The Secret Wrapped In Quilts (3)

“—Y-you seem worldly. If you carry yourself like that all the time, won’t it invite even more women?”

She tried to change the subject somehow. Kardia had a unique allure just by being there.

“At least I’ve stopped being dragged into bed by vixens after a first-pick.”

“You were being pinned down.”

“Not here… I’ve known all of them since they were in diapers. No matter what they do, I can’t scold those girls.”

Noi had not accepted it, but since Kardia said so she started to nod—then froze at his next words.

—“They’re all… nearly a hundred years younger than me. Whatever they do, they’re just cute.”

For some reason, strength left the hand with which she had been stroking Kardia’s head.

(…To you, I’m also a child a full hundred years younger.)

Even if she wasn’t truly a child as she looked—even at twenty-six—she still ended up far younger.

She did not know the path he had walked, nor his hardships, nor his resolve.

A child who could not accept his forbearance at not scolding presumptuous younger women who touched him freely just because they were “younger.”

(…I see.)

It was little different from being told that Noi was the same as those girls.

(I see, huh.)

The reason she could hold his hand and stroke his head like this was because she posed no threat to him—because she wasn’t climbing onto his stomach with the aim of stripping off his clothes.

(The same, then?)

She had somehow let herself feel she occupied a special place.

Perhaps he had seen through that; perhaps that was why he had warned her. Thinking so, her chest suddenly clenched.

(…It hurts. Whenever I think about Kardia, it hurts here.)

It was a strange pain. But she could not let it show, so Noi hastily pasted on a smile.

She wanted to fill the silence with something.

“A-about earlier. If you wanted to be with those women, I thought I’d interrupted you.”

“—Huh?”

Kardia’s eyes widened at the politely smiling Noi, and he grasped her shoulders with both hands.

“Huh? What? Why would you say that? You’re my bride, aren’t you?”

Eyes still wide, Kardia peered into Noi’s eyes in all seriousness; under that force, Noi faltered.

“O-of course!”

“Then—”

“I’ll protect you for now. But… someday the day will come when we say goodbye, won’t it?”

Kardia’s crimson eyes flew open.

Wanting to reassure him, she spoke slowly.

“I’ll grow up from here on, and when I do you’ll find me—disgus—”

“I won’t.”

“You might. And not as a joke—someday you might truly find someone who doesn’t make you feel sick.”

Kardia looked aghast. Wondering if her meaning hadn’t landed, Noi hurried on to patch it.

“I even thought it when I misunderstood that you were looking for a new bride today—after I step aside, maybe working in a place like this wouldn’t be so bad…”

Strength drained from Kardia’s arms holding Noi’s shoulders.

The more she spoke, the farther Kardia’s reaction was from what she’d imagined, and Noi panicked.

Though he had obliquely told her she was the same as the rest, Noi—pettily—had wanted to prove that she alone was no threat to Kardia.

So she was explaining, in so many words, that once she was dismissed she would leave cleanly—but Kardia’s response was poor.

“…Kardia?”

At some point his hands had fallen onto the bed and he had bowed his head; when Noi bent to peer at him, she was tugged bodily and pulled down.

Held tight with her face buried in his chest, Noi toppled onto the bed.

“Kardia??”

They always slept side by side, but they had never fallen asleep embracing like this.

(H-he won’t answer me…?)

Noi reeled—gong. For all his adulthood, Kardia had always been conscientious; he had never ignored her.

(What did I do to make him so angry…?)

She ran in circles in her head, but Noi could figure out nothing.

(Is this okay, Kardia? We haven’t had our goodnight kiss today…?)

When Noi shifted to sneak a look at his face, Kardia hugged her tight; she could not move at all, so she sighed and gave up.

(…Come to think of it, Kardia—you confessed you’ve lived a hundred years.)

That did not change anything; Noi had known from the start.

(But it means you’ve stopped dodging me.)

That alone made her simply—tremendously—happy.

With a soft chuckle, Noi rubbed her nose against Kardia’s chest; he smelled of fresh bathwater. Still held in his arms, she drifted off to sleep.