It took a very long time before he finally said what he wanted to say. But that was fine. After all, even when he was still a cat, he’d once waited at Justyn’s side for a full thirty minutes just to hear a single answer from him.
Fortunately, Justyn spoke up before Ries got too antsy. His voice was cautious, full of hesitation, and laced with a nervous glance in Ries’s direction.
“I… I don’t want you to sleep here.”
“Huh?”
“…My bed’s not exactly small. So… like before, I thought maybe we could keep….”
Again, the words got stuck in his throat. Ries, who had been quietly watching Justyn’s now slightly flushed eyes as if mesmerized, immediately understood what he was trying to say.
He wants us to keep sleeping together, huh?
As soon as that thought clicked, the words slipped out on their own. It was a total reflex. Completely beyond his control.
“Like this? Or in my cat form?”
“……”
“……”
And naturally, a silence many times heavier than before crashed down on them.
Justyn had been frozen stiff with a blank look on his face for a while now. Ries, having realized what he’d just said, was drowning in the overwhelming urge to crawl into a hole and disappear.
This damn mouth of mine.
Justyn clearly wasn’t going to speak, but Ries couldn’t bring himself to dig himself out of what he’d just blurted out either. He was just about ready to smack himself when he heard a faint crinkling noise from nearby.
Ries turned to locate the source of the sound.
— Chew chew.
There was a fish plushie vigorously stuffing its mouth with something. Ries had set it down for a bit to let it look around the room—where the hell did it even find food?
“…What are you doing?”
The question slipped out of his mouth, sounding more bitter than intended.
The fish waved its fins lazily and answered, still chewing.
— Fried corn. I think her name was Melissa? That knight who guarded you—she taught me how to make it. Said it was perfect for watching entertaining things unfold…
Its voice faded at the end, and it let out a long sigh.
— But why is it so hard to swallow?
It slapped its tiny fins against its side like a person pounding their chest in frustration. Ries had to admit—it was hilarious. No use pretending otherwise.
Still, thanks to the plushie’s antics, the heavy tension in the air finally broke. Ries cleared his throat and managed to recover from the ridiculous thing he’d said.
“I was just messing with you. Of course I meant in cat form. I’m more used to your room anyway, so it’s better to sleep there.”
“…Really? That’s a relief.”
Sure, Justyn’s voice cracked a little, and he stumbled over the first few words, and his eyes were nervously darting all over the place—but who cared? Ries had gotten a nod out of him, and that was more than enough.
He let out a relieved sigh and glanced around the room again. It was neat, clearly taken care of—probably by Justyn—but…
Still, I’ll just visit occasionally.
As expected, he preferred being close to Justyn rather than in this room.
While munching on some of the fried corn Sefiut had left behind, he started thinking about where to go next. Then, the perfect place came to mind.
“Justyn, there’s somewhere I want to go.”
He tugged on Justyn’s hand, interrupting his chewing.
He’d only been there once before. But not a single day had passed at the estate without him thinking about it. Their silhouettes disappeared down the corridor.
***
Because the place was etched so clearly in his memory, Ries knew exactly how to get there. The problem was the journey. They kept running into servants, which slowed them down quite a bit. He recalled their startled faces as they bowed and greeted them.
Some of them were familiar; others, not so much. Judging from their reactions, it seemed they were already aware of the “new aide.” Ries was glad.
Still, it must’ve been an odd sight. An awkward glance drifted toward Justyn trailing behind him. A new aide, already a topic of gossip among the staff, being followed around by the duke? No wonder they couldn’t stop staring.
— Hmm. This is that place from before.
Finally, when they reached the spot Ries had wanted to visit, Sefiut—who had been carried all this time in Ries’s arms—instantly recognized it.
A long corridor, stairs that seemed endless… and at the top of the manor, a rickety attic door just low enough that you had to crouch to get inside. Back when he was a cat, he’d slipped in easily. Now, Ries had to stoop to enter. A dusty, musty smell tickled his nose.
Justyn, following behind, still looked completely lost.
“Why are we here…?”
“You’re the one who brought me here the first time, remember? I wanted to see it again with these eyes.”
“……”
The attic where young Justyn had once lived brought back the same impression as before. Damp, filthy, cramped… like a prison.
As Ries walked through, footprints in two different sizes were left in the dust on the floor. He walked over to the window and cautiously pushed it open. It clearly hadn’t been touched in a long time. Or so he thought.
“Ah.”
CRACK.
Before he could do anything, the wooden frame shattered, and a puff of dust burst into the air.
