“...So,”
Rose hesitated before asking in a voice filled with hesitation.
“I'm riding with you, Your Grace? And you'll be driving the horse?”
“That's right. Or I could ride in the back; would you rather drive?”
“Wouldn't that put us both in danger?”
“You know very well. So there's only one way.”
“......”
Rose looked at me, her face brimming with distress.
Meeting that gaze, I was seized by an impulse to do something similar to what I had done on the first day. An impulse to just pull her in, hug her, and hoist her onto the horse.
But.
“Then, I'll be in your hands.”
Surprisingly, Rose obediently approached me. It seemed she felt an unbreakable, solid wall in my words and attitude.
Feeling a sense of satisfaction at her docile attitude, I stood next to Rose.
“Hmm.”
Standing next to the massive horse, Rose's body looked even smaller. If she were to get kicked by a hoof, she might genuinely die.
I tended to deliberately pick and handle only big, ill-tempered beasts. Because they had to be aggressive for me to go around trampling things as I pleased.
“You remember the posture for riding, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I'll lift you, so try to get on the saddle.”
“Phew, yes. I'm trembling. It's been so long since I've ridden a horse.”
Rose took a deep breath, seemingly already nervous. It looked more like the fear of getting on a horse after a long time rather than the prospect of touching me.
That fact brought me a little relief. That was why I could immediately spout the next words.
“I'll say this in advance. The following actions contain no ulterior motives, but are purely for the purpose of getting you on the horse. You must not misunderstand or blame me.”
“Excuse me?”
Rose let out a small gasp and looked back at me.
“What are you going to do? I've never seen you explain something in such a long way before.”
“It means I might have to grab your butt.”
“......”
The expression on Rose's face at that moment... was truly priceless.
Her furrowed eyebrows, her tear-brimming eyes, and even her tongue, visible through her slightly parted lips.
Looking at her face, which seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment, I almost laughed without realizing it.
“...Are you serious?”
As I held it in and maintained a nonchalant expression, Rose stuttered out a question.
“Is there really no other way?”
“It's unavoidable if I want to lift you onto the saddle.”
“......”
“It's a matter of choice. Whether to sacrifice your butt or the horse's butt.”
“If I choose the horse's butt, we can't ride it...”
Rose let out a soft "hiing" and drooped her head sullenly.
How cute... no, that's not right.
“Then the answer is decided.”
“...I'm in your hands.”
Rose stood still with a resigned expression. Standing before her, I felt like a bit of a thug for a moment.
“Excuse me.”
I grasped Rose's waist and lifted her up. Her body was as slender and thin as ever.
“...Phew.”
Perhaps because of her suddenly elevated field of vision, or for some other reason, Rose's body stiffened straight.
Sarak-
Rose's long, slender hair cascaded down like a curtain. That familiar scent I had smelled before poured out like a waterfall.
I twitched my nose for a moment, and then...
Teop.
I supported Rose's butt with my other free hand. At that, I could feel her body turning completely rigid, making it all the more vividly clear.
“......”
For a moment, I was seized by the urge to knead the flesh that felt so enticing against my palm. It was too soft, overly squishy, and a pleasant sensation to just let go of as it was.
However...
‘I must endure it.’
I couldn't go against my own words. Besides, it would be a big deal if Rose thrashed around and fell off the horse in this state.
Teop.
With a calm face, as if I had never had such thoughts, I set Rose down on the saddle.
“Phew.”
Perhaps because she had safely made it onto the saddle, Rose let out a long sigh. And right away, she began to search her memory and fix her posture.
“It, it's too high.”
“You shouldn't look down, you need to look forward.”
“Yes.”
It was clumsy at first, but as she followed my instructions, her posture quickly became stable.
When Rose sat on the horse, her line of sight was higher than mine.
‘I can see her lips well.’
I stared intently at Rose's pink lips, which were tightly pursed in concentration. Thinking that it was a truly nice color.
Rose, who had barely settled in, turned her gaze towards me.
“I think I'm good now.”
“…Mm.”
I slowly took my eyes off Rose's lips and nodded.
“Then.”
After checking that Rose was firmly seated, I swiftly got on in front of the saddle. I grabbed the reins and checked if the saddle was shaking.
After confirming it was stable, I looked back, and Rose mumbled.
“But won't the horse have a hard time if we ride together like this?”
“I've ridden while wearing armor, so what. You're lighter than my armor, so it's fine.”
“I don't think that's true...!”
Rose meekly protested, but I ignored it cleanly. Instead, I looked at the bridge of Rose's nose, which was covered in a slight cold sweat.
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yes. I guess I was a little nervous since it's been a while. I'm fine now.”
“Relax. I'll be the one driving the horse anyway.”
“Still...”
Rose, who was whining softly, was fidgeting with her two hands.
