“Did he leave?”
“Yes. I watched him head down and locked the front gate myself. You can relax now.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Kalz tore off his mask like he was yanking up a stubborn radish and flung it aside. Not that anyone could blame him—just looking at the thing made you feel suffocated, and he’d been running around wearing it the whole time. When Kalz gave a hard shake of his head, sweat flew everywhere.
“Damn it, if it weren’t for that mask, I would’ve won without breaking a sweat.”
“And where exactly does that confidence come from?”
“From you, obviously. You kept yelling how great I was—eventually, I started believing it.”
“Uh-huh, so that’s why you tried to knock Leon out with a shuttlecock?”
“How did you know about that?”
Wait—he was serious?! The way Kalz’s eyes widened in genuine shock sent a chill down my spine. Yep. Good thing I intervened, no matter how much of a hassle it was.
“Whatever happened to sportsmanship? Doesn’t your precious Imperial Law say anything about not assaulting people with a ball?”
“Hmm, don’t recall anything like that.”
“Unbelievable. You should just be glad badminton’s the one sport I’m actually good at. If I wasn’t, Butler Squawk would’ve ripped out every last feather of your mustache as punishment for running your mouth.”
“So what you’re saying is… I would’ve lost in the end?”
“Are you seriously asking that? Someone who tries to use a shuttlecock as a weapon has no right to talk about morals.”
“So, all that praise earlier… that was just a lie?”
Okay, maybe I’d gone a little overboard cheering him on, but it wasn’t a total lie. Kalz was actually decent. Especially considering it was his first time holding a racket—and wearing a mask on top of that. Though to be fair, beating Leon after he got serious would’ve been another story.
Still, sometimes a little white lie goes a long way. Like during “service time” for your boss.
“Honestly? You were good. Hard to believe it was your first time. You picked it up faster than anyone I’ve seen. If we’d played best of three instead of just one set, you might’ve actually won.”
“Obviously. With my reflexes, there’s no way I’d lose to some rookie.”
As soon as he got the praise he wanted, he snorted proudly and wagged his tail. Just like that, his mood did a complete 180. So easy to read. Honestly, his simplicity was kind of cute.
“Then tell me—if you’re so athletic, how come you couldn’t win even once at Yut Nori?”
“That was…! The board was too damn small. With a body like mine, precision force control is nearly impossible.”
“Right, right. Good thing the badminton court was so big, huh?”
The jab about Yut Nori clearly rubbed him the wrong way. He frowned, annoyed.
“Anyway, why’d you make that wish earlier?”
“What do you mean? Sending Leon back was supposed to be the top priority, wasn’t it?”
“Sure, that was the plan—but you could’ve asked for more. Like I did. You could’ve made it so he’d never come back to this castle.”
“Come on, how could I do that? He’s a friend. He sent an official letter just to check on me and came all this way.”
Kalz’s tone turned even sulkier after hearing my reply.
“You’re always soft on that Leon guy. Even today, you were way too nice to him.”
“Me? When?”
“The whole day. You walked him through the garden, explaining every single flower in bloom like he was a kid on a school trip. Was that really necessary?”
“Well, maybe I had to be nice since you were being so incredibly rude. Did you even consider that? And seriously, why won’t you just tell him your name?”
“What if he finds out who I really am? I can’t just go around revealing that recklessly.”
“There’s not even a single note about you in the lord’s private archive. How’s he supposed to find out? Be honest—that excuse just now? Total BS, right?”
Kalz shut his mouth like someone who knew he’d just been called out. Classic. That reaction all but confirmed it—he just didn’t like Leon. I could even guess why, more or less. But now wasn’t the time to dig into that.
“You should be thankful, you know. Because of me, no one’s going to start gossiping that we treat guests like dirt.”
“What a pointless worry. If he so much as breathes a word about this place, it’ll be the last time he ever sees it.”
“Would you please not bare your fangs when you say things like that? It doesn’t sound like a joke—it sounds like a death threat.”
“And what makes you think I’m joking?”
“Pretty sure biting people is against Imperial Law.”
“What, are you scared I’ll sink my teeth into your precious friend?”
