Kate #4
Kate #4
A princess-carry stroll!
Kate began explaining this so-called stroll.
"All you have to do, Mongma-nim, is carry me around inside the house! No more, no less — exactly three laps!!"
"Th-that's not a stroll."
She wanted me to circle this spacious two-story house three times? That couldn't be called a stroll. It was more like muscle-building physical training.
"You told me I could treat you casually! So earn your meal tickets. Do you have any idea how hard I worked getting up at dawn to prepare breakfast?"
"So it wasn't free?"
"Nothing in this world is free-!"
I'd told her to treat me casually, and now she was running wild.
As if I'd flipped a dangerous switch, Kate was staring at me, panting heavily.
Had she been bottling that up all this time?
If I left her alone any longer, she looked ready to bite a chunk out of me.
"Let's eat first."
After mulling it over, I decided to grant Kate's request. Before we'd started dating, I would've shot her down flat, but hadn't Kate given me her virginity last night? Granting a request to carry her was the least I could do. I trusted in my Golden Sun-grade muscle performance.
"Chew every bite thoroughly-! Fufufufu."
Kate scraped up her soup at a ferocious speed. To keep pace, I had to gulp mine down just as desperately. There was no way I could chew every solid chunk.
Once the meal was over—
"I'll carry you now."
"Yep-!"
I lifted Kate into my arms. Cradling Kate in her nightclothes with both arms, I began walking around. The two-story house was spacious, so sweat inevitably streamed down my body like rain.
What the hell kind of brutal labor is this first thing in the morning?
So that soup was laced with poison after all.
Kate, meanwhile, watched me with an expression of pure exhilaration. She wrapped both arms around my neck and murmured.
"I am dominating Mongma-nim!!"
"Sister Kate has dominated Mongma-nim!!!"
A voice brimming with madness. More than once while walking, my back screamed in protest, and I seriously considered dropping her. But I mustered superhuman endurance and succeeded in circling the two-story house three times.
I had safely completed the terrifying task known as the princess-carry stroll. Of course, whether a mere stroll had satisfied Kate's pent-up desires was another story entirely.
"Mongma-nim! Go mong-mong for me like a doggy! Mong-mong!!"
"Hey, I'm not a dog."
"I said mong-mong!!"
"Mong-mong...."
After nearly half a day of indulging these bizarre requests, Kate finally had a bright expression on her face. Her skin looked smoother, as if all her accumulated stress had melted away. Looking at Kate's glowing face, I felt nothing but stupefaction.
"Good work! Mongma-nim!"
"A-are we finally done? I'm heading home now."
"We're not nearly done yet, though?"
"Rebecca's waiting for me at home."
"R-Rebecca? Well then, it can't be helped."
By dropping Rebecca's name, I managed to secure my release from Kate.
I wasn't making excuses.
I genuinely missed the kind-hearted Rebecca like crazy right now. I wanted to be held in her arms.
"I'll see you on the day of the promotion ceremony, Mongma-nim."
"Next time we meet, it'll be as Silver."
After a light farewell, I left Kate's house. I didn't head straight back to the inn, of course. There was something I wanted to prepare for Rebecca.
*
When I'd gotten permission to date Kate.
I had clearly made this promise with Rebecca.
—No matter who you meet from now on, always think of me.
—It means I want you to think of me first.
A day had passed, but Rebecca's words still lingered in my ears. I doubted I could ever forget them, no matter how much time went by. A promise to think of her first, no matter what. I couldn't help agonizing over how to keep that promise.
'She'd probably welcome me with open arms even if I just went straight home.'
Rebecca.
With that sunny personality of hers, she'd greet me happily even if I returned empty-handed.
But I wanted to give Rebecca a special gift. I wanted to soothe the heart of my Rebecca, who'd spent the day alone in her room.
"Yeah, I can't just go back with nothing."
A special gift!
That meant a ring—matching rings for Rebecca and me.
I didn't know if the Kingdom of Zakarta had a custom of couple rings, but I figured she'd be pretty happy to receive one.
Having made my decision, I immediately set out for a jeweler's in Yoen-su. Money wasn't an issue. I'd recently cleared several quests back-to-back, so my purse was comfortably full.
But when I reached the jeweler's entrance, a man in a suit blocked my path. A clerk guarding the door.
"You there, the Dream Demon. You can't go inside."
"Excuse me? You're stopping me because I'm a Dream Demon?"
"You look broke as hell at a glance. If you're just here to window shop, get lost."
Only then did I realize why the clerk had barred my way.
My outfit was completely shabby right now.
A threadbare shirt, wrinkled trousers. And the sandals I was wearing looked pathetically cheap. He'd taken one look at me like a beggar and denied me entry.
"Oh."
But the moment the clerk blocked my path, I felt a strange thrill.
To think I'd personally experience something I'd only heard about in internet urban legends in my past life.
I looked at the clerk, my lips twitching.
"Are you judging people by their appearance right now? Because I look like a beggar?"
"What's that?"
I rummaged inside my coat, then thrust my coin purse toward the clerk. The moment I opened it, silver coins gleaming with radiance revealed themselves within.
"Gah—!"
"—I'll be going in now."
"Welcome, valued customer!"
I clapped the clerk on the shoulder and strode into the jeweler's. I couldn't help but feel an ironic twinge at how he no longer blocked my path. To think I'd run into one of those internet-legend scenarios in this world.
I went inside and faced the shop's owner.
"What are you looking for, Dream Demon customer?"
"I'm looking to buy a ring. I need a matching pair."
