Something Feels Off (1)
A girl lying in bed, covered in wounds.
Juliana Hare.
She slowly opened her eyes from the bed where she'd been lying as if unconscious.
"...It hurts."
Saten, that awful girl.
When she's the one who did wrong, how could she attack for real without holding back?
Hare grumbled inwardly as she checked for any presence around her.
A familiar scent, a longed-for scent.
Hare bolted upright in bed and cried out.
"Mister...!? W-why are you here..."
"You weren't there when I woke up, so I came looking for you."
"L-looking...? For me...? Hehe... I'm somehow happy..."
Hare covered her face with her hands, not wanting to show her embarrassed expression.
But since she needed to take in the sight of Mister, she subtly moved her fingers.
Seeing him reminded her of what she'd forgotten.
"Oh, right...! Mister...! You lost consciousness from the shock yesterday, is your body okay...?"
"My body is fine. I just took a shock to the head for a moment. And you should look at your own body before mine."
Thud—
Mister pulled out Hare's arm that had been hidden under the blanket.
Then he frowned and carefully observed the wounds.
Hare's face quickly reddened with embarrassment.
"M-Mister... I'm embarrassed when you look at my body so intently..."
"I'm just looking at your arm, what's embarrassing about that? More importantly, these wounds are from something sharp. Who was your opponent?"
"M-my opponent...?"
"Yes, Hare. Who did you fight to get hurt like this?"
Hare's eyes trembled as she met Mister's gaze.
His eyes were upright and sharp, and it seemed less like he was asking out of curiosity and more like he was asking to confirm something.
*Sh-shoot... Should I say I fought with Saten...? B-but that's against the rules...!!*
What should I do?
If he thinks I'm a child who broke the rules again.
The image Mister has of me will be ruined.
*Wh-what should I do...?*
Hare racked her brain wondering if there was a good answer.
Mister might already know the answer and be testing her, or he might have gone to Saten's room first.
In a situation overflowing with doubt instead of certainty, what answer could she give to plant the impression of being a "good child" in Mister's mind?
After such deliberation, Hare opened her mouth with a gloomy expression and gave the optimal answer.
"As you can see from the wounds, my injuries aren't from a Demon King, Mister..."
"Right, they're not the shape of a whip or sword wounds either. I know that much."
"That's right... These wounds weren't made by such weapons... M-my wounds are from magic..."
"Magic."
Mister's eyes instantly sharpened.
Since she couldn't hide it in this situation anyway,
Hare decided to tell the truth.
"...Yes, magic. As you suspected, Mister, these wounds are from Saten."
Saten spread her arms to show the wounds.
They were full of cuts as if scraped by sharp glass.
"After defeating the Demon King... Saten and I fought... I'm sorry for breaking the rules, Mister..."
"No, you don't need to apologize to me. Those who break rules just need to receive punishment. Apologize to Saten."
"..."
Punishment.
When Luna and Saten fought and received punishment, I quietly laughed from behind.
And now punishment.
Grind—
*...Even though Saten crossed the line, should I have held back then...?*
But when she was kissing Mister right in front of me,
How could I hold back?
I absolutely couldn't.
As Hare bit her nails from the rising irritation, Mister stood up from his chair and walked toward the door.
"I'll be going now, so get treated when Estia comes. If she asks you to pay for treatment, just lightly ignore her. Understand?"
"...Yes."
"And one last thing. Why did you and Saten fight?"
"The reason... you mean?"
"You wouldn't have fought just because you wanted to fight. There must have been some reason."
"..."
Should I tell the truth about this too?
Hare hesitated for a moment.
*Saten secretly stole the lips of sleeping Mister...*
She knew exactly that if she revealed this fact, Saten would get in huge trouble.
If she wanted revenge for her unresolved feelings, now would be the perfect timing.
However.
*Even if I tell Mister that... it's not really a reason for me to step up and fight...*
I might get suspected too.
Afraid of being rejected by Mister again, saying she still hadn't sorted out her feelings, Hare decided to hide the truth.
"...I just got angry at what Saten said. She provoked us asking if we were happy being born into good families, so I couldn't stand it."
"So there was a proper reason."
"Yes."
"...Then rest comfortably. I'll go see Saten."
Mister believed Hare's words without much suspicion.
He would go to Saten to confirm once,
But Hare trusted that the clever Saten would give a similar answer to hers.
