17. Strawberry Pink Rug
I couldn't say anything.
“Uh, um...”
“How is it? How is it?”
Diarin asked, very much anticipating Ceres' favor.
Ceres just groaned.
A variety of rooms opened up before his eyes.
Ceres' eyes were already spinning just looking at it.
Please, I beg you, just put me in an empty room.
“...I don’t like it.”
As soon as he spoke, Diarin closed the door with a sullen look on her face.
But as soon as she moved to the next room, she found her energy again.
“Wow, this room is so colorfully decorated! Isn’t it pretty? That sparkly lace curtain...”
Bang.
Instead of answering, Ceres closed the door.
If colors could make sounds, it would be a loud room; eardrums would burst.
Sight isn't as irritating as hearing, but Ceres was just beginning to realize that it can be just as irritating.
“...If you don’t like it, just say so...”
Diarin grumbled in sadness at having her tastes ignored.
After that, the tour of rooms continued until all the rooms in the mansion were visited.
Among them, there was not a single room that Ceres felt like staying in.
After looking at all the rooms, Ceres chose the plainest one, without windows.
And that night.
Ceres opened his eyes wide in the room he had moved to.
Diarin moved rooms, so he might become sensitive, so she used her divine power to comfort him until he fell asleep.
But soon after, his eyes opened on their own.
"Ha..."
Ceres took deep breaths, just as Diarin had taught him, and tried to calm the excitement that was threatening to surge up.
But as time passed, tensions only increased.
He felt like he was going to run wild like the day he moved.
Even though he knew he shouldn't do that, he couldn't control himself.
Finally, Ceres, unable to bear it any longer, got up from his seat.
Ceres, who had been pacing around with uneasy steps, decided that it wasn't enough and left the room.
As he left the room, all the sounds of the world blocked by the door pierced his ears.
The sound of insects crying at night, owls hunting, leaves rustling in the wind, and Diarin's heavy breathing.
Everything else was as jarring as the clang of a battlefield, but the last sound, Diarin's breathing, was not jarring. In fact, the more he listened, the more he felt at peace.
Ceres followed the sound of Diarin's unsteady breathing.
As he passed through the long hallway and approached Diarin's room, his heavy breathing began to calm down a little.
"Ha..."
In front of Diarin's room, Ceres took another deep breath.
On the first night, he ran to Diarin, angry at her snoring and the sound of her teeth.
While he was wondering if he should just open the door and kill that thing, Diarin woke up.
Actually, that worry was very long.
During that time, Diarin slept soundly, not noticing any signs or sounds.
So, if he opens the door for a moment and stands next to her, he won't wake her up.
But Ceres has been getting a lot of education lately about what not to do.
One of them was that each person has their own space, and that you have to ask permission to go further than that.
It was considered polite to knock when entering a room to make one's presence known.
If he knocks, he'll wake up Diarin.
He didn't want that.
It was comfortable just to listen to Diarin's breathing.
He felt like he could rest if he just listened to that breathing sound a little closer.
Ceres gave up on opening the door and instead sat with his back against it.
There was only a door between them, but on the other side, he could hear Diarin's breathing. And the soft beating of her heart.
Ceres' heart vibrated in sync with that heart's vibration.
The heartbeat that had been pounding at the top of his head gradually subsided.
At some point, Ceres fell asleep.
“...What is it? Why are you doing this here?”
“I woke up.”
Ceres raised his head slightly.
Diarin couldn't help but feel astonished.
She thought she could now figure out the cause of most of Ceres's actions, but sometimes he does something unimaginable like this.
“If you wake up, can you just go back to sleep?”
“I like it here.”
“...Ah... right...”
What can she say to that?
“But this isn’t a room. People sleep in rooms.”
“I can’t sleep.”
Diarin, who knew the language system of Ceres better than anyone else, immediately grasped the meaning behind the words.
“Isn’t this the wrong room? What if we move to another one?”
Diarin was in the mood to start the room tour again right away.
Ceres shook his head hastily.
Yesterday was tough, too. He didn't want to do it again today.
And the room Ceres wanted was already decided.
“That room.”
The room closest to Diarin's room.
“Oh, this room?”
Diarin opened the door that Ceres had pointed to, then flinched and froze.
On the floral wallpaper...
