“What’s next?”
Kael’s voice came low against her ear — deep as an echo in a cave, warm with his breath. Close enough that it might as well have been a whisper.
The sound settled into her and seemed to resonate there.
The arm draped around her waist drew her in, and without meaning to her body leaned into it. Every time he spoke, every small shift of his hand, sent an involuntary shiver through her.
‘Why does it feel like this? I’m going insane.’
But she had to hold on. She was a child today. A whining, troublesome child.
“Ummm, over theeere… the beef cutlet!”
“All right.”
‘I cannot keep doing this.’
Every single word was an ordeal. If the memory of him being written as a sociopathic villain weren’t anchoring her to her purpose, she would have given up long ago.
He extended his long arm, speared a piece of beef cutlet with the fork, and guided it between her lips. She sat in his lap and chewed, thinking.
‘Hmm. He’s holding out longer than I expected. He should be showing some reaction by now…’
Something deflating settled over her.
‘Why is he still not reacting?’
A little while ago, when he’d asked ‘what should I feed you’ —
She had answered like this:
“…Hmph! I want dessert first!”
“Go ahead.”
“Then baguette!”
“…Baguette?”
“Yes! Hurry! I want something hard and warm!”
“Hard and warm.”
“Yes! Give it to me! Eenh, I’m hungry~!”
She had held out until the very end, throwing her tantrum with full commitment.
He had looked at her — demanding ‘hard and warm baguette’ before the meal had even properly begun — and laughed, just slightly, as though he couldn’t quite help it.
Well, fair enough. A grown adult making a scene at a dining table, with no manners and no sense of order, demanding things in the wrong sequence.
But she had promised Emily she wouldn’t do anything halfway. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it properly. This time she’d even pinky-sworn it — she was going to get broken up with, no matter what. And Emily, for her part, had said with complete sincerity that she genuinely hoped Ivelina would succeed.
She was going to keep acting as though her tongue had been surgically removed.
“Next?”
“Cream soup! I want something soft!”
He took up a spoon and brought it to her lips.
She accepted it, shamelessly, like a baby bird being fed by its mother.
‘Is this right…? Why is his reaction so mild?’
Something felt off.
Was this really the reaction Emily had described — the reaction of the man who’d broken up with his girlfriend in two minutes flat?
‘He isn’t irritated. He isn’t even slightly annoyed.’
In fact, Kael hadn’t touched a single bite of his own food. He was entirely occupied with feeding her.
‘…Is he hungry? I’m the only one eating.’
The whole point was to make him miserable, but watching him starve himself while feeding her was starting to prick at her conscience.
She glanced at him sideways.
“Um… aren’t you going to eat, Kael?”
He smiled faintly, brought his lips close to her ear, and murmured:
“Will you feed me?”
“No!”
She recoiled with an energetic shake of her head and collected herself.
Come to think of it, showing consideration for him right now would not serve her at all. Her parents had always told her that men liked women who were thoughtful and caring. Which meant, in front of Kael, she had to throw every ounce of thoughtfulness directly out the window.
‘But what now? I’m already full.’
He didn’t seem likely to raise the white flag before she was completely satisfied. It was apparently time to bring out the next card.
“I’m done eating! I’m full!”
“You’ve barely had anything.”
“I don’t want to! I’m not eating! I don’t want to eat!”
She squirmed and flailed on his lap, making herself as difficult as possible.
The motion pressed her down against his thighs repeatedly.
As she pitched and flailed without any attempt at balance, he wrapped both hands around her waist.
“Stop. You’ll fall.”
“I don’t care about that! Let’s go! I’m sick of being in here! I’m full, I said!”
She ignored him completely.
She kept squirming, like a child who has decided not to listen to a single word.
And then —
‘Thunk.’
Kael dropped his forehead lightly against the back of her head.
And said:
“Please.”
“…”
“Would you just… hold still.”