“Who said that?”
“Relax. I’ve got refined tastes—I only bite the good stuff.”
What kind of crap was that supposed to be?
I knew better. I knew there was no need to say anything. No need to blurt out how I really felt. But my body was dead tired, my nerves frayed, and he just kept saying the most ridiculous things. I was already at my limit, and I’d been pushing myself nonstop to keep my feelings for him buried. That so-called filter? Hanging on by a thread. In the end, it just snapped.
“This is all your fault! I just didn’t want my friend thinking you’re some uneducated, rude jerk!”
“Uneducated, huh? Bit harsh. And since when is that your problem?”
“Of course it’s my problem! I care because I—!”
No. No no no. That’s not what I meant to say!
Thankfully, my internal filter kicked in just in time to stop the rest from coming out. But now I had to salvage the half-blurted confession somehow.
“You care because…?”
He tilted his head slightly, encouraging me to go on. My brain scrambled for anything—anything—to defuse the situation. And then, like a curse, something from my past life slipped out.
“…because it’s, uh… that thing!”
“……?”
Oh god. I’m doomed.
Of all the times for that word to pop into my head—that thing?!
In my mind, I saw an old lady’s face float by, saying, “You know, the thing. That thing’s happening again soon, right? Shouldn’t we be doing the thing too?” What the hell, brain?!
Kalz stared at me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, clearly waiting for an explanation. I couldn’t take it—I turned away, mumbling in pure shame.
“Anyway, that’s all. Don’t overthink it. Good job today. I’m going now.”
I spun around and bolted, fleeing the scene as fast as I could. But just before I was out of earshot, I heard him mutter behind me:
“What the hell is ‘that thing’…?”
Aaaagh! Briel, you idiot! That thing?! Seriously?!
I hope I collapse from full-body soreness and can’t get up for a week. Let me die of embarrassment already!
***
Unfortunately, the body I’d built up from months of manual labor turned out to be frustratingly sturdy. The next morning, while I was a little sore, I was still fully functional. So I decided to spend the day avoiding Kalz.
Or at least, I tried to. But I didn’t even make it past noon before he found me.
“There you are.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I figured you’d show up around this time.”
Great. There was a time when I could go a full day without bumping into him, no problem. Since when did this lion start memorizing my routine? And worse, why did that tiny bit of thoughtfulness actually make my heart flutter?
I sighed in defeat. “So… what do you want?”
“Want? Oh—just noticed the back garden’s getting a little overgrown. Thought you could help Jack trim it down.”
“Huh? Oh, sure. I’ll take care of it.”
“Also, tell Elizabeth I want something spicy for dinner tonight.”
“Okay. Got it.”
“And what exactly does that thing even mean?”
“That’s, uh… sorry, what?”
So this was what it had all been building up to. I’d let my guard down for just a second, lulled by the fact that we were finally having a normal conversation—and bam, we were right back to that thing. It hit me like a surprise uppercut, and I stumbled for a second, but quickly recovered and launched into the excuse I’d been rehearsing.
“It’s, um, kind of like saying ‘whoa.’ You know, like an exclamation. A compliment, really.”
“If it’s anything like ‘whoa,’ then it doesn’t sound particularly positive. Sounds more like an insult.”
“Excuse me? Did you miss the part where I said compliment?”
“Even so, using it as in ‘I that-thing you’ doesn’t quite line up with how exclamations work, does it?”
“Why are you being so technical about this? It’s fine as long as it kind of works!”
My eyes rolled up toward the ceiling, trying to avoid his laser-sharp stare—he was looking at me like a detective grilling a suspect.
“You’re lying.”
“I am not!”
“Whatever. If you won’t tell me, I’ll just figure it out myself.”
“And how exactly are you planning to do that?”
“Why not? I didn’t know what ‘whoa’ meant either, but I figured it out eventually.”
“Wait, you know what ‘whoa’ means now? Then tell me. What does it mean?”
“It means… you know… whoa.”
Wow. That non-answer told me everything I needed to know. Yep—he’d definitely figured it out. This lion may play dumb, but when it comes down to it, he’s sneakier and sharper than he looks.