On a rabbit-patterned blanket...
It was a room with a strawberry-patterned rug.
Anyone who saw it would know that it was a cute room for a baby.
Moreover, it is filled with gorgeous and wild colors and patterns that Ceres hates.
It wasn't just filled with color. Various dolls in the shapes of snowflakes, raindrops, and butterflies hung from the ceiling and windows.
“...Are you okay?”
Diarin was genuinely worried about Ceres.
She wonders if he's going crazy. He's been striving for extreme simplicity, but when that just doesn't work, he's gone to extremes.
"...Maybe."
Ceres also could not be confident in himself.
But that night, Ceres spent the night more comfortably than he had expected.
He felt as if he had taken a drug that calmed his nerves, hearing Diarin's breathing coming from across the wall.
Ceres lay on the strawberry-patterned pink rug and listened to Diarin's breathing for a long time.
The two people who had resolved the room issue began intensive training in etiquette for welcoming the royal family, starting today.
Diarin finished cleaning faster than she thought, so she had more time to focus on Ceres's training.
Maybe they can successfully hold the visiting event.
Diarin was full of dreams and hopes.
“Yes, then let’s start with greetings.”
The priest was a panacea in the hearts of the people.
She believed that if she held onto a priest and complained about anything, or if something seemed impossible, she could get a blessing to resolve it.
Even on the battlefield, if you meet a priest, you feel relieved that you have saved your life.
Naturally, even high-ranking officials often visited the shrine. Many nobles also visited the shrine.
Although Diarin had no need to deal with them directly, she thoroughly learned the etiquette at the temple level so that she could deal with them without panicking if she ever encountered them.
She never thought the day would come when she would use that knowledge like this.
“...Are you doing well?”
Diarin was dumbfounded as she watched Ceres greet her at the perfect angle.
Although he had only been taught it once, Ceres greeted her with grace, as if he had never left a noble family since the moment he was born.
Perhaps it was an inevitable result.
Ceres is a person who has refined his body to the extreme.
Of course, he could do things with his body as precisely as a knife.
"Yes, let me call you Sevian. Let's start from the moment you get off the carriage."
"Yes."
Every step of the ceremony is a scenario.
Every word, every look, is determined.
Diarin planned them with the mansion's flow in mind, and Ceres did a great job.
However, there was a fatal problem.
“No, no! Where are you going after saying hello!”
"Ah..."
The problem was that Ceres' sensitivity had not yet been properly resolved.
Just now, as he was bowing in front of the entrance, he almost jumped out at the sound of something rustling in the garden.
If this happens even when it's just the two of them, what will happen when strangers start swarming around?
You could have seen a truly spectacular scene with blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
Even with the blood and flesh of the royal family.
It was terrifying just to imagine.
‘Please bear with this...’
Diarin cried and begged.
But if it were something that could be done just by crying, the young master would have debuted a long time ago.
'I think I can forgive a few mistakes in manners, but I can’t forgive murder.'
What if the person who was supposed to look after you dies?
Even if you're lucky enough not to die, of course, they won't let you off.
In order to successfully complete this royal visit, it was imperative to correct Ceres' habit of reacting to something and jumping out of control.
“You’re not doing this because of an order like ‘kill everything that moves’, are you?”
“No. That’s only during operations.”
“So how did the 8th Unit members get along on the battlefield?”
“Kill the sound.”
Only those who could do that were active as members of the 8th Division.
Somehow, the 8th Division's barracks were located extremely far from the general camp.
"Even on a battlefield, you hear a lot of insects and wild animals. More so than here. What about that?"
“Kill.”
“...Not sleeping?”
“If you kill them, they become quiet.”
“...”
It was a really neat and simple solution.
Yeah, no matter how wild a beast it is, if you keep killing it, there will be an end.
She sometimes recalled times when unidentified meat was served in large quantities.
There was even a rumor going around that the 8th Unit had killed people without their knowledge.
I couldn't say anything.
“Uh, um...”
“How is it? How is it?”
Diarin asked, very much anticipating Ceres' favor.
Ceres just groaned.
A variety of rooms opened up before his eyes.
Ceres' eyes were already spinning just looking at it.
Please, I beg you, just put me in an empty room.
“...I don’t like it.”
