The Ring's Revelation
I was stupidly covering my mouth with that hand.
Ah, busted.
The taste had been so shockingly awful that I'd instinctively pressed my ringed hand right over my mouth for everyone to see.
I swallowed the remnants in my mouth in a hurry and tried to come up with an excuse.
Should I say I found it? Or that it had been there all along?
“Uh…… this is, I mean……”
“What happened to your hand? Where did you get hurt? It wasn't like that this morning.”
What had startled Ash so badly wasn't the ring at all, but my swollen pinky finger. Did he only ever notice when I was injured?
“……It's nothing. I was just messing around with Rai earlier.”
There was no need to admit I'd been foolish enough to attempt some baseless breaking technique out of sheer overconfidence.
I was supposed to be the elegant one, after all.
Even if no one actually knew I was pushing that image.
Thanks to Ash's fuss, everyone finally glanced at my finger. It didn't look too serious.
A day or two of rest and it would heal. Maybe a week at most?
—……relieved. This person…… really……
[What was that, Rai?]
[Yes? I didn't say anything?]
That couldn't be right.
I'd definitely heard a voice.
I pulled my hand free from Ash's grip and looked around.
What was that just now?
It had been a voice, but not one spoken aloud. It had echoed straight inside my head.
Similar to a spirit's voice, yet hazier and more opaque, like something heard through water.
“What's wrong, Jeanie?”
I turned in every direction, searching for the source of that mysterious voice, but no matter how sharply I focused my senses, the only people here were the three of us. Strange.
“Ash, it's just us here, right?”
“Yes. It is.”
“You're sure?”
When I asked again, doubtful, Ash surveyed the surroundings with his graceful neckline on full display.
After a moment of concentration, as if checking for any presence, he shook his head.
If Ash couldn't sense anything, then I had no way of detecting it either.
But I had definitely heard that voice. Grimacing at the bitter taste of medicine still lingering in my mouth, I stayed on guard.
Like a bloodhound refusing to give up the scent, I kept glancing around suspiciously, but unlike me, Ash's attention was fixed solely on my hand.
Before I knew it, he'd taken my hand again and was examining my finger. His careful, probing touch was ticklish……
“It doesn't seem dislocated, thankfully.”
—Thank goodness.
“Still, it would be best to splint it.”
—This person gets hurt so easily.
“Are you listening to me? Jeanie?”
……Huh?
I forgot how to breathe. Forgot how to blink. Forgot every word I might have said.
Why did he have that expression? Those round eyes.
This was no illusion.
The voice echoing in my head right now was unmistakably Ash's inner thoughts. I didn't know why I could hear them, but it was clear.
“Huh?”
“What's wrong?”
“Just now…… that, voi…… ce…… Ah!”
Ah.
It was the ring. The ring.
I realized it at the same moment I drew in the breath I'd been holding. I glared at the ring on my finger with terrifying intensity.
[Rai! Can you hear this too?]
[What sound? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden, Master?]
Good grief. Good grief.
This was far more incredible than I'd thought. I understood now. I'd discovered it. I'd figured it out. This ring had the power to read people's innermost thoughts!
“Jeanie?”
I took a bold step closer to Ash, who was looking down at me with concern.
Grabbing his collar, I stared up at him desperately.
Think of something else! Quickly!
I needed more confirmation about the ring.
Interpreting my gaze however he did, Ash firmly held out the medicine bowl—the same one I'd gagged on and tried to return earlier.
Tsk, I'd been so natural about it too.
“You still need to finish your medicine.”
“Medicine isn't the problem right now. I'm more curious about what's going on in your head!”
“……Why go to such lengths just to say you don't want to take your medicine? Jeanie, I told you not to toy with my feelings.”
“No! I mean your actual thoughts! I'm curious!”
Something was wrong. Suddenly, Ash's inner voice had cut off completely.
Why? What was going on?
Was it because he wasn't thinking anything else right now? Or because he was speaking his thoughts aloud, so nothing was being read?
Feeling oddly urgent, I started patting at his chest and arms for no reason.
There had to be some consistent condition for hearing thoughts.
While trying to figure out what had changed from before, I suddenly remembered—the voice had appeared when Ash was holding my hand.
Physical contact was required!
I snatched Ash's hand and interlaced our fingers tightly, looking up at him with anticipation.
“Jeanie, if you think holding hands like this will make my heart race……”
—It is racing.
“……you're mistaken.”
—I'm in trouble. My heart isn't listening to me again.
