Aisel’s eyes narrowed despite himself.
The soldier who had come to report swallowed hard. It wasn’t the man’s fault, and Aisel had no intention of venting his anger on him, but his expression must have turned suitably dangerous nonetheless.
Of all times—on the very morning of the investiture ceremony, when everything was already frantic—this kind of trouble.
Unable to suppress it, Aisel released a deep sigh.
“No leads at all?”
“We have mobilized every man we can spare, but…”
The way the sentence trailed off made it painfully clear how poorly things were going. Pressing the matter further would be pointless. Aisel abandoned the line of questioning at once.
“I understand. Thank you for deploying the search parties so quickly. Continue the search without pause.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I will report to Lord Ark. Until further orders, do not loosen the net.”
The soldier saluted and ran off at once.
Yes. That would do.
Less than two hours remained until the ceremony. This was no longer a time for hesitation. Every spare moment had to be used.
He had told his lord quite clearly to be punctual, yet there was still no sign of him stirring.
Under normal circumstances, this would hardly be unusual. If anything, sleeping even later would not have raised an eyebrow. But today was different. No—this very moment was different.
This was a situation that demanded he be dragged out of bed by force.
Another heavy sigh escaped Aisel before he could stop it.
His lord’s mornings were not pleasant.
No—very unpleasant.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Lord Ark.”
The muffled voice from outside the tent made Masumi reflexively lift her head and stare toward the entrance.
“Lord Ark, are you awake?”
Should she answer in his place? Something along the lines of, The person you’re looking for is currently an unidentified mass of unconsciousness.
But the bed was positioned at the very back of the tent, as far from the entrance as possible. Considering the effort it would take to shout, it seemed wiser to go out and relay the message herself. Deciding that, Masumi tried to sit up—only to find that her body would not move at all.
Her mind was awake, yet her body refused to respond.
How was that even possible?
Managing to move her left arm, she tugged the blanket aside. A thick arm was wrapped firmly around her waist. Taking a breath and lifting her head again, she realized she was also being pinned by another solid arm, looped around her shoulders in a textbook arm-hold.
The bed was warm.
Her back, in particular, felt like a hot-water bottle. When she listened closely, she could hear slow, steady breathing.
Hold on.
The memories of last night’s fierce… everything came flooding back at once, and Masumi writhed in place. Impossible, impossible. Even now, it was embarrassing enough to kill her twice over.
Calm down.
First things first—distance. She needed distance.
Bracing her abs, she forced herself away, but the instant her back separated, she was yanked straight back in.
“Ghk—!”
A thoroughly unsexy sound burst out of her, but there was no helping it.
Being pulled in roughly by a man with absurd strength tended to squeeze things in unfortunate ways.
“L-let go already!”
Grrrk.
She planted her elbow and pushed with all her might, but the solid body behind her didn’t budge. Worse, she was pulled in even closer, a hard leg tangling firmly with hers.
The level of restraint—and intimacy—felt like it had jumped two stages at once. Almost certainly not her imagination.
She wondered if he was awake, but his breathing remained perfectly even. Apparently, the man behind her was still fast asleep.
If that was the case, then she would not hold back.
“Nngh—!”
Her effort went nowhere. The edge of the bed was right there, yet impossibly far.
Just then, the voice came again from outside.
“Lord Ark. It is Kasumireaz. This is an emergency, so please forgive the intrusion.”
“W-wait, that’s bad—really bad!”
Whatever the emergency was, this was an emergency too.
But her plea went unheard. The entrance flap rustled loudly as it was pulled aside.
It was over.
To be seen in such a disgraceful state—this was a fatal mistake for a woman of marriageable age.
Listening to the steady approach of boots, Masumi cried silently to herself. Emotionally, it felt closer to a manly sob than anything dainty.
Still lying there, utterly helpless, she waited.
Two pairs of boots entered her field of view.
