Tomato soup. The tomato soup that the female protagonist’s brother would spill as usual while being absentminded.

The catalyst for the unusually frozen male protagonist to relax.

Shasha’s job was to prepare neatly ironed fresh clothes in case her master’s clothes got dirty. That was all.

“Thanks to that tower that’s so hard to enter, I was about to forget that handsome face of yours, and now I see you in my house. What a strange world we live in.”

Though his voice sounded disgruntled, clearly showing his doting father side, the meaning behind it was closer to welcome. Or perhaps acknowledgment.

Edgar smiled back at his mother, who gave him a playful look as soon as his father finished pretending to be stern.

Though his heart and mind were in terrible shape after days of emotional struggle, there was no need to show it on a day when everyone was happy. Even if his jealousy inevitably raised its head and was misdirected at his innocent sister.

What would normally have been an easy blessing became difficult. Not even a small space remained in his heart. Especially for the couple who seemed to have just borne fruit, he couldn’t even make the effort to squeeze in and make room.

“I really wanted to introduce Ian to Ed.”

The face of someone introducing their loved one truly shone brilliantly. Her face, which usually showed more of her father’s bluntness, softened so naturally that it didn’t seem awkward at all.

“I see.”

The man sitting beside her also showed eyes full of affection for his partner and trust in that affection.

He envied their clear, directed emotions. Different from his own one-sided feelings. Things that seemed so natural, directed toward each other.

“……”

On the well-matched pair of hands sat rings that were clearly part of a set. His gaze, as if burned, quickly fell away from them. This naturally reminded him of what he had prepared alone in excitement. And even that ridiculous situation where he hurriedly hid it in front of someone who had no intention of accepting it.

It was quite pitiful that what had been made as a pair immediately fell to a half-place, hanging around his neck like a pendant instead of on his finger. When faced with a situation comparable to his own, the wretchedness was indescribable.

Edgar, momentarily silent in his gloom, soon just smiled as usual.

And as soon as the appetizer soup was placed before him, before his perceptive sister could detect his state, he deliberately dropped his spoon as if by mistake. As he intended, the thin soup made from crushed tomatoes dramatically stained his clothes.

“Oh no……”

“Oh my! Are you hurt?”

Fortunately, such mistakes had become trivial daily occurrences for him, and his family didn’t make much of it. Though he had performed this somewhat inadequate act in front of a guest, he deliberately suppressed his apology for the concern they showed.

The mage beside his sister seemed about to use magic to remove the red stain from his clothes, but before he could fully raise his hand, Edgar stood up first. If he remained in what should be a cheerful gathering, he might reveal his unsightly inner thoughts to someone.

The staff waiting behind the banquet hall quickly cleared the messy table. Beyond them, the petite woman waiting to serve her master raised her head.

The stiff purple eyes skillfully scanned her master’s ruined clothes without surprise. Though he might be despised for finding even that gaze welcome, Edgar thought he should have worn white clothes after all.

Neither of them could easily open their mouths during the entire walk back to the room. Edgar’s lips moved several times, but he couldn’t ultimately spit out the small courage hidden behind casual conversation.

Silence often made time slower, but with Shasha, that didn’t seem to apply. He regretted reaching the room so quickly.

He silently followed behind the woman who was easily two spans shorter than him. A spare set of ironed clothes hung in one corner of the room, prepared who knows when. Her deft hands helped him change without any particular words.

‘……Capable Shasha.’

Edgar found her clear distinction between public and private matters somewhat vexing.

Her plain touch, showing not a hint of personal interest, removed his outer clothes. The man’s body, in contrast, remained quite tense. Her eyes, thoroughly checking whether the water had soaked through to the shirt underneath, showed not even a trace of annoyance.

Just days ago, he had thought he had become hers, but her dry eyes clearly showed that had been an illusion. The diligent woman wasn’t the type to push her work onto others. And he felt utterly miserable having become part of her work.

Perhaps due to his bitter feelings, he had the cruel impulse to say something nasty just to shake Shasha.