As soon as he spoke, Diarin closed the door with a sullen look on her face.
But as soon as she moved to the next room, she found her energy again.
“Wow, this room is so colorfully decorated! Isn’t it pretty? That sparkly lace curtain...”
Bang.
Instead of answering, Ceres closed the door.
If colors could make sounds, it would be a loud room; eardrums would burst.
Sight isn't as irritating as hearing, but Ceres was just beginning to realize that it can be just as irritating.
“...If you don’t like it, just say so...”
Diarin grumbled in sadness at having her tastes ignored.
After that, the tour of rooms continued until all the rooms in the mansion were visited.
Among them, there was not a single room that Ceres felt like staying in.
After looking at all the rooms, Ceres chose the plainest one, without windows.
And that night.
Ceres opened his eyes wide in the room he had moved to.
Diarin moved rooms, so he might become sensitive, so she used her divine power to comfort him until he fell asleep.
But soon after, his eyes opened on their own.
"Ha..."
Ceres took deep breaths, just as Diarin had taught him, and tried to calm the excitement that was threatening to surge up.
But as time passed, tensions only increased.
He felt like he was going to run wild like the day he moved.
Even though he knew he shouldn't do that, he couldn't control himself.
Finally, Ceres, unable to bear it any longer, got up from his seat.
Ceres, who had been pacing around with uneasy steps, decided that it wasn't enough and left the room.
As he left the room, all the sounds of the world blocked by the door pierced his ears.
The sound of insects crying at night, owls hunting, leaves rustling in the wind, and Diarin's heavy breathing.
Everything else was as jarring as the clang of a battlefield, but the last sound, Diarin's breathing, was not jarring. In fact, the more he listened, the more he felt at peace.
Ceres followed the sound of Diarin's unsteady breathing.
As he passed through the long hallway and approached Diarin's room, his heavy breathing began to calm down a little.
"Ha..."
In front of Diarin's room, Ceres took another deep breath.
On the first night, he ran to Diarin, angry at her snoring and the sound of her teeth.
While he was wondering if he should just open the door and kill that thing, Diarin woke up.
Actually, that worry was very long.
During that time, Diarin slept soundly, not noticing any signs or sounds.
So, if he opens the door for a moment and stands next to her, he won't wake her up.
But Ceres has been getting a lot of education lately about what not to do.
One of them was that each person has their own space, and that you have to ask permission to go further than that.
It was considered polite to knock when entering a room to make one's presence known.
If he knocks, he'll wake up Diarin.
He didn't want that.
It was comfortable just to listen to Diarin's breathing.
He felt like he could rest if he just listened to that breathing sound a little closer.
Ceres gave up on opening the door and instead sat with his back against it.
There was only a door between them, but on the other side, he could hear Diarin's breathing. And the soft beating of her heart.
Ceres' heart vibrated in sync with that heart's vibration.
The heartbeat that had been pounding at the top of his head gradually subsided.
At some point, Ceres fell asleep.
***
“...What is it? Why are you doing this here?”
“I woke up.”
Ceres raised his head slightly.
Diarin couldn't help but feel astonished.
She thought she could now figure out the cause of most of Ceres's actions, but sometimes he does something unimaginable like this.
“If you wake up, can you just go back to sleep?”
“I like it here.”
“...Ah... right...”
What can she say to that?
“But this isn’t a room. People sleep in rooms.”
“I can’t sleep.”
Diarin, who knew the language system of Ceres better than anyone else, immediately grasped the meaning behind the words.
“Isn’t this the wrong room? What if we move to another one?”
Diarin was in the mood to start the room tour again right away.
Ceres shook his head hastily.
Yesterday was tough, too. He didn't want to do it again today.
And the room Ceres wanted was already decided.
“That room.”
The room closest to Diarin's room.
“Oh, this room?”
Diarin opened the door that Ceres had pointed to, then flinched and froze.
On the floral wallpaper...
On a rabbit-patterned blanket...
It was a room with a strawberry-patterned rug.
Anyone who saw it would know that it was a cute room for a baby.
Moreover, it is filled with gorgeous and wild colors and patterns that Ceres hates.
It wasn't just filled with color. Various dolls in the shapes of snowflakes, raindrops, and butterflies hung from the ceiling and windows.
