* * *
His words were so natural that I almost let it slide.
I sighed deeply, holding the head that was subtly moving lower and lower in the meantime.
“Wait, just a moment, how far down are you trying to go?”
“Uh-huh? Naturally, this far.”
I asked with a hesitant look, controlling Hesia’s movement by grabbing his light pink hair.
Hesia looked utterly confused, with a face full of question marks, as if he couldn’t understand my question.
He then innocently poked the slightly swollen orifice that had been embracing Hesia’s penis all night.
The soft, relaxed orifice naturally moved to swallow Hesia’s finger.
At that, Hesia prepared to insert his finger, as if he had found exactly what he wanted.
Where had the child gone who had been tearful and sorry for initiating intimacy without my permission the first time…
Shaking my head, I thought that time was better.
I pushed Hesia away, who was watching me with sparkling eyes like a cat watching a mouse, and pulled the blanket up.
“Just sleep. You’re acting like a cat going through its first heat, trying to shove your member in every chance you get.”
“I’m not a cat! What do you mean I’m a cat? I’m a human! A human!”
“Why are you saying the obvious so loudly, Sia? I’m not crazy enough to be intimate with a cat.”
“No, Vivi, why would you talk like th—?! What if someone hears you!”
“Who is there to hear besides you and me?”
“Vivi… Listen carefully. This godd—, no, damn, no, anyway, there are human ears on the walls and the ceiling inside the palace.”
“Yes, I suppose so. Like the knights of your secret knighthood waiting in a discreet spot outside there, or the nobles who are lingering far away trying to hear something.”
“Yes, Vivi knows, no, how did you know about the secret knighthood?”
“I have ears too, so I know.”
“It’s normal not to know, even with ears.”
“My goodness, Sia, are you calling me abnormal right now?”
“This is driving me crazy!”
I pulled Hesia into a hug and messed with him to distract him.
Hesia raised the corners of his eyes and protested against my words.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t particularly threatening in the position where he had meekly surrendered his head to me.
Even after the conversation ended, Hesia kept huffing and puffing with his face buried in my chest, as if saying, ‘I’m sulking!‘ He wouldn’t lift his head no matter what I said, which showed he was seriously sulking.
But then again, this wasn’t the first or second time this had happened.
Hesia sulking was as common and natural as the moon rising when the sun sets.
And I didn’t feel any great sense of crisis about how hard it would be to soothe him.
Of course, because even at this very moment, Hesia was constantly burrowing into my embrace, completely disregarding his size.
He was exactly like a cat looking for human warmth.
I endured his pouting, thinking a thought that would have made Hesia meow in protest again if he had heard it.
Since he was big, it was a little overwhelming, but since it happened often, I was skilled at handling it.
My arm ached more than my body, which was wide open to receive Hesia.
I suspected it was because of the brazen cat that had occupied my arm when I woke up…
I didn’t remember giving him a pillow with my arm when I fell asleep like I’d passed out, so he must have helped himself to my arm.
As the days of sleeping with Hesia continued, this kind of situation was also common.
To explain it more easily, it was like Hesia rubbing himself against me like a large dog that still believes it’s small.
At first, I was confused, wondering why a grown man was acting like this.
Now, it’s as familiar as the sun rising and setting.
Was he really a cat?
The temperature, which was slightly higher than that of an average person, made my body languid.
I gently stroked his smooth hair and blinked slowly.
“Is this why people keep cats…”
He bites or bothers me sometimes, but… the warm body temperature, the soft fur—no, hair.
Because Hesia was resting his chin on my shoulder and purring right next to my ear, I unconsciously thought of it as fur.
‘Well, fur or hair, what’s the difference.‘
Thinking that they were all the same, I played with Hesia’s hair.
The attendants, who cherished every strand of Hesia’s hair like a jewel, would have been horrified, but Hesia just let me be, whether I was gently pulling out one strand of his hair or grabbing a handful.
On the contrary, he would just purr and rub his head against me, as if he liked that I was paying attention to him.
