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One of the first things he discovered after the sudden loss was that dragons could write. With their mana. Without touching the paper.
Cale watched as Raon raised a paper high in front of him.
Instead of words, there were drawings. His siblings, him, Cale, some circles that appeared to be flowers, and…lightning? Why was there lightning?
Cale didn't understand the mind of a six-year-old, but he patted the little dragon's head anyway.
'How odd.'
He couldn't hear the child's giggle. He could feel the warm skin underneath his palm shake lightly, but he couldn't hear anything.
As if bored, Raon hovered in the air for a minute before landing back on Cale's head, wrapping his tail around the latter's shoulder.
Cale quietly leaned back, so the other could take support as well.
In his arms Hong and Ohn were curled up, one around each.
A sigh left his lips.
There was warmth enveloping his figure, but for some reason, Cale couldn't feel anything at all.
****
The butler arranged the dishes on the table quietly. Cale kept on glancing towards the former, in a nonsensical worry that he might have missed a word, when it was just that Ron wasn't saying anything.
'…it's like the first day I spent here.'
Cale wasn't one to entertain much records of the past, but when nothing but silence accompanied him, he couldn't help but get lost in thought.
On the first day the redhead had arrived here, it was a similar sort of feeling. Something not quite akin to fear, something that lingered and crawled underneath his skin faintly, a sort of uneasiness that he'd hardly felt ever since the time he had become Team Leader Kim Rok Soo.
It was awkward.
It was clumsy, the way his fingers moved trying to cut the steak into smaller bits.
Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo wasn't the type to be self-conscious.
'…what's wrong with me?'
But today, every gesture seemed to require effort, almost as if he had forgotten how to eat properly.
'Damn it.'
He couldn't taste the meal in the slightest.
"…!"
Something tapped at his arm.
Cale looked up, trying to hide his surprise.
"What?"
'Ah, shit.'
He couldn't tell if the word rang out clearly. He hoped he hadn't just shouted aloud to his butler.
"…"
Ron didn't mouth anything, or draw something over his palm.
Instead, he just looked at him. Quietly, without his usual smile.
"…"
Cale looked away.
It wasn't like he didn't know what the old man was trying to ask.
"I'm fine."
He resumed eating.
He could feel his butler's gaze on him, but he didn't look back again.
****
'Annoying.'
Cale lay down sprawled over the couch.
There were books gathered on the table in front, half of which he wanted to burn right away.
'Every word feels the same.'
The redhead had long given up on learning the Western continent's sign language, because why would he? It was only a matter of a week or so before his hearing returned.
But he at least wanted to know a bit, just enough to read lips and understand what his kids were desperately trying to mouth.
He understood 'Human'.
'Cale' was easy too.
'Young master', 'dongsaeng', 'rest'…words like those were something he could understand.
The problem was that he understood nothing besides it.
The children had started carrying notes with them.
And while everyone made efforts to make him feel at ease, Cale thought it'd be better to lock himself up in a room till his hearing returned altogether.
'It's not…'
At least with the children, he didn't want it.
He wanted to give them something normal, something children were supposed to do, like playing and eating and laughing. Not this. Anything but this.
'…'
A dull ache lingered in his chest.
Cale covered his eyes with an arm to shield against the light.
'Maybe sending them to Sheritt-nim would be better.'
He hated it.
Out of everything else, what annoyed him the most was the fact that he could no longer hear the giggles of his own children.
****
"Cale-nim."
The redhead quietly turned around, informed by the wind elementals. Choi Han, who had raised an arm to call him, awkwardly retrieved his hand back.
'Ah, I forgot.'
Choi Han had forgotten the notebook behind, the one Ohn had given to him and to everyone else in the mansion.
'…I'll go later.'
He felt worried.
Cale was just standing still in the garden. It appeared as if he was only spacing out, but Choi Han could tell it wasn't so simple.
Besides, there were some things he wanted to talk about with the redhead too.
'What was his name?'
The name of the soldier saved by Cale.
Choi Han couldn't recall his name, despite any attempts to do so.
"What's wrong?"
The redhead turned to him, as if noticing his odd behavior.
Choi Han opened his mouth then shook his head, smiling lightly.
Cale observed his face for a moment more before shrugging his shoulders.
'…I should come back later.'
Something bitter rose to his chest, watching the redhead's hazy eyes. His hand gripped tightly around his scabbard.
Choi Han felt wronged. Furious, but in a way that made him lose strength rather than have any energy to break something.
