WLWES 11

On their way to Gideon’s inn, Rio turned to him and said he wanted to say farewell to the restaurant owner. However, Gideon shook his head.

“You can do that tomorrow.”

“But… wouldn’t it be rude if I just vanished?”

“It’s fine. One of the customers saw what happened, so I had one of my subordinates explain things to the restaurant.”

“Oh… I see. Thanks.”

“I also told them to keep your final salary so you won’t have to go back there again.”

Rio looked up at the handsome, tall man walking next to him and began to speak. “But…”

Gideon tilted his handsome face to look at Rio.

“But what?”

“I wanted to properly say goodbye to the restaurant owner because he took really good care of me. So, I think I’ll go to the restaurant tomorrow.”

“Fine, but then I’ll go with you.”

“Huh? Okay, sure. But aren’t you busy?”

“I am, but if I take my eyes off you again, you might just run away, right?”

“Ehh, but I am a traveler…”

“Yeah, but about that, I want you to stop traveling around.”

“Why?”

“… I’ll tell you later.”

“Okay?”

Gideon turned and quickened his pace. He didn’t say a word until they reached the inn.

In contrast, Rio had a mountain of questions he wanted to ask, such as why Gideon wanted him to stop traveling, what kind of work he did, where he lived, and so on. He couldn’t help but feel the urge to ask these questions.

However, whenever Rio called out Gideon’s name, he didn’t react. He just kept looking straight ahead in the direction he was walking without saying a word. The awkward atmosphere made Rio want to run away. But he felt guilty about wanting to escape, especially after Gideon had saved him. Plus, he still wanted to receive the payment he had not yet gotten.

With a sigh, Rio reached into his bag and stroked An’s head, who was sleeping peacefully inside.

Gideon suddenly stopped and exclaimed, “This is it.” Rio looked up at the inn in surprise. It was a high-class establishment known to be one of the few of its kind in the country.

Some knights came from commoner backgrounds, while others were of noble descent. Gideon’s appearance suggested he was from a noble family, evidenced by his expensive attire and preference for luxurious inns. This implied that he must hold a high rank among knights.

“What’s the matter? Let’s go inside,” Gideon urged.

“…Ah, okay,” Rio replied.

Lost in thought, Rio gazed blankly at the inn when Gideon nudged him by the shoulder, prompting him to step forward.

They passed through the gate and walked across the expansive front garden, arriving at the entrance of the house. A servant greeted them at the door, taking the bag from Gideon.

“Welcome back. Dinner will be prepared soon, but what would you like to do first?”

“I’d like to take a bath first. Dinner can wait,” Gideon replied.

“I understand. You can take a bath right away. We will prepare an additional room in the back for you shortly.”

The servant turned to Rio and offered a gentle smile. Since Rio had never stayed at such a high-class inn, he felt a bit nervous and managed to say, “Thank you.” However, Gideon interrupted him.

“We don’t need an additional room. He can just stay in my room.”

“Understood. In that case, you may use the bed in Sir Gideon’s room. It is a bit smaller, but I hope it will suffice.

“Yeah. That’s fine, right, Rio?”

“…Yes.”

With a look of displeasure on his face, Rio reluctantly nodded. The servant placed his bag on a shelf near the entrance of the large room and then left. Once the sound of the servant’s footsteps faded, Rio voiced his dissatisfaction, asking, “Why?”

Gideon took off his jacket and hung it on a hanger before gesturing for Rio to come over.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Rio obediently went to Gideon’s side. However, when he looked around the room, his discontent vanished instantly.

At first, he wanted Gideon to give him his own room, knowing he might never have the chance to stay at such a luxurious inn again. However, after looking around, he realized that the room he was currently in was probably the most expensive one in the entire inn. It was ten times larger than the house where Rio lived, and the furniture and décor were of the highest quality.

In the center of the room, there was a large bed and, on the opposite side, a smaller bed. Although the smaller bed was still twice the size of any bed Rio had ever used, he was reluctant to share a room with Gideon. Nevertheless, he thought to himself, “Well, it’s okay,” feeling a sense of pride simply by being in such a magnificent place. Suddenly, he felt someone push him from behind.

“Umm, what?”

“I told you to take a bath. The bath is behind that door.”

“What? There’s a bath in this room?”

