After that, Luman stayed perched on the chair, quietly staring at me.

Telling him not to look didn’t do a damn thing. He was staring so hard I couldn’t even keep my face up without getting embarrassed. For no reason, I kept pulling the blanket over my head because I felt stifled, then sticking my head back out again, over and over. Luman, like he never got tired, just kept looking at me in the exact same posture. Today, for some reason, his golden eyes looked especially bright.

While I was locked in this weird not-quite-staring contest with Luman, my brother came in.

“Brother! Where’d you go—what the hell happened to the door?!”

“.......”

I’d shot upright to greet him, then froze in horror.

No, seriously, what the hell happened to the door?! The doorknob was completely wrecked, and the door was hanging half off its hinges! Wow. I’m only noticing this now? I was so dumbfounded by my own slowness it was ridiculous.

At my outburst, Jepeto abruptly jumped in like he’d been waiting for the chance.

“Right! It should be fixed right away, shouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it be best to get it repaired before the innkeeper lady comes upstairs? Should I go fetch a carpenter? Or else......”

Jepeto trailed off, glancing at Luman.

“Why’d you stop talking halfway through?”

“Huh? Ah, no, that’s not... ahem. Anyway.”

“Brother! Don’t just stand there, come in.”

“I’ll go talk to the innkeeper lady.”

Luman rose from his seat. On his way out, he gave Temar’s shoulder a couple light pats. My brother, who’d been staring at the ruined door, finally came all the way into the room.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah! They said it was just acute indigestion.”

“......Yeah.”

What’s with him. My brother felt kind of strange somehow.

I looked into his dark eyes, then glanced at Jepeto. Jepeto only looked baffled by my stare, then muttered awkwardly to himself and left the room.

Nice one, Jepeto!

Maybe getting a little closer to people isn’t actually good. Stuff that never used to bother me suddenly feels way more embarrassing for no reason! Still, I had to say what I needed to say. So I didn’t hesitate. I opened my mouth right away.

“Brother.”

“.......”

Temar didn’t answer. He just looked at me. Today of all days, both Luman and my brother kept staring at me in this weird quiet way.

“I’m sorry.”

“.......”

My brother’s eyes widened. His eyelashes trembled.

“Um...... I’ll try not to be a burden!”

I don’t even know how many times this makes because of me!

He still didn’t answer. He looked like he had a lot to say, but it was hard to guess what he was thinking. Still, I could tell one thing—he wasn’t angry. He wasn’t blaming me. The eyes looking at me held nothing but warmth, more completely than they had in a long time. Looking at myself reflected in those gentle dark brown eyes, I thought I wished this moment would last forever.

But I already know that just because I want something to last doesn’t mean it will.

Luman came back upstairs with the innkeeper lady and a carpenter. The quiet atmosphere shattered. I could hear the innkeeper, the carpenter, and Luman exchanging a few words while glancing this way, but I kept looking only at my brother.

And he was doing the same.

We acted like, in that moment, we couldn’t see anyone but each other.

***

“Let’s go. You packed everything?”

“Yes.”

“Yep!”

We cleaned the room up neatly. In the meantime, the broken door got fixed too. Jepeto carefully looked all over the room, checking whether he’d left anything behind.

When we went downstairs, the dining room seemed weirdly crowded. For no reason, I pulled my hood lower over my face. Luman, who’d been coming down behind me, stepped forward and moved in front of me.

Was that consideration?

No way. How would he know I was uncomfortable?

I stared blankly at Luman’s broad back, then laughed to myself because it felt like I’d had some stupid misunderstanding.

“What’s so funny all by yourself?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Everything’s a secret with you.”

Luman only turned his head a little to ask, then laughed under his breath.

“Ren. Want to say hi to the village kids?” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

What kind of random question is that? Startled, I asked back,

“Say hi? Why?”

“Well. They were worried about you. And since they gave you the toy, it might be nice. If you don’t want to, I can tell them for you.”

“.......”

That’s a little much.

Come to think of it, the village kids I’d seen yesterday were all huddled together at a table near the inn door. They were pretending not to look this way, like they were busy talking among themselves, but I could tell they were paying attention to me. Their moving mouths looked awkward, and the eyes they kept dropping to the tabletop looked uncomfortable too. Tommy, maybe from nerves, was shaking his leg nonstop.

Still, they gave me the toy. And I did have fun with it. So I should probably say hi, right?

I was thinking it over when a huge voice from my left grabbed me.

“Hey, kid! Heard you were sick. You alright now?”

“......!”

The thunderously loud voice startled me so badly I froze on the spot. It was the booming, rough voice of a grown man.

The moment I stopped dead, my brother wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

'He’s gonna scold me again.'

More than the words 'Are you okay?', what stuck with me was the barked, almost shouting tone. My heart started pounding. I just glared at the floor for no reason.

Then I heard Luman’s voice above me.

“Ah, Ren is—”

“He’s alright. Thank you. My little brother... startles easily. Sorry about that.”