Ries stared down at his hands, stunned. The window, split in half and dangling in his grip, looked even more pitiful than necessary.
Creak, creak—he slowly turned his head. But before he could even look at Justyn, the swirling dust hit him straight in the face. They say you can’t hide love or a sneeze, and this one couldn’t be held back.
“Achoo.”
Silence.
His face started heating up. He’d tried so hard to hold it back that the sound came out weirdly cute. Not only did he not want to sneeze at all, but especially not like that.
And that’s when he heard it— A soft laugh.
“Your sneeze sounds exactly the same as before.”
He turned to find Justyn looking oddly… happy. Justyn pulled out a handkerchief and gently brought it to Ries’s nose and mouth. The soft fabric carried a faint scent.
Unlike when they lived in the capital, the harsh smell of medicinal herbs had faded. Ries sniffed instinctively. It was slightly bitter, like crushed tea leaves, and fresh—like the bark of a tree on a summer day.
Their eyes met. Embarrassment hit him like a wave. Ries rolled his eyes away and hurried to apologize.
“Uh, sorry about the window. I was just trying to air the room out.”
“It’s fine. It wasn’t in good shape even when I lived here. After all this time, it’s not surprising it broke. Don’t worry—it’s not your fault.”
“…Okay.”
“Here, give me that. You might cut yourself on the splinters.”
In a flash, Justyn took the broken wood from Ries’s hands. Now empty-handed, Ries instinctively clenched and unclenched his fists. Justyn gently set the shattered frame on the floor and said,
“You said you wanted to see this place again with your own eyes. I don’t know if you’ve seen enough, but… we shouldn’t stay here too long. The air’s bad, and there’s too much dust. It’ll be bad for your lungs.”
“Huh? Oh…”
Ries had heard that concern once before. He fidgeted with his fingers, then offered a quiet suggestion.
“About that… How about we clean this place?”
“…Clean it?”
“Yeah. There’s a lot of dust and it smells musty, but I think if we clean it up, it’ll be okay. Then we can replace the old furniture.”
His silvery-gray eyes scanned the room— The broken-legged bed, the moldy wardrobe, the cracked wooden floor— He looked at each one, then turned back to Justyn.
“Let’s pick things out together. First, a new bed and wardrobe, then maybe a sofa, a carpet, curtains… we can add whatever’s missing too.”
“……”
“…Though, I guess fixing the window should be the priority.”
The wind blowing through the broken window made him flinch, prompting him to revise his words. Justyn hadn’t spoken yet, and Ries peeked up at him to read his expression. His voice grew smaller, more timid.
“Then this place won’t be able to hurt you anymore…”
“……”
“Was that too presumptuous of me?”
His voice was thick with concern. Only then did Justyn shake his head slowly. His voice came out dazed, like he was in a dream.
“I just… didn’t know you were thinking about this.”
“…Really? You don’t hate the idea?”
Justyn looked around the room, as if brushing away memories clinging to him like leftover dust. That attic, once a perfect prison and hell for his younger self, had been a deep wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Now, it was just a scar that had long since healed.
He had no reason to visit it, no need to destroy it, no desire to change it. And so he had left it as it was. But now, things were different.
This space, once nothing but a lump of his buried past, could now become a symbol— A symbol of change, of a new beginning, of connection.
And every time he saw the transformed room, he’d think of the person he loved more than anything in the world. Justyn’s heart tilted entirely in that direction.
“No. Let’s do what you said. I want to do it your way.”
He nodded with all his might. Seeing Ries’s face light up in response, he started mentally planning— Who to assign the cleanup to, how to handle the furniture…
Since we said we’d do it together, we could get a catalog and pick things out together.
As he thought this, Justyn gently guided Ries out of the room with a soft hand.
“Sniff.”
“There really was too much dust. If I’d known, I would’ve cleaned it up beforehand.”
“It’s okay. Sniff… I was the one who wanted to come… krrrngh… I’ll be fine soon.”
As soon as the conversation wrapped up, Ries’s suppressed sneezing fit resumed. Justyn looked at him with a gaze that was far too tender to be just concern.
— …?
Sefiut, who had stayed behind, couldn’t hide his confusion at Justyn’s odd, over-the-top demeanor. He had stayed outside to avoid collecting dust on his cloth body, but… Clearly, a lot had happened while he wasn’t looking.
Yet before long, his face settled into a familiar expression.
— Of course.
They’d clearly gone in there and made a mess of things with their usual nonsense, the kind that made any third party want to rip their hair out. Sefiut was painfully used to their unbearably slow pace by now.
