IGWNI Ch 18

Confinement.

Yoon Jaewoo thought there was no word more perfect to describe his current life than that one.

“What is this. If it was going to be like this, why did I even follow him here!”

Yoon Jaewoo, who had been sitting vacantly alone in the middle of the room turning the pages of a book, let out a roar.

Because that damn Cox suspected that Yoon Jaewoo might not be Eustace’s Maryan, he had become a person who could not take a single step out of the room.

“Damn birdbrain! Damned bird bastard! …But why a bird?”

Although he had followed Eustace or Yatenbaum in calling him a birdbrain, Yoon Jaewoo didn’t particularly know why Cox was called a birdbrain. Come to think of it, there were quite a few stone statues and paintings of birds carved in this castle.

“Ah!”

Yoon Jaewoo clapped his hands and nodded.

It seemed certain that Cox was a bird otaku.

“Damn birdbrain! Evil bird bastard! Crazy bird bastard!”

Once he had convinced himself, the curses flowed out even more refreshingly. Yoon Jaewoo spun around the room, diligently raining down curses upon Cox. He had decisively deleted the 33 percent probability he had given him after the incident in the hallway that day.

“Auuugh, damn it. Then it’s either Yatenbaum or that guy named Malik. How am I supposed to figure it out stuck in here like this.”

Eustace had declared that he would not let Yoon Jaewoo out of the room until they left this castle. If his luck was terribly bad, he could be dragged back to the Northern Castle without even getting to test all the lifelines.

“No way! What did I endure all that hardship and suffering for.”

Walking around the room, Yoon Jaewoo chewed nervously on his fingernails. Surviving was important, but how one survived was more important.

「Ramia-nim.」

A voice called to him from outside the door. Yoon Jaewoo walked to the door and turned the small handle that Eustace had made for him. Then, a square opening appeared around his eye level.

「It is time for your evening meal.」

“Give it to me.”

Mainu handed over a tray from outside the door. Objects could pass through the opening in the door. Yoon Jaewoo took the tray and handed the one he had received in the morning back to the head chamberlain.

「How many chapters of the book I gave you yesterday have you read?」

Mainu, holding the empty tray, asked. Yoon Jaewoo smiled awkwardly and made the number 1 with his fingers.

「No, you didn’t finish chapter one yesterday, nor the day before, and today it is still chapter one?」

“Well, you see, I’ve been a bit busy.”

As if he understood Yoon Jaewoo’s nonsensical excuse, Mainu’s expression hardened and he admonished him in a stern voice.

「I would like you to demonstrate which part of chapter one you have read.」

Saying so, Mainu brought his eye to the opening in the door. Yoon Jaewoo roughly created a greeting gesture from what he remembered. Mainu’s sigh burst out from outside the door.

「Ramia-nim! Why, just why, for what reason, are you unable to memorize a single one of those easy things!」

“…Because I don’t want to memorize them?”

「Oh my goodness….」

Mainu, who could now roughly grasp what this Ramia was thinking just by looking at his expression, clutched his chest and lamented.

Yoon Jaewoo felt a little sorry and chuckled, hehe.

Having barely composed himself, Mainu began to explain which part of chapter one was the most important. Yoon Jaewoo pressed his face to the opening and nodded along noncommittally, making “uh-huh” sounds. Seeing that insincere and unfaithful attitude, Mainu voiced a thought that had suddenly occurred to him.

「Eustace-nim must truly, truly cherish you, Ramia-nim.」

“Pardon?”

He wondered what kind of nonsense that was.

「If not, there is no reason for him to keep Ramia-nim so preciously in a room with a triple-layered barrier.」

“I’m telling you, I’m locked up!”

Even though it was a moment when he shouldn’t retort, Yoon Jaewoo unwittingly shouted.

「He must be treating you so preciously.」

“That’s not it, …fine, let’s say I’m precious. Yes, I am a precious person. I was the most precious man in the Republic of Korea. Ha….”

Yoon Jaewoo agreed feebly.

「As a matter of fact, Cox-nim has been saying he wants to bring Ramia-nim out to dine with him.」

“Why, why? I don’t want to!”