Her body was restrained, but she could still move her neck. She tilted her head back on the pillow and found herself staring up at the blond, blue-eyed man from yesterday. So his name was Kasumireaz. The soldiers had called him Lord Aisel, which meant his full name was likely Kasumireaz＝Aisel.
It wasn’t a culture that used kanji, surely, but Kasumi was uncomfortably close to her own name—and rather feminine, at that. She felt a fleeting urge to add “-chan” and call him that, but that line of thought was pure escapism.
Their eyes met.
The blue gaze looking down at her was unmistakably full of disappointed resignation—Ah. So she was eaten after all. As his lips parted to speak, Masumi struck first.
“Absolutely not!”
Startled by her ferocity, Kasumireaz pulled his chin back slightly.
“There was nothing between us! Not that kind of relationship at all! I protest that look with every fiber of my being!”
“But… with you in that state…”
They both froze. Masumi checked herself.
Just as she had seen earlier, his arms were still wrapped around her. She was not wearing a bra. Only a slip, its straps sliding down her upper arms. And to top it all off, her chest was scattered with red marks.
The bastard hadn’t held back at all—but it was far too late to complain about that now.
She understood exactly what Kasumireaz meant by “lacking all credibility,” but she could not admit it here.
“I always sleep like this! And those marks are my boyfriend’s—definitely not this man’s!”
“Your boyfriend?”
“Are you implying I don’t look like someone who’d have one? Mind your own business!”
Even as she shouted, she had to admire his sharpness.
The truth was, she hadn’t had a boyfriend in years. Which, incidentally, had made last night exceptionally difficult—but that was beside the point.
“…You’re loud.”
Warm breath brushed her nape, and Masumi’s back jerked.
Kasumireaz’s gaze shifted past her.
“Lord Ark. I believe I asked you to be punctual.”
“Ah… sorry. I may have enjoyed myself a little too much last night.”
“Don’t just casually state things that aren’t true!”
She struggled and protested.
In response, the arm around her tightened.
“Not true? After all that—”
“Shut up, don’t say another word!”
With all her strength, she twisted upright and clapped a hand firmly over Ark’s mouth.
“Nothing happened! If you say anything else, I’ll sue you for defamation!”
“…How novel,” Kasumireaz murmured, openly astonished.
Ark chuckled behind her hand.
The arm around her waist slid free at last. Ark sat up and pushed the blanket aside, revealing a completely bare upper body.
Muscles that clothing had concealed were now on full display. Instead of blushing, Masumi clutched her head and scowled with genuine disgust.
With a build like that, no wonder I couldn’t get away.
His shoulders looked nearly twice as broad as hers. Thinking she’d ever stood a chance only made her feel hollow.
Noticing her stare, Ark spoke as he dressed.
“Most people would look away in embarrassment. You, on the other hand, stare straight on with a face full of revulsion. You really have no sex appeal.”
“I’ll look however I want, it’s none of your business!”
“Fair enough. For now, just stay put.”
Fully dressed again, Ark fastened the buttons at his collar—unlike last night—and then reached out to ruffle Masumi’s hair.
She tried to pull away, but his grip was absurdly strong, and he continued to scrub at her head without mercy. With strength like that, he could probably crush an apple barehanded.
From the sound of it, she was being told to wait here. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape. Letting it slip would be foolish.
Which meant smiling sweetly, seeing them off politely, and bolting the moment they were gone.
“Have a nice day.”
“That was obedient of you.”
“Really? I’m great at staying put.”
She beamed proudly. Ark’s movements stalled for a fraction of a second.
Then—
“…Don’t bother trying to escape.”
“Huh? How do you know?”
The truth slipped out.
Too eager. She realized her mistake at once, but it was far too late.
“You really are an idiot. This tent can’t be entered or exited without my authorization.”
She didn’t understand the mechanics, but she understood one thing very clearly: her plan was dead.
“That’s so petty. At least authorize me.”
“I’ll say it again. You really are an idiot.”
“Y-you—!”
A vein throbbed at her temple, but Ark and Kasumireaz had already turned and left the tent, leaving no room for further argument.
