Chapter 38
Eki thought to herself as she lay sprawled over the desk.
Maybe Cassius didn’t actually hate being complimented all that much.
‘He’s just really embarrassed, that’s all.’
Even so, that didn’t mean her own mortification had faded.
It was only because Cassius overreacted in that flustered way that things hadn’t turned unbearably awkward. She was still embarrassed herself.
“Haah…”
Eki straightened up and took a deep breath.
Calm down. The other person is Cassius. The same Master who can blush like that one moment and then turn around and curse you out the next if you mess up a spell.
‘Don’t think weird thoughts. Don’t think weird thoughts…’
But her attempt at self-control lasted only a moment before a loud thud! and crash! sounded from outside.
‘What was that?’
A bad feeling prickled in her chest.
It reminded her of that one time she’d gone down to the basement and found Cassius trapped by a slime.
Eki froze, listening carefully.
If something happened to Cassius, she was the only one who could help him. After all, in this quiet, lonely tower, it was only the two of them who lived there.
“Master?”
For some reason, that simple truth struck her more deeply today than usual.
She didn’t know if her mind had gone strange because of the luck potion, or if Cassius’s reactions under the truth potion had somehow swayed her.
Whatever the reason, everything about this situation was making her uneasy.
And now, things had gotten even worse.
“Eki?”
She followed his voice and stepped into the storage room.
It was spotless inside. Cassius nagged her to the point her ears nearly bled, insisting she keep it clean every day.
His voice came from the very back, near one of the wardrobes. Eki narrowed her eyes and walked over.
“…Master, are you trapped in there?”
“Damn it, if you know that, then hurry up and get me out.”
“What were you doing in there in the first place?”
Eki pulled on the handle of the old wardrobe.
‘Isn’t this that failed magical tool from a few hundred years ago?’
Cassius had once explained that he’d wanted to create a wardrobe that appeared small and plain on the outside but was enormous like a palace inside by using space-expansion magic.
Unfortunately, spatial magic was a notoriously difficult field, even for him. After countless failed attempts, the wardrobe became a thing of bitter affection and was shoved away into storage.
“I came in to check something and ended up getting stuck.”
“There’s something you needed to check in there?”
“…You don’t need to know.”
Due to the side effects of the space magic, the wardrobe’s locking mechanism had become permanently active.
It couldn’t be opened from the inside, only from the outside.
Not that anyone was supposed to go inside a wardrobe meant for storing clothes anyway.
This was the first time Cassius had ever been trapped in it.
Eki tilted her head to the side, then stepped aside to let him come out.
But suddenly, someone gave her back a hard shove.
“Huh?”
Startled, she stumbled forward, and Cassius—who was just stepping out—caught her reflexively.
Both of them toppled backward together into the wardrobe.
“Eki?!”
Thud! Cassius’s broad, solid back hit the wall of the wardrobe.
Eki’s face was buried against his chest—she had honestly lost count of how many times this had happened—and a faint groan escaped her lips.
But just as they clung to each other in the cramped space, the wardrobe doors, which had been wide open, slammed shut with a loud bang!
The sudden darkness made both of them freeze.
At the same moment, they turned their heads toward each other.
“W-What was that?”
“Did you close it?”
“No! I’m holding onto you right now!”
Instead of saying she had fallen or tripped, the blunt truth burst straight out of her mouth.
Cassius’s ears went red immediately, but the pitch-black space hid the flush spreading over his face.
He awkwardly lifted his upper body, releasing her.
But given how narrow it was inside, Eki couldn’t take even half a step back. She was still pressed right up against him.
“M-Master, please don’t push me.”
“Then move back!”
“I can’t, there’s no space!”
“…Damn it.”
Cassius reached past her shoulder to knock on the wardrobe door, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge.
Of course it wouldn’t. As mentioned before, this thing was a failed magic artifact.
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