Cox was scary.

Ever since encountering Cox in the hallway, Yoon Jaewoo wanted absolutely nothing to do with that guy.

“I don’t want to. I refuse.”

As Yoon Jaewoo firmly shook his head to express his will, Mainu gestured as if he understood.

「You do not have to worry. Eustace-nim has replied that he will absolutely not show you.」

“Phew.”

He felt relieved, but then a thought popped into his head, and Yoon Jaewoo gestured eagerly as he asked.

“Can Cox possibly come in here? Dweord Cox, into here.”

「If you are asking whether another person can enter the barrier, that is not so.」

Among the four Dweords, the one with the most profound knowledge and outstanding talent regarding barriers was the Dweord of the North, Eustace. A triple-layered barrier that he had cast could not be undone by anyone. Mainu narrowed his eyes and examined the barrier set around the door. At a rough estimate, a triple-layered barrier was visible, but in truth, it could be even more than that.

From that alone, Mainu could guess how preciously Eustace regarded this Ramia. The problem was that others were sensing it too.

「However, it seems even Malik-nim is becoming curious. …I am concerned.」

As soon as he heard the name Malik Dicker, Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes lit up.

Now that Cox Philippte had lost his 33 percent possibility, the most likely lifeline candidate, excluding Yatenbaum whom he already knew, was Malik Dicker.

“Malik Dicker? The Dweord!”

When Yoon Jaewoo called the name of the Dweord of the East, Mainu nodded with a face that looked as if it had aged three years.

「Therefore, please, …be careful.」

“……”

At that meaningful remark, Yoon Jaewoo’s face turned pale. Mainu left behind the words to read up to the twentieth verse of chapter one by today, bowed his head, and disappeared.

Yoon Jaewoo sighed and leaned against the door to sit.

“What do I do now.”

Yoon Jaewoo calmly recalled the things he could do inside here. Eat, wash, sleep. …And excrete?

“Ugh, no way!”

At this rate, he would be no different from a pet. Yoon Jaewoo clutched his head and lay down on the floor. If things continued like this, forget a lifeline, he would surely be carried back on the tiger’s back to the tiger’s den.

As Yoon Jaewoo was groaning and pacing around the room, the window caught his eye. It was a window he had barely managed to protect by clinging to Eustace’s coattails when he was about to get rid of it. Outside the window, a beautiful landscape swayed and moved.

“No. It’s not like my IQ is in the double digits, if I go out there, I’m really not human… Heok!”

Yoon Jaewoo, who had been muttering to himself while looking out the window, let out a shriek and fell backward.

A large man had his face pressed against the window, watching him. It was Malik Dicker. He smiled and gestured to open the window. Yoon Jaewoo shook his head. Having already suffered severely once, if he committed the same act, he would become, as Eustace said, a guy who just carries his head around as a decoration.

「Open this when I’m asking nicely.」

“Fuck you, hehehe.”

Yoon Jaewoo waved his hand with a smile.

「Does a filthy, lowly, and foul Ramia dare to ignore the words of Dweord Malik-nim?」

“Yes. That’s right. How unfortunate for you to be ignored by a filthy, lowly, and foul Ramia.”

Yoon Jaewoo frowned as if he were extremely sorry and nodded.

The window, too, had been tightly bound by a barrier by Eustace so that it absolutely could not be opened from the outside. Watching Malik Dicker throw a fiery tantrum outside the window, Yoon Jaewoo felt a slight thrill.

Malik Dicker, an extreme hater of Ramia, had poured all sorts of vulgarities at Yoon Jaewoo from the day they first met. Even in that brief encounter, Yoon Jaewoo’s impression of Malik Dicker was not very good. It was impossible not to be prejudiced. Still, since that guy might be the lifeline to save him, he decided to treat him with courtesy for now.

「What are you doing in there.」

“I’m being confined.”

「Eustace took a filthy, foul, and lowly Ramia who can’t even speak the language of this world as his Yan?」

…Ah, I hate this.

