"yes...?"
His hand, clutching the carving knife, stopped abruptly.
I met his gaze straight ahead without avoiding it.
“I’ve been curious about this for a while.”
“What... were you curious about?”
“We’re the same people, but we’re so different.”
I pointed alternately at his arm and my arm.
My arms, which looked thin and soft at first glance without any curves, and his arms, which were thick and bumpy here and there, were as different as if they were of different species.
As I was looking back and forth between his body and mine, Callius burst out laughing and held out his arm.
“Feel free to touch it.”
I carefully placed my hand on his bare skin, his thick clothes removed. His warmth spread through my fingertips.
I asked him, startled by the unexpected sensation.
“It’s very hard.”
That's why it felt uncomfortable and not comfortable when I crossed my arms.
I thought it was because his armor or clothes were thick, but his arms themselves were like iron armor.
“Is this a physical characteristic of the Ronheim people?”
The only man I've ever seen naked was Viscount Pelsus, and his body wasn't that rugged.
His chest and stomach were bulging and saggy, and his flesh was as soft as mine.
But the Ronheim people looked as tough as golems.
So I thought that perhaps the unusually strong and muscular physique was a physical characteristic of northerners.
Callius shrugged.
“Northerners are indeed bigger than southerners, but I’ve never thought that their muscles would be different, so I’m not sure.”
“Is that so?”
I delicately touched his arm from his wrist to his shoulder.
It was a very strong-looking arm.
I looked down at my arms, feeling psychologically deprived, and slumped my shoulders.
“I want to be like Callius.”
“Like me...?”
As if a good idea suddenly struck him, Callius took a piece of paper out of the drawer of the nightstand and drew a picture with a quill.
A few long lines were added to the circle, and bumpy limbs were created.
“Is this what you want to be like?”
I took the paper he handed me and opened my mouth.
It was such a bizarre painting that no one with any level of culture could possibly appreciate it.
“Is this really me?”
“Don’t they look alike?”
"Oh my god."
"It's the same. If Chloe had a body like mine, it would look like this."
“No! They’re not the same at all!”
“Look in the mirror. This is what you look like.”
“I have such scraggly hair and sharp eyes?”
I was so angry that I snatched the quill from him and drew a rough circle and a straight line to make a face, just like he had done, and then drew a slender torso.
“If I resemble this painting, then Callius resembles this painting too.”
“Hey, you should draw it a little bigger than Chloe.”
He extended the legs on the torso I drew.
“You’re taller than me? That’s ridiculous.”
I cut off half of the leg he drew and drew an X.
“It’s probably about this much.”
“It will be even more different than this.”
“Hey, I don’t think so. Do you want to try?”
We ended up comparing the length of each other's legs on the bed.
Then, before we knew it, we were both angry and started tickling each other and rolling around on the bed.
“Ahaha! It tickles!”
“You started first, didn’t you?”
“Can you do this by force?”
"Even the enemy's power is in the balance. Don't you know who's exerting their power right now?"
“Ugh! Wait! Wait! Ahaha! It tickles!”
There was a lot of noise in the bedroom.
After playing around for a while, I was completely exhausted and lay down on the bed.
The only sound in the dorm was my own gasping for breath.
Lamia's words that spending the night with a loved one was a very happy and enjoyable thing were correct in another sense.
'I don't know about love...'
I shrugged my shoulders and denied it inwardly.
Anyway, I was feeling very cheerful right now.
Then Callius turned towards me, rested his arm on mine, and called me.
“Chloe.”
His voice fell softly over me like a blanket, accompanied by the crackling sound of firewood.
I looked at him, feeling warm.
“Yes, Callius.”
“Are there any inconveniences to living in Ronheim?”
I shook my head at once.
“Um, no. They’re all nice people.”
“Do you still feel that way, even though there are people who are suspicious and wary of you?”
“It’s all because I want to protect Callius and Ronheim.”
I answered, gently sweeping the blanket near the fireplace with my hand.
The side directly in contact with the fire was much warmer than the other side of the blanket.
“Besides, even though they suspect me and are wary of me, no one does anything vulgar to me.”
Things like locking me in my bedroom and not letting me out for days, or making me skip meals and serving me cold food.
Having been through so much of this, I was satisfied with the honesty of the employees and knights here, who kept an eye on me but never did anything bad to me.
Callius asked cautiously.
“Have you ever been subjected to a vulgar act?”
I smiled bitterly and thought to myself.
'So many that I can't remember them all.'
I don't think Callius could have heard my inner thoughts, but he found my hand under the blanket and held it.
His hands were much warmer than a blanket warmed by a fireplace.
“...”
I don't know why I become such a crybaby when I'm with him.
I took a deep breath and held back the tears that were about to fall.
“I have one more question.”
“Ask.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
I was lying there staring at the ceiling when I turned towards him.
We were now lying facing each other.
