this.
*** 
Benjamin started staying at the inn where Yerena was lodging long-term.
Yerena looked strangely at him who had followed her to the inn, but…
「Full now, getting sleepy. Have nowhere to sleep」
When he briefly explained his situation, she didn’t question much.
Of course, that doesn’t mean she didn’t send suspicious glances.
But what could she do when he had nowhere to sleep?
Thus, he ended up staying in an inn room unexpectedly.
The inn bed, which he was lying on for the first time in his life, was unbearably hard.
And how dirty and small the room was… If it weren’t for Yerena, he would never have stayed here.
‘Why am I voluntarily going through this hardship?’
Since the day he discovered the missing Yerena and felt that strange flutter, he had been acting unlike himself.
Before Yerena runs away again, before Baron and Lambert discover Yerena’s whereabouts, before Duncan gets comfortable, he should kidnap Yerena and lock her in a cage.
But would Yerena in a cage act like she did today?
Would she make everyday conversation and smile like a fool?
Wouldn’t she look at him like a frightened puppy, not talking about herself at all, just staying silent and watching his mood?
Is that the kind of Yerena I want?
The unanswerable thought brought up the initial question.
“…Why was I looking for Yerena?”
And what came to mind at that moment was Duncan’s warning words.
“You should think about what Guide Yerena means to you. Ask yourself why you want her to be alive.”
At that time, Benjamin couldn’t gauge that pointed reason.
He vaguely guessed that he wanted her alive because a toy that belonged to him had disappeared.
He thought he needed to meet the living Yerena to know the reason.
And finally, he met the living Yerena.
What he felt at that moment was not anger towards Yerena, who had deceived him, but excitement.
He felt a tremor similar to the excitement Diana had given him a very long time ago.
“Could it be that I… like that ugly doll?”
That unsettling question circled in Benjamin’s mind all night.
Unable to come up with an answer, he waited for Yerena to come out of her inn room as soon as day broke.
When Yerena went down to the first-floor restaurant attached to the inn to have breakfast, Benjamin quietly followed her.
Then, as if by coincidence, he sat across from Yerena.
“We meet again this morning.”
Benjamin took out his notebook quite familiarly.
「Hungry」
“You seem to get hungry often.”
「You eat a lot too」
“If you point it out like that, how embarrassed I feel. But just because you caught me in the truth doesn’t mean I’m going to eat less. I’m very hungry right now.”
If only she couldn’t speak.
It was strange that her chattering lips and morning-swollen face didn’t look hateful.
She was definitely ugly, but somehow she kept looking oddly cute.
Is it because she wore her hood too deeply?
Benjamin’s head tilted.
A faint blush briefly appeared on Benjamin’s cheeks, hidden under the hood, then immediately disappeared.