The more they talked, the more Yoon Jaewoo disliked Malik. There was a reason why Yatenbaum had called Malik a fucking annoying bastard.

「Tell me right now what kind of scheme you have come here to pull. This noble and perfect Dweord Malik-nim will listen.」

Yoon Jaewoo made a gesture of cleaning his ear with his finger and shrugged. Malik pounded the window with his palm.

Each time his palm hit the window, a golden flame erupted on the outer pane, and the inside of the room shook. Yoon Jaewoo flinched and took a step back from the window.

「You’re not a Maryan, are you?」

As he asked that, Malik Dicker’s eyes shone coldly. It was a different side to the man who had been flying into a rage just moments before.

“…I am a Yan.”

「The birdbrain said so. That you couldn’t be a Yan.」

“Damn birdbrain. Hahaha. I am a Maryan. Please don’t frame an innocent person.”

Yoon Jaewoo waved his hands, insisting on his innocence.

「Why is Eustace so fond of you?」

“I’m telling you, he’s not!”

「Aren’t you hiding your identity? You filthy, foul, and vulgar Ramia. Go on, say it.」

“…Even if I told you, would you understand? And even if I were hiding my identity, if you were me, would you tell? Ha, really. This is driving me crazy.”

It felt like watching a scene where the police shout “Stop right there!” during a chase.

The only one who could understand his words was Eustace. Yet that Dweord, dressed in clothes so splendid they made one’s eyes rot, was demanding that he hurry up and confess his hidden identity.

「Come here. I will endure your filthy, foul, and vulgar nature, so come here. And open the door.」

If one wanted to persuade someone, one should at least choose one’s words carefully, but Malik Dicker didn’t even show that much sincerity. Yoon Jaewoo’s expression grew more and more sour.

Malik’s eyes glinted narrowly.

「For a filthy Ramia, your hair color is pretty.」

Yoon Jaewoo said, “Oh, this,” and held up his hair.

“It’s dyed.”

Since the other person couldn’t understand, all he had to do was reply with a suitable bright smile.

「Filthy and disgusting Ramia. If you open the door, I shall grant you the honor of a conversation with the Dweord Malik-nim, who has this beautiful hair color.」

“…Shibural.”

So this is why neither Yatenbaum nor Eustace could readily choose when asked who they disliked more between Cox and Malik.

「If you open the window now, I will show my generous magnanimity and at once peel off your skin…, no, don’t worry and open it.」

“……”

How on earth could they, in all four cardinal directions—east, west, south, north—be so uniquely crazy in their own ways.

Looking at the man beckoning with a detestably smiling face, Yoon Jaewoo let out a bitter sigh.

He had thought it would absolutely not be Cox, but seeing Malik, this too was hopeless. Why in the world were the gods of this world all like this? If he spent just one year here, it seemed he would naturally become an atheist.

「You must be hiding something!」

In that moment, Malik’s golden hair shot up like a lion’s mane. His teeth glinted sharply, and long nails grew from his fingers.

At the sudden transformation, Yoon Jaewoo flinched and trembled. A lion’s growl seemed to mix into the man’s voice.

「Open this door right now.」

It was frightening.

It wasn’t because he had heard that Malik’s hobby was to skin Ramia alive when he saw them.

The very existence of Malik, who was baring his teeth and yelling at him right before his eyes, instilled fear in Yoon Jaewoo. Dweords were beings of absolute power. He was deliberately showing off his power to make Yoon Jaewoo feel helpless.

「Open the door.」

Sharp nails scratched at the window. It gave him goosebumps. Even though he knew that no one could enter because Eustace had created a triple-layered barrier, he was afraid that Malik might leap in right this instant.

Yoon Jaewoo approached the window. Malik, who had been scratching at the window, snickered.

As if to say, that’s right, how dare someone like you.

Yoon Jaewoo grabbed the curtain.

He just couldn’t stand that guy.

「No! Wait, just a moment. I have something to tell you.」

At the words “something to tell,” Yoon Jaewoo’s hand, which was about to draw the curtain, stopped. He was in a standoff with a lifeline that looked thoroughly rotten, with just a single pane of glass between them.