“This is a detached building, so you don’t have to worry about other guests seeing you.” ^[1]

“Wow… It’s really spacious too! Hey, I want to wash Ann as well…”

“Go ahead. Just make sure to be careful with the water temperature.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

Opening the door at the back of the room revealed a small space with a change of clothes neatly arranged on a shelf. Gideon turned to Rio and said, “Get changed into that,” before closing the door behind him. Next to the clothes was a large linen cloth.

Rio gently set An down, placed his bag on the shelf, and removed his clothes. He took off his underwear and stood naked. Suddenly, he noticed something white in his peripheral vision. Turning his head, he saw his own reflection in the mirror attached to the wall of the small room.

“Hmm, I’m really too thin. I want muscles like Gideon and his height, too!”

“Woof!”

“Oh, you’re awake? You want to grow up quickly, too, don’t you? So let’s eat lots of food.”

“Woof!”

He laughed softly as he picked up An and opened the glass door to the bath area. The wash area was spacious, and the bathtub was as big as the bed in the room. He wanted to jump in immediately, but he held himself back. ^[2]

Suddenly, he recalled that Gideon had mentioned he smelled bad. But wasn’t it a bit rude to tell someone directly that they smelled? Frustration towards Gideon bubbled up inside him, yet he also recognized that he might actually smell bad. So, Rio decided to wash himself carefully.

The soap was of high quality and had a remarkable scent, leaving his skin feeling smooth after washing. After rinsing the dye out of his hair, he noticed it was slightly damaged from the dye. Nevertheless, his hair still felt smooth and had a shiny appearance.

He also washed An’s body carefully until her fur was shining in the light.

“Ah, that felt good,” he sighed contentedly.

“That’s good.”

When Rio returned to the room with a linen cloth draped over his head, Gideon, who was seated on a wooden chair examining some documents, glanced up.

Gideon’s purple eyes met his, and he suddenly felt a rush of panic, worried that he had been rude.

“Um, sorry. I know it’s a bit late, but were you sure it was okay for me to go in the bath first?” Rio asked.

“Why are you apologizing? It doesn’t really matter. I said you could go first,” Gideon replied.

He set the documents down on the desk and tilted his head in an elegant manner. Rio’s attention was momentarily captivated by Gideon’s graceful movements, but he quickly snapped back to reality at the sound of An’s whining.

Wait a minute! What am I doing, staring at a guy! On top of that, he’s a knight too…

“What’s wrong?” Gideon asked.

“N-nothing. Gideon, do you want to take a bath now, too? I’m all done, after all.”

“Yeah, I’ll go take a bath too. Don’t worry about me taking a bath after you. The hot water here is always being circulated, so it’s no problem. But Rio, don’t run away while I’m in the bath.”

“I know.”

I thought I saw Gideon smile. His expression didn’t change much, but I feel like I’m starting to be able to read his emotions from his subtle movements.. I’m so proud of myself!

It was a trivial thing, but it made him happy. Rio picked up An, sat down on the sofa, and used the cloth he had on his head to wipe An’s little black fur-covered body.

Gideon stood up, and as he passed by Rio, he reached out and touched his hair.

Rio flinched a little and looked up. “What?”

“This color suits you better,” Gideon replied. “And it’s still wet, so make sure you dry it properly.”

“It’s fine. It’ll dry quickly,” Rio said.

“You’re so careless, Rio.”

“Hmph, that’s one of my best qualities.”

“Haha.”

Rio paused, wiping An’s little body as he watched Gideon walk out the door.

Wait, did he just laugh? Like, actually opened his mouth and smiled? He looked really cool when he did that. If a woman saw him like that, she’d totally fall for him! …Oh, maybe that’s why he usually acts all cold, so he doesn’t get too popular? Nah, that doesn’t seem like him. He’s probably just the naturally stoic type.

An licked his hand gently, snapping Rio back to reality. He finally looked away from the door and back down at An.

“What’s wrong? Are you hungry? I think the food will arrive in a little while, so we have to wait a little bit longer.”

“Woof!”

An is smart, she definitely understood what Rio was saying. Rio patted An’s back and dried her with magic. While doing that, he also dried his own hair. The inn’s linen cloths were of extremely high quality and had almost instantly absorbed most of the moisture in his hair, but out of habit, he used magic as well.

“Since I am not used to such high-quality materials, I ended up using magic out of habit instead. I need to be careful not to use magic in places with other people,” he muttered to himself while lying on the sofa, with An resting on his stomach. Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide in shock at the sound of a voice asking, “Be careful of what?”