“...Are you okay?”
Diarin was genuinely worried about Ceres.
She wonders if he's going crazy. He's been striving for extreme simplicity, but when that just doesn't work, he's gone to extremes.
"...Maybe."
Ceres also could not be confident in himself.
But that night, Ceres spent the night more comfortably than he had expected.
He felt as if he had taken a drug that calmed his nerves, hearing Diarin's breathing coming from across the wall.
Ceres lay on the strawberry-patterned pink rug and listened to Diarin's breathing for a long time.
***
The two people who had resolved the room issue began intensive training in etiquette for welcoming the royal family, starting today.
Diarin finished cleaning faster than she thought, so she had more time to focus on Ceres's training.
Maybe they can successfully hold the visiting event.
Diarin was full of dreams and hopes.
“Yes, then let’s start with greetings.”
The priest was a panacea in the hearts of the people.
She believed that if she held onto a priest and complained about anything, or if something seemed impossible, she could get a blessing to resolve it.
Even on the battlefield, if you meet a priest, you feel relieved that you have saved your life.
Naturally, even high-ranking officials often visited the shrine. Many nobles also visited the shrine.
Although Diarin had no need to deal with them directly, she thoroughly learned the etiquette at the temple level so that she could deal with them without panicking if she ever encountered them.
She never thought the day would come when she would use that knowledge like this.
“...Are you doing well?”
Diarin was dumbfounded as she watched Ceres greet her at the perfect angle.
Although he had only been taught it once, Ceres greeted her with grace, as if he had never left a noble family since the moment he was born.
Perhaps it was an inevitable result.
Ceres is a person who has refined his body to the extreme.
Of course, he could do things with his body as precisely as a knife.
"Yes, let me call you Sevian. Let's start from the moment you get off the carriage."
"Yes."
Every step of the ceremony is a scenario.
Every word, every look, is determined.
Diarin planned them with the mansion's flow in mind, and Ceres did a great job.
However, there was a fatal problem.
“No, no! Where are you going after saying hello!”
"Ah..."
The problem was that Ceres' sensitivity had not yet been properly resolved.
Just now, as he was bowing in front of the entrance, he almost jumped out at the sound of something rustling in the garden.
If this happens even when it's just the two of them, what will happen when strangers start swarming around?
You could have seen a truly spectacular scene with blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
Even with the blood and flesh of the royal family.
It was terrifying just to imagine.
‘Please bear with this...’
Diarin cried and begged.
But if it were something that could be done just by crying, the young master would have debuted a long time ago.
'I think I can forgive a few mistakes in manners, but I can’t forgive murder.'
What if the person who was supposed to look after you dies?
Even if you're lucky enough not to die, of course, they won't let you off.
In order to successfully complete this royal visit, it was imperative to correct Ceres' habit of reacting to something and jumping out of control.
“You’re not doing this because of an order like ‘kill everything that moves’, are you?”
“No. That’s only during operations.”
“So how did the 8th Unit members get along on the battlefield?”
“Kill the sound.”
Only those who could do that were active as members of the 8th Division.
Somehow, the 8th Division's barracks were located extremely far from the general camp.
"Even on a battlefield, you hear a lot of insects and wild animals. More so than here. What about that?"
“Kill.”
“...Not sleeping?”
“If you kill them, they become quiet.”
“...”
It was a really neat and simple solution.
Yeah, no matter how wild a beast it is, if you keep killing it, there will be an end.
She sometimes recalled times when unidentified meat was served in large quantities.
There was even a rumor going around that the 8th Unit had killed people without their knowledge.
...It wasn’t a ghost story.
This is how she found out the identity of the meat she had eaten so deliciously.
Through this conversation, Diarin learned a clear truth.
The habit of rushing to someone because of a sound is not something that can be corrected with just one or two days of effort.
“Ah, what should I do...”
Diarin wrapped her head and groaned.
Why is the 3rd Prince coming at a time like this?
This is how she found out the identity of the meat she had eaten so deliciously.
Through this conversation, Diarin learned a clear truth.
The habit of rushing to someone because of a sound is not something that can be corrected with just one or two days of effort.
“Ah, what should I do...”
Diarin wrapped her head and groaned.
Why is the 3rd Prince coming at a time like this?
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