#72
Choosing to sleep a little longer rather than getting up with his sleep still shallow, Noah rolled over.
“Yawn~”
Burrowing into Aeongi’s embrace, which was better than a mattress embedded with magic stones, Noah smiled with satisfaction at the warmth.
He bobbed his head a few times on Aeongi’s front leg, which was serving as his pillow, to find a more comfortable position, then placed his palm on Aeongi’s body. While touching the soft fur that filled the spaces between his fingers, Noah was about to fall into deep sleep when his hand felt something smooth.
Even when he stroked it up and down, nothing could be felt between his fingers. The only part of Aeongi’s body without fur was his nose, yet Noah’s hand movement slowed as he stroked this flat, furless surface.
He clearly remembered falling asleep last night while hugging Aeongi and nagging him. This was his bedroom, and the texture from the bedding and the scent were all very familiar to him.
Come to think of it, he should be feeling fluffy fur everywhere he touched Aeongi, but there was no fur on whatever he was using as a pillow either. After confirming that the being he was embracing was smaller than Aeongi in his full-sized form, Noah’s eyelids trembled.
He needed to open his eyes to check, but he was afraid to do so. Who could be in his bed?
Judging by the flat chest he was touching, it was definitely a man. Among the people in Schwein Castle who could freely enter his bedroom, there was the butler, Elisa, and his secretary David. Of these, the men were the butler and David.
Although they could enter freely, they always knocked first, waited briefly, and then entered. Even when they did come in, they only called his name from near the bed or lightly shook his shoulder to wake him up.
So it wasn’t someone who worked at Schwein Castle, and the only remaining person was James…
He briefly thought it might be James, but even if it was, there was no reason for them to be holding each other like this in bed, and if they were this close, he should have been able to smell James’s pheromones.
But now, he couldn’t detect even a trace of that forest scent that had confused him yesterday. Besides, James had taken medicine from the doctor yesterday and was in a deep sleep.
So then, who was he embracing right now?
Ah, it must be a person, right? In a world where dragons exist, it could also be a dwarf, an elf, or maybe even a troll.
With his eyes tightly closed, as his fantasies grew increasingly wild, Noah suddenly held his breath when he felt a hand patting his back. Who are you to pat my back so intimately? That’s exclusively for our Aeongi.
Still hesitating whether to open his eyes or not, Noah clenched his molars as the hand that had been patting his back moved away and now gently stroked his head with affection.
“Kiss—”
Is this what they call the final touch? Who are you to commit such an outrageous act as kissing my forehead?!
Noah’s eyes flew open, but because whatever was in front of him was too close, he couldn’t focus properly and blinked several times. With each blink, the wall-like object became clearer, and after confirming it was someone’s skin, specifically a thick chest, Noah instinctively pushed hard against the chest with both arms and abruptly sat up.
What is going on? What is happening?
Brain, remember what I did last night.
Hastily clutching the blanket, Noah cautiously looked at the being beside him who showed no intention of moving even in this situation.
“…”
There was just a person here. There was a man here.
I couldn’t see clearly, but there was a well-built man with a good body here.
But why are you here?
No. You’re supposed to be here. Did I dream?
“Haah~”
Noah’s lips parted blankly as he watched the large Aeongi stretch lazily and yawn. He just stared absently as Aeongi stretched his body long, putting force all the way to the tips of his front paws, causing his toes to spread wide and revealing his sharp claws before they disappeared again.
Until Aeongi, who had stretched in a way that made even the observer feel refreshed, hopped off the bed, opened the door, and completely disappeared from sight, Noah couldn’t utter a word.
Slap—
“That wasn’t… a dream.”
Debating between dream and reality, Noah lifted his hand and slapped his cheek quite hard just as Aeongi disappeared. After leaving a red mark on his pale cheek, Noah relaxed his body and just lay back on the bed.
Ah, if I had known it was a dream, I would have been more proactive.
If I had at least seen the man’s face, I wouldn’t feel this regret.
I’ve been thinking so much about a fake boyfriend lately that I’m having all sorts of strange dreams.
In that sense, it might be good to have a proper conversation with James. Or, should I pretend to be crazy and declare myself a single-for-life? Though no one in this world would understand that, being single is fine too.
