* * *
“Hey there.”
I bent down to meet his gaze.
His eyes widened in surprise, and he almost stumbled back.
I smiled.
He froze, then blushed slightly.
‘Good.’
“H-hello…”
“Are you busy?”
“Huh? Oh, um…”
He fumbled for an answer before propping his broom against the wall.
“I’m not busy at all!”
“Great. I wanted to hang out with you.”
“M-me?!”
He pointed at himself with a trembling hand.
Instead of answering, I handed him a small bag of butter cookies I had bought from the market.
Since they were still sealed, he wouldn’t suspect anything strange.
“…Cute.”
I heard him make some kind of strangled noise.
‘Almost there.’
His shaking hands accepted the cookies, and he hesitated before nibbling on one.
It made sense—someone working at a shabby inn wouldn’t get to eat rich, buttery treats often.
But for some reason, I kept thinking about how Batista would have just devoured them in two bites.
That had been a good sight to see.
I reached out and tapped the staff member’s lips lightly.
“Not like that.”
“Huh?”
“Like this.”
I traced my fingers over his lips, gently parting them slightly with my thumb and index finger.
“You have to take big bites to really enjoy it.”
He turned bright red.
I smiled as I watched him freeze in place.
The cookie fell from his hand.
‘What a waste.’
“By the way,” I continued.
“Y-yes?”
He looked completely dazed, barely even registering his own words.
‘Perfect.’
“There’s a tall guy with purple hair staying here, right? He’s my traveling companion. He was supposed to get a room for us in advance. Do you know which room he’s in?”
An old, seasoned innkeeper wouldn’t fall for that story, but this younger staff member would.
And I was right.
After a brief moment of thought, recognition dawned on his face.
“Oh, you mean the scary guy…?”
‘So everyone thinks he’s scary, huh?’
That probably meant he really was walking around looking intimidating.
Was he really waiting for me?
The thought made my heart swell, but at the same time, it was… kind of terrifying.
“Yeah, that guy.”
The staff member hesitated, but in the end, he answered.
There was no way he could have mistaken Batista for someone else.
“He’s in room 204. But, um… I think he booked a single room, so if he was expecting a companion—”
‘He remembered that detail?’
Before he could piece things together, I grabbed his hand.
I bent down and placed a light kiss on the back of it.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“S-sweetheart…?”
Since he had dropped the butter cookie earlier, I placed another in his palm.
While he stood there, still reeling from being called sweetheart, I walked away.
‘Room 204, huh?’
If I knocked on that door…
Would Batista open it?
Suddenly, I’m ridiculously nervous.
I really want to see him, but maybe that’s exactly why I can’t bring myself to go.
Just the thought that I’ll see him soon makes my heart race like this—what if it explodes when I actually do?
I’m starting to worry about the dumbest things.
Honestly, more than that, I should probably be thinking about how to face Batista, who’s still angry, and how to calm him down, right?
Ah, and I didn’t even bring Gaspar with me.
What am I supposed to do now?
Maybe I should just meet him, drop to my knees, and say I’ve got something to show him—then invite him to the room I’m staying in.
Would he come if I did that?
Ugh.
I—I think he might come…
But I’m still scared.
I’m so happy to be seeing him again that it’s scary.
What if I act like a total idiot the moment I see him because I’m too happy?!
If I mess it up again, he might not forgive me this time!
The more I think about it, the more tangled my head gets.
…And I don’t even know if Batista is in there right now or not!
Okay! First—how about just checking if he’s inside?
That might be a good start, right?
Yeah, that’s not a bad idea.
Maybe I’ll relax a little if I just see his face. Yeah, let’s go with that.
Luckily, there was a big tree near Room 204, perfect for this.
I climbed up and peeked around nearby.
Once I got there, I could tell right away that Batista was in the room.
Maybe he was holding back a bit out of consideration for the other people at the inn, but there was no doubt about the commanding pressure dominating the area around him.
I held my breath even more and peeked gently through the window.
Inside the old, cramped room, Batista was writing something.
The space was so small it could barely fit a decent bed, but someone had brought in a makeshift desk, and there he was, hunched over it, writing.
What’s he writing?
Does he maybe keep a diary or something?
That would be so cute.
If he is writing one, I wonder what he’s saying…
I really want to know.
As he focused intently on writing, he suddenly crumpled the paper.
Apparently not satisfied, he tossed it to the floor.
Now that I looked closer, there were more than a few crumpled pages lying around.
The floor was a mess with all that discarded paper.
What is he trying to write that’s making him do that?
Unable to contain my curiosity, I leaned in a little closer.
That curiosity… was the problem.
Just a little more, I thought—and then it happened.
My eyes met Batista’s.
He shot up from his chair.
So violently, in fact, that the chair flew backward and shattered.
“Waaah!”
I screamed for real.
If I’d just run off quickly, maybe he’d have thought it was a trick of the light or something.
But I screamed. Loudly.
I was seriously scared! I must’ve imagined how I’d meet Batista again at least five hundred times in my head, but this was never one of those scenarios!
What the hell is this?!
It totally looks like I was spying on him!
Wait… I was spying on him.
That’s even worse!
Batista, now fully on his feet, approached the window in long, unhesitating strides.
His gray eyes weren’t cold and dead—they were glowing with fierce intensity.
That was somehow even scarier.
My plan was definitely to kneel the moment I saw Batista.
But overwhelmed by his reaction, I panicked and jumped down from the tree and ran.
‘Aaaah! AAAAAAH!’
What am I supposed to say now?!
It’s not just spying—it’s borderline stalking!
Now that I think about it, peeking through his window to see if he’s there was completely insane.
Tracking down where he’s staying and sneaking over like this?
That’s creepy!
That’s horrifying!
Even if I was trying to make things right, he’s probably gonna hate me now!
My heart was pounding so hard it echoed in my ears, drowning out everything else.
My brain was blank.
Th-this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen!
Absolutely not!
I need to—yeah—I need to go back and think of an excuse or something before facing him again!
I turned to flee when suddenly I saw people screaming and running away.
What’s going on?
I turned my head—and understood immediately.
It was Batista.
He’d come out of the inn and was chasing after me.
A chill ran down my spine.
Terrifying!
I’m so scared!
What if he’s coming to crush me?!
I pissed him off, and now on top of that, I’ve been caught stalking him like some shady freak?!
Each of Batista’s steps felt like a countdown to my doom.
So I ran.
I just ran. I didn’t even know I could run this fast.
The only thought in my head was don’t get caught.
* * *
