EDM 72
by Cherry“It’s nothing major.”
“Then why do you look so troubled?”
“Do I look that way?”
A faint smile appeared on Soren’s lips. When Kafka nodded, he laughed softly saying “I can’t lie,” while making some incomprehensible comment about feeling better.
“Because it seems like you care a lot about me.”
“……”
“Anyway, it was a more boring story than I thought.”
“Did the imperial palace try to scout you guys or something?”
He naturally thought of the demon lord subjugation team selection, but this possibility wasn’t out of the question either. The current emperor was quite interested in recruiting talent. It wouldn’t be strange if he threw out bait to recruit awakeners under him faster than anyone else.
“Similar.”
“…Do you not want to talk about it?”
That’s exactly what it looked like, avoiding detailed stories and giving roundabout answers. Soren was silent for a moment before revealing his honest feelings.
“I guess I’m not certain, it was something I wanted to avoid talking about.”
“What kind of story came up?”
“When I went to the headmaster’s office, there were many high-ranking people there. Even the Master of the Magic Tower came.”
Kafka’s eyes widened slightly at Soren’s words. Since it hadn’t been long since the dissolution, the Magic Tower’s current affairs were being handled by his mother’s adjutant as a substitute. For his mother to personally make this long journey in such circumstances, there could only be one reason.
“They say signs of mana corruption are appearing starting from the northern regions.”
“……”
“The number of monsters has also increased a bit.”
He had suspected it, but as expected. Even though he had anticipated it, his heart sank when he confirmed the facts. From the sudden shock, the pain intensified and Kafka shook off Soren’s hand to grip tightly at his chest area clothing. His body naturally curled up like a shrimp.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“I’m just a bit tired… Add some more Millenka to the incense burner.”
Soren immediately got up and added more Millenka to the incense burner, then laid Kafka down flat. Pain spread from his heart and his fingertips slightly curled inward. It wasn’t severe, but it seemed like numbness had set in.
Kafka bit his lower lip hard to endure the pain. He tried to endure it, but a faint groan escaped through his teeth.
“Should we go to the infirmary? Getting examined by Professor Isobel would be…”
“It’s fine. It’ll subside in a bit…”
His breathing became slightly rough. Soren’s expression as he watched Kafka’s condition was extremely serious. But that was as far as it went. Right now, the only things he could do were to make the Millenka burn more densely and pray that no seizure would occur.
Fortunately, after about 20 minutes, his stiff fingertips loosened and sensation returned. His chest, which had been heavy as if a stone was placed on it, became much lighter and his breathing regained its pace. As he breathed deeply with his eyes closed, Soren wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. Heavy silence circulated in the room.
“…It would be better to cover yourself with a blanket.”
Soren, who had been silently watching Kafka, spoke. Despite lighting the fireplace, he was getting chills, so Kafka nodded and slowly sat up.
Soren lifted the edge of the blanket to help him get under the covers. As he pulled the heavy winter blanket up to his neck, he let out a very faint sigh.
“Want some water? You must be thirsty.”
“…No.”
“Sleep early today. Let’s talk about the details next time.”
“……”
“It’s not that serious of a matter.”
The demon lord is reviving and that’s not serious?
He wanted to ask back, but given the situation, he held back. In this atmosphere, nitpicking would only lead to a fight. Soren patted Kafka’s body over the blanket a couple of times and smiled brightly. As if the world wasn’t dangerous and nothing would happen.
“I’ll leave after watching you fall asleep.”
“……”
“You have class tomorrow morning, right? I’ll contact the professor so you can skip and rest.”
“There’s no need to go that far…”
“I’m doing it because I’m anxious.”
When he slowly opened his eyes that had been closed for a moment, their eyes immediately met. His expression was more serious than when talking about the demon lord’s revival, leaving him speechless. I’m fine. This level of pain is something I’ve experienced often, and it’s nothing surprising. He wanted to say that, but for some reason his tongue stiffened and wouldn’t move. He felt like he had committed a crime without doing anything wrong.
“…Okay.”
In the end, even though he thought it was making a fuss, he obediently followed Soren’s words. Only then did Soren seem somewhat relieved and smiled faintly.
Long fingers combed through his disheveled hair to tidy it. The hand that naturally came down to stroke his cheek was hot beyond warm.
“Sleep quickly. Don’t think about anything.”
“…You should go back to your room too.”
“I said I’d leave after watching you fall asleep. I can rest when you sleep.”