The voice that landed against the nape of her neck was unlike him — quieter, softer, but with something grinding underneath it, like a sound of genuine strain.
His breath came hot and close against her skin, and against her will her body tensed.
The hands around her waist tightened their grip considerably.
She was briefly intimidated by his tone.
But wait. The tightening hands. Was that — anger?
‘Did he just sigh? That was a sigh, wasn’t it?!’
This was a good sign. A very good sign.
He seemed to be nearing the edge of what he could take — irritation finally beginning to surface.
She felt guilty about Kael not having eaten even a single bite of steak, but it couldn’t be helped.
She pressed on with full determination.
“Eenh, let’s go out! I’m sick of being cooped up in here!”
“…Then I’ll have them prepare tea—”
“Not tea! I want cocoa! Eenh… I want something sweet. If it’s not cocoa I won’t drink anything!”
Children liked sweet things, after all.
She cut him off without the slightest pretense of manners and whined at full volume.
“Fine, then.”
He set her down on her feet and answered.
“Eenh. It’s all wrinkled. Shake it out for me!”
Standing across from him, she pointed at the creased hem of her dress with one finger.
Without a word, he reached out and smoothed the fabric — ‘pat, pat.’
‘This is genuinely the most mortifying thing I’ve ever done. This is so hard.’
She felt herself drifting slightly outside her own body.
‘Wait. Looking at him straight on like this — Kael’s expression really has stiffened, hasn’t it?’
Even his voice had dropped lower than usual.
“Come along, then.”
He turned and started walking ahead of her.
Something sparked in her mind at the sight of him.
Emily’s words, surfacing precisely when needed.
‘”Cling to him relentlessly.”‘
‘”Ask him to do everything for you. When eating — ask to be fed. When walking — say you can’t manage and ask to be carried. Just ask for one thing after another, endlessly.”‘
“Hiing. Carry me on your baaack~!”
She could hardly believe those words had come out of her own mouth. A wave of nausea rose and she suppressed it firmly.
‘Kael, I sincerely apologize in advance for what I’m putting you through. …This isn’t exactly easy for me either.’
But she had to.
She set her jaw and held her course.
Kael stopped walking. He stood very still for a moment.
Then he turned around slowly.
“You want me to carry you?”
His eyes had gone narrow, the line between his brows pulled sharp and severe.
He let out a long breath — something between a sigh and a groan — into the air above him.
Then he started walking toward her. With an expression that suggested something in him was considerably displeased.
* * *
“Are you comfortable?”
“…Yes.”
Without a word of complaint, he had given her his back.
She lay draped over his broad shoulders and turned the situation over in her mind.
His expression had been wrong, and his voice had dropped lower than usual — she’d thought for a moment—
‘So what is this. I actually thought he was angry this time.’
Was it still not enough?
Hanging off his back, she dangled her legs in the air and whined.
“Eenh! Actually, I don’t want cocoa anymore! I changed my mind!”
“Then what?”
“I want to play! Being inside is stuffy and I hate it!”
“All right. We’ll go to the garden, then.”
“Okay!”
‘I might actually be sick.’ At the same time, a strange bittersweet feeling crept in.
After hours of speaking in baby talk, the words were coming out naturally now — flowing without any effort. She was disgusted by herself, and she had no idea how this man could possibly be standing it. She was using informal speech, whining constantly, affecting a childish lisp through every sentence.
No matter how she looked at it, ‘he should not be all right with this.’
Did he have as iron a stomach as he did iron muscles?
She pressed her face against his back and mentally organized her next move.
“We’re here.”
She lifted her head at his words.
“Oh…”
Her mouth fell open.
She had assumed someone like him wouldn’t give any thought to the appearance of his estate. But the garden that opened before her was — she had no better word for it — extraordinary.
The walking path split the garden cleanly in two: to the right, an expanse of roses; to the left, a field of tulips.
The colors were so vivid and varied that her eyes went wide on their own.
‘All right. Let’s begin.’
* * *