“Uh-huh, Vivi, you keep subtly calling me a cat. …Ah, I like that. Touch that spot more…”
‘…If you’re going to resist, at least finish talking. Or at least don’t close your eyes and say you like it just because I’m touching you.’
I was speechless, but instead of showing it, I just raised an eyebrow.
I had teased him enough today.
If I teased him more, he might bite my finger.
I obediently touched the spot Hesia said he liked, as he instructed.
It was behind his ear, and when I gently rubbed it with my fingertip, Hesia was overjoyed.
‘The purring sound seems to have gotten a little louder?‘
At this volume, it wasn’t a purr but a growl.
I thought he was a cat, but was he a tiger?
A tiger is still a member of the cat family, but considering his size, hmm, maybe a tiger suited him better.
Imagining a tiger with light pink fur, I scratched Hesia’s chin.
As if he liked my touch, Hesia leaned against me even more.
The weight shifting heavily caused my body to be pushed back slightly.
I involuntarily let out a small groan.
Instead of stopping at my moan, Hesia got even more excited and surged forward.
“Sha, you’re a little… overwhelming.”
“Heavy?”
“Overwhelming.”
“Heavy? Me? I didn’t expect you to say I’m as light as a feather, but isn’t it too much to say I’m heavy? When Vivi sat on my face, I said you were as light as a feather, not heavy at all. I said you were just soft and nice, ugh, umph!”
I had said he was overwhelming, but he misinterpreted it as heavy and even brought up the annoying incident where, after I told him he could do what he wanted when he said he wanted to try something with a serious face, he immediately and arbitrarily sat me on his face.
I firmly grasped Hesia’s snout—no, his mouth—with a slightly annoyed touch.
How could every word he spoke be so upsetting?
Even a farmer preparing his fields wouldn’t plow his field with such sincerity.
“You, you need to be careful with your words, Sia. Who taught you that you sometimes can’t distinguish between what should and shouldn’t be said?”
“Umph, umph!”
“What?”
“Vi-Vivi!”
“You learned it from me? I’m quite sure I taught you not to curse, not to use bad words, not to insult others, and not to use overly violent language.”
“…I learned it from my grandmother.”
Vivisian, who had not imagined that Hesia would sell out the Duke-King like this, looked at Hesia with eyes full of admiration.
“Sha, you really are…”
“Beautiful?”
“No, …amazing.”
Hesia blinked with an innocent face at my mumble mixed with various emotions.
“Uh-huh? Why does that sound like an insult? Usually, nobles who couldn’t bring themselves to call me a terrible bastard would say, ‘Your Highness is truly, truly an amazing person!’”
I stopped myself from asking what he had been doing that made the nobles, who couldn’t even raise their heads properly in front of the Duke-King and his bloodline, want to curse him.
For some reason, I felt that nothing good would come from hearing it.
Still, he wasn’t a bad kid, not… anyway, I knew that in a high percentage of cases when Hesia did something strange, I was involved.
I didn’t particularly want to spit on my own face, so to speak.
Thinking that no one would want to do that, I needlessly rubbed my arm, which suddenly felt cold.
Then, I asked in an offhand manner, just in case.
“Just, just in case I’m saying this, Sia. You haven’t tried to attack the Empire because of me, or something similar, have you?”
And at my question, Hesia lifted his head sharply.
There was no surprise, admiration, or shock.
Just as I was about to relax, thinking maybe he hadn’t, Hesia chattered away with a face that seemed to ask, ‘Why would you even ask that?’
“Uh-huh? I did.”
“…What?”
“Why the sudden surprise? Didn’t Vivi hear about it? That I tore the Empire to shreds after Vivi died.”
Hesia spoke the chilling words with a peaceful face.
His expression was as leisurely as if he were reminiscing about a delicious lunch.
It was a bonus that his hand trembled slightly as if enduring pain when he mentioned my death, but he looked relieved when he said he had torn the Empire to shreds.
Hesia must have thought I didn’t remember, as he tried to kindly remind me again.
Naturally, I didn’t want to hear the story of how Hesia had undermined the Imperial family’s prestige and killed Letiyan alone in the Teian Duchy after I died.
* * *
