160.

For a moment, Inette glared at him with irritated eyes, then suddenly pushed his shoulder away. Johannes stared at her blankly, still in his awkward pushed-back posture. Meanwhile, his suppressed laughter was slightly leaking out, with an expression that seemed to be teasing her. Faced with this sight, Inette’s cheeks gradually turned red.

Finally, she let out a frustrated “Eek!” and stomped her feet as she walked to the bed. “Eh? Inette!” Johannes called her name a few times and hurriedly followed her. Of course, Inette had already thrown herself onto the bed. She flopped down face-first and buried her face in the pillow. Like that, she turned away, ignoring Johannes.

“Are you angry?”

Johannes, who had come running with an excited look on his face, sat down on the edge of the bed with a thud and lightly poked her shoulder. The corners of his eyes were curved in an annoyingly round shape. His mouth, slightly revealing white teeth, showed an unbearably joyful expression. Seeing the back of her head so stubbornly silent, he could hardly contain the laughter that was flowing out. Ah, she was so adorably cute it was killing him.

“I’m not.”

Inette, still face down, only raised her pride.

“Then let me see.”

“I told you I’m not.”

“Let me see.”

Johannes, who had been sitting with his waist twisted, laid his upper body down on Inette’s back as if collapsing, crossing over her shoulder. His straight forehead, buried downwards, was placed right in front of Inette’s nose. Inette quickly turned her head away as soon as their eyes met. When Johannes suddenly raised his body to chase her, Inette turned her head in the opposite direction again to avoid him. The siblings on the bed quarreled like a pair of hummingbirds covered in down. Let me see your face, No, Let me see your face, No, Come on, Go away! Whispered bickering went back and forth, sweet on one side and fierce on the other. Thus, Johannes covered and uncovered Inette’s shoulder several times. Finally trapped with her face in Johannes’ sight, Inette just glared up from within the pillow.

“If you really want to see my face, make a vow first.”

In that voice, still clearly upset, there was a hint of secret expectation that he might give in obediently by now. However.

“I said I don’t want to?”

“……”

“……”

Leaving his sister fuming, Johannes alone seemed innocently puzzled, as if wondering why she kept making such futile demands. So when Inette’s fist, which had rustled up from under Johannes’ side, mercilessly struck one of his shoulders, it was purely because the brother’s behavior had gone too far.

“When someone! Asks nicely! You should! Know when! To stop…!” Inette shouted, breaking her words with each punch.

Johannes pretended to groan in pain, saying “Ow, ow” repeatedly. Of course, he couldn’t hide the laughter that kept flowing out. To be honest, he was delightfully amused to the point of melting. As if he could no longer bear the pain, he suddenly raised his upper body and retreated step by step to Inette’s feet, his face still unable to contain his joy.

Even Inette, who had jumped up as if chasing an enemy and was panting, gradually became infected by his mood. Under her platinum eyebrows still full of indignation, she began to hold back her laughter by firmly closing her lips.

While supporting himself with one arm and massaging his heavily beaten shoulder, Johannes had a long staring contest with her, but in the end, even the corners of her sharply raised eyes softened. From the edges of those eyes, her complexion seemed to bloom red.

“Ah! I can’t stand it!”

With the burst of laughter, Inette’s whole body fell backwards.

“How did I end up in this situation…! Unable to break just one of you.”

“When was I ever easy?”

“True. It’s you after all. So… don’t grow up, alone, so quickly, and shrink, to my size, that’s what I mean.”

Inette placed one ankle on his shoulder and pressed down on it while giggling. This caused her nightgown to slide down to her knees. Johannes’ gaze, now looking somewhat embarrassed beyond just smiling, naturally gravitated towards her ankle. The white ankle tickling his ear. Even in the dim candlelight, a whiter mark remained faintly on the porcelain-smooth white skin, about three finger-widths wide. Though the difference in brightness was not great and would normally go unnoticed, Johannes’ keen eyesight still captured it well.

What kind of mark is this? His confusion was brief. He immediately recalled Inette’s profile that he had glimpsed outside the women’s quarters long ago. Inette, with her ankles bound, shivering her slender shoulders amidst her disheveled hair. So this mark must surely be the trace of a silk ribbon. Mother still hasn’t stopped that awful practice. That ribbon’s knot. Again, it was a knot that could be easily undone. If she just swung a dagger once. Or if she just bent her waist and moved her hands a few times, it would unravel like an illusion that had never existed. The moment that thought occurred to him, without realizing it….

His eyes reddened. Somehow, an extremely wondrous feeling was welling up like black well water. The mark. The trace that binds you even after being removed. As if being dragged by the ankle, his lowered head and the tip of his lips almost brushed against the white, sorrowful silk mark. Johannes, unable to take his intense gaze away from Inette’s ankle, murmured as if talking to himself.

“If you ask me, I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

Inette, lying spread-eagled with only her right leg raised, opened her eyes wide. Only then did Johannes raise his eyes to look at Inette. His icy blue eyes were emitting a strange radiance, like a child who had just discovered a crushed insect.

“Beg me more.”

Johannes’ voice came out slightly trembling. It was due to the intense curiosity and excitement. It was like that of a mischievous child subtly urging, “Shall we turn that bug over?” He didn’t particularly hide his feelings. His heart was already swelling indescribably. It felt like it would burst at any moment.

“Beg me, Inette.”

“What am I supposed to beg for?”

“To carve your name on the first trophy.”