Since he said that, there was nothing to say, so Kafka looked at the ceiling again. As he closed his eyes like that, drowsiness began to wash over him faster than expected. His consciousness became hazy and his senses dulled. The last thing he felt was the touch of lips on his forehead.
“Sleep well.”
A gentle voice whispered in his ear. With that as the last thing, all consciousness and sensation were cut off. It was deep sleep without even dreams.
* * *
When he opened his eyes the next day, the sun was already high in the sky. The first sound he heard upon waking was the sound of sparks flying as the fireplace logs burned.
The logs put in last night couldn’t still be burning. Kafka slowly turned his head to look toward the window.
Since who knows when, Soren was sitting in front of the desk reading something. He had a pleased, gentle smile, and when he looked closer, it was the notebook used for taking notes in class.
It was literally just class content written down, not something to smile while reading. Nevertheless, Soren was concentrating on examining the content as if he had a very interesting storybook in front of him.
“Soren…”
When he quietly called to him, a voice cracked like a goat’s came out. Kafka clutched his throat and dry coughed. Due to the heat from the fireplace, the air had become dry and his lips and inside his mouth were parched.
“You’re awake?”
Soren immediately closed the notebook and approached. He poured a cup of honey water that had been prepared next to the Milenka incense burner.
“Drink some water. You must be thirsty.”
Kafka slowly got up and sat leaning against the headboard. Perhaps from the aftereffects of last night, his whole body ached as if he had been beaten up. When he took a sip of the water Soren handed him, his parched throat were moistened and his thirst was quenched.
“Want to drink more?”
“I’m fine. How long have you been here?”
“Not very long. I came around 8 o’clock.”
“…What time is it now?”
“About 1:20.”
He’d been here for over five hours and said it wasn’t very long… Looking at him with half bewilderment and half guilt, Soren smiled with his eyes crinkling. He poured another cup of water for Kafka and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Good morning.”
“It’s past 1 o’clock?”
“If you opened your eyes, then it’s morning from that moment.”
Every morning before going to eat breakfast, it was Soren’s routine to greet with “good morning” and kiss Kafka’s cheek. His desire was so clear that Kafka looked at his lover with a slightly reluctant expression, then silently turned his head slightly to offer his cheek.
As if he had been waiting, Soren kissed Kafka’s cheek. Even though it was something that always happened, he felt embarrassed for some reason and Kafka rubbed the spot where Soren’s lips had touched and left.
“By the way, why were you reading my lecture notes?”
“Ah, you saw?”
While he would have been very embarrassed if it were him, Soren was very confident. He glanced toward the desk, then briefly explained why he had chosen to read lecture notes among all the many books.
“That’s something you wrote.”
“……”
“It’s fun to look at your handwriting, and the notes you wrote in between are cute too. So I kept reading without realizing it.”
Had all the fun and cuteness in the world frozen to death? He felt embarrassed for no reason. Getting unnecessarily heated up and hot, Kafka fanned his cheeks with his hands to cool them.
Whether he didn’t notice or was pretending not to know, Soren acted innocent saying “I think I lit the fireplace too strongly” and went to the fireplace to remove some logs with tongs.
“If you were here the whole time, what about meals?”
“I ate breakfast, and now I should eat lunch with you.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“But you still need to fill your stomach, right? I’ll bring something, so wait.”
Saying that, Soren immediately left the room. Kafka quietly watched where he had left, then slowly moved his body to get out of bed and head to the bathroom.
After lightly washing his face and brushing his teeth, Soren returned with food at just the right timing. On a wide silver tray were soft bread and juice, and a plate containing cream stew.
“I brought soft things just in case. You can eat this much, right?”
“What about your portion?”
“Here, I brought a sandwich.”
Soren gestured with his chin toward a paper bag placed on the tray. Given how much he usually ate, would one sandwich fill his stomach? Looking at him with concern, as if reading his thoughts, Soren shrugged and joked.
“It’s like a pack of hyenas came through, this was all that was left.”
“You should have just gone and eaten by yourself.”
“I’m not that hungry either. Come and eat.”
Or should I feed you? Soren asked, looking at Kafka who was still sitting on the bed.
It wasn’t like he was sick enough to die, but receiving care, just thinking about it was embarrassing, so Kafka immediately got out of bed and sat down at the table. Perhaps he had been secretly hoping for it, as Soren smacked his lips with disappointment.