DGMYF 5

A few hours later. Having woken up late, Kaiso lay still in bed. This time, he had slept soundly without having a nightmare. He had even woken up when the sun was high in the sky. He could not even remember the last time he had slept for so long.

“You’re awake!”

“…You startled me.”

Troy, who had heard a sign of his presence, shot up. He had been sitting on a hard chair, hunched over uncomfortably.

“Did you stay up all night like this?”

Just as he was about to scold him, asking what he would do if his back gave out from being in that position all night, Kaiso realized that he was gripping Troy’s hand very tightly. He hurriedly let go of his hand. The mark from the tight grip remained on Troy’s hand.

“Ah, my apologies.”

“Hey, it’s nothing.”

On top of laying into him with harsh words last night, he had held his hand all night and not let go. A wave of embarrassment washed over him.

“Go in and rest. You probably didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“I don’t need to sleep!”

For someone who said that, Troy was a complete mess. His under-eyes were dark, and his hair was disheveled in a tangle. Kaiso, not knowing how to express his apologetic feelings, just stroked Troy’s curly hair.

As if that alone was enough to make him feel better, the fellow grinned foolishly.

“I apologize for what happened yesterday.”

Kaiso first apologized for the matter that had been weighing on his mind. No matter if he was an aide, there was no reason to endure his master’s verbal abuse. Besides, now that he was no longer his aide, it was even more so.

“No, it’s okay. I’m really alright!”

“Still…, I’m glad I got to see you before you leave.”

Kaiso patted Troy’s shoulder, shaking off the last of his lingering feelings. Yes, he may not have given a good first impression to the young man who came looking for his childhood savior, but this way, he could at least end things on a beautiful note.

At Kaiso’s farewell, Troy tilted his head.

“Your Grace, are you going somewhere?”

“It’s not me who is going, but you. Have you packed all your things?”

“Me? Where to?”

“You have to go back to your home, don’t you.”

For a moment, a very brief shadow fell over Troy’s face and then disappeared. As if to collect himself, he shook his head vigorously and once again held Kaiso’s hands tightly.

“Where would I go when you, Your Grace, are here?”

Troy smiled brightly and rubbed his hair against his hand. It tickled like soft down. Kaiso pushed his head away with his hand.

“What are you talking about.”

“I’m saying I’m going to stay by your side, Your Grace.”

Kaiso leaned on his arm and moved his body to the edge of the bed. At that, Troy shot up and brought the wheelchair right next to the bed. Kaiso tried to shake off Troy’s hands that were supporting him, but he was so strong that there was not even a sign of them coming off. In the end, held by his hands, he was moved and seated in the wheelchair.

“There is no need for that. I’ve decided to hire a new aide, so you may go back. If you want, I can find you a job elsewhere.”

“Hey, you can’t just change your mind in one day. And I’ve already signed the contract. An employment contract is a promise too, so you have to keep it.”

“A measly contract like that can just be torn up.”

“Gasp. Y-you won’t be able to find it! I hid it very, very well!”

Troy said, hastily covering the pocket of his jacket with his hand.

‘It’s there.’

Kaiso was dumbfounded by his transparent behavior. Was that fellow naive, or was he stupid…. Without hesitation, Kaiso reached out his hand and pulled his jacket.

“Give it here.”

“Ah, you can’t!”

Troy crossed his arms to cover his large chest and shook his head pitifully. Every time he moved, the sound of paper crumpling could be heard, so it was clear the contract was indeed in his inner jacket pocket.

“You can’t! I don’t want to! Don’t do it! Aaaah!”

“Don’t do what? Hand it over right now.”

The two of them squabbled over the jacket, engaged in a tug-of-war. On the surface, it was a fight where Kaiso was obviously at an overwhelming disadvantage, but for some reason, Troy was being completely pushed back. He was intentionally leaning his body toward Kaiso. Even though he could have easily escaped, he deliberately struggled within Kaiso’s reach.

Now Kaiso thrust his hand deep inside his jacket. The rustling paper touched his fingertips. Kaiso grabbed the jacket more forcefully.

“Your Grace, ah, you can’t!”

A knocking sound could be heard from somewhere, but it was completely buried by Troy’s scream. Finally, when Kaiso had half-peeled the jacket off over his shoulder, the door suddenly burst open.

“Your Grace, I’ve brought water for you to wash your face….”

“Aah, Your Grace! Please don’t take off my clothes!”

Two servants who appeared with a washbasin froze like statues at the door. The water that had been sloshing in the basin spilled onto the floor with a splash. The servants’ gazes went past the half-removed jacket and landed on Kaiso’s hand, which was buried in Troy’s chest. Kaiso hastily withdrew his hand.