「Ramia. I have something to tell you.」

“…What is it.”

He swallowed dryly.

Is it rotten, …or not rotten.

「This way.」

Malik gestured for him to come closer to the window. Yoon Jaewoo hesitated for a moment, then decided to show his secret card first.

He stood in front of the window, lifted his hem, and showed his leg.

“This.”

「What are you doing? Why are you showing me something as hideous as a leg?」

“……”

「Don’t tell me you’re trying to seduce me into mating? How incomparably filthy and foul.」

Ah, damn it.

The only one left was Yatenbaum, so did that mean that guy held 99 percent?

「Instead of that, let’s have a better conversation. Now, come closer.」

Malik continued speaking, scratching the glass with his sharply grown nails. Just then, a hand approaching from behind wrapped around Yoon Jaewoo’s shoulder.

“……!”

Another hand grabbed him around the waist, pulling him in so close there was not a single gap. He had been held in a man’s arms before, but never like this, so Yoon Jaewoo held his breath and froze on the spot.

Eustace lowered his head and brought his face near Yoon Jaewoo’s neck. Then, he narrowed his eyes and spoke to Malik, who was standing outside the window.

「Dicker. Do you have that much time on your hands?」

「I heard that thing is not your Maryan.」

Eustace was the most likely candidate for Azhar. Malik Dicker was a man who would sell his soul if he could find a weakness regarding him.

「If you have time to spare, why don’t you go and ponder policy a bit more.」

「Eustace! You…!」

Sparks flew from Malik’s eyes, who was already in a bad mood after being bombarded by Eustace during the Bedas discussion earlier today.

「I know that thing is not your Maryan. You wouldn’t have moved up the Bedas discussion without a reason. What are you plotting!」

「What about you, why are you loitering in front of someone else’s Maryan’s room?」

Yoon Jaewoo felt the movement of the hand that was wrapped around his shoulder. The hand that had been holding his shoulder was now caressing his forearm.

“Uh…”

When Yoon Jaewoo looked down in surprise, Eustace’s low voice reached his ear.

—Stay still.

Eustace’s hand slipped inside his clothing. Yoon Jaewoo could only manage to blink.

「I will skin your Ramia’s scalp alive and drag it behind a horse.」

Malik spat out horrific words as he scraped the windowpane with his nails. Smoke rose from the window each time he moved his nails. He was heating the glass from outside the barrier. Eustace smiled and placed his hand on the window, and with a chiiiik sound, the heat subsided.

The thought that he might have been burned to a crisp if he had been near there gave Yoon Jaewoo goosebumps.

「If you lay a hand on my Yan, I will cut off your hand and hang it at the entrance of the Eastern Castle.」

Malik was a man who adorned his entire body with pride and arrogance. That last remark was enough to give him a humiliation that made his body tremble.

「You damn son of a bitch!」

Eustace laughed.

At the low laughter coming from behind him, Yoon Jaewoo’s heart sank with a thud. They were too close. He began to be conscious of the man behind him.

His breath, his heartbeat, …his cool body temperature….

Close. Too close. It would be nice if he moved away a little.

“Excuse me…”

Yoon Jaewoo turned his head. As their eyes met, Eustace turned Yoon Jaewoo’s body toward himself. After making him bury his face in his chest, Eustace, as if for show, caressed Yoon Jaewoo’s earlobe and the nape of his neck with one hand.

At that blatant touch, Yoon Jaewoo’s face turned beet red. He wanted to tell him to stop, but with Malik’s eyes wide open and watching, he could only stand there and take it.

「Stop with the obvious tricks. We all know that Ramia is not your Maryan!」

Eustace smiled, lifted Yoon Jaewoo’s body in a flash, and sat him on the windowsill. Because he pulled him in, pressing his lower body tightly between his legs, a sensitive spot was touched, and Yoon Jaewoo, not knowing what to do, clutched Eustace’s clothes.

Eustace moved his hands, holding him as if the person in his arms was truly lovely. Yoon Jaewoo muttered, “Wait, just a moment,” but Eustace paid him no mind.

