Satin was startled and hit Cain on the back again. Cain winked and kept his mouth shut.
Satin awkwardly laughed and changed the subject.
“Thank you for taking care of the garden. This is just a small gift. I went to the capital. There were a lot of good things there.”
Satin deliberately spoke quickly to push Cain’s previous nonsense out of the lady’s mind. Fortunately, it worked.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered with this,” the lady said, though she looked pleased. Her eyes crinkled with a smile. She looked into the gift bag and grinned widely before suddenly remembering something.
“Oh, by the way, do you know that the Peace Night Festival starts tomorrow?”
“The Peace Night Festival?” Satin wondered what that was. He wasn’t a native of Cloverland, so he didn’t know much about local festivals. He looked at Cain, who seemed unfazed.
‘Does he know about it?’ Satin thought.
Seeing Satin’s reaction, the lady chuckled softly, covering her mouth with one hand.
“Oh, you’re not from around here, are you? You’ve come at the right time. It lasts for nine days starting tomorrow.”
“That’s quite long.”
“Yes, it wasn’t always this long, but something happened recently.”
“What happened?” Satin wondered if it was related to the demon lord’s defeat or the defeat of the demon god in the capital.
Even though there was no one else around, the lady lowered her voice to a whisper.
“The Commissioner of Order died.”
“What?” Satin was taken aback by the unexpected news.
“He got drunk and was kicked out of a bar for harassing women. He fell asleep on the street and froze to death.”
“Really?”
“I think it was divine retribution,” the lady said.
“Divine retribution?” Satin was skeptical. It seemed like an ugly way to die, but divine retribution?
Seeing Satin’s puzzled expression, the lady shook her head and explained,
“He had a terrible reputation. He always bossed around the Bureau of Order and the knights just because he was a noble. I’m sure there was more to him than meets the eye.”
It seemed like everyone but Satin knew about this. He glanced at Cain, who looked indifferent.
‘Well, he wouldn’t care about someone else’s business,’ Satin thought.
Cain usually kept to himself, but he probably hated the Bureau of Order. He might even be glad to hear that a high-ranking official had died.
The lady continued,
“Anyway, a new Commissioner has taken over, and he seems like a good person.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Isn’t it? He must have talked to the temple. He suggested making the festival more grand this year to improve the mood.”
“I see.”
It was typical for big events to happen simultaneously. While the capital was focused on defeating the demon god, Cloverland had its own dramas unfolding.
“Don’t you think it’s strange, though? Freezing to death in this weather? It has to be divine retribution, right?”
“It is a bit odd,” Satin agreed, nodding. Suddenly, he remembered Rita’s wish.
‘Could this be the result of Rita’s wish?’ he wondered.
If so, the Commissioner’s death was unfortunate, but Satin didn’t feel the need to mourn a bad person. He pushed aside any lingering sympathy.
“Anyway, make sure to go out and enjoy the festival. It should be quite a spectacle.”
The lady tapped Satin’s arm with her free hand and added,
“It would be fun if your friend went with you.”
“He’s not my friend.”
“Hey.”
***
The moon had been up for a while, but Satin couldn’t sleep. He lay in his own bed for the first time in a long while, staring at the ceiling covered in patterns of unnamed birds.
One, two, three… seventeen, eighteen.
‘Why am I counting these? They’re not even sheep,’ Satin thought.
He decided to get up and make some tea in the kitchen. But as he was about to get out of bed, he heard a soft sound.
‘Footsteps?’
He wasn’t scared; the only person who could be walking around at this hour was Cain. But why was Cain up at this time? Maybe he couldn’t sleep either.
Curious, Satin listened carefully. The footsteps, which seemed to come from Cain’s room, stopped in front of Satin’s door. He expected a knock, but there was only silence.
‘What’s going on?’ Satin wondered.
He hadn’t heard Cain walk away, so he must still be standing there. Satin quietly approached the door, though he wasn’t sure why he was being so stealthy. He pressed his ear against the door and heard a faint sigh.
‘Why is he sighing out there?’ Satin wondered.
He hesitated, unsure whether to open the door. His curiosity urged him to open it, but he worried about creating an awkward situation. Before he could decide, Cain spoke from the other side of the door.
“Why are you standing there?”
Satin jumped back, startled. He had been caught.
“…That’s my line. Why are you out there?” Satin asked.
“I was just passing by,” Cain said, which was clearly a lie since he had been standing there for a while. Satin didn’t press the issue, and an awkward silence followed.
Cain broke the silence again.
“When are you going to sleep?”
“When I’m tired.”
“You’re not tired now?”
Satin nodded absently before realizing Cain couldn’t see him. “No,” he said.
“Then open the door,” Cain said.
Satin hesitantly opened the door and was startled to find Cain standing very close.
“What are you doing?” Satin asked gruffly.
Cain ignored his tone and stepped one foot into the room.
“You’re not from Cloverland, are you?” Cain asked.
“…Why do you ask?”
“Because if you were from Cloverland, you’d know about the Peace Night Festival. It’s pretty loud the whole time.”
“Ha, doesn’t sound very peaceful,” Satin said with an awkward laugh. He had been in this world for years and hadn’t known about the festival.
Cain stepped back, standing in the doorway.
“You’re hiding something,” he said.
“Um…”
“I’ve been thinking. Even when that old man was alive, you didn’t seem like someone who had lost his memory. You were too… complete.”
Satin said nothing, avoiding Cain’s gaze. He didn’t want to admit anything, but he also didn’t want to lie.
“I have something to tell you too,” Cain said gently.
Satin looked up at him. In the dim light, he could see Cain’s face clearly.
“When I was young, I lived in an orphanage. As you can imagine, I was a very cute kid.”
“You’re shameless…” Satin muttered.
Cain chuckled.
“Thanks to that, I was adopted quickly,” Cain continued, his voice trailing off. It was clear that the adoption hadn’t been a happy experience.
“They were a very strange couple. If anything in the room was even slightly out of place, they would beat me until I passed out. If I cried from the pain, they would hit me more. They said my face would get dirty.”
It was a worse story than Satin had expected. Cain didn’t give Satin a chance to respond before continuing.
“I ran away because I thought I would die if I stayed… This is the first time I’ve told anyone this story.”
“…I see.”
“I thought the past didn’t matter. Who you were before I met you isn’t important. But the truth is, I thought I already knew everything about you.”
Cain knew a version of Satin that Satin didn’t recognize. But that version wasn’t the real Satin.
“I want to know your past. The real you, not the fake version I know.”
Satin was taken aback, as if a public proposal would have been less shocking. He finally looked away.
Cain didn’t blame Satin for his silence or press for an answer. Instead, he changed the subject.
“During the Peace Night Festival, they build a large tunnel-shaped structure in front of the temple. It symbolizes overcoming hardship and finding peace. Do you know what people call it?”
“…What do they call it?”
“The Tunnel of Love.”
Satin looked up, surprised. Cain grinned and said he should get some sleep, then turned to leave. Satin stood there, stunned, for a long time.
Ohhhh, a date 😏
Maybe a kiss scene too I hope.