#076
“Raon, are you awake? You must have caught a terrible cold. What on earth did you do last night? Did you go swimming in the lake or something?”
The voice flowing from the front was unexpectedly Taro’s. Why am I hearing Taro’s voice right now? I was confused for a moment, then barely managed to recognize my surroundings and realized I was inside a car. I think this had happened once before – when I came to my senses, I was lying in the back seat with my head on Carlisle’s thigh.
My gradually awakening consciousness brought back memories of last night. I had followed Carlisle to the study to get whiskey, and after having a strange conversation there for a while, didn’t we end up with a bed-in ending? The embarrassing visions that suddenly surfaced made my dazed head spin.
I tried to pull myself together while forcibly scattering and erasing the images that should have red stickers slapped on them.
Anyway, if that wasn’t a dream, I should have woken up in Carlisle’s bedroom. Why am I in a car? Was I so worried about the expedition that I’m dreaming about departing on an expedition in the middle of all this? Or did I move around half-asleep and somehow the memory of moving from the mansion to the car got erased?
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? That shouldn’t be possible.”
Carlisle looked down at me with a slightly furrowed brow. His handsome face was still handsome even when frowning. Having such stupid thoughts in a daze, I asked:
“Is this… a dream?”
Carlisle laughed as if incredulous.
“How could it be? No matter how much I tried to wake you, you wouldn’t get up, so I just put you in the car. We had an appointment and couldn’t delay any longer. I never thought you wouldn’t wake up even until we warped. Were you planning to become Sleeping Beauty or something?”
Put me in the car? We even warped? So I really departed on the expedition and I’m at the snowy mountains? Is that snowstorm I can see through the car window real?
Only then did I bolt upright. I pressed my face against the car window close enough to bump into it and looked outside with wide eyes. I couldn’t see anything. Nothing but white whirlwinds swirling around the car.
It was absurd.
“No, even so, how could I…”
No matter how tired I was, how could I sleep without knowing someone was lifting and moving me?
“It’s dangerous, so sit up properly.”
My shoulder was suddenly pulled. My body was dragged along and pressed against the seat back. I felt strong warmth, and then Carlisle was bending over me. His face was right in front of my nose. It was close enough for a kiss. I tensed up without realizing it and my eyes widened. No, even so, this isn’t right. Taro is right there in front?
“Why, why?”
I hunched my shoulders and asked in confusion, but Carlisle’s lips curved up slightly as he looked me over carefully. It was a subtle smile.
“…Belt.”
Carlisle smoothly pulled out the safety belt that was stuck deep in the seat – that stiff thing I always struggle with – and fastened it across my chest. Our eyes met once again. Somehow feeling awkward and embarrassed, I averted my gaze.
“Th-thank you.”
“……”
Carlisle’s warmth slowly disappeared. I licked my dry lips and glanced toward the front. My eyes met Taro’s in the rearview mirror. His slightly round, surprised eyes met mine, blinked a few times, then showed a slight smile. It was a knowing smile, which made me feel miserable. Although he mentioned swimming in the lake, that bastard clearly had a rough idea of what had happened between us last night.
Come to think of it, butler Hayden would know too. He must have seen the whole spectacle of me being moved from Carlisle’s bed to the car while sprawled out. I was so embarrassed I wanted to hide in a mouse hole – no, under the seat.
“Taro. Pay attention to your driving.”
A sharp voice flew from beside me.
“Yes, yessir!”
Even after Taro’s gaze disappeared, my awkward time didn’t end. At least the sound of the howling snowstorm and the car’s vibration made the silence bearable.
“How could I sleep without knowing I was being put in a car…”
But I couldn’t shake off the absurdity. I was even clean and had been changed into different clothes. Who did all this? Was it Hayden? Or Carlisle? Whoever it was, it was embarrassing. I’m neither a child nor a sick person, yet someone else dressed me down to my underwear. It was something that had never happened in my life’s memories and something I never expected would happen.
It was a mutter to myself, but after a subtle pause, Carlisle answered in a low voice:
“You seemed exhausted, so I gave you a fatigue recovery potion, and it seemed to work quite well.”