He imagined bringing up her voice sobbing beneath him, and taunting whether the impudent hole that had clung so tightly was still wet now. Such base thoughts immediately flew away thanks to the clear eyes that briefly met his.

That was all he amounted to. He knew well that he couldn’t bring himself to do such things to Shasha. Even if he did, it was clear that he would be the one more deeply hurt.

Edgar’s eyes drooped sadly with a deep emotion resembling defeat. Meanwhile, the regretful touch moved away, as if his appearance had been fully tidied.

As a member of the ducal family, he needed to properly welcome the invited guest until the end. Though he had already failed when he spilled the soup, he knew he should show responsible behavior from now on. Edgar finally stopped his body in front of the door that opened without delay.

Looking furtively at the small feet straddling the doorway’s boundary, he eventually grabbed her slender wrist, pulled her inside, and closed the open door again. She seemed startled by the banging sound, her pupils dilated, and he quietly looked down at her. His blue eyes contained undisguised moisture.

“……Won’t you at least tell me why you’re suddenly avoiding me?”

His feelings that finally peeked out had a childishly whining light.

Since he had no reliability to put forward from the start, what he presented was again a pathetic appearance trying to buy sympathy or understanding. Edgar wished his kind Shasha would pretend to give in to him this time too.

“……Is there a separate reason to speak of?”

The words that fell flatly were unsatisfying. As if urging a better answer, he stared intently, and her purple eyes rolled around. The lowered gaze that followed was the habit of a woman who couldn’t tell lies.

“……Just think of it lightly, as playing around with a promiscuous maid for a while.”

‘A lie……’

The eyes that had long pursued her easily caught the falsehood in those words. At the same time, something like relief slightly relaxed his stiffened body. The emotionally charged answer was, in other words, kindness.

Shasha ultimately couldn’t be harsh to Edgar.

Hopefully, her voice that sounded somewhat choked as she finished her self-uttered words wasn’t an illusion. If all this was an illusion, it would be too painful.

After a moment of silence, Edgar carefully observed her dense eyelashes unnaturally fluttering several times, then took a step toward her. Though she visibly flinched, he ignored it and took another step.

Days ago, the moment they had been even closer felt like a lie. He greedily took in the soft scent of her skin that filled his lungs. Their bodies nearly touched, and the hand that had been holding her arm slid down to grasp her small hand.

……As he had thought earlier, he knew he wasn’t particularly reliable. Therefore, while somewhat understanding the burden Shasha might feel, ultimately prioritizing his own feelings was an inevitable selfishness. Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t exercising patience.

To be honest, he was suppressing the impulse to grab her hand and seat her as his partner at the family dinner. Such a difficult task would make his nerves thinner the more Shasha pushed him away. His desire not to trouble her was shallow enough to see the bottom. If she continued to push him away and his thinned thread finally broke, that reckless impulse would quickly overtake his patience.

“……What if I don’t want it to be just for a while?”

What if that’s not enough?

His heart ached at how cute even her raised eyebrows looked, showing disbelief at his childish, one-dimensional retort. When her seemingly indifferent eyes looked up and frowned, the faint wrinkles forming between her brows made her look just like a squirrel bewildered after having its acorn stolen.

His jawbone intermittently protruded as he restrained himself from tightly embracing the small body that could be completely enveloped in his arms.

He was accustomed to suppressing all sorts of emotions that rose toward her. Moreover, having briefly tasted the sweet moment of expressing them made it even more so.

His eyes, dripping with unchecked affection, methodically traced the exposed parts of her skin. Needless to say, that intensity looked quite sinister.

“……Then what, you want to play with me for a long time?”

He slowly nodded at her somehow pointed question.

“Yes. ……If I could.”

He wanted to do so until death. And he hoped she would too. Just as his sister and that man had appeared at the dinner table, it seemed nothing could be better than if they were unique to each other. If only Shasha would allow it, it wouldn’t be such a difficult thing.

As if tracing that future, the man’s fingertips carefully caressed her soft ring finger.