Chapter 67

Words were spilling out of her mouth without a filter.

She distinctly remembered crashing and burning just like this when Commander Dezeb Avganis had first come to her home years ago, but knowing that did absolutely nothing to help.

“Ah.”

Dezeb smiled gently.

“Good. For a moment, I thought you might dislike me. I was almost hurt.”

“Me? Absolutely not. I really want to get married too.”

“Right? I almost got upset.”

As they spoke, he slid a glass of sparkling water toward her, then cut off a piece of steak and placed it on her plate.

Lieutenant Erabelle Vermilion, who had been swallowing against her parched throat, hurriedly drank the sparkling water and stuffed the piece of meat into her mouth.

As if desperately trying to convey with her entire body just how much she appreciated his kindness...

Watching her, Dezeb covered his mouth with his fingers. His long fingers hid his red lips as he lowered his head, shoulders trembling ever so slightly. He looked heartbreakingly sad.

Truly... tears blurred her vision.

Perhaps because her emotions had been in such turmoil, Erabelle had a terrible nightmare that night.

***

An unfamiliar alley.

“Haah, haah...”

Unfamiliar buildings, unfamiliar people... Erabelle tore through them like a madwoman. Her breath caught in her throat, and her vision blurred and spun.

It was only when her burning palms struck the worn paving stones slick with puddles that she realized she had fallen. She pushed herself off the ground, scrambled to her feet, and started running again.

“M-Mom...”

No matter how far she wandered, no matter how hard she ran, it felt as though she was getting nowhere.

“Mom...”

Above the dizzying holographic signs filled with unfamiliar letters, three moons shone.

Two impossibly large moons overlapped in the sky, while a third—larger still—hung beyond them.

She stared up at that alien sky for a long moment before crumpling to the ground.

Where am I...

Strange voices brushed endlessly past her ears.

This place...

Shivering, Erabelle crawled beneath the nearest eaves, covered her head, and curled into herself.

Her shoe... One of her shoes was gone. She must have lost it while running...

She rested her dirty, sock-clad foot on the heel of her remaining shoe and began to sob.

“Kiddo, huh.”

A large hand closed around her filthy, bare instep. The fingers were straight and beautiful.

Erabelle flinched and looked up.

***

“Erabelle.”

Erabelle. Erabelle...

“Hah!!”

Her eyes flew open at the sound of her name, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

The first thing she saw was Dezeb’s face beside her.

“I must have held you too gently. You still had enough energy to wander around.”

She wanted to explain politely that it wasn’t that—that she had simply been so shaken by what had happened over dinner—but no sound came out.

Tears slipped from her unfocused eyes.

She stared blankly as he brushed them away with his fingertips, then drew her into his arms and held her gently.

Erabelle panted, struggling to drag in a full breath.

“I told you to stop crying.”

She still couldn’t catch her breath.

He pulled her trembling body closer, and enveloped by his solid frame, her shaking slowly began to subside.

“I-I don’t know why I’m like this... I...”

“It’s okay.”

It’s okay.

He held her and rubbed her back until the trembling finally stopped.

But even after that night, Erabelle continued to have nightmares, and every time she woke, she found herself in Dezeb’s arms.

It was eerie.

And also a little... strange.

***

“One beer over here, quick.”

There weren’t many jobs available to an undocumented, stateless person.

But Erabelle had managed to find one.

It was the fruit of her persistence.

“Uncle Tom, one beer over here!”

Contrary to her first impression of a man with a face beautiful enough to drive someone insane, Tom was actually a shaggy older man.

She still wasn’t sure why she had initially thought he was outrageously handsome.

In any case, Erabelle had devoted herself to winning over the man who had offered her a hand when she was crouched beneath the eaves.

One of her tactics was to linger by the shop’s back door and clean the alley every time he came outside.

Whenever he brought out the trash, she took it from him. And she didn’t merely pretend to work—she genuinely cleaned everything up, determined to prove that she could be useful.

“...Come in.”

She had gotten lucky.

The pay was stingy, but he let her eat and sleep at the bar.

The only downside was that he rarely gave her much work to do.

“What can I get you, sir?”

“Pistis, please.”

“Yes, sir! Pistis really is the beer of beers!”

“So you were precocious even back then, Erabelle.”

What a strange customer.

And terrifyingly handsome.

Beautiful to an almost frightening degree.

She was tempted to ask for his autograph in advance because he looked like someone destined for greatness.

But Erabelle had recently learned that naturally beautiful people from other worlds were often psychopaths capable of ripping out someone’s spine with their bare hands.

