A Narrow Bed And You, So Cute (3)

“Kardia! Welcome back.”

As evening fell and Kardia returned, Noi greeted him with a smile.

But Kardia could not muster his usual smile.

Worse, even after she had had that kind of talk with Ornis, Noi still turned that same old smile on him, and Kardia was swamped by a feeling he could not name.

He realized Noi was startled by his reaction and was timidly watching him.

But Kardia had no composure left to make allowances for her.

For the first time in more than a century of life, he was at a loss with this emotion.

(Well, even if you can’t talk to me, it isn’t as if it matters to you.)

After all, Noi was “Ornis’s beloved me.”

Sure enough, Noi pattered over to Ornis.

Ornis barked something at her in a low voice. No doubt he was telling her she was getting in the way of preparing dinner.

He hated how he was far more on edge than usual about everything.

Noi tugged at Ornis’s clothes hard enough to strip them off. Busy cooking, Ornis opted to ignore her completely.

Noi flicked a glance his way. Though Kardia did not turn his eyes, he was wholly, utterly keyed to her and felt that glance.

Seeing Kardia with that cool face, Noi rocked up on her toes to whisper into Ornis’s ear.

Their faces suddenly drew close.

With a clatter, Kardia had pushed up from his chair.

“Master? What’s wrong?”

Leaving Noi’s little flurry behind, Ornis ran over. For some reason Kardia couldn’t bring himself to look at his paragon-of-good-wife-and-wise-mother disciple; bluntly, he said:

“Sorry, but I’m turning in early. The two of you eat my share.”

“Eh—Master, you skipped lunch too… It’s only six o’clock! Master, Master!?”

Ornis kept calling after Kardia’s back as he wobbled up the stairs, but Kardia did not stop.

That night, he sensed the bed creak softly.

(…Ah, so you’re sleeping on this side.)

So she wasn’t sleeping on Ornis’s side?

That sulky thought reared its head, and Kardia felt faint. If he opened his mouth, he might spew something nasty, so he kept feigning sleep.

The held breath of a presence crept closer.

Breathe in, breathe out. Even that simple thing would not go right. Kardia fought to keep his breathing sounding like ordinary sleep.

When the small body settled into its usual spot, she reached a hand gingerly toward him.

The instant her fingers touched his face, his body jolted.

“Ah—… Did I wake you?”

Pretending not to hear Noi’s little breathy whisper, Kardia kept his eyes shut.

“Good. You’re not awake… Mm, and no fever.”

Apparently she wanted to lay a hand on his forehead. She must have been worried that he was unwell.

After she withdrew her hand and grew quiet as if thinking for a while, Noi suddenly cupped his cheeks in both palms.

(…Huh?)

Just like that, their foreheads bumped with a soft bonk.

Kardia held his breath on reflex. He knew it would be suspicious unless he breathed naturally, but with Noi much too close, he had no idea how to handle it.

Noi’s soft, fine hair brushed his cheek. The ticklish touch sent a shiver up his back.

“…As I thought, no fever.”

It seemed she had been rechecking his temperature in her own way.

Kardia was desperate to quell the pounding rush of his heart; he even felt as if his temperature were rising.

The moment her small hands left his cheeks, Kardia whipped himself away from her, turning over toward the edge of the bed so it would look like he had merely shifted in sleep.

“…A good-night kiss—no. He’d hate that, wouldn’t he.”

Noi murmured, and he felt the air of her shaking her head.

(A good-night kiss? Who? For whom? This child—me?)

His heart hammered to the point of pain. Kardia cracked his eyes to a slit and listened.

Noi rustled about and tried to lie down behind his back.

She lay down.

Kardia felt he could by no means face her as usual.

Like an idiot, he realized his own cheeks were burning.

He drew his brows together at this unwilling and inexplicable heat.

Little by little, Noi’s soft, sleepy breathing began.

(And here I am, unable to sleep—!)