"We've got a fair number of such items. Heh-heh."
The concept of couple rings was firmly established even on this continent, which was essentially medieval fantasy land. The shop owner quickly showed me matching ring sets. Looking at rings all luxuriously adorned with gems, I couldn't help but start deliberating.
"I'm planning to give it as a gift to someone I'm dating. Do you have anything especially nice?"
"There's someone who's dating a Dream Demon? Not a master-and-slave setup?"
The shop owner looked at my horns, his expression appalled. He glanced back and forth between me and the rings, then asked in a disbelieving voice.
"You're giving a ring to the person you're dating?"
"That's right. What did you think I was going to use it for?"
"I figured you were going to wear both of them on your own fingers."
What the hell would I do wearing a couple ring set on my own fingers?
Was that some kind of move to show off being married to your hand? It might hold meaning for chronic masturbators who kept women at arm's length and only got close to their palms, I supposed.
"Cut the ridiculous nonsense and just show me some good rings. Before I walk out."
The shop owner soon presented me with a pair of rings.
Rings with large, clear pearls set in them.
"What I recommend to you, Dream Demon customer, are these: 'Mermaid's Tears.'"
"Mermaid's Tears? That's the name of the ring?"
"To be precise, it refers to the pearl mounted on the ring. These pearls are the tears of mermaids who live along Moldir Beach. The tears they shed hardened into gemstones."
Tears turning into gemstones? I eyed the pearl while questioning whether this smooth-talking merchant was selling me snake oil. Still, the pearl hanging from the ring was exceptionally transparent and beautiful. Compared to the other pearls in the shop, at least.
"So mermaids make a killing just by crying? That's fucking enviable. Makes me want to catch one and raise it myself."
"Mermaid's Tears aren't something you can obtain so easily. They only shed a few drops when truly moved."
"So you're telling me I'd have to be a lover, not an abuser. So why recommend this pearl ring to me?"
"Because Mermaid's Tears symbolize eternal love. They say a couple who wears these pearl rings will never break up, not in a lifetime. Even in old age, they'll remain a loving, harmonious pair."
Eternal love!
Those were words I liked. I didn't want to part ways with Rebecca, no matter how much time passed. If these rings would safeguard our bond, I welcomed them.
"How much?"
"Ten silver per ring. That'll be twenty silver for the pair."
Twenty silver for a pair of pearl rings. It was a considerable expense, but I didn't begrudge buying them one bit. My lover Rebecca held a value beyond comparison with money.
I didn't hesitate to pay the owner twenty silver.
"Thank you, customer!"
"I'll probably be back again. I'll need to get another matching set of rings. You see, I'm dating two people."
"A love triangle."
The shop owner was apparently so flabbergasted he gaped like a goldfish. I quietly slipped out of the shop, leaving the goldfished man behind. I walked through the city streets with the two ring boxes tucked inside my coat.
I wanted to keep my promise to Rebecca.
The promise to think of her first.
"Will she like it when I slip the ring onto her finger?"
I returned to the inn, pondering how to deliver these rings.
I arrived at the inn building.
In the third-floor hallway, I carefully knocked on the door to Rebecca's room.
Soon, Rebecca's voice resonated from within.
—Who is it?
"It's me, Rebecca. I'm back."
—Ah, Luke!
Footsteps thudded, and soon the door opened. Rebecca, wearing a pure white shirt, appeared before me. The moment I waved awkwardly, Rebecca spread her arms and hugged me tightly.
"You came back so soon! Did you take good care of the blonde nun?"
Her red hair tickled the nape of my neck. Looking at Rebecca, who buried her face in my chest, my heart couldn't help but swell. Worrying about Kate the moment she saw me.
"Of course I did."
"I didn't think you'd be back in a day. You didn't treat her poorly, did you? She's someone we'll be living with from now on. If you make her cry, I'll scold you for it-."
"Why would you get mad if Kate's the one crying?"
"To use it as an excuse to get closer to her? That's how girls bond, by talking behind people's backs."
"I-is that so."
"You can come in-."
When Rebecca opened the door wide, I followed her into the room. Looking at Rebecca as she sat down on the edge of the bed, I fidgeted with the ring box inside my pocket.
Rebecca looked up at me, standing there dumbly in the middle of the room, with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you just standing there? So awkward."
I'd originally planned to give her the ring when the mood was right, but seeing Rebecca, all those grand plans turned into a blank slate in an instant, because I wanted to see Rebecca's happy face as soon as possible. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
"I have a gift for you."
"A gift? Strawberry pie?"
I knelt on one knee and pulled the ring box from my pocket. When I flipped open the lid, the pearl ring inside revealed itself, radiating a brilliant luster.
"A-a ring!"
Rebecca, who had been sitting on the bed, sprang to her feet. Tumbling back onto the bed with a yelp, she stared at me with a stunned expression and spoke.
"It's insanely pretty! You're really giving this to me?"
"The pearl on the ring is called a Mermaid's Tear. They say it symbolizes eternal love. I thought it'd be nice for us to wear them together."
I pulled the other ring box from my pocket and showed Rebecca. Two identically radiant pearl rings revealed themselves side by side.
"E-eternal love? The two of us are going to wear rings?"
Rebecca's face flushed bright red.
Rebecca looked at me with a trembling expression.
"Y-you, you, you. Don't tell me."
"Yeah, it's exactly that."
Couple rings I'd prepared for my precious lover.
That was the moment I was about to confess.
Suddenly, Rebecca's voice rang out.
"Are you thinking of marrying me?!"