Lying so close to him, I felt incredibly comfortable and natural, unlike the first time.
“I don’t know why you’re so nice to me.”
Callius smiled gently.
“Because I promised.”
"Promise?"
What does that mean?
When I asked him again with wide eyes, he tucked my hair behind my ear and said,
“I made a promise with my childhood friend. We broke up a long time ago.”
The cheek where his hand touched tickled.
"We promised each other that even if we never see each other again, we'll never forget each other and continue our friendship, at least in our hearts. We'll trust and support each other, no matter where or how we meet."
“...It’s romantic.”
His words made me think of something vague, so I searched my memory and pulled out a vague memory from my childhood.
"I guess everyone makes promises like that when they're young. I remember making a similar promise myself."
Callius smiled deeply.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But what does that have to do with being nice to me?”
Callius burst into a low, throaty laugh, wondering what was so funny.
“...?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression and gave me an odd answer.
“Chloe looks like my friend.”
"Really? That's amazing. My friend looks like Callius, and Callius's friend looks like me, too."
“Yeah, it’s funny. That’s why I’m a little confused.”
“What is it?”
Callius did not answer that question.
He just shook his head as if he didn't know.
'What?'
I brushed it off as nothing and continued asking other questions.
“Does that friend, like Callius, remember the promise she made when she was young?”
“Probably not.”
“How do you know that?”
“We met again by chance...”
“It’s nice to meet her again!”
I let out a sigh of anticipation, very curious about the backstory, and he stared at me with a bitter smile.
“He didn’t remember me. It was like he’d completely forgotten.”
"Ah..."
I was disappointed by the story, which was different from what I expected.
I didn't want his romantic childhood story to end so vainly, so I dismissed his thoughts.
“No way. Could it be that Callius misunderstood?”
“That would be nice, though.”
There was no sign of hope on Callius' face as he spoke.
He seemed confident that there would be absolutely no misunderstanding.
He pulled the blanket over me and covered me tightly.
"It's getting very late. If we sleep in tomorrow, people will have fun imagining what happened last night."
“...!”
Why does Lamia's mischievous laughter flash through my mind when I hear Callius's words?
I quickly closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
Callius also straightened up and lay down.
I thought he was going to fall asleep, but he whispered softly.
“Good night, Chloe.”
It was an unfamiliar and ticklish goodnight greeting.
I wanted to tell him to sleep well, but somehow my shyness wouldn't let me open my mouth.
I barely managed to answer with a trembling voice.
“Callius too...”
His hand, clutching the carving knife, stopped abruptly.
I met his gaze straight ahead without avoiding it.
“I’ve been curious about this for a while.”
“What... were you curious about?”
“We’re the same people, but we’re so different.”
I pointed alternately at his arm and my arm.
My arms, which looked thin and soft at first glance without any curves, and his arms, which were thick and bumpy here and there, were as different as if they were of different species.
As I was looking back and forth between his body and mine, Callius burst out laughing and held out his arm.
“Feel free to touch it.”
I carefully placed my hand on his bare skin, his thick clothes removed. His warmth spread through my fingertips.
I asked him, startled by the unexpected sensation.
“It’s very hard.”
That's why it felt uncomfortable and not comfortable when I crossed my arms.
I thought it was because his armor or clothes were thick, but his arms themselves were like iron armor.
“Is this a physical characteristic of the Ronheim people?”
The only man I've ever seen naked was Viscount Pelsus, and his body wasn't that rugged.
His chest and stomach were bulging and saggy, and his flesh was as soft as mine.
But the Ronheim people looked as tough as golems.
So I thought that perhaps the unusually strong and muscular physique was a physical characteristic of northerners.
Callius shrugged.
“Northerners are indeed bigger than southerners, but I’ve never thought that their muscles would be different, so I’m not sure.”
“Is that so?”
I delicately touched his arm from his wrist to his shoulder.
It was a very strong-looking arm.
I looked down at my arms, feeling psychologically deprived, and slumped my shoulders.
“I want to be like Callius.”
“Like me...?”
As if a good idea suddenly struck him, Callius took a piece of paper out of the drawer of the nightstand and drew a picture with a quill.
A few long lines were added to the circle, and bumpy limbs were created.
“Is this what you want to be like?”
I took the paper he handed me and opened my mouth.
It was such a bizarre painting that no one with any level of culture could possibly appreciate it.
“Is this really me?”
“Don’t they look alike?”
"Oh my god."
"It's the same. If Chloe had a body like mine, it would look like this."
“No! They’re not the same at all!”
“Look in the mirror. This is what you look like.”
“I have such scraggly hair and sharp eyes?”
I was so angry that I snatched the quill from him and drew a rough circle and a straight line to make a face, just like he had done, and then drew a slender torso.
“If I resemble this painting, then Callius resembles this painting too.”
“Hey, you should draw it a little bigger than Chloe.”
He extended the legs on the torso I drew.
