Chapter 35 ….
“Where did you buy all of this?”
“From somewhere.”
Aselia had been feeling a little down, but when he once again took her words strangely and answered in his usual way, she felt a small sense of relief. It was as if he alone wouldn’t change, even in this bizarre situation.
“How did you always know my size?”
“I took the clothes you wore at the beginning, showed them, and told them to make new ones.”
“To the designers?”
“Yeah.”
Alexis showed her a red evening dress and handed it over. Aselia accepted it and stared at him blankly. He then walked to his drawer, took out a palm-sized red box, and handed it to her.
“Wear that, and put this on.”
“Yes.”
“Leave your hair down. I’ll do it for you.”
“…Yes.”
Aselia nodded, thinking he seemed to like her long hair. Somehow, just receiving clothes from him and moving her body made her feel slightly calmer.
“I’ll step outside while you change—”
—Knock, knock.
“What.”
Alexis instantly frowned in irritation, and Aselia flinched, stepping back in surprise.
“No, I wasn’t mad at you.”
“I know.”
He rubbed his face dryly, glanced at her cautiously, then turned his gaze toward the door at the sound coming from it.
“The deputy director is looking for you.”
“I’m busy right now.”
“He says it’s urgent.”
“You think I’m not busy?”
“Y-You should go.”
Aselia added the words on purpose, thinking he might be reacting like that because of her.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
At her words, Alexis rolled his eyes as if thinking, then said,
“Tell them I’ll be sleeping here tonight.”
“…Yes.”
Aselia already knew she had no choice. If Alexis demanded something of her, she might manage a small refusal, but it would be hard to refuse anything else. Still, he was quite kind to her.
“Can I really go?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t look like I should.”
“It’s fine. Go. But I want to wash up…”
“Here.”
He immediately handed her a card.
“Oh, and.”
He rummaged briefly through a display cabinet and handed her a crystal bottle.
“Drink this for sure.”
His eyes hardened fiercely at the marks on her neck and the wound on her chest that Kalisten had made, but when they met her eyes, his expression consciously softened.
“Yes, thank you.”
“And just in case.”
He spoke as he was about to leave.
“Don’t try to run. You’ll be tracked… Endure it a little longer, then run when I can help you.”
“Pardon? Ah… okay.”
He ruffled her hair roughly and let out a sigh.
“I don’t want to go to work.”
“Have a safe trip.”
“…Yeah.”
Though he felt a bit sad that she didn’t play along, he decided it was better to go and come back quickly. He messed up her hair one more time before opening the door and leaving.
With the card he had given her, Aselia headed toward the shower room. When she tapped the Z-grade card, the door opened. It seemed no one else was using it—the interior was quiet. She stepped into a lit shower stall and undressed.
She laid out her new clothes beside her and removed her necklace.
—Shhhhhh.
“Wow…”
When the warm water fell over her head, she felt like she could finally breathe. Only the scar on her neck and the wound on her chest from Kalisten stung a little. She opened the recovery potion she had brought and drank it. The aching throughout her body vanished completely.
It had been a long time since Aselia felt this stable. As she had done when washing with Kalisten, she pressed against the wall. Since it was set for Z-grade use, a compartment containing body cleanser opened and slid out.
“Oh my.”
She squeezed it into her hand, applied it to her hair and body, and washed away the clinging blood and ash.
Then she realized the cleanser had almost no fragrance—only a clean scent like fresh water. Strangely, it reminded her of being with Kalisten, making her feel unsettled.
‘Your face is so small. I feel like I could cover it with one hand. Like it would break if I squeezed it.’
She remembered him saying that to her, even though his own face was small. Come to think of it, his hands were quite large.
“Ah…”
The warm water falling over her chest felt strangely hot, like when his hands had touched her body.
She tried to ignore it, scrubbing herself harder to shake off the strange sensation.
Yet every time her warmed hands touched her skin, it reminded her of the time they had washed together. He had only touched her body out of desire.
Kalisten’s hands had been gentle and hot, as if cherishing her.
He had even spoken kindly.
“That’s just because I look like this.”
