* * *

No, even after biting my tongue, my thoughts were still muddled.

That’s how surreal this was.

“You’re not going to?”

It’s real!

“No, it’s not that!”

My voice came out as a near scream.

The dramatic shift from his earlier anger to this moment was too much for me to comprehend.

It didn’t make sense.

Was he okay?

Was something wrong with him?

I needed to get a grip on the situation.

“Last time we met, you were mad at me, right? And now I wake up to find you’ve forgiven me…?”

Saying it out loud made it sound even stranger.

“And now you’re even, uh, making offers like this… I’m just not sure if you’re really over it or what…”

Why did I always end up rambling like this in front of the hero?

Speaking eloquently was supposed to be my strong suit, but not here.

It’s no wonder the hero didn’t trust me, is it?

“And so?”

Oh, right!

You’re not even going to explain why your anger subsided or why you came all the way here!

Well, if you did, you wouldn’t be the hero I know.

In that case, I have no choice.

“…Why did you come here?”

In the end, I asked the thing I was most curious about.

Of course, the most shocking thing was that the hero had given me permission to touch his chest, but that was so absurd that I couldn’t even bring it up.

I still couldn’t believe it was real.

More than that, I was curious why, when I woke up, the hero was holding me in his arms.

The hero let go of my hand, and I quickly pulled it back.

At that moment, he grabbed my ankle.

“Ow!”

The sudden grip was so firm that a whimper escaped my lips.

Startled, I quickly covered my mouth.

Sure, my ankle was a bit swollen from an injury, but to react like this just from being grabbed?

I do have some pride as an adventurer, after all.

“This isn’t because it hurts! It’s just because I was surprised!”

The hero ignored my excuse, rummaged through his bag, and pulled out a potion.

A potion? Now?

Before I could process it, he poured the potion over my ankle.

The pain vanished in an instant, leaving me feeling refreshed.

The swelling subsided slowly, and the redness faded from my skin.

I widened my eyes, staring blankly at the scene.

It wasn’t because I was some rookie adventurer marveling at the magic of a high-grade potion.

What stunned me was that the hero used it on me.

Did he know I was hurt?

How?

The hero had thrown me aside and left right after, so he wouldn’t have had a chance to check on my condition.

And afterward, I had holed up at home, trying to pull myself together.

He shouldn’t have known how I was doing.

But the sequence of events was too clear to think otherwise.

I had no idea how he found out, but…

The hero heard I was injured, worried about me, and came all the way to my house to check on me.

‘Because he was worried about me.’

My mind went blank, as if I’d been struck.

The hero cared about me enough to come here out of concern that I got hurt because of him.

Something warm stirred inside me.

An overwhelming joy washed over me.

I tried to tell myself that it couldn’t be true, that I might be misunderstanding, but it was too late.

“Thank you.”

I was happy.

Truly, deeply happy.

My chest filled with a radiant hope.

The rapid beating of my heart wasn’t burdensome—it felt exhilarating.

I could feel my eyes welling up, but I wasn’t embarrassed.

I smiled brightly, even as tears streamed down my cheeks.

I hadn’t failed.

The hero hadn’t completely given up on our relationship.

He didn’t hate me.

He was just… really.

Like a companion traveling with me… he’d been sulking out of anger for a bit.

A little tantrum.

That’s all it was.

I had so many things I wanted to say besides “thank you,” but I was too choked with happiness to speak.

So instead, I just smiled.

Smiled as brightly as I could, hoping the hero would understand how I felt.

“…”

The hero didn’t say anything at first.

Then, carefully, he reached out to wipe away my tears.

His large, rough hands were surprisingly gentle as they brushed against my face, making me shiver and laugh at the ticklish sensation.

Ah, really.

I had been worried for no reason.

“I’m so glad you don’t hate me.”

I managed to say it through my trembling voice, thick with tears.

Did the hero’s eyes widen slightly?

Or was that just my wishful thinking?

“You really…”

“Yeah?”

“…are strange.”

I couldn’t deny that.

Here I was, running around and fretting over things that hadn’t even happened.

Of course I’d seem strange to others.

“But no matter what, I’d be terrified if you hated me.”

I tried to explain myself. And I meant it.

The hero—or rather, Zerbin—sighed deeply.

I thought the mood had been good, so his heavy sigh caught me off guard.

Was I being too clingy?

“Does it bother you when I say things like this?”

Instead of answering, Zerbin unbuttoned his shirt and took it off entirely.

…What?

No, why?!

“You like it, don’t you?”

What kind of impression does Zerbin have of me?

That I’m some kind of lust-driven creature who’ll stop crying the moment I see a bare chest?

I genuinely didn’t know how to respond!

“N-no, I don’t.”

I denied it immediately.

Zerbin silently stared at me, his gaze skeptical, making my conscience prick.

I wanted to slap my mouth.

Why did I blabber so much?

Talking about his chest has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done.

“Like the other day.”

The other day.

The other day?

Oh no. I knew exactly what he meant.

That time I’d left my house with Vicente, who had a similar build to Zerbin.

What else could make him think I had a thing for men’s chests?

So he really thought I slept with Vicente!

“I didn’t sleep with him!”

I could say that confidently because it was true.

“I just asked him to stay over because his build is similar to yours, and I thought maybe I could sleep well like I did last time when you held me!”

Now that I said it out loud, it sounded a bit weird.

“T-that is, when you held me before, I didn’t have nightmares for the first time in ages… it was comforting.”

I hurried to clarify.

Even so, Zerbin’s expression darkened slightly.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

Was this the wrong time?

I thought I was explaining myself because he seemed to think I slept with Vicente.

It felt relevant to the conversation.

“I’m just saying I’m not… obsessed with muscular guys or anything! Please believe me!”

But Zerbin just looked at me pitifully.

Did I misunderstand something?

I was sure we’d gotten a bit closer, but I still couldn’t figure out what went on in his head.

If he had an issue, he should just tell me.

I’d be willing to fix anything he wanted.

But since he wasn’t saying anything, all I could do was keep trying to read his mood.

What was bothering him?

Maybe he was upset that I’d rejected the chance to touch his chest?

Hmm.

The King of Adventurers offering his chest and me refusing… yeah, that could hurt someone’s pride.

It’s my fault.

But how do I even address this?

Honestly, the shock of him saying I could do whatever I wanted with him left me unable to think straight.

What was he thinking when he said that?

Should I ask?

* * *