Time passed like that, and Noah just rolled around on the bed aimlessly until he finally heard David’s knock, signaling it was time to get up. Indeed, people need to be busy. When you have money and time, you just end up having useless thoughts.
“Yes.”
Since David usually knocked twice and then counted to ten before entering, Noah sat up, throwing off the blanket as soon as he heard the two knocks. He raised his hands to press down on his curly hair, which was, as always, floating up with no regard for gravity.
Why hasn’t beauty technology developed in this world? Isn’t there a way to straighten this curly hair? They’re good at turning straight hair curly though.
Lost in these random thoughts, Noah stared blankly at the door, which showed no sign of anyone entering even after the usual time David would have come in had passed.
Is something wrong? Come to think of it, the entire castle seemed more chaotic than usual.
Unable to take his hands off his hair, Noah walked to the window and looked outside. Seeing knights moving busily and most employees gathered outside, he first checked if it was the day for deliveries to arrive.
“That’s not it, they came in last week…”
Muttering to himself, he watched people gathering in groups of three or five, pointing at something and chattering while looking in one direction. Noah naturally followed their gaze. At the same time, his hand, which had been roughly untangling his hair by inserting fingers between the curls, came to an abrupt stop.
“This is crazy.”
That one word summed up Noah’s honest feelings after seeing what the people were looking at.
The Heidel Mountains, known as the world’s most treacherous mountains, weren’t just one big mountain. It was a formation with one main large mountain surrounded by numerous mountains of various sizes.
That’s why even the regular extermination teams never went all the way to the main mountain. They just focused on the mountains adjacent to the Austen region.
But now, people were looking at a mountain not too far from the Austen region. It was a relatively gentle slope at the entrance to the Heidel Mountains, and since knights frequently visited it as a training ground even when there were no exterminations, fierce beasts had naturally disappeared from the area.
Recently, they had even started cultivating that area for sweet potato farming. Anyway, one side of this mountain—which could be considered either far or near depending on perspective—had been smoothly leveled as if there had been a landslide.
Thinking he might have seen wrong, Noah rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the dense trees were gone. The collapsed mountainside looked suitable for the beginner’s course he had roughly imagined yesterday while dreaming of a ski resort.
He had just raised his hand and roughly sketched in the air while daydreaming, and now, as if telling him to realize his dream, the mountain had collapsed?
How many possibilities could there be for a perfectly fine mountain to look like this overnight? Landslide? Earthquake? Those two seemed most likely, but Noah hadn’t felt anything last night.
If it were the result of an earthquake, the ground would have shaken severely. And if it were a landslide, with the mountain collapsing to that extent, how could he not have heard any sound? Even if he had been in a deep sleep, what about the butler with his sensitive ears? No, animals are supposed to predict earthquakes and natural disasters in advance.
Yet Aeongi had slept just fine with him.
“I see young master is watching too.”
Though he heard the door opening behind him and felt a presence, Noah, still looking at the collapsed mountain, just nodded briefly in response to the butler’s words.
“Butler, didn’t you hear any sound?”
“This old man must be at his end, I didn’t notice anything at all. The knights will be leaving to check for damage, but you needn’t worry too much. It’s an area where neither wild animals nor people live, and judging by the direction, it’s opposite to the recently cultivated area. Life certainly brings all sorts of surprises.”
“Indeed, it’s quite something. How could it have been carved so gently and beautifully? It’s perfect for beginners. I wish several spots would just be carved like that mountain, but with different angles.”
“Pardon?”
“What should I do? I really want to ski and snowboard, and it looks like I could now. Is the blacksmith busy these days?”
“I’m sure he is?”
“That’s okay. He’ll have time to help me even if he’s busy.”
After talking with the butler while looking out the window, Noah unhesitatingly opened the door and went outside. The mountain is ready, but I’m not ready. Whether made of wood or iron, or using minerals available here. First, he needed to find the blacksmith, who was the most skilled craftsman in the village.
“Oh my, what are you planning now? You should at least get ready before going out.”
“Oh dear, I’m just so eager. Thank you, butler~”
As he was about to cross the corridor and leave, Noah quickly turned back and returned to his bedroom upon hearing the butler’s words from behind. Even if I can’t build a ski resort, I can still enjoy it by myself.
For Noah, who had been lying low publicly and couldn’t engage in outdoor activities, instead just staring out the window endlessly, an activity had finally emerged.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