He had been having odd thoughts like that.
Like how it would've been better if Cale hadn't caught the sight of that one soldier. If the redhead didn't have to sacrifice himself again.
"…"
He clicked his scabbard once, then a few times more.
It didn't do anything.
'Why him?'
The question resounded through his head, lingering like a plague.
'Why only him?'
Why did he always have to be the one to sacrifice himself?
Why did he always have to be the only person soaked in blood from head to toe?
Swish
Choi Han tugged at the redhead's sleeve, nearly startling him without intending to.
"Cale-nim," he muttered, aware the other couldn't hear him.
Choi Han met the latter's confused gaze.
"Why did you do that?"
The words left before he could think twice.
Something seemed to crawled underneath his skin. Choi Han wanted to tear it all out.
"Why… why would you bother doing that?"
The redhead blinked.
Choi Han assumed he was reading his lips, though the truth was different.
"Why would you bother saving…"
The words trailed off.
Something in him screamed that it was wrong, but before he had realised it, securing Cale's well-being had become more important to him than saving a person's life.
But he couldn't say that.
He understood, so he couldn't say that.
"Why?"
A clear voice cut through his thoughts.
When Choi Han looked up, Cale's expression was strange. Indifferent, yes, but something about it felt unfamiliar.
"What did I do wrong?"
.
.
"…Huh?"
The swordsman blinked. He thought he'd heard wrong.
"I'm asking what I did wrong. I'm asking because I don't understand."
"…"
"What did I do wrong, Choi Han?"
'Ah.'
That was it.
It was irritation he saw, in the redhead's gaze.
Cale had never looked at him like that.
The latter continued, unaware of his thoughts.
"That man would've lost his life. I didn't."
"Cale-nim."
"…"
Cale sighed, looking anywhere but meeting the other's gaze.
'What's up with him now?'
He felt strangely exhausted.
Thinking of everything all over again made his head throb.
"Besides, I'll heal in a week or two. It's not like it's-"
'…!'
Cale's words stopped abruptly.
It was because of Choi Han's gaze.
'Why is he…'
It made something strange rise in his chest, something so painfully bitter.
The redhead turned his gaze away.
"You already know."
His heart hammered at his chest.
Something acrid rose to his tongue.
"…I wasn't…"
The words trailed off.
'I wasn't thinking.'
'I was-'
Cale felt his body freeze. For some reason, he couldn't say those simple words aloud.
"…Anyway, it was like that."
He finally looked back at the latter.
At least, Choi Han was listening to him.
But, then.
Why did he still feel so annoyed?
"So? What were you trying to say earlier?"
The redhead waited.
Sweat coated his palm holding the Top's Whip in his pocket.
He tapped his feet once, then twice.
"Say something, will you?"
He tapped his feet again.
'What's this?'
Cale felt short of breath, even though they were in the open.
'What's wrong now?'
He gripped the Top's Whip tightly.
"Choi Han."
Cale tried to take a deep breath.
He tried hard to erase the blinding light in front of him and the screams of his children calling out his name and the man grasping his leg wide-eyed and the blood dripping down his ears-
"Say something!"
In the back of his mind the voices of his ancient powers rang out, but Cale couldn't focus. His breath came in too short and too quick.
What face was he making?
What expression did he have for Choi Han to look at him like that?
Cale looked down. He didn't need to hear to know that his breath was growing erratic, that his hands were shaking.
"I-"
A shuffle that went unheard by the redhead.
When Cale looked up Choi Han was already leaving.
'Huh?'
"W, wait-"
'Shit-'
"Choi Han-"
Cale stopped abruptly.
The swordsman was already gone. Though, if he ran, he could catch up to him.
"…"
But what would he do then?
What would he say?
"…"
Cale stood still in his spot.
It wasn't before he sensed someone approaching near that he started walking again.
****
Cale quietly thought back to everything, taking a step further into his records.
Crackle
Booooom!
The flicker of light in the middle of his palm, the subsequent lightning, the rumble of earth beneath his feet.
Whoooosh
The children were on the field, so he had been using his powers without restraint. In control, yes, but without holding back or worrying about the aftermath.
Cale hated pain, but when he had seen the sweat coating Hong's forehead, the scrunch in Raon's expression, and Ohn's gaze carrying a fear that only he could see, the redhead decided to let it go. The pain, the annoyances, the blood soaking his coat—none of it had mattered.
Cale tapped the armrest blankly.