Besides, she still had absolutely no idea where this place even was...

So Erabelle merely smiled.

“Beer’s up.”

Uncle Tom called to her from behind the bar.

“Yes!”

She grabbed the tray and hurried away.

Then, for some reason, her eyes began to sting.

She wiped her face with her sleeve.

Once.

Twice.

But no matter how much she rubbed at her eyes, the dampness wouldn’t go away.

What is this?

“Is it raining?”

She looked up at the pub ceiling.

There were no leaks.

And yet the corners of her eyes kept growing wet, so she continued rubbing them.

***

“Rain, my foot.”

Grumbling under his breath, Dezeb sank his teeth into Erabelle’s nape as she wandered through the timeline.

At once, Erabelle began searching for bug spray, muttering that there must be insects around.

Too cute.

Dezeb chuckled and licked her sleeping eyelids again.

After they had been intimate, Erabelle slept in his arms while her spirit form busied itself serving customers at the bar.

Even now, she was working as though she would die if she stopped, all while insisting that it was raining.

It seemed to be some kind of defense mechanism—her mind’s way of suppressing anxiety.

“...How old are you in there, anyway? You’re just a kid, and you’re already serving beer.”

A dusky shadow coiled around the sleeping Erabelle.

Filthy feelers brushed over her soft skin.

Dezeb ran his tongue along the moisture at the corners of her eyes and over the sweat on her skin, then nipped at her lightly, again and again.

Watching her grow flustered, he couldn’t stop laughing.

Erabelle seemed to reinterpret external sensations as things that made sense within the scenario—rain, insects, whatever her dreaming mind could accept.

Dezeb secretly found it adorable.

Ugh, it’s damp. What is this? It’s hot. I can’t breathe. Stop biting me!

Panting, Erabelle opened her eyes to find a shaft of direct sunlight piercing through the window.

She squirmed away from it and shifted into the shade.

Then she froze.

Dezeb was propped up on one arm, staring straight down at her.

Right. I’m curled up in his arms right now.

He lifted the arm draped around her waist and idly toyed with her warm ear.

A faint smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.

For a moment, she thought, Oh no.

But she didn’t jerk away.

If she did, the morning would become very difficult indeed.

Besides...

Waking up in his arms was starting to feel almost natural.

“Good morning, Commander...”

Dezeb looked down, unimpressed, at Erabelle, who had curled herself into a tiny ball in his embrace and was now meekly greeting him.

“Don’t work all night and then clock in again the second you open your eyes.”

“I’m... sorry...”

She had no idea what he meant, but apologizing seemed safest.

Then she shuddered.

Her waist felt as though it might snap in half.

Dezeb kissed the rim of her ear as she trembled and laughed softly.

“You really are like a puppy, Erabelle. The way you shake is ridiculously cute.”

“P-please, medicine...”

“No. Not happening.”

She had asked just in case.

“Let’s wash up.”

Regardless of what Erabelle wanted, Dezeb scooped her up with one arm.

...!!

Her face flushing bright red, Erabelle perched on his forearm and buried her face in her hands.

S-save me...

Humming softly under his breath, he carried her toward the bathroom.

Erabelle could only tremble.

Then she caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror and jolted.

Who was that homeless person who looked as though she had just been dragged in out of the rain...?

“Shall we keep breakfast simple? Cheese or rye bread?”

The innocent-looking beauty she had woken up beside stroked her hypersensitive body.

“Hic...”

I hate this... Please don’t talk about breakfast at a time like this...

Tears gathered at the corners of her reddened eyes.

Dezeb flicked his tongue over them and pressed her against the bathroom wall.

“De-Dezeb...”

“Mm.”

Erabelle trembled from head to toe.

“It’s okay.”

It is not okay. Not at all...

She was exhausted before the morning had even properly begun.

She desperately needed medicine.

Her back truly felt as though it might snap, yet medicine remained firmly off the table.

“...”

Instead of the medicine she wanted, Erabelle found herself staring at the breakfast laid out before her: risotto buried beneath a generous layer of cheese, salad, rye bread, and freshly brewed coffee.

“Shall we stop by the unit this morning, then go shopping? We need a few things, and the fridge is empty.”

The fridge wasn’t the only thing that was empty.

From minor necessities like dishes to important items like a television, the house was still missing almost everything.

“Let’s buy a big TV.”

As expected, Dezeb understood what truly mattered...

“So we can watch what we filmed last time together on a big screen.”

Erabelle couldn’t exactly claim she had no interest in watching other people’s risqué videos.

After all, she had already read a considerable portion of his private life in text.

Twice, even.