| Chapter 25

How long had he been there? Was it an illusion? Or was my eye just mistaking some shadow for something else?

I stared at him intently, holding my breath. It felt like he might disappear if I moved carelessly. I wanted to look at him for as long as possible.

As always, he was wearing inconspicuous black clothes with a heavy-looking black cloak draped over them. But if he really didn’t want to stand out, he should wear a mask. Or cover those brightly shining eyes.

Because darkness could never hide him.

“It’s quite rare for someone other than the cleaning maid to enter this library.”

A low voice with a pleasant resonance flowed out, breaking the spell. My heart finally began to pound loudly. Damian reached out towards me.

“Bring it here. Let me see what you’re reading.”

If at this moment I had been holding ‘Where the Night’s Curtain Sings’, I would have rather jumped out the window. Swallowing hard, I walked over hesitantly and held out the books.

His eyebrows rose as he casually flipped through the pages.

“Yuzerk? This isn’t exactly a book for a little one to enjoy, is it?”

The black hair flowing over his straight forehead looks soft. As I stared, mesmerized, at his long, sturdy-looking fingers holding the book, Damian shook the book.

“Are you really going to read this?”

“…What else would I do with it? Use it as a pillow?”

My tone came out somewhat curt, feeling a bit disrespected. If I could have, I would have grabbed his legs, sat at his feet, and asked when he had come, when he would come again, begging and pleading.

However, Damian just chuckled and put the book down on the table next to him.

“If you sleep with this thick thing as a pillow, your neck would break. Here, I recommend the books over there. Things like ‘Little Duckling Betty’s Journey’ or ‘The Princess in the Swamp Story’.”

My lips automatically pouted at the fairy tale titles suitable for a five-year-old. I wanted to glare at him, but I couldn’t. Damian had risen from the sofa.

As he approached me swiftly, I instinctively took a step back. The scent of the chilly outside air flowed to my nose on the wind. Damian’s gaze, with his head tilted, was fixed somewhere around my waist.

“You’ve got a new decoration I haven’t seen before. A perfume bottle? Does a little one like you need such a thing?”

For a moment, my heart felt like it dropped, and I hurriedly clasped the perfume bottle with my hand. I was afraid he might see through why I had chosen this perfume bottle.

As I looked at him warily while stepping back, Damian let out a hollow laugh and furrowed his brow.

“What? Afraid I might steal it? Me, who serves the gods?”

A snort escaped me at his gesture of solemnly placing his hand on his chest with a pretentious serious expression. He seems to have forgotten that I know his true identity. I muttered, moving my lips discontentedly.

“You’re not even a priest.”

“There’s no law saying you can’t serve the gods if you’re not a priest.”

My gaze automatically turned to him at his nonchalant retort. I looked at him closely and asked carefully.

“Do you believe in the gods?”

“No.”

Damian immediately shook his head. As I stared at him blankly in disbelief, he showed a crooked smile.

“I’m still watching. If they take my side at a crucial moment, I might believe.”

If I were a god, I would have snorted in exasperation. A lament-like phrase escaped between my lips involuntarily.

“Your arrogant worship is like a blind donkey, unable to reach where it should.”

For a moment, Damian’s elongated eyes widened as though he was truly surprised. His low voice came out quickly.

“One must not forget that the blessing of the gods falls first on the lowest place. Did you read the ‘Gier Scripture’?”

I had only read a little of the beginning. The etiquette teacher had said that to quickly increase my noble vocabulary, I should write and memorize phrases from the scripture.

Of course, I had enough sense not to explain that straightforwardly. I felt that the me reflected in Damian’s beautiful eyes had changed a little.

Chuckling, he folded his arms and said.

“If that’s the case, recommending ‘Little Duckling Betty’s Journey’ was certainly rude of me.”

“Um.”

Swallowing hard, I gathered my courage and opened my mouth.

“I want to read the book you took away that time.”

“…What, surely you don’t mean Cayonbe’s epic?”

What Damian showed was not just surprise. The sharp gaze that seemed to penetrate my inner thoughts covered my nape with tension, but I stood firm.

I was curious about that epic, but if I asked to borrow the book, he would come here once more. He would come again to return it too. So I could see him at least two more times.