Moreover, at the feeling of Eustace’s lips on the nape of his neck, Yoon Jaewoo’s mind went completely blank.

「Pretending to be a Maryan on purpose…!」

Before Malik could finish his sentence, Eustace’s teeth bit down on Yoon Jaewoo’s nape as if to chew on it. At the sharp sting, Yoon Jaewoo trembled with an “Ah,” and Eustace rubbed his lower back with his palm, transforming the pain into pleasure.

Yoon Jaewoo’s nape and face flushed a bright red in an instant, as if a flower had bloomed. The more fiercely Eustace’s teeth bit into his neck, the more the pleasure intensified. Yoon Jaewoo bit his lip to hold back the groans from escaping, but in the end, he was left panting in Eustace’s embrace.

At first, he had only intended to give a playful bite and be done with it, but the expression of the Ramia trembling in his arms was quite amusing, so Eustace set his teeth several more times and bit at his nape.

「Are you going to keep standing there like that?」

Eustace asked, casting a cool gaze towards Malik standing outside the window. When Malik replied, “Why,” Eustace curved his lips softly and continued.

「I’m about to make this thing conceive my seed right now.」

“……!”

「I don’t mind letting you keep watching, but this young one is very shy.」

「What? Are you really going to do that kind of thing with a filthy Ramia!」

Malik shouted, hitting the window with his palm.

「Have you forgotten the pride and self-respect of a Dweord? Even if that horse bastard in heat is originally like that, are you going to be like that too! It is incomparably foul! A hideous act!」

Eustace’s fingers dug into the hem of Yoon Jaewoo’s clothes below his waist. Yoon Jaewoo’s body jolted up with tension. Malik screamed, “Ugh,” and covered his own eyes.

「Hideous! It is hideous! You should be ashamed!」

「Get lost. Malik.」

Eustace pulled the curtain shut with a smile. With a chwareureut sound, the window was completely covered.

Still holding the curtain, Eustace briefly chanted a spell, adding another layer to the barrier. So that no matter what Malik did outside, no sound could get in.

The room regained its silence once more.

「I should get rid of the window altogether.」

“…Are you telling me to die of stuffiness?”

「Then I will work on the barrier a little more.」

Even as he spoke, Eustace’s hand was still holding Yoon Jaewoo’s waist from inside his clothes. Because his back was turned to the window, Yoon Jaewoo thought Malik was still watching them and couldn’t bring himself to ask to be let go.

“…Is he still there?”

「What is.」

“Hasn’t he left yet?”

Although he knew that Eustace had used his power, Yoon Jaewoo was so embarrassed by the recent situation where he had let out strange moans while held in his arms.

「He left.」

Even while saying so, Eustace did not release Yoon Jaewoo from his embrace. Yoon Jaewoo raised his head. When their eyes met, Eustace raised an eyebrow slightly as if asking for the reason.

“Then you should let me go.”

A smile appeared on Eustace’s face. Yoon Jaewoo felt like he was being teased.

“You can stop acting now.”

Yoon Jaewoo pushed Eustace away. Surprisingly, Eustace let himself be pushed back obediently. Stepping down from the windowsill, Yoon Jaewoo rubbed his hot nape with his palm. His face felt flushed, as if heat was spreading everywhere his hand touched.

Do I have to put on a show like this every time the other Dweords get suspicious? Ah, this is driving me crazy. I don’t think I can do it twice….

「Why?」

“Ah, it’s nothing. Go wash up.”

When Yoon Jaewoo gestured, Eustace changed his clothes and went into the bathroom. Originally, one had to go out into the hallway to enter the bathroom, but this time, while re-establishing the barrier, he had modified it to connect to the room.

Yoon Jaewoo was about to ask how that was possible, but then he remembered that the other person was a god of this world and just accepted it obediently. Yoon Jaewoo neatly folded Eustace’s clothes that were draped over a chair.

Eustace, walking out into the room, saw the neatly folded clothes and glanced at Yoon Jaewoo. His face seemed to say, I didn’t think you knew how to do something like this.

“I saw it. In the book.”