Face twisted and the corners of his eyes reddening, Kardia shot up on reflex. He even thought to shake Noi awake as she slept.

But when he looked down, Noi was sleeping away—snoring lightly, wearing a happy face in the moonlight.

The strength went out of him. With a sigh, Kardia flopped onto the bed.

And again that day, Kardia passed a sleepless night.

“G-good morning, Kardia. Fine morning, isn’t it.”

Dressed and groomed, Noi greeted Kardia—already seated at the dining table.

With deep dark circles under his eyes, Kardia cut Noi a flat glance with a stare so strong it could have made a sound.

The shock made Noi want to flop down right there and burst into tears.

—Just like that night at Kukuvaya’s Weavers’ Enclave, Kardia ignored her again.

A second time meant it wasn’t a coincidence. The blow was crushing; last night she had only eaten an adult-sized single portion. Even Ornis had been bewildered enough to say, “Are you both coming down with a fever or something!?”

Noi did not have a fever, but perhaps Kardia did. It would be serious if he had a fever—yet she prayed he did, as the hand she stretched out told her his temperature was normal. Unwilling to give up, even when she tried a forehead-to-forehead check, his temperature did not change.

At the usual time when he opened the curtains, Kardia always woke Noi at least once, but this morning there had not even been that; Noi’s chest felt like it would tear in two.

“Ka-Kardia. What will you do today? Anything you’ve gotten into lately?”

Her topic was straight out of the clumsy repertoire her grandfather used when he struggled to keep a conversation going with his granddaughter, Noi.

As expected, Kardia gave her a cool look and sighed. Noi barely kept herself from collapsing and quietly took her usual seat.

Ornis came from the kitchen and steadily set about the morning routine.

“Master, this before your meal.”

“This tea again? I hate it—so bitter.”

Noi suffered a great new shock. How could Kardia be conversing—with Ornis! Which meant, yes, Kardia was deliberately ignoring Noi.

(Wh-what… what have I done…?)

As the reeling Noi sat there, Ornis said evenly:

“A traveling peddler to the domain claimed it’s good for the body. Since you didn’t seem well yesterday, drink it properly, please.”

“Honestly… Who’s the master here, again?”

Kardia, not even bothering to hide his foul mood, grabbed the cup and knocked it back.

Beside Noi, who was clutching her head in both hands, Ornis narrowed his eyes and watched until Kardia drained the tea.

Breakfast after that was a disaster. No one spoke; only the clink of cutlery on plates rang out.

When the meal ended, Kardia went out without so much as a glance at either of them. He had likely headed for the mausoleum again.

Noi latched onto Ornis.

“Orniiiiis!”

“Not today! I’ve got a workload that makes no sense, all right!?”

He rejected her before she could even say anything. He, too, was in a very foul mood.

Apparently while Noi slept, the grumpy Kardia had high-handedly assigned him today’s tasks.

Beaten back, Noi trudged out to the field. Unlike the busy disciple, her work amounted to observing the plot.

“He used to dote on me so much!”

Pulling pebbles and weeds, then pounding stakes around the plot with gathered branches, Noi shouted.

“He even said when he grew up he’d marry Master!”

He hadn’t, but surely he had said something like it. Noi forged the memory and grumbled under her breath.

Only the other day he always wanted to carry her whenever they moved, and lately even that had almost stopped.

Today he had kept perfect distance so their fingers would not brush by accident.

“Why…”

Unable to remember what she had done, Noi rested her chin on a stake.

Right after she came here, she might have smiled over it as “puberty?” and watched his growth.

But now she could not.

She had no such margin when it came to Kardia.

(…—Will Kardia turn in early again today?)

When Noi went to bed last night, he was already asleep, but it seemed he hadn’t slept well. If so, then sleep-loving Kardia would surely go to bed even earlier tonight.

(Just for today, I suppose I’ll resign myself to being a hug pillow.)

That would surely fix his mood.

Quite pleased with her deduction, Noi threw herself into building the fence.