This guy was such an idiot.
My idiot. His face already gave everything away, but now that I could see straight into his mind, there was nothing left for Ash to hide from me.
“Ahem, I know it tastes bad. But you still need to finish all of it. To get the full effect, you have to take the proper dosage. Understood?”
“I can tell you like me a lot.”
“……That's obvious even without saying it.”
The man who blushed while looking at me, desperately trying to suppress his embarrassment, was unbearably endearing.
I watched Ash's cheeks flush with love directed at me, and hearing his transparent inner thoughts filled me with the certainty that I was loved.
So this was what Rai had been talking about.
I'd thought it was nothing special, but it had its own tremendous power.
The certainty of being loved made both the recipient and the giver special.
I suddenly let go of Ash's hand and stepped back because a thought had pierced through my mind.
This was a truly terrible thing to do.
A wave of guilt toward someone who treated me sincerely.
For a brief moment, those feelings threw me into confusion.
‘This is fun and all…… but reading someone's mind, knowing everything about them. If that's what this ring does, it's amazing…… but isn't it also incredibly rude?’
Of course it was. Peeking into someone else's mind without permission—I'd hate it if someone did that to me.
The thought of someone secretly learning every detail of my inner thoughts made me angry.
If I had a conscience, this was something I shouldn't do. It was selfish and wrong.
‘……Wait a second? I've never had a conscience or cared about being selfish! I forgot. Thinking about it, that's just who I am.’
Correcting my momentarily shaken identity was quick work.
I readily accepted the selfish desires boiling inside me.
My heart felt wonderfully at ease. As expected, following my instincts suited me far better than worrying about right and wrong.
Moving purely according to what drew me made everything simple.
I approached Ash, gently took his large hand in mine, and smiled.
“Ash, I have something I'm curious about. Won't you tell me?”
“……I don't know what you're after…… but if you finish your medicine, I'll tell you.”
—I have to make her take it. I need to stay sharp, Ephiros. Your opponent is Jeanie Crowell. When she acts strange, there's always a reason.
After testing it a bit, I understood.
The ring seemed to read thoughts when the hand wearing it touched bare skin. The more direct the contact, the clearer the thoughts became.
I didn't know what kind of item it was, but it was definitely extremely useful for gathering information.
“Fine, I'll take it. I'll take it, so focus on me.”
“I'm always focused on you.”
“……Ugh.”
—If I look away, someone gets hurt, or she gets hurt. I can't afford not to watch. Of course, she's so strong and free that I can't help but be captivated.
Reading someone else's thoughts was an uncomfortably ticklish affair.
Especially when the other person was Ash. His mind was filled with nothing but praise for me—I couldn't endure it.
Urgh, my mental fortitude. I couldn't last long like this. This kindness. It was going to purify me!
“So…… what I'm curious about is……”
I needed to get him talking if I wanted to read his thoughts, but I couldn't think of a single question to ask.
I was the type to say whatever I was curious about right away, and Ash was a man who, at least toward me, didn't really have any secrets.
What had I ever been curious about with Ash? What questions had I ever had about him?
“Right, Ash! What do you think when you look at me?”
—……I want to become someone precious to you.
“What kind of person am I to you?”
—Someone I want to cherish, but I'm not allowed to step forward. She is perfect on her own.
Even when Ash merely moved his lips, his complete inner thoughts reached me clearly.
The ring's effect was tremendous. In an instant, it left no secrets behind, enough to give me goosebumps.
—I want to become someone precious to you, but I don't want to be a burden. I know I'd only end up caging you. Because I'm not a free person.
I'd always thought Ash was a man of few words.
But that was simply because he swallowed far too many words inside.
“Jeanie, you are more precious to me than I am to myself.”
Ash spoke in a whisper, and without realizing I was holding his hand to steal his thoughts, he worried about the injury on my hand and felt pained by it.
“So I hope you'll cherish yourself too.”
—She has no fear at all. It seems like she doesn't even care when her own body gets hurt. There's no way this doesn't hurt.
“……It doesn't hurt, though?”
“Jeanie, I've realized something this time. You lack awareness of danger. You've been through so many worse situations that these things must seem trivial to you…… But please, take care of yourself.”
If it had been any other time, I wouldn't have understood what that quiet gaze meant. But now I couldn't help but know.
The ring's power worked on me as well.
It left no room for even the slightest misunderstanding.
—I wish I could stroke that white forehead, kiss this hand and these lips.
……Did men just think about kissing whenever they felt like it?