Yoon Jaewoo replied, pointing to the book of Maryan etiquette. In it, the etiquette a Maryan must observe when serving a Dweord was explained in detail with pictures.

The first chapter was mostly about greetings and how to serve, but as it went on, there were a lot of terrifying pictures, so Yoon Jaewoo didn’t even try to open that part.

「How many chapters have you studied?」

When Yoon Jaewoo made the number one with his fingers, Eustace chuckled as if he knew it.

「To have been in this room all day and only memorized one chapter. How very like you.」

Eustace sat at the table. Yoon Jaewoo sat opposite him and retorted sullenly.

“What’s ‘like me’ isn’t sitting here reading a book. You don’t even know.”

Yoon Jaewoo was the athletic type. Sitting at a desk reading books or studying didn’t suit his aptitude, nor had he ever done it. He liked to move his body and break a sweat.

Seated at the table, Eustace began to read a book. Even when they were at the Northern Castle, Eustace always spent his days in his office, dealing with a mountain of documents.

Still, out of the four Dweords, isn’t this guy the most suitable for being the Azhar or whatever?

Even though he must have felt Yoon Jaewoo’s obvious stare, Eustace said nothing. From morning until evening, the four Dweords gathered in the office and engaged in a bloody debate. It was a truly terrifying and brutal discussion where it was not just an exchange of words; if necessary, they would extend their energy to suppress each other.

Even though this room was far from the main palace where the office was located, Yoon Jaewoo sometimes felt motion sick from the Dweords’ power struggle. Sometimes, the bottom of the lake would shake, and he would hide under the table.

After finishing the Bedas discussion, Eustace always came to this room. There was nothing he particularly did when he came here. It was just reading books until late at night, thinking about something, and sleeping.

At first, Yoon Jaewoo found sharing a room with Eustace unbearably uncomfortable and stuffy, but now he had become quite used to it. When he came, he would chatter away next to him for a long time. Since he spent his time alone in the room, he was the only person he could talk to face-to-face. Now, he found himself increasingly waiting for the time Eustace would arrive. To Yoon Jaewoo, Eustace was the damn fox who was his only visitor in the desert.

“What did you talk about today?”

「Would you know if I told you?」

“No. Of course I wouldn’t.”

When Yoon Jaewoo replied with a bright smile, Eustace closed the book he was reading.

How did I end up picking up a Ramia like this?

“…You’re not planning to get tired of me, are you?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked, suddenly feeling anxious from the gaze directed at him. The moment Eustace grew tired of him, everything would collapse. Perhaps because of that, Yoon Jaewoo had started to be very mindful of Eustace’s mood lately.

「Shouldn’t you make sure I don’t get tired of you?」

“I suppose so.”

Yoon Jaewoo sat with his legs together and leaned his back against the chair’s backrest. Then, though no one asked him to, he opened the book first. It was in the hopes that there might be a way to keep himself from being boring in the book about Maryans, which was filled with hard-to-understand pictures.

Eustace also opened his book again. The quiet reading time did not last long. Yoon Jaewoo let out a “Haa” sigh and flopped over on top of the book.

Eustace, watching Yoon Jaewoo lazily trace the pictures with his finger, asked.

「What’s so difficult about it?」

“Pardon? Just, well, everything….”

Having built a wall between himself and studying from the beginning, just looking at a book gave him a headache. Yoon Jaewoo smiled awkwardly and mumbled, “Just because.”

Eustace’s finger swept down the page Yoon Jaewoo was reading. Then, the pictures on the paper rose up as if they had gained life and began to move in sequence.

“Whoa, hahaha.”

At the 3D image that suddenly appeared before his eyes, Yoon Jaewoo opened his mouth and laughed. Everywhere Eustace’s hand touched, the pictures rose up in order and performed the actions.

「Do you understand now?」

“Pardon? Ah, understand. Ah, that’s right.”

Yoon Jaewoo, who had been so engrossed in watching the pictures stand up and move that he hadn’t paid attention to the content, widened his eyes. Eustace tapped the page again with his finger. Just like before, the pictures rose and demonstrated the actions from the book of etiquette in order. Yoon Jaewoo watched the moving pictures with his eyes shining like a child’s.