“You’re taller than me? That’s ridiculous.”
I cut off half of the leg he drew and drew an X.
“It’s probably about this much.”
“It will be even more different than this.”
“Hey, I don’t think so. Do you want to try?”
We ended up comparing the length of each other's legs on the bed.
Then, before we knew it, we were both angry and started tickling each other and rolling around on the bed.
“Ahaha! It tickles!”
“You started first, didn’t you?”
“Can you do this by force?”
"Even the enemy's power is in the balance. Don't you know who's exerting their power right now?"
“Ugh! Wait! Wait! Ahaha! It tickles!”
There was a lot of noise in the bedroom.
***
After playing around for a while, I was completely exhausted and lay down on the bed.
The only sound in the dorm was my own gasping for breath.
Lamia's words that spending the night with a loved one was a very happy and enjoyable thing were correct in another sense.
'I don't know about love...'
I shrugged my shoulders and denied it inwardly.
Anyway, I was feeling very cheerful right now.
Then Callius turned towards me, rested his arm on mine, and called me.
“Chloe.”
His voice fell softly over me like a blanket, accompanied by the crackling sound of firewood.
I looked at him, feeling warm.
“Yes, Callius.”
“Are there any inconveniences to living in Ronheim?”
I shook my head at once.
“Um, no. They’re all nice people.”
“Do you still feel that way, even though there are people who are suspicious and wary of you?”
“It’s all because I want to protect Callius and Ronheim.”
I answered, gently sweeping the blanket near the fireplace with my hand.
The side directly in contact with the fire was much warmer than the other side of the blanket.
“Besides, even though they suspect me and are wary of me, no one does anything vulgar to me.”
Things like locking me in my bedroom and not letting me out for days, or making me skip meals and serving me cold food.
Having been through so much of this, I was satisfied with the honesty of the employees and knights here, who kept an eye on me but never did anything bad to me.
Callius asked cautiously.
“Have you ever been subjected to a vulgar act?”
I smiled bitterly and thought to myself.
'So many that I can't remember them all.'
I don't think Callius could have heard my inner thoughts, but he found my hand under the blanket and held it.
His hands were much warmer than a blanket warmed by a fireplace.
“...”
I don't know why I become such a crybaby when I'm with him.
I took a deep breath and held back the tears that were about to fall.
“I have one more question.”
“Ask.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
I was lying there staring at the ceiling when I turned towards him.
We were now lying facing each other.
Lying so close to him, I felt incredibly comfortable and natural, unlike the first time.
“I don’t know why you’re so nice to me.”
Callius smiled gently.
“Because I promised.”
"Promise?"
What does that mean?
When I asked him again with wide eyes, he tucked my hair behind my ear and said,
“I made a promise with my childhood friend. We broke up a long time ago.”
The cheek where his hand touched tickled.
"We promised each other that even if we never see each other again, we'll never forget each other and continue our friendship, at least in our hearts. We'll trust and support each other, no matter where or how we meet."
“...It’s romantic.”
His words made me think of something vague, so I searched my memory and pulled out a vague memory from my childhood.
"I guess everyone makes promises like that when they're young. I remember making a similar promise myself."
Callius smiled deeply.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But what does that have to do with being nice to me?”
Callius burst into a low, throaty laugh, wondering what was so funny.
“...?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression and gave me an odd answer.
“Chloe looks like my friend.”
"Really? That's amazing. My friend looks like Callius, and Callius's friend looks like me, too."
“Yeah, it’s funny. That’s why I’m a little confused.”
“What is it?”
Callius did not answer that question.
He just shook his head as if he didn't know.
'What?'
I brushed it off as nothing and continued asking other questions.
“Does that friend, like Callius, remember the promise she made when she was young?”
“Probably not.”
“How do you know that?”
“We met again by chance...”
“It’s nice to meet her again!”
I let out a sigh of anticipation, very curious about the backstory, and he stared at me with a bitter smile.
“He didn’t remember me. It was like he’d completely forgotten.”
"Ah..."
I was disappointed by the story, which was different from what I expected.
I didn't want his romantic childhood story to end so vainly, so I dismissed his thoughts.
“No way. Could it be that Callius misunderstood?”
“That would be nice, though.”
There was no sign of hope on Callius' face as he spoke.
He seemed confident that there would be absolutely no misunderstanding.
He pulled the blanket over me and covered me tightly.
"It's getting very late. If we sleep in tomorrow, people will have fun imagining what happened last night."
“...!”
Why does Lamia's mischievous laughter flash through my mind when I hear Callius's words?
I quickly closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
Callius also straightened up and lay down.
I thought he was going to fall asleep, but he whispered softly.
“Good night, Chloe.”
It was an unfamiliar and ticklish goodnight greeting.
I wanted to tell him to sleep well, but somehow my shyness wouldn't let me open my mouth.
I barely managed to answer with a trembling voice.
“Callius too...”
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