“Ah, this is. It, it’s not that.”

Kaiso was so flustered that he even stuttered. Seeing the servants’ expressions with their mouths agape in shock, it seemed they had seriously misunderstood.

“I wasn’t trying to take his clothes off. No, I mean, I was trying to take his clothes off, but it’s not what you’re thinking….”

Somehow, the more he tried to explain, the more serious the servants’ expressions became. They lingered at the doorway, unable to decide whether they should enter the room now or leave.

“Ah, I’ll do it. Please give it to me!”

In the meantime, Troy, who had escaped from Kaiso’s grasp, quickly took the washbasin as if snatching it. Then he placed it on the washstand and even draped a dry towel over his arm. Having prepared himself in a plausible manner, Troy stood proudly next to Kaiso.

“Your Grace, it is time to wash your face.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Kaiso roughly snatched the towel from Troy’s hand. He was an utterly shameless fellow.

Troy grabbed both handles of the wheelchair and leaned his body toward Kaiso. Kaiso retreated as far as he could, but there was no way to avoid his sparkling eyes.

“Ah, then shall we continue what we were just doing?”

“What? What do you mean….”

The servants quickly exchanged glances. They now seemed to have decided that ‘we must leave the room,’ and placed all the items they had brought on the table. Then they tiptoed out of the door as if escaping.

“This time, it’s Your Grace’s turn to take your clothes off.”

“Get lost!”

Kaiso threw the towel in Troy’s face. However, Troy caught the towel lightly and gave a shameless eye smile. Looking at him, Kaiso’s head began to throb. It had been chaotic since the morning. He splashed the washing water on his face with the intention of cooling his head.

“Here. I’ll dry it for you.”

“I’ve got it.”

While Kaiso wiped the moisture with the towel, Troy very naturally prepared clothes for him to change into. He was even humming a tune, so pleased about whatever it was. Kaiso snatched the dress shirt from his hand, changed into it himself, and buttoned it up. But it was difficult to change his pants on his own. He was quite reluctant, but he could not leave the room like this.

“Pants.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, put my pants on.”

“Ah, yes!”

Troy knelt in front of the wheelchair and began to carefully put the pants on him. After putting both legs into the pants, he gently lifted Kaiso in an embrace to pull them up to his waist. Troy’s touch was quite clumsy, but he was trying his best nonetheless.

“You can leave now.”

“You haven’t tied your necktie yet.”

“I can do this myself.”

“Can’t I do it? I practiced a lot.”

Kaiso completely ignored Troy’s earnest plea and tied the necktie himself while looking in the mirror. While doing so, Kaiso discovered something strange. He furrowed his brow.

“Why are you smiling?”

Troy, reflected in the mirror, was staring at Kaiso endlessly with a silly grin. Even in this moment when Kaiso stopped the motion of tying his necktie to scold him, Troy exclaimed “wow” several times and stole glances at Kaiso’s various features.

Whether it was because of the mirror or because of his twisted mind, in Kaiso’s eyes, it appeared very distorted. It seemed like he was being mocked. He thought, does my state of being unable to even change my own clothes look that funny. Or is it because my bare legs are so pathetic? Negative thoughts grew, tailing one another, until they completely consumed his mind. His mood turning very unpleasant, Kaiso felt the urge to scream at him to get out at once.

Just then, Troy knelt down and looked up at Kaiso meekly. Troy’s irises were a deep blue like the winter sea, and the corners of his eyes drooped downwards. They were exceptionally clear and clean eyes, as if they had grown up seeing only beautiful things.

“Ah, that’s because. I’m so happy. The fact that I can be here next to you, Your Grace, feels like a dream. I’m so happy that such a wonderful job exists in this world. I feel like it was worth being alive until now.”

An answer different from what he expected popped out. At the words that were closer to fawning than flattery, all the tension in Kaiso’s body went slack.

“So please don’t kick me out. Okay? I’ll work really hard.”

Troy tightly hugged Kaiso’s thighs and then rubbed his hair against them. He looked just like a large dog sitting by its owner’s side, wagging its tail. It seemed he was asking for food, or maybe for a toy to be thrown. No. Looking at his desperately sparkling blue eyes, this was surely him whining for attention.

But there was no way Kaiso would fall for such a clumsy trick. He had been raised in a strict aristocratic family and had lived his entire life as a knight, and as a soldier. Thanks to that, he had developed a firm and rational judgment that shone in moments of crisis.

According to that judgment, it was clear that keeping a fellow like this around would cause a lot of trouble in many ways in the future. Therefore, he had to refuse him like a blade right now and send Troy away.

“…It’s only temporary for now.”