“Ah…”
Did he feed me another expensive potion?
Come to think of it, that’s why despite all that chaos yesterday, strangely nothing hurt. There were some subtly stiff parts, but it was about the level of pleasant muscle soreness after moderate exercise, and overall I felt refreshed. If anything, it felt like the day after a good lazy rest. Actually, both my stamina and health bars were fully charged.
Well, thinking coldly about yesterday’s events, it was indeed a situation that called for a healing potion. My body was bent acrobatically while being stirred by something like a vicious club…
Not just Carlisle, but honestly I was surprised at myself too. I had never imagined there would be a day when I would act so wildly in bed. Thinking about the actions, words, and moans I had made, even now I felt my face burn hot enough to want to bury my head somewhere.
‘No, let’s stop thinking about it. These aren’t memories that would be good for mental health to recall in broad daylight.’
This time, I didn’t feel much burden about receiving the expensive potion. (I just decided to think that way. It’s not like I asked for it, so…) He said sleeping with me would also reduce his deathly pain, so his condition must have improved considerably too, and then it’s natural for his mood to become more generous.
Things like fastening my belt – doing things that aren’t like him – must be because of that. Not because of anything else in particular.
It’s just that thinking of it as a somewhat calculated relationship like give-and-take made me feel regretful, or rather disappointed…
‘What am I doing having such pointless thoughts even on an expedition?’
Finding myself pathetic, I frowned. I ruffled my hair roughly and lifted my inventory bag. I didn’t know who had packed it, but it had been at my feet from the beginning, so I didn’t need to look around for my luggage. I had organized everything before sleeping anyway, so there wouldn’t have been anything else to pack. Still, just in case, I checked inside and went through my supplies one by one.
I took out my tool belt and put it on, then took out my only weapon, the “Novice Explorer’s Sword”… no, the “Explorer’s Sword for Someone Who’s Finally Pulling Their Weight” (seeing it again still annoyed me. This was definitely either Bisang or the system mocking me) and attached it to my waist.
“We’ll arrive at the guide’s lodge in 3 minutes!”
Taro shouted in a bright voice.
I tensed up slightly and looked out the car window again. Outside was still nothing but snowstorm.
The northern Forgotten Snowy Mountains area was different from the previous Wanderer’s Plains and Desert of Eternity in that it had a guide. There was a lodge in the middle of the snowy mountains that served as a kind of base camp, and players had to receive quests from the guide who owned this lodge to climb the mountains and access the area where the boss mob was located.
‘By the way, it’s going to be incredibly cold. Thinking about the desert heat level, it might be colder than the polar regions.’
I put on the heating band that Seiz had made for me. Its function had been greatly improved compared to the previous cooling band, so now instead of changing it every time, I just had to press the round button embedded in the band to activate it, then press it again to stop it when the situation ended. One band could last up to 24 hours, and in emergency situations, an automatic adjustment function would activate. It would automatically turn on if my body temperature dropped below a certain level even when unconscious. I also packed the heating potion, healing potion, and stamina potion that Eira had made for me tightly into my tool belt.
“All done.”
I was muttering when the car finally stopped.
“We’ve arrived. Everyone get out!”
I looked out the car window, but the snowstorm was still severe and my vision was blurred. Still, I could see something like a building very close by. When I tried to open the door, I sighed. Not just because of the cold, but the wind was too strong. I was worried I might get blown away.
I opened the car door.
Whoooooosh!
Thud.
The car door closed.
I didn’t close it. It was pushed by the wind. And in that brief moment, I was severely battered by the snowstorm, became a snowman on just the front of my body, and nearly fell backward halfway.
“……”
The only reason I was less embarrassed was because Carlisle had already gotten out and wasn’t there, plus Taro was hesitating in the front seat just like me. Since he was always someone who moved from thought to action excessively fast, it was unlike him to still be dawdling in the car even after cheerfully shouting for everyone to get out.
From what I could see, it didn’t look like he was staying behind to clean up either. At least I had tried to open the door, but he didn’t even seem to be thinking about touching his door. Looking at his expression, he was clearly shrinking back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