“You should do that on your own. Don’t talk nonsense.”

“…Do it. Johannes.”

“……”

“Do it. Johannes.”

The one who pleaded was, clearly, Johannes.

“…Huh?”

Inette, who had been lying down until then, propped herself up on her elbows, partially raising her upper body. Her gaze, round and dazed as if wondering what she had just heard, met his eyes. Johannes stared back at her, feeling the warmth of her ankle spreading across his cheeks and the corners of his mouth. He whispered again in that state.

“Do it, Johannes.”

“……”

“Hm? Do it, Inette. Do it. Johannes….”

“Are you trying to imitate me now?”

Blinking her long eyelashes, Inette tilted her head, watching his lips with somewhat surprised eyes. Johannes smiled softly.

“Yes.”

“Eck.”

“Don’t make weird noises. Do it.”

“No. I won’t.”

“Do it, Johannes….”

“……”

“Do it.”

“You’re strange. And you don’t resemble me at all.”

After staring at him with blank, dumbfounded eyes for a while, Inette finally started to giggle. Johannes lamented as if regretfully.

“Ah… If you showed me an example, I could do it more prettily than now….”

“I still don’t want to.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Stop it.”

“Stop it.”

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Johannes grabbed Inette’s ankle with one hand as she was about to kick him. He pressed down her struggling thigh with his remaining forearm and repeated her curse-laced laughter a few times. Meanwhile, he pressed his cheek against her intimate and soft ankle. Inette’s voice, constantly chattering about how poorly his mental state and attitude seemed these days, sounded muffled in his ears like a world outside the surface of sleep. With the momentum of sinking like time beneath the primordial lake, his two eyes closed deeply, relying on Inette’s bare feet dangling in the black void.

Do it, Johannes.

Perhaps he was calling his name as her name, borrowing her voice instead. Whine to me. Bind me persistently with a more vigorous vitality than before. That way, you become entangled with me, growing by devouring me like nourishment.

Do it.

Johannes was finally certain on this night. Inette was the only person who wouldn’t make him anxious. The only queen who could tame his black blood like a gentle lamb. Because the beautiful and selfish predator never shows mercy, he who is captivated by her tyranny doesn’t even dare to have the luxury of breaking. So I don’t have to be wary of the true monster that might intrude again at any time. Ah, thus the tired guard falls into a deep sleep and….

Yet my night is safe.

Do it.

His ruler, who was frolicking recklessly despite her frail body, was heart-poundingly enchanting. Why? He, who should be and must be the lowly servant Inette commands, alone harbors an ominous flame in his heart while deeply bowing his head under her capricious gaze. Her crown must be removed, her throne overturned, her collar loosened. Only within his grasp.

Only on that day will he finally be able to feel completely at ease.

Yes. He is certain it has been since their very first meeting. He had dared to hope that she would remain as his own plant, retaining the form of a beast. He wanted to be the one and only servant who could confine her, the queen. His vision was ecstatically clear. There had never been a day when the nature of his desires and anxieties was as evident as today. Even the deep night was as bright as day, so now there was nothing for him to fear. This moment when I can desperately plead to you, this miraculous balance, I am….

Insanely happy.

Do it.

“…Your nightgown is slipping down.”

Johannes, who was about to ask her to pounce on him rather bluntly, swallowed his words. Then he fixed Inette’s skirt that had fallen below her knees and even adjusted her bedding. He himself sat down properly beside her. Because it seemed difficult to handle Inette’s gaze looking up at him cleanly from under the blanket he had just covered her with, for now.

***

The remaining night.

Inette, lying on her side, sang softly as if singing a lullaby.

“…Dreaming of immortality to be created with my own blood amidst misfortune, would that be my sin alone.”

“……”

“Therefore, Death, do not lead me, who is with child, to the gates of the underworld. Please step down from your tired carriage. So that when my daughter finally hosts a new feast of immortality, I can close my eyes as if falling asleep while drinking the hot red wine of life, Death, grant me a late old age. Death, do not lead me, who is with child, to the gates of the underworld….”

“It’s a song I’ve never heard before.”

“It’s supposed to be a conversation between Death and a woman. Every verse is so gloomy that it’s apparently all in the guidebook. Recently, Mother has been singing it so much her lips are wearing out, so it’s become familiar to my ears too…. I really didn’t want to sing anything….”

“Why are you making such a fuss? Your voice is always pleasant to hear.”

“Is that true?”

“Of course.”

“Isn’t it husky?”

“It’s only sweet, who said it’s husky? Don’t carelessly say such things with a voice like that anywhere else. You’ll get glares.”

“……”

“……”

“…Actually, I don’t like the lyrics either. They’re foolish and pathetic. Stupid.”

“Really?”

“Rather than trembling like a ghost to preserve her life, she should have died. If it was difficult, she should have given up someone else’s life instead. If it were me, I would have given up my daughter. Or given up my husband instead.”

“Oh, your husband?”

“I am Valdemar, aren’t I? Unless my husband happens to be a king of somewhere, he would be someone who can’t match up to Valdemar no matter who he is…. I’d rather live myself.”

Inette shakes her head as if the man in her mind is pathetic. I’d rather live myself… she says, then closes her eyes like a sigh. Johannes silently gazed at her delicate eyelids. As he caressed her innocent cheek that had fallen into deep sleep at some point, he unknowingly wore a sympathetic smile.

“Perhaps that man too….”

“……”

“Would be Valdemar.”

“……”

“Inette.”