But another voice cut in.

What did Temar just say?

“Huh? Ah! He’s fine, he’s fine! Thank goodness. My son was so shocked this morning! Hahaha!”

“Dad!”

One of the boys at Tommy’s table shouted. His face had turned bright red. The moment his eyes met mine as I looked up in confusion, he yelped and ducked his head down hard.

I was completely dazed.

What did my brother just say? He didn’t scold me......?

He was supposed to scold me for being rude!

For a totally different reason, my heart started pounding again. I put a hand over my chest, where it was thumping heavy, thump, thump. Jepeto immediately asked if I was hurting again, so I hurriedly lowered my hand.

That makes no sense! My brother—my brother took my side!? My brother did!?

“Let’s go, Ren.”

“.......”

I couldn’t even answer. My mouth just opened and closed uselessly. I wanted so badly to see my brother’s face that I jerked my head up. That made my hood fall right back off.

“Brother.”

“.......”

He was only looking straight ahead, so all I could see was the back of his head. It didn’t look like he had any intention of turning around. But I wanted to know! I wanted to know! Even after calling him two more times, he stayed silent.

Luman pulled my hood back up ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) over my head again.

After separately paying the carpenter for the repairs, Luman noticed the old lady standing by the kitchen and strode over to hold out a silver coin. It looked like he’d already prepared it.

“Ah, here. I’m really sorry about the door.”

“No need! I said I’m not taking it. Can’t you understand plain words?”

“Ha ha.”

The old lady waved her hand like she couldn’t be bothered, then stared right at me.

Why is she staring again?

This time, I didn’t avoid her eyes either. Her vivid blue eyes, sharp and mysterious, looked like they held the sea inside them. Of course, I’d never actually seen the sea myself, but I knew it from storybooks. When I didn’t look away, the old lady let out a little, “Oh?”

I was about to ask if she had something she wanted to say, but my brother turned, gave the innkeeper lady a polite nod, and tugged on my shoulder.

I snuck a glance up at his face then...

And it was the same as always. Blank and stoic.

Ugh. I felt stupidly disappointed.

Was I hoping he’d be smiling or something? He took my side—that alone is huge!! Don’t get greedy.

My heart had gotten way too soft. It’s not like I used to get hurt over something this stupid! Or... did I? Whatever!

“Uh, I want to say hi.”

Ugh. I should. If I don’t, I feel like I’ll regret it later. So I said it as calmly as I could.

“Oh, good choice.”

Luman grinned.

“Let’s step outside and let the kids talk among themselves, Temar.”

“Alright.”

“Jepeto, would you come out too? Ren can handle this on his own.”

“I’m an adult too, you know......?”

Jepeto’s eyes went round. But Luman and my brother had already gone out.

“Uh! Ren. Um. Ren... is it okay if I call you Ren?”

Tommy, who’d been twitching his butt and shoulders around in his seat, sprang up the second Luman and my brother left. With all the other noisy voices in the room, mine probably wouldn’t carry to the other tables.

Which meant nobody would know I was embarrassed right now, right?!

I think this was the first time I’d ever really talked properly with boys my own age. Ah—well, I had talked with Coco, of course! But Coco was... a noble. Mm.

“Yeah. You can.”

Did he have any idea how much courage it took for me to mutter that in such a stiff, grumpy tone!?

Thankfully, Tommy seemed to get it. Even though my tone was chilly, his eyes lit up like he was thrilled.

“The toy. It was fun, right?! It was fun, wasn’t it?!”

“......Yeah.”

“That’s good!”

“.......”

I should say thank you.

But my lips wouldn’t move. It felt like my mouth wasn’t even mine.

“Um. So... is your body okay?”

The one asking, face red and expression stiff, was the same boy who’d shouted “Dad!” earlier. Looking at the brown eyes that resembled his father’s, I managed, with effort, to nod.

That’s weird. Usually when people ask about my health, I get pissed off first. So why am I not angry?

I stared at the boys blankly.

Wait. Hold on, is my brain broken right now? What the hell am I doing, just standing there like an idiot? Say something. 'Say something.'

I was scolding myself inside my head when the gathered kids kept talking to me. They talked among themselves, babbled about the toy, and—ugh, how embarrassing—they admitted they’d actually seen me flying it around in the empty lot. I was sprinting around like a dog! And then they even praised me, saying I was good at launching it.

Listening to the kids all chattering made me feel... it made me feel really weird.

Different from how it felt getting close to Coco.

It was awkward and embarrassing and I didn’t even know what to do with my fingers and toes, but still, it felt good.

For some reason, it felt like I belonged.

No, wait, can I seriously be feeling that over kids I met yesterday and am saying goodbye to today?! I wanted to ask Luman. I looked toward the back of his head, faintly visible through the window. He turned slightly. I’d been wondering what he looked like from the side when he wasn’t smiling, but then he spotted me and his eyes curved.

“......So once the sparkly light on the toy wears out, you replace it with this.”