“Try this one too.”

Yoon Jaewoo opened to the next page and showed him. When Eustace touched it with his finger again, the pictures came to life and moved. Yoon Jaewoo’s mouth opened wider and wider.

“This one too. This one too.”

Yoon Jaewoo pleaded, flipping through random pages. The pictures gained life at the tip of Eustace’s finger. Yoon Jaewoo, who had been living confined in the room without any form of amusement, was excited and flipped through the pages here and there, his eyes sparkling. Eustace watched the Ramia and moved his finger with a faint smile. The extremely excited Yoon Jaewoo turned the pages distractedly.

“This one too!”

That was why. Yoon Jaewoo did not realize that the page he had randomly opened happened to be the one dealing with how to please a Dweord in bed. And Eustace’s gaze was fixed on the young Ramia who was laughing like a child.

The moment Eustace’s hand tapped the page, the picture began to move, even making sounds.

“Heok!”

「…….」

As the scene of a figure that looked like a Maryan kneeling before a Dweord and reverently pleasuring his genitals began to move in an extremely detailed and vigorous manner, both men’s expressions hardened at the same time. It was Eustace’s hand that closed the book.

「A young thing is already awakening to such things.」

He clicked his tongue and scolded Yoon Jaewoo.

“Wa, wait a moment. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

His face turning bright red, Yoon Jaewoo stammered on.

“It’s true. And I’m already past the age to be awakening to such things.”

Eustace flicked Yoon Jaewoo’s nose with his finger, as if saying, “You rascal.” Yoon Jaewoo felt wronged by the tone, as if he were scolding a misbehaving puppy.

“What’s wrong with an adult looking at something like this? Honestly, it’s not like I haven’t done it before….”

Yoon Jaewoo grumbled, rubbing his smarting nose. Eustace’s eyes grew increasingly stern.

「A young thing says things he shouldn’t.」

“Who was the one who said he was going to make that young thing conceive his seed earlier!”

Yoon Jaewoo shot back, not losing. Although it was a remark made in front of Malik to avoid suspicion, the thought that saying he would make him conceive his seed was too much belatedly occurred to him.

「Do you possibly think that I would lay a hand on you?」

“You groped me a lot earlier. You touched here, and you touched here.”

Yoon Jaewoo said, pointing to the areas Eustace had touched.

“And besides, you even, …bit here.”

The memory of the pleasure that had swept through his body as he was bitten and licked made his last words trail off like a crawl.

「Are you thinking that I touched you because I have some kind of ulterior motive?」

“Th, …of course….”

Yoon Jaewoo bit his lip firmly.

Of course, it was better for him not to have any ulterior motives, but when Eustace cut him off so coldly like that, he felt strangely provoked and flared up.

Eustace gripped Yoon Jaewoo’s chin.

「If it were you, would an ulterior motive arise?」

Their eyes met.

It was the same as when he first saw him, but he was so handsome it made one wonder if he was really a living person. For a moment, Yoon Jaewoo was at a loss for words and just stared at Eustace for a long time.

“…And why wouldn’t one arise.”

Finally, Yoon Jaewoo averted his gaze to the side and replied in a mumble.

「Your tone sounds like you wish one would.」

“That’s not it!”

「Then shouldn’t you be grateful that there is no ulterior motive?」

“Thank you.”

After replying so, Yoon Jaewoo clicked his tongue with a “Tch.”

He thought it would be better to go to that pretty Yatenbaum and act cute to ask him to fix his leg, rather than trying to please this difficult and ill-tempered guy.

…Wait. First, I get my leg fixed, and then I can think about what comes next, right?

As he was thinking that, the image of Yatenbaum smacking his lips, saying he would make him a new hole, flashed through his mind.

“…No. That’s not it.”

Yoon Jaewoo muttered, banging his forehead lightly on the table.

「Don’t think useless thoughts with that bad head of yours and just stay quietly in this room.」

Eustace chided him as if he had read Yoon Jaewoo’s thoughts. When Yoon Jaewoo replied, “I will,” Eustace stroked his chin as if to say, “That’s right.”