It had been around then.
A soldier wearing the uniform of Roan Kingdom's military.
The sudden barrage of mana bombs in the air, the enemy's retreat.
A shield forming in the centre of his vision, in which lingered the traces of a dragon's mana.
Cale sighed.
'I wasn't thinking straight.'
It had been an utter mess of a situation. With the use of four of his ancient powers together, Cale's mind had been growing hazier by the second. Let alone a strategy, he was having difficulty just protecting the people in his vicinity.
It was just then.
The redhead's eyes had caught the sight of a stray mana bomb, a little farther from their rear.
It wasn't a problem then—both he and his allies were safe under Raon's shield.
'Haa…'
But just that area alone was uncovered, and a soldier happened to have his leg stuck underneath the debris, unable to get to safety.
A sigh left his lips again.
Cale really hadn't thought before acting.
He hadn't even processed his children's shouts, Choi Han trying to stop him, Rosalyn doing the same while Mary moved her bone dragons to deflect the enemy.
It was just a single life.
Cale would never be able to forget.
So he had jumped right in the middle of the explosion, the redhead had.
Everything about it was stupid, so so annoying.
He had his ancient powers. His allies didn't.
The deafening explosion pierced his eardrums, but he hadn't died.
He hadn't even suffered, at all, if you considered that he would heal soon enough from the hearing loss.
'…'
Cale blankly stared at the wall ahead.
It wasn't yet winter, but his body wouldn't stop shaking.
A few moments passed like that.
Muted, blank. Emptied, though the absence was a presence of its own, something that sprang up as a dull ache every so often.
'Kim Rok Soo.'
Cale blinked.
'Do you understand what you just tried to do?'
The redhead leaned back against the backrest.
His hazy eyes landed on the ceiling.
'Were you trying to kill yourself, huh? Is that it?'
It wasn't the voice of his team leader. Lee Soo Hyuk wasn't someone who would say such words to him, ever, and neither would his best friend, Choi Jung Soo.
Cale blinked again.
'Rok Soo.'
The image of a contempt-filled gaze lingered in front of his eyes. Choi Han had looked at him like that.
'Being alive is the best.'
"…"
Cale quietly curled about himself, closing his eyes.
****
Cale flipped through the pages, not finding anything in particular interesting. He'd already read the book thrice by now. Ohn had gifted him the same last year, so he had decided to actually read it properly instead of saving it in records.
'It's boring, though.'
The redhead thought so, but still kept on reading.
His mind had been rather muddled these days. It was getting harder to find something to distract himself.
'I can't sleep any more.'
8 hours had turned to 10, and 10 to 14.
By the third day, he couldn't sleep at all. That was also the day Cale decided to start sleeping away from the children for at least a week, lest they be disturbed by his irregular sleeping pattern.
'It's just a bad dream, anyway.'
The sound of an explosion piercing his ears.
Cale felt as if his ears were ringing even now, but that must've been because he had a nightmare the previous night.
'I didn't think it was that bad.'
The scene of the explosion as if still playing in front of his eyes, the terrified gaze of the soldier he'd barely managed to save.
The constant ringing.
Cale had been having the same recurrent dream ever since the day he lost his hearing. The Palace physician Alberu had summoned had asked him of any difficulties, but Cale hadn't revealed anything.
Because it wasn't a difficulty, in his perspective.
Nightmares weren't foreign to him, as someone with record.
Cale mulled over such thoughts just as a nosy elemental turned over a page of his book.
—Hey, the Emperor's breaking through the window!
More noise followed after, though quieter this time.
—What?! Run, run, we gotta run! Flee away!
—Hey, I'm taking the staircase! You go through the chimney!
—…Why even…
Cale's lips curled up briefly at the commotion as he turned around, feeling a breeze brush against his skin.
"Cale-"
Alberu paused just as he met the redhead's gaze. Then, as if thinking for a moment, he waved his hand lightly.
"…"
Cale stared at him then turned back to the book he was reading.
"… Ahem."
Alberu quietly took a seat, in front of where Cale was lying freely.
"There's a door, you know."
A quiet voice caught his ears. Alberu blinked once, thinking the redhead's tone was much softer than usual.
He took the notebook lying in front and scribbled something, then promptly shoved it in front of Cale.
"…"
Flip
A moment passed.
Then another.
Cale continued reading the book, not even sending a glance at the paper Alberu held.
"…"
Alberu waited for a moment more before scribbling something again, faster this time.
