The Maid In The Reverse Harem Game Wants To Quit

It feels more like a nonsensical fantasy that the mind can come and go this far with the existence of a single person. However, to deny it, this was quite a long long-lived concern for Ahibalt.

One summer day, which was the source of all these imprints, passed into his distant mind. The sparse sunlight on a particularly saturated day. The shadows of trees were moderately obscuring the boy and girl.

“Do you believe me, Irene?”

“Of course, Young Master.”

And, the conversation he heard was embedded with the crying of Starling.

…The source of all these incomprehensible feelings.

Had he known that the conversation that day would be so turbulent, he would not have asked such a question in the first place. If only he had known that the heart to desire her would be so painful, he would not have given time to desire to intervene in his life, and he would not have even thought of hiding his disquieting temperament…

There was one thing Ahibalt agreed with Otis.

“Brother. You can’t turn away from your heart forever, you know.”

This part.

Like Otis, Ahibalt had long since reached his limit.

Irene’s smileless inorganic gaze reached him.

“…How did Otis come along?”

“The Second Master seems to have calmed down to some extent. I shouldn’t have followed you?”

“No, more than that… I thought you wouldn’t come out.”

And suddenly, he was speechless.

He thought she would not come out, so was she here? Why did he think so…?

Was it because Irene was such a person who did not respond to anything? Because he thought she would not turn Otis down if he caught her? Then, there would be no reason for him to stand here… What the hell was he hoping for?

The doubt was quickly resolved.

“Then, you probably weren’t waiting for me.”

Irene’s words tightened his breath without realizing it. Even before he came to his senses, words came out of his mouth.

“No. I think I’ve been waiting.”

“Yes?”

“That moment… you come to me in person.”

A sharp confession like glass shards pouring out. Ahibalt realized only after those words came out what he had been waiting for all this time. Why did he not call her once, even though he knew that Irene was avoiding him.

…It was because he just waited for her to choose him. He always hoped that she would look back at him, who was always out of her sight.

“Haha…”

This was all he had so wildly wished for.

Ahibalt burst out into an absurd laugh without realizing it. How trivial his desires were, and how desperate that he could not even suppress them.

He felt so empty yet relieved when he found out the truth.

Ahibalt reached out and touched Irene’s face. It was a fearless movement, like a person intoxicated with excitement. As his thumb wiped her face, at the end, it fell like a trickle of water. His face was filled with a smile of strange satisfaction.

“I’m truly happy.”

Innocent words followed.

It was a moment when nothing needed to be patient.

ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

In Otis’ room, there was no trace of the person who had just left.

A crumpled paper rose fell from Otis’ hand.

Without paying attention to what he had just created, he reached for the next piece of paper. But even then, his eyes did not even reach the paper.

The paper in his hand was folded easily with familiarity even though his eyes were not looking at it because his hands had already memorized it. Though because it was subconscious, what was created was also not consistent.

Once the roses fell, the cranes followed… and then tulips, swans, crumpled papers…

Otis’ empty gaze, which seemed to drift between the air no matter how much his hands moved, reflected what had happened a while ago.

The moment he asked if she could stay with him tonight.

Irene’s face was stained with expressions he had never seen before. It resembled remorse, or perhaps it seemed to contain mourning for an old lover…. Or, it even seemed to have pity for him as it was directed at him.

There was no way to be sure which one it was. It was because, without even having time to say anything, she removed his hand from holding hers.

“I can’t do that today.”

The moment he heard it, Otis realized that he had unwittingly expected the answer to be positive.

There was no particular reason. Perhaps because recently, they often spent the night together as a medium of a scandal lately, or because he seemed to be closer to her. Still, Irene did not succumb to his seduction and she remained faithful to her role.

When the night lights went out, she deliberately made footsteps and came to his room.

Otis welcomed her with pleasure. He even prepared tea for her and a book to tell her stories. The two enjoyed midnight tea time and talked, just as they usually did before he went to Lichpen.

The only difference was that at the end of it, Irene always fell asleep without overcoming any hardship. Irene, who was listening and conversing to the stories he told, would nod her head as if she had made a promise whenever it was past midnight.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sleepy… I’ll close my eyes for a second. Young Master, you should sleep, too.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. Why don’t you go to bed and rest?”

“How can I get into the Young Master’s bed…”

“You’ve already got on it already, haven’t you?”

“Right…”

Irene answered unconsciously in her sleep but suddenly seemed to have come to her senses and woken up. Her hazy, blurry eyes abruptly returned to focus, and the lax attitude turned somewhat alert.

She seemed to be a little more engrossed in the conversation they had just a moment ago.

“I did. Yes, that’s right.”

She thought back on her answer several times.

In the process, Otis missed the opportunity to carry Irene to bed as the sleepiness that was obscuring her vigilance flew away.

Should he have thought it was strange that day? Or perhaps, should he have realized that even after every conversation they had every night, he still could not grasp her… If it had been, would the sense of loss not have made him so miserable?

Otis was now holding a brooch in his arms.

It was the best-selling item these days, with a large amethyst that resembles Irene’s eyes. He bought this impulsively on the way home from an arena because the decorations on the display case reminded him of her. As soon as he happened to see it while passing through the road, his feet literally did not move from the spot.

The subordinates who were next to him were puzzled and asked.

“Young Master, what are you looking at… Ah! I heard that amethyst is selling very well these days, are you interested?”

“Amethyst is selling well?”

“Yes. Recently, the amethyst necklace worn by the Crown Princess was so pretty that it became popular.”

To be more precise, the supply price of green emeralds, which had led the fashion so far, rose sharply so the trend shifted naturally.

Otis knew that, too. The reason why the supply price of emeralds suddenly soared was because the ship that was carrying the emerald across the canal sank, and his loan business was also greatly revived as those who invested in the emeralds lost a tremendous amount of money.

But, he already knew that.

The reason he stopped walking had nothing to do with such a reason. Rather, it had to do with the image of Irene that he had imagined in the carriage as he was leaving for the arena.

Irene, adorned with splendid jewels and silk, was still expressionless in his head.

‘…I can’t imagine it because I’ve never seen it in real life.’

Who knows if Irene would be happy if he gave her a present.

Why did he not think of giving her a present before? At the thought, Otis quickly entered the jeweler’s shop. But once again, he ran into trouble. It was because when he said he wanted to buy an amethyst-studded item, the jeweler’s owner asked,

“What kind of preferences does the person you’re buying the gift for have?”

Funny enough, he could not answer that question.