“That is based on your standards” was what she wanted to shout, but she suppressed her urge.
“Hey, thanks for the shirt. Well then I’ll be off to sleep. By…!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Even before she could finish bidding farewell, she was caught by the collar. Noah tried to struggle. “I am so sleepy right now!”
“You don’t look sleepy at all. Even if you are, you should eat dinner before you sleep.”
“I told you I don’t want to!” she protested.
“Didn’t you just say that your body is precious? It doesn’t make sense since you didn’t eat a meal at all today. You can’t lose any more weight,” Kyle retorted.
“I’m not a weakling.”
“To me, it’s a miracle that you are even able to walk around.”
“You can’t base that on your standards.” Noah held onto the door that divided the two rooms and shouted desperately. She decided it would be best to lock it. Just when she was about to use her magic, Kyle interrupted.
“I’m sure you already know there is no point being stubborn.”
The door gave into the stronger pull. Because of the sudden force her body leaned in forward, and she was lifted up even before she knew it and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Noah forgot to rebel and clung her arms around his neck in surprise.
“I’m sure being forced to do things isn’t your style, but you just won’t listen…” Kyle clicked his tongue and sat her in front of the table. Just in time, the door to the room opened wide.
“Here is dinner, Noah!” Muell hopped into the room with a cheerful voice, accompanied by the innkeeper she had seen earlier.
“Has your anger calmed down now, Miss?” the woman asked.
“Wh..what?”
“Sweet things are the best when you are feeling upset. I just baked some brownies so I’ll send them up for free. I was going to send up two wine glasses but I didn’t, since they said you weren’t feeling well. Eat well, calm your anger and enjoy your sweet evening. Alright?”
“Wh..what?”
After repeating the same word four times, it was already too late. Kyle had already replied as if it was not a big deal.
“Thank you. We will need breakfast for tomorrow as well.”
“Of course. I’ll pay careful attention.”
The innkeeper winked secretly and hummed a tune as she left the room. Noah stared at Kyle. Why was this man not denying it…?
“I won’t let you go back to your room until you finish.”
“Won’t let you go back!”
Kyle and Muell, who were seated opposite her, declared sternly. Eventually, Noah had to finish her plate of roasted chicken and salad to be liberated from them.
Sweet evening. Thank you? No matter how many times she went over it in her head, the answer didn’t seem right. By the end of dinner, her suspicion had reached a climax. Once Kyle gave up on trying to feed her more food, Noah declared her territory.
“Don’t ever, never, ever open this door and come in. Do you understand?” The man who was cleaning up the table didn’t even bother to look her away, so Noah emphasised and repeated herself. “I’m saying this because you are being awfully odd today. Don’t even pass my room door. Okay?”
“You better keep it locked.”
Somehow, the man she was always with felt different than usual. Noah glared at him through her door. Normally he would have replied something like ‘what do you take me for?’ or, ‘I don’t even want to’ or look at her blankly. But his response today was ambiguous.
Kyle undid his button and glanced over in her direction. “If you keep staring at me like that, then I’m going to consider what you just said as invalid. So stop staring and go to bed.”
See! Noah fumed and closed her room as she was surprised by his response. With a click, the lock turned in place. “I hope this doesn’t come unlocked,” she muttered under her breath.
Noah checked on the lock several times before finally turning away from it. She glanced at the mirror hanging from the wall and found that her cheeks were flushed. After seeing her reflection, she realized, that her actions so far had been rather irresponsible.
Today wasn’t the first time she had sensed the difference in Kyle, but today seemed more than usual. As compared to the time he treated her injury at the Eleonora residence, the day at the old railway station at the Maobiana mines was more intense. And as compared to that day, today was more intense.
Then the next time it would be more than today…
She felt her entire face heat up. She leaned against the door and buried her face in her hands. She had to be careful.