“We'll be departing soon, are you going to stay like that?”
“Pardon?”
I pointed at Rose's hands with my chin.
“If we depart like this, you'll fall off the horse.”
“Then how...”
“You have to hold onto me.”
“What?!”
Rose jumped as if asking how she could possibly do that.
“How could I dare... touch your body, Your Grace. No way.”
She frantically waved both hands and refused repeatedly, as if it were absolutely out of the question. My brow furrowed at the more intense reaction than expected.
‘Does she really hate touching me that much?’
It wasn't an unnecessary touch, I was doing it because it was needed, so there was no need for her to be so repulsed by it.
Well, since she even dislikes me touching her, she must dislike touching me with her own hands even more.
No, wait. Thinking about it, hadn't she come up to me herself before?
I knew it was childish, but I couldn't stop my thoughts from trailing one after another.
“You touched me just fine before.”
In the end, a curt remark slipped out of my mouth.
“What? When did I?”
When Rose widened her eyes as if hearing this for the first time in her life, I was even more dumbfounded.
Tuk, tuk.
I patted my chest deliberately as if showing her. Rose's cheeks flushed instantly.
“T-The closet. That time, you were...!”
As expected, she remembered.
I thought she might have forgotten since she acted nonchalantly after that. But those eyes clearly recalled the memory of that day.
“Did I do something?”
“Ugh...”
Rose bit her lip as if feeling deeply wronged. She couldn't even bring up the excuse that I had hugged her so tightly she had no choice.
Her flushed, red cheeks truly looked like a red beet.
‘She said she hated that nickname.’
But there was no other word that could describe her face better than that.
Thinking of a red beet reminded me of something else.
“Didn't you touch me just fine when you attended to my bath? So it was fine then, but not now?”
“No, that time. I wasn't touching you, I was just rubbing you with a towel...”
“Either way, you still touched me. If I hadn't stopped you, you seemed like you were going to go all the way to the front.”
“W-When did I?! I never did that!”
Seeing that troubled face, my mouth just wouldn't stop.
“You seem to forget what's disadvantageous to you. What a convenient memory you have.”
“No! I was just diligently only touching your back... Ah.”
“You admit it.”
“...Hah.”
Rose shut her mouth as if she was at a loss for words. Then, with a face that looked like she would burst, she began to huff and puff.
“You're too much, Your Grace. Even though you know everything...!”
Pishik.
Involuntarily, a laugh slipped past my lips.
‘Ah.’
‘So this is what it feels like to smile.’
It was strange.
The smile that wouldn't come out even when I practiced in front of the mirror, the natural laugh I had lost for years...
It reclaimed its place in an instant, as if it had always been there. Just from this short conversation.
“Ah?”
Rose froze in that spot, even forgetting to huff. Her widely opened eyes captured the smile hanging on my lips.
“Just now, you smiled...”
“No.”
I swiftly controlled my facial muscles as if it had never happened. With a little concentration, my mouth quickly firmed up, and I was able to return to my stoic face.
“I saw it. You definitely smiled...”
“You must have seen wrong.”
I replied firmly and turned my head forward. If I didn't do that, Rose would catch on that I was holding back a laugh.
Sseuk.
Still facing forward, I brushed my lips.
‘I laughed, did I?’
Even while I thought that couldn't be, a part of me deep in my heart was already accepting the fact.
I admit it. I felt joy just now.
Whether it was because of Rose's bright red face, or because I found it amusing to tease her when she couldn't even make an excuse, I wasn't sure.
However...
One thing was certain: this soft and squishy emotion, one I had lived forgetting for years, was a luxury for me right now.
“Let's depart.”
I spoke in an intentionally cold voice. As if whipping myself.
“Hurry up. Can't you just think of me as a handle?”
“...How could I treat you like a handle, Your Grace.”
“Anyway.”
When I urged her with my eyes, Rose let out a "phew" sigh. Then, she spoke with a determined attitude.
“I'm only holding on because you ordered me to, Your Grace. You got that, right? I definitely didn't touch you on purpose.”
Perhaps worried that I might tease her again, Rose repeatedly warned me. Not knowing that her attitude only made me want to tease her even more.
“Understood.”
I was thinking about what to tease her with next.
Kkyeok.
But for a moment, my mind was stolen by the small hands grasping my waist.
“I'm holding... on.”
Rose's small voice reached me from right behind my back.
“Are you holding on tight?”
“...Yes.”
Having no other choice, Rose, who had only been cautiously holding onto the hem of my clothes, stretched her arms out and wrapped them around my waist. I felt a strange sense of satisfaction at that fact.
“We are departing.”
“Yes... Ah!”
As the horse began to move, Rose's body lurched backward.
Reflexively, Rose pressed her body tightly against me. At the same time, I felt Rose's chest pressing firmly against my back.
‘...That's quite substantial.’