“Excuse me.”

Yoon Jaewoo called to him, leaving his chin in Eustace’s hand. Eustace turned his gaze as if in reply.

“Can’t you fix my leg and send me back to where I was?”

He threw a fastball without thinking too complicatedly.

「Why do you think I would bestow such a kindness upon you?」

Kkaang! Grand slam home run.

Yoon Jaewoo sighed as he watched the fastball he threw fly over the fence and disappear far, far away.

“You’re right. I must have been crazy for a moment.”

Yoon Jaewoo replied with a dejected face and bowed his head.

「Ramia.」

Eustace called to him. Yoon Jaewoo replied perfunctorily with a “Yes,” without even lifting his head.

「You are….」

Before Eustace could finish his words, a knock was heard from outside the door. Everyone knew that once he entered the room, he rarely went out. Eustace’s expression hardened heavily.

「Who is it?」

「It is Mainu. I have come with an urgent message for Eustace-nim.」

The head chamberlain’s voice was trembling as he spoke. Yoon Jaewoo looked at Eustace with an anxious face.

「I understand.」

Eustace rose from his seat. Yoon Jaewoo grabbed the hem of Eustace’s clothes.

“Where are you going?”

「It seems something has come up.」

There were three other Dweords staying here besides Eustace. Yet, the fact that they had come all the way to find Eustace, who was resting in the deepest part of the castle, meant that the matter was that serious.

“What is it?”

「I’ll know when I get there.」

“……”

Yoon Jaewoo let go of the hand that was holding the hem of Eustace’s clothes. Eustace, who was about to leave after putting on his hood, looked back at the Ramia sitting alone and forlorn.

「Ramia.」

“Yes?”

His large eyes trembled with anxiety.

「Are you doing that on purpose?」

“Pardon? Am I?”

「I asked if you are making that face on purpose to hold me back.」

“What did I do?”

Yoon Jaewoo, bewildered, rubbed his face with his palm. Eustace lightly tapped Yoon Jaewoo’s face with the back of his hand and continued.

「A young thing is quite coquettish. I will be back.」

“Come back quickly.”

Having said that, Yoon Jaewoo gasped, “Heok.” Isn’t this a line that a pet would say when seeing off its master who is going somewhere?

Eustace, as if he understood Yoon Jaewoo’s words, asked back with a faint smile on his face.

「If I come back quickly?」

“……”

Ah, it would be nice if this guy only half-understood my words like before.

As Yoon Jaewoo’s face flushed red, Eustace patted his head and continued.

「Don’t move a muscle.」

“Don’t worry. I really won’t go out.”

Yoon Jaewoo sealed his lips and nodded, as if asking him to trust him. Eustace repeatedly warned him not to open the door for anyone and went outside.

Yoon Jaewoo listened to Eustace’s fading footsteps and laid his head on the table. The silence that filled the room felt unusually heavy. It didn’t seem like sleep would come easily either. Thinking he should move his body instead, Yoon Jaewoo placed both hands on the floor and started doing push-ups.

“One, two….”

The floor, which was undulating, came into his view as he was counting quickly. Yoon Jaewoo blinked.

Did I see something?

Yoon Jaewoo faced forward again and moved his body.

“Twenty-five, twenty-six. Uh…!”

The floor moved again. This time, he definitely felt it. Yoon Jaewoo got up from the floor and looked around. He had said that no one could enter this place because Eustace had surrounded it with layers of barriers.

“…It’s okay. Nothing will happen. It’s probably an earthquake.”

It seemed the Dweords who had gathered in the middle of the night were having a war of words. Yoon Jaewoo felt a little stiff for no reason and rolled his shoulders a couple of times. It was then. His vision momentarily turned white.

Huh. Why on earth….

A black dot began to approach him.

“……!”

It was a sensation he knew well.

As if it were alive, the black dot gradually increased in speed and size and rushed toward Yoon Jaewoo. He tried to avoid it, but he couldn’t move a single finger, as if his limbs were bound by an invisible hand.