Whenever he treated her well, she had thought it was just an illusion—something he did out of desire to touch her.
With that thought, the heat warming her body seemed to drain away all at once.
“Let’s just wash.”
She muttered to herself, splashed water on her face, and worked the cleanser into her hair. Foam rose thickly, making her feel refreshed. But the thought that Kalisten had been kind only because of lust left a lingering unease beneath the fresh scent.
She forced herself to focus on washing, moving more vigorously.
After a long time, she turned off the water and wrung out her hair. It felt longer every time she looked at it—now it reached all the way past her hips.
One towel wouldn’t be enough, but she dried her body first, then wrapped her hair up and shook it out.
Afterward, she put her necklace back on and dried her hair further.
Then she put on the new clothes.
“Ah… of all things…”
She had put on whatever came out—and it was Z-grade clothing. She hesitated, wondering if someone like her, an A-grade, should be wearing Z-grade clothes. If she went out like this and caused trouble for Alexis, that wouldn’t be good.
But she dismissed the worry, thinking that if he had given her the card, he must have considered that much.
She headed back to Alexis’s room. Since experimental subjects never moved around alone, the researchers who passed by looked at her strangely. But when they saw the number Z-898 attached to her chest, they only moved their lips without speaking and didn’t approach her.
It felt strange.
When she had worn the A-grade mark, everyone had looked at her with contempt. If their eyes met, they would frown in displeasure. But now, simply because she wore Z-grade clothing, researchers avoided her gaze and stepped aside as if fleeing.
It was only natural. Researchers rarely saw Z-grades, and among them, the number 898—Alexis’s number—was famous. He was close to the deputy director.
More than that, Alexis was the number deployed to kill escaped grades or secure new personnel. And among Z-grades, he was a monster who showed no signs of collapse.
Just seeing that number was enough to make them run.
Feeling flustered by the changed gazes around her, Aselia hurried back to Alexis’s room and tapped the card.
Then she checked the dress he had told her to change into.
“This is… really…”
She couldn’t believe such a provocative dress existed. If she wore the red dress in her hands, it would reveal nearly all of her chest, covering only the most essential parts. The thin straps were so daring they seemed to display her cleavage entirely.
But he had asked her to wear it. He had been angry that he arrived late to rescue her. She didn’t want to make him angrier. Besides, he was someone who showed her kindness.
Thinking that, Aselia let out a soft sigh.
Then she removed all her clothes, folded them neatly, and placed them aside. She took off her necklace and set it carefully on the bed.
Around that time, Kalisten—who had been confined inside the wardrobe—opened his eyes. The faint rustling sound bothered him, and the scent drifting through the crack of the wardrobe door felt pleasant.
More than anything, he realized that the time ability placed on him for recovery had worn off as the drug’s effect faded. He slowly opened his eyes. The pain was faint, and his mind felt clear, as if the medicine circulating in his body had completely disappeared.
“My goodness…”
He was entranced by the sight visible through the crack of the wardrobe door.
There was a woman identical to Aselia—or rather, the woman he had seen in his fantasies—crouched naked. She seemed to pick something up, clenched it tightly in her hand, and stood.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Kalisten could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.
When she turned around, he could see her body completely.
A pale, curving body, platinum hair like Aselia’s, and shining violet eyes. Her body looked as soft and beautiful as the one he had seen in his dreams.
He knew he was looking at something he shouldn’t, yet he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Above all, he was bound, wearing a restraint around his neck that prevented him from making a sound.
“Is this the front…?”
Even her voice was the same clear tone he had heard in his dreams.
Soon she slipped the red dress over her body.
“Oh, it’s backwards…”
She smiled sheepishly after putting it on inside out, then turned it around properly. Now dressed in the daring outfit that covered only half her chest, she opened the box of accessories and examined its contents.
—Thud.
“Ah?”
Kalisten’s body trembled without him realizing it, and unfortunately, Aselia heard the sound. Startled, she approached the wardrobe where he was.
Though he thought he should close his eyes, the sight of her approaching in such provocative attire made it difficult to look away.
“Is someone there?”