Flip!
He shoved the paper right in the middle of the redhead's book, feeling an odd satisfaction as the latter finally read his note.
"…'Don't ignore me,' huh? That's quite something for the future Emperor to say."
A vein bulged on Alberu's forehead.
'It's fine. He's tired. It happens.'
But the redhead clearly wasn't tired; if anything he looked amused.
Alberu took back the notebook—there wasn't any reason, he just felt annoyed—and sat back on the couch, serving himself tea.
Tap
Clink
A few minutes passed like that.
'What's wrong with him?'
Cale finally turned to look at the blond, only to see that the latter had been staring at him all along.
"What?" He read the words mouthed by him.
Cale thought for a moment before asking,
"By any chance, have you been dethroned?"
"…"
"Treason, maybe? Runaway from home?"
"…"
"Though that would be unusual at your age."
Alberu stood up and took the book from his hands.
Cale stared at him for a moment before sighing.
"I was only joking, your highness."
'So petty.'
Alberu could read the disrespectful thoughts behind the polite words in an instant.
"Haa…this dongsaeng…"
In the end, he could only return the book back to the redhead. It was only because the latter's gaze looked like that, otherwise, Alberu was one to hold grudges for a lifetime.
Flip, flip
The Crown Prince sat down and watched as the redhead turned the pages over at an insane speed.
'Is he even reading?'
There were deep circles around his eyes.
'Is he messing with me?'
His clothes hung loosely over his body, as if he had only recently lost weight.
'…'
Alberu turned his gaze away. It wasn't a sight he wanted to look at for long, when he couldn't even do anything.
The redhead rose his head that was nearly sinking in the book and looked aside.
Alberu had started working on some documents since a while back.
"Hey," he called out, taking proper care to sound impolite.
But Alberu didn't frown as he usually did. His eyes held patience. Something about it annoyed Cale.
"When are you leaving?"
He didn't frown this time either, instead picking a page.
[You sleep.]
Cale read the neat handwriting slowly.
[I work.]
He blinked once, turning to the blond who was smiling for who knows why.
"Your highness."
Cale corrected himself, reading the other's lips. He didn't understand what the other said, since he had let go of the Top's Whip, but he judged it was probably this.
"Hyung."
A bright smile returned.
"Do they not teach grammar in the Royal family?"
Alberu's face cracked. Cale finally felt satisfied, turning back to finish the book.
It was nearing late afternoon.
Alberu, who was about to leave, held out his hand.
This time, it wasn't a note.
Alberu held Cale's palm, then drew the syllables slowly.
"…"
Cale read the words, but didn't say anything.
Alberu waited.
A sigh left the redhead's lips.
"Why wouldn't I be? It's just temporary."
He pushed the other's hand away.
"I'm going to sleep. You work."
Cale turned around, heading back to his bedroom before the other could say anything.
****
Despite what he had proclaimed, sleep didn't come easily.
Cale gazed out of the window, letting go of the Top's Whip in his pocket.
A breeze ruffled his hair. There was no sound.
"…"
[Are you okay?]
Cale shut his eyes.
The light stung, just for that brief instant.
****
—Hey, it's the guy from earlier!
Just as the elemental informed him, a soft breeze ruffled his hair. There, a few steps further, Choi Han was standing while holding the scabbard of his sword.
—Will they fight again?!
'Shut up.'
Cale let go of the Top's Whip just as Choi Han walked upto him.
"…Choi Han," he muttered, as if in greeting.
The swordsman didn't say a word, instead staring at him. Intently.
Cale wondered what was wrong when he suddenly outstretched his arm in front of him.
'…?'
Handshake…?
'Ah.'
Cale belatedly realised that the latter wanted to say something.
He held his palm out, trying to hide his surprise at how quickly the other grabbed it.
A moment passed in silence.
"..."
Choi Han just stared at his hand.
'…is he trying to slash it?'
Cale wondered where his old butler was. He felt like he really needed him just about then.
After a moment of contemplation, Choi Han finally drew a word over the redhead's palm.
Cale blinked.
[Walk?]
Then nodded.
The two started moving together, though with an awkward distance between them.
'It's just my imagination.'
Cale thought so, disregarding the fact that Choi Han had been sending glances at him every two steps.
'…hm.'
Should he really call for Ron-
A hand tapped at his arm.
Cale looked towards the direction the swordsman was pointing to, then went to sit on the bench.
—Hey, are you gonna say sorry?!