Even though they'd fought, the two knew each other well.
That was because they were kindred spirits with the same scent flowing through them.
"Oh, right... Before you go, Mister...! I have something to say...!"
Hare called out to stop Mister as he was leaving.
Mister nodded as if telling her to speak.
"Earlier you told me to apologize to Saten... but I don't think I need to..."
"...What do you mean, Hare? Are you saying you won't make up?"
"N-no. That's not it... I mean we don't need to apologize to each other..."
Because.
Saten got hurt more than me.
"I won, Mister..."
"Alright, I understand. Rest well."
Bang—!
Lee Jun-woo closed Hare's door.
And immediately headed to Saten's room.
"...That bravado. She's still young."
The other person got hurt more.
That kind of bravado was a method I used a lot when I was young.
Bravado to avoid worrying my parents.
Lee Jun-woo opened Saten's door to confirm whether Hare's words were bravado or not.
"Saten, it's me. I'm coming in."
"Yes, please come in."
With those brief words, the moment he opened the door and entered.
*...Not much different.*
They're the same.
The condition of the two didn't even need close comparison.
"Saten."
"Yes."
"Look at my face when you talk."
"Yes, I am talking."
"...That's not looking, that's peeking."
Saten, who wouldn't face me directly.
She answered while avoiding my eyes as much as possible.
"But I am looking. Isn't it enough if I'm looking?"
"...Fine, do as you please."
Her stubbornness is pointlessly strong too.
I thought that as I assessed Saten's condition.
Wounds from Hare's dagger and traces of magic.
The severity of the wounds wasn't serious, and it seemed they would heal without a single scar if treated by Estia.
*Still, did she find her direction well after getting revenge...*
Contrary to the wounds,
Her expression looks good too.
Saten with a relieved expression as she felt the wind blowing through the window.
Having finished her revenge, Saten seemed finally liberated from memories of the past, in a free state.
Now to the point where she could decide her direction alone without me.
Her gaze looking outside the window was clear.
"That's fortunate."
"What do you mean suddenly, Mister? Are you saying it's fortunate I got hurt?"
"No, not that. I mean it's fortunate you succeeded in your revenge."
"Is that so, I misunderstood."
Pfft—
Saten showed a faint smile.
"It's all thanks to you, Mister. The reason I could get revenge was because you protected my body. Is your body okay?"
"As you can see, I'm healthy."
"Hmm, is that so."
Saten turned her gaze from the window and began to look me over.
While stroking BlackMeow who was licking her wounds with her hand, Saten observed me with sharp eyes.
"Certainly, there are no injuries. That's fortunate."
"I just said I was healthy. Don't you trust me?"
"When it comes to wounds, I can't trust you, Mister. You deliberately hide your wounds."
"..."
Sharp.
Did she analyze my words and actions and draw a conclusion?
Saten's words were sharp enough to surprise me for a moment.
Anyway.
I decided to change the topic of conversation by bringing up the fight.
"That aside, Saten. You have nothing to say about the rules?"
"You mean the rule about not fighting?"
"Yes."
"I won't say anything about that. I was prepared to fight from the start anyway."
Prepared to fight.
When she brought up family to another child,
She was already prepared for a fight to break out...
"...As I keep saying, control your anger. It's not good to have a hot head when your heart is so cold."
"I know. But I can't help it. I'm led by emotions to act, and when I come to my senses, I've already acted."
"...That's why I'm telling you to try."
"Yes, I'll try my best. By the way, Mister. Did you meet Hare?"
"I met her before coming to your room."
"...I see."
Saten frowned as if displeased.
Only for a moment.
She relaxed her brow and said.
"Well, Hare is on the first floor. So she would be first in order. So how was it?"
"What?"
"Hare's condition. I won, right?"
"..."
You were thinking the same thing too.
Saten puffed out her chest confidently, thinking she had won.
"Since you saw Hare first, you weren't shocked by my appearance. You saw someone in worse shape first, so it's natural. I understand, Mister."
Saten rattling off rapidly.
I lowered my voice and calmly settled the atmosphere.
"Saten."
"Yes, Mister."
"No matter how much I look and think about it, you two are in the same condition."
"What do you..."
"I'm saying it looks like a draw to my eyes."
"..."
Saten frowned as if her pride was hurt.
It seemed both of them wouldn't accept the reality of a draw.
Watching Saten's face flush red as her bravado was exposed, I thought to myself.