Chapter 618: We Have Business In my Room

Katana seems to be getting ready to leave.

Her chair shifted slightly, scraping against the floor with a soft sound that drew my attention.

She was gathering herself now: her hands moving to straighten her napkin, her posture shifting, her shoulders squaring as if preparing for something.

She had the same quiet focus she’d given her empty plate, the same deliberate care in every movement.

And she still hadn’t looked at me even once.

She was not usually so quiet.

In fact, I suspect she was starting to like me a lot.

It wasn’t the kind of thing I could prove. It was just a feeling, a quiet accumulation of small moments that had built up over time until they became something I couldn’t ignore.

She used to speak to me constantly.

Not just when necessity demanded it, or when there was information to exchange or plans to discuss.

She treated me the way an older sister might treat a younger brother she was fond of.

The kind of fondness that came out sideways, through teasing and small provocations.

Once she even fell asleep on my bed without any hesitation.

She’d trusted me enough to close her eyes in my presence, to let her guard down completely, and be vulnerable in a room that wasn’t hers.

The change now is sharp.

Now she’s definitely afraid of me.

The same hand I used to smash open a hundred-feet-tall dragon had come close to her face that day, carrying a bloodlust I never even showed the beast itself.

I can still remember the look in her eyes. The way she’d flinched. The way her whole body had gone rigid and small.

She had looked at me like I was something dangerous and unpredictable, something that might hurt her if she moved wrong.

My bad.

I only wanted to play with her a little. But I should have been more careful.

I don’t want to lose more relationships in this new life.

***

Erica, it might not seem so from the outside, actually likes the king treatment.

The evidence was all over the manor if you knew where to look.

Her chambers are the only other place in the manor that has both a proper toilet and a full bathroom.

The other place is my room, the guest room, but it has only a toilet, and that toilet is nothing more than a wooden piece of crap.

Literally. A wooden frame with a hole in it, positioned over some kind of pit I didn’t want to think about.

Erica, meanwhile, had porcelain. She had running water. She had a tub large enough to stretch out in and a mirror that didn’t warp your reflection.

She stayed in the most luxurious room of the manor. The one with the best light. The softest furnishings. The kind of room that made you feel like you were sleeping in a cloud.

Katana also stayed alone in one room.

Apparently she is the remnant of the former party of Eric. The others here came after her. She had been there the longest, which meant she had first pick of the rooms.

She’d chosen a smaller one, tucked away at the end of the hall, far from the noise and the traffic.

Maria and Aria came after Katana, and they stay in one room together. Those siscons.

Sapphire, Sophia, and Yuki stayed in one room together as well.

I bet she is hard on them, and doesn’t let them have their fun in her room.

She probably made them keep their things folded, their voices down, and their side of the room spotless.

"B... Benjamin..." Katana suddenly called out my name.

She was already far enough from the dining space that her voice had to travel across the open hall, echoing faintly off the walls before it reached me.

I blinked and turned toward the sound, my hand still resting on the back of my chair.

"Yes...?" I answered with a level voice, keeping it steady.

Just enough to let her know I was listening.

"You made a promise, did you not?" Her face tinted red a little as the words left her mouth.

Just a faint dusting of color across her cheeks, visible even from where I stood. She didn’t look at me directly. Her eyes were fixed on some point just past my shoulder.

"We have business in my room. Right now." She said and went upstairs, calmly, without looking back.

Her steps even on the wooden stairs, each one placed with the same quiet precision she gave everything else.

...Ah...!

Me and my immoral self almost got another message the moment the words settled.

The "business" we had is, I promised her I’d make her a legendary Katana as an apology for scaring her.

That was the entire promise. Nothing lewd here.

[Hey, Sys, can we really do it?]

{It is not a problem, Master. We have the resources.}

Good to hear.

I stood up from my chair, pushing it back with a soft scrape against the floor, getting ready to leave as well.

And that’s when I noticed the shocked gaze of everyone still seated at the dining table.

Every pair of eyes had turned toward me at once.

"Wh... What promise is she talking about?" Erica stuttered, asking me directly.

Her voice had gone tight, the words coming out in pieces. Her hands had curled into fists on the table. "What do you want to do with her?"

"We’re...making something together," I answered, keeping my tone ordinary. "But I wonder if we should do something so energy-demanding in a room."

I tilted my head, considering it. "It might be pretty hot too, and something might spill and stain her bed."

Erica began to tremble where she sat.

Her hands tightened on the edge of the table, fingers pressing into the wood. Her face had flushed a deep red, spreading from her cheeks down to her neck.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and said nothing.