The redhead immediately let go of the Top's Whip as soon as he had grabbed it again.
'Damn nosy elementals.'
If he wasn't annoyed before he definitely was now.
Cale watched out of the corner of his eye as Choi Han took out a notebook, and started scribbling on it.
'What is he-'
The first sentence caught his eye.
[I went to look for paper earlier.]
The handwriting wasn't neat, but it was familiar.
[You weren't there when I got back.]
"…"
Cale quietly read on.
[Ohn told me you were resting.]
Choi Han finally presented the paper to him.
Cale, who had already read it, read it again.
He read it enough times that the swordsman's smile had started cracking near the edges, restlessness clear in his demeanor.
"…I see."
There wasn't anything else to say.
Though, he did feel a need to apologise for shouting at the latter earlier.
'It's not like it was his fault.'
The enemy had thrown the bombs.
Cale had made a decision.
If anything, he understood all too well the frustration of Choi Han, the feeling of having someone sacrifice themselves right in front of you.
'But that doesn't change anything.'
If Cale was stuck in the same situation again, he would've made the same decision. He was certain of that.
"…"
That was why, even a simple sorry didn't form on his tongue.
"Cale-nim."
The redhead wasn't holding the Top's Whip now, so he just sat without change.
Choi Han took the paper back from his hand, and began writing something.
This time, it wasn't so quick.
Choi Han kept scribbling on the paper, crossing it out, then scribbling something again.
Cale waited quietly.
When the note was on his lap again he stared and stared.
He thought the words were wrong, maybe.
Maybe…
[I don't want you to get hurt.]
"…"
Cale folded the note quietly.
Choi Han didn't write anything again, but the redhead could feel his gaze on him.
''Sorry', huh…?'
In the end, he only managed to nod, just a slight dip of his head and nothing else.
Maybe Choi Han smiled.
Maybe his expression was one of disappointment.
Cale didn't know, because he didn't look up again.
****
A supper invitation had arrived from his family earlier.
Cale felt annoyed, so he had refused it with an excuse. Not that it was needed, really.
"Young master."
Ron patted the back of the redhead, who was crouching down with a hand covering his mouth.
Pat, pat
The old butler quietly watched as Cale vomited again, watched as a trickle of blood dripped down his neck, which too was covered in a cold sweat.
"Young master."
Ron softly called out despite the fact that the latter couldn't hear him. He patted Cale's back in slow circles rather than rough pats, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood still dripping down.
"Cough!"
Cale's face was deathly pale. His arms shook even when Ron was supporting him, and his body doubled over, as if he couldn't support his weight even while sitting down.
Ron wordlessly looked on.
The redhead's wrists were thinner than before, the wrist bone almost protruding out. His eyes were sunken and hazy, even though Ron had himself confirmed that he was sleeping enough these days.
"Cough…"
Most of all, it was his gaze.
Cale's gaze flickered to him at times, so often that he could tell even without consciously paying attention. His mouth opened and closed, the words never quite forming.
His gaze was hesitant.
He looked scared.
Pat, pat
Ron quietly picked up the light body in his arms.
Cale, who had fallen unconscious, hadn't spoken a word since earlier.
****
"Mary?"
A head peeked out from underneath the cloak.
Cale tilted his head curiously and crouched down besides her.
"What are you doing?"
A miniature bone dragon hovered right above her hand.
Mary looked at Cale, then at the dragon, then back at the redhead.
She lightly grabbed Cale's hand, the one that was poking the bone dragon mindlessly.
"Hm?"
Cale quietly read the word.
[Practice.]
"Practice for what?"
Mary stared at him. Then drew something again.
[Secret.]
Cale wondered if he had read wrong, but judging by the other's expression, it didn't seem to be.
"Is that so?"
He supposed it was fine as long as she wasn't practicing with a real bone dragon, instead of the miniature one.
Mary wordlessly turned back to her practice.
She sent a few glances to the redhead, but the latter was too lost in thought to notice it.
'It should be fine.'
Cale had been racking his head since earlier.
'Mary wouldn't tattle to anyone either, so it should be okay.'
He wanted to ask something.
He had tried asking Ron a couple of times, though it always ended in a failure. The words clawed through his throat, never quite emerging properly.
"Mary."
An impassive yet warm gaze met his own.
Cale paused for a moment, then muttered slowly.
"Am I too loud?"
"…?"
For a few seconds, the two stared at each other in silence. Mary tilted her head. Cale regretted asking anything.