Contrary to his thoughts, Kaiso extended not words of refusal to Troy, but a hairbrush. In truth, he was softer-hearted than he looked. Though he would not admit it himself, it had been the same in the army. On the battlefield, he was famous for being strict and fearsome, but in normal times, he was informal with his subordinates and would often turn a blind eye to their minor mistakes. It seemed that such a disposition did not easily disappear even with age.

Troy, who had been staring at the hairbrush with a blank expression for a moment, let out a belated shout after realizing the affirmative meaning it contained. Kaiso covered his ears.

“Wow, I’ll really, really do my best. I’ll do anything, so just leave it to me. I’m really so happy, Your Graaace….”

“I get it. I get it, so shut your mouth and just work.”

Troy firmly closed his mouth and nodded his head enthusiastically. Then he carefully reached out his hand and began to brush Kaiso’s hair. The sound of the brush moving through the hair and the feeling of it lightly scratching his scalp were pleasant. Kaiso quietly closed his eyes and entrusted his body to Troy’s touch.

“……?”

But no matter how much time passed, there was no sign of it ending. Troy was brushing with great care, as if he intended to polish each and every strand of hair. At this rate, it seemed it would not be finished even if he stayed up all night. In the end, Kaiso pushed Troy’s hand to the side.

“That’s enough.”

“…Can’t I do it for just a little longer?”

Troy gripped the hairbrush with both hands as if it were a crucifix.

“What’s so good about this?”

Despite Troy’s pleading gaze, Kaiso snatched the brush from his hand. Not yielding to that, Troy this time gently stroked his hair with his fingers.

“It’s really so nice. Your hair is soft, it has a nice scent, and it’s luscious because it’s so thick. I feel like I could touch it all day and not get tired of it.”

Troy said, swaying his upper body rhythmically as if singing. Yet all the while, his gaze was fixed on Kaiso. It was quite burdensome. Kaiso took out a tie with the intention of tying up his cumbersome hair.

“Ah, may I tie it for you?”

“I’ve got it.”

“I want to do it for you.”

“No, I’ve got….”

Kaiso’s refusal was of no use at all. Troy half-snatched the hair tie from his hand and then carefully gathered the hair into one.

His skill was so clumsy it seemed it was the first time in his life he had ever done it. He briefly considered whether he should snatch the tie right away and order him to leave. But seeing him working so hard, unable to even breathe properly, he decided to leave it to him for now. He could tolerate a few strands of hair being pulled out.

“Uh…. It’s done.”

His tone lacked confidence, and it was just as he had expected. Looking in the mirror, the tangled hair was sticking out here and there, and the ponytail was not in the center but lopsided to one side, a complete mess. Troy, reflected in the mirror, scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

“It’s my first time tying hair. I’ve always had short hair.”

Of course, Kaiso had not always had long hair either. Like most men, he too had kept his hair short in his younger days. But after seeing his young daughter tightly gripping her nanny’s hair, he began to grow his hair out from then on.

In fact, since long hair was not a very good option for a soldier, Kaiso had intended to cut it short after Ingrid had grown to some extent. But the child could not fix her cute habit even at the age of six, and because of that, Kaiso had maintained his long hair that covered his back until now. In any case, he was no longer a soldier, so it did not matter what his hair length was.

“I’ll do it, so give it here.”

Kaiso untied the hair tie and held it lightly in his mouth. Then he slowly began to tie it again. Usually, he would just tie it low and carelessly, but today, he tied it a little higher up. It felt nice and cool as the nape of his neck was exposed. It was something he would normally finish in an instant, but Kaiso fumbled several times.

“What are you looking at so intently.”

It was because he could not concentrate at all due to the fervent gaze that was staring right through him. Troy did not even blink, his large eyes wide open, as if he did not want to miss a single moment of the scene.

When Kaiso tied the final knot and let go of his hand, the ponytail-like hair dropped down with a thud. Troy covered his mouth and held his breath, as if he were watching the climax of some play.

“…Stop it and breathe.”

“Heeeeok.”

Troy took a deep breath and then staggered, leaning his body against the wall. Then he muttered as if entranced.

“Wow, I’m really glad to be alive. My good eyesight must have been for seeing this sight today….”

“Get out.”

He could not tolerate that nonsense any longer. Feeling goosebumps all over his body, Kaiso firmly pointed his finger toward the door.

Troy, surprisingly, nodded his head obediently.

“Yeees! Then I’ll come back again later!”

“Don’t come.”

“See you later!”

“I said, don’t come?”

Despite Kaiso’s harsh words, Troy waved his hand enthusiastically until the very end and then exited cheerfully. He had definitely been kicked out, but he did not look like someone who had been kicked out at all.

“What in the world is that guy?”

Kaiso was already enveloped in an ominous premonition that his decision might have been wrong.