During the ensuing silence, Damian, who had seen something in my eyes, furrowed his brow and laughed shortly.

“If you want to ask something of someone else, you should offer something in return, little one.”

“But I don’t have anything?”

Blinking my eyes blankly, I lowered my head following his gaze. He was looking at my hand that was clasping the perfume bottle.

“Why not? You have quite a usable treasure there.”

“This is not an option!”

“Then it’s not an option for me either.”

Damian stepped back with an unsympathetic face. I was dumbfounded and gripped the perfume bottle a little tighter. I thought he might not lend it, but I didn’t expect him to act so childishly like this.

“I’m not asking you to give me the book, just to let me read it.”

“Me too. That book is a very important item. If I’m going to lend it to you, don’t I need some collateral too?”

“This, this was made by a very famous craftsman, they said. It’s really precious.”

“I can guarantee you this.”

Looking at me with a gaze that seemed to find it laughable, Damian drove the point home.

“It can’t be more precious than that book.”

There was no way to gauge the value of the book, but his words didn’t seem to be a lie. I hesitated for a moment but soon made a rational decision.

Damian wouldn’t think that I chose the green jewel because of his eyes. If that were the case, I wouldn’t be able to wear the new green dress I got today either.

I’ve always liked green. Let’s say I liked green so much that I would smile just seeing it from birth. If he asks, that’s what I’ll say.

After firmly resolving this to myself, I composed my expression and slowly untied the string tied to my waist. As I held out the perfume bottle, he chuckled and twirled the string with his finger before taking it. It looked small even in my hand, but in his hand, it really looked like a toy.

“It’s certainly a good item. There would be only a few craftsmen with this level of skill even if you searched the entire continent.”

“When are you going to bring the book?”

When I asked urgently, he raised his eyebrows as he was caressing the perfume bottle.

“Well. Maybe next week?”

“What?”

“If I return alive.”

The casually dropped words struck my mind like lightning. With wide eyes, I unconsciously grabbed his arm.

“Wh-where are you going? Are you going to do something dangerous? Didn’t you say you were wandering around and recuperating?”

Damian’s smooth lips were touched by an embarrassed smile, as if he hadn’t expected me to be so surprised. He shrugged nonchalantly.

“That’s right. My health isn’t good. It wouldn’t be strange if I collapsed at any time.”

That’s a lie. Having nursed a sick person up close for a long time, I could tell. What I felt from him was the vigor of overflowing health, not the candle-like precariousness of someone with death at their side.

Still, my heart felt tightly squeezed, and I couldn’t breathe properly. As I stared at him as if my soul had left my body, Damian held out the perfume bottle.

“I’ll take this when I bring the book. But didn’t you choose the wrong scent? It doesn’t seem to suit you.”

“Keep it.”

I said, staring at him without blinking.

“And make sure to return it on the day you bring the book. If you don’t return it, I’ll haunt you even as a ghost. It’s really precious to me.”

It might have sounded like a curse, but I didn’t care. Damian blinked slowly, surprised, and then the corners of his lips curved into a gentle smile. He lightly tapped my cheek with his curled finger.

“You already look like a ghost. There’s not a drop of blood in your face.”

“Promise me.”

As I clutched his arm more desperately, laughter finally escaped through his teeth. Seeing his beautifully crescent-shaped eyes, I felt the sharp tension ease a little. Damian, sending me an eye-smile, lowered his voice.

“There’s no need to be so serious. It’s just a joke. But since you’ve entrusted this to me, I’ll take it.”

He’s a person who only tells lies. Still, it was true that his smile had lightened my heart.

As I let go of his arm and stepped back, he asked, twirling the perfume bottle with his fingers.

“How’s life here? You seem to be adapting well, judging by your fuller cheeks.”

“It’s fine. I’m working hard.”

“That’s good then.”

Damian moved his steps as though he had heard the answer he wanted. I quickly followed behind him.

“Are you leaving?”

“I just came to rest for a bit. A tremendous drunkard moved in next to my room in the inn. I haven’t been able to sleep for two days.”

“Then don’t stay in a place like this, use my room. A bed is better than a sofa, right? You can sleep for a day or two and then go.”