"No, I mean…"
He wasn't sure of it even now.
"…Am I too loud right now?"
"…"
Mary stared at him again, blinking once.
She took Cale's palm, briefly pausing. The hand was too cold to touch.
[No.]
A quiet sigh of relief caught her ears.
Cale, despite looking otherwise, was clearly relieved at the answer. Looking at that expression, she wrote something more.
[Good voice.]
"…Is that so?"
The redhead didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or proud. At the very least, he hadn't been stuttering, something he really wanted to confirm since neither Ron nor his children would tell him that.
He quietly retrieved his hand.
Mary turned back to the bone dragon again.
'I guess it's fine.'
Maybe it was fine to talk, like usual.
He could tell the kids weren't feeling good either. It was because of him.
'I should…'
…play with them.
The thought halted as soon as it appeared.
How would he even manage to do that when he couldn't hear a single word?
The Top's Whip helped, but the noise made his head hurt more than anything. Cale could normally bear such pain without any change in expression, but was it because his mind was always distracted these days? Even a mild migraine made him want to simply curl up and shut himself in his room.
'…I'll tell Ron.'
To send the children away for a while, to where Lock and his siblings currently were.
Cale concluded that the kids would feel better playing amongst themselves.
Mary's gaze lingered on the redhead, something the latter had still not noticed.
'He's very thin.'
Mary had read in a book that humans couldn't be too thin, or they would die.
'Will he die?'
The bone dragon suddenly crumbled, surprising the two.
"Ah."
"Oh."
Mary quietly reformed the creature, lost in thought.
If her bone dragons had been even a little more stronger, would the person beside her still be this thin?
"…"
She didn't know, so she continued breaking and reforming the bony structure once and again.
****
The Henituse family was kind, Cale had always thought so. He didn't grow up with parents, but he supposed it would feel similar to what he felt when Deruth and Violan greeted him at the doorstep, their gazes full of warmth and concern.
Basen and Lily were no different than them, though Cale would be lying if he said he didn't prefer their playful demeanor more.
That was why.
When Ron told him that his family—since when had that term become so familiar to him?—wanted to see him, Cale hadn't been able to say yes.
He couldn't find the right words to refuse them either.
His butler had left just like that.
[I'll let them know.]
Ron had scribbled that with a neat handwriting, and then, not on paper but on Cale's palm, drawn something else.
[Please rest.]
"…"
That was how it had went.
Cale quietly stared at the wrapped boxes kept in the corner of his room. They were souvenirs he had packed for his siblings, left untouched.
The redhead blankly stared at the sight, until the moment Ron returned back.
****
The redhead, these days, tried to smile more often, especially to the children.
He spoke less, but he tried to soften his expression more. To match the speed he usually answered with, to have the Top's Whip in his grasp even as he slept.
Cale didn't know if it would reassure the others, but he hoped it would.
It didn't matter if he began skipping meals with the others, or that he threw everything up the one time he tried to go out and dine with them.
'Crybaby said it'll take a week at most.'
And then, after that, everything would go back to being normal.
The stench of blood would leave his clothes.
He wouldn't have to think the words over, wondering if he had pronounced it right.
'Just a week.'
Cale quietly thought so, feeling the absence of a warmth that usually cuddled beside him as he went to sleep.
****
A dim light greeted his vision.
Cale shifted his hand around, still half-asleep.
"Where's- ah…"
The children had started sleeping separately from him.
"I forgot.... Wait."
Cale hastily got up, forgetting his trail of thoughts.
Blankly, he made a rather stupid sound.
"Ah?"
The redhead blinked.
"…Oh."
He could hear his voice again.
Nearly a minute passed as he sat dazed, right when someone knocked at the door.
Knock.
Cale sprang up from the bed.
"Young master."
His butler's voice reached his ears, clear and quiet.
"Good morning."
Cale didn't know. It felt like he was smiling with the way he said the words, but he couldn't tell.
Ron stood still for a moment before widening his eyes.
The change of expression surprised Cale too—he had hardly ever seen his butler-slash-assassin so shocked.
It made him want to laugh a lot.
"… I'll let the others know."
Cale nodded.
Click
Even the click of the closing door rang clearly in his mind.
'…how odd.'
He felt happy, but a bit strange.
Cale quietly sat near the edge of the bed until a bunch of overjoyed voices reached his ears.
"Cale!"
"Human!"
The redhead could finally smile again.