Chapter 28.1

As the two of them exchanged several words of confirmation to each other, Bertram’s gaze had coiled all around Anna like a net made out of fog before she knew it.

That also meant that Anna could shrug it off easily anytime she wished to, but…. Rather than that, Anna stepped a foot forward and enclosed Bertram’s hand in her own.

Fingers intertwined with fingers.

When he felt his calluses brushing against Anna’s softer skin, he flinched, but did not withdraw.

“Miss Anna. I just had yet another ticklish sensation.”

“I see.”

“…would it be alright if I also held your other hand?”

“Of course.”

Anna offered him her left hand.

Bertram reached out with his right.

The two people’s hands were quite different in size, but neither too little nor too much for acmodating for their deficiencies.

With both their hands now held in each other’s, Bertram looked down on Anna, who now looked as if she had stepped into his embrace.

So close she was, in fact, that all he could see was the top of her head.

Anna asked.

“How about now?”

“….”

Her whisper reached Bertram’s chest.

It was almost as if a rainstorm was raging above his chest.

As if his chest, which had always seemed nothing more than stone to him, now saw a very, very small crack, and Anna’s small hand had now burrowed into that very gap and was creating an enormous rupture inside….

The feeling that if he allowed this to continue further, something would go terribly wrong.

Bertram instantly let go of her hands.

“Mr. Bertram?”

“…This does not seem to be what’s important at hand. I have to escape my pursuers’ notice.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not wrong.”

With a slight grumble in her voice, Anna massaged her reddened hands.

Hands that had gone red because of Bertram. Giving up on thinking that he would rather pat her hands for her, Bertram changed the subject.

“It seemed the people in the village are as of yet seeing me in a favorable light. But the longer my pursuers stay here, the more the villagers will want to see me off as well, I presume.”

“That can’t be helped. In a pinch, you should go stay at that cursed castle. I’ll, guh, I don’t like going inside there, but I’ll bring you something to eat if you do.”

“Thank you for offering, but I believe there is a problem I must solve before that.”

“A problem?”

Anna stood there, confused; and in front of her, Bertram finally brought to the surface what he was most curious about.

This person had brought him in, gave him food, didn’t run away, and held his hands even after hearing strange stories of ‘curses’ and whatnot. And now here was the question that would enpass all of this at once.

“Miss Anna. What am I to you at this moment?”

Blue eyes beheld Anna from above.

Faced against his gaze, which at times caressed her cheeks, Anna stammered out a question in response.

“Mr. Bertram…? The, uh, what you mean by that question is a bit…”

“Exactly what I said. I wish to know how you think of me.”

“Right this moment?”

“Yes. Or else, I may end up overstepping my bounds and causing you trouble.”

“…What?”

In front of Anna’s widened eyes, Bertram explained himself in a calm voice.”

“In what has not been a short amount of time, you have fed me and gave me a place to sleep. In order to understand the curse I have, you even put your hand upon my skin. Up until this point, I have believed all your actions came out of sympathy, or pity. But helping me while I am being chased by soldiers—that is not ordinary.”

“….”

“Therefore, I am afraid that I may fancy myself to be a ‘special existence’ to you. I am afraid the day will e when I think of your help as a given.”

“But you can’t feel fear.”

“I cannot. However….”

Bertram held out one hand towards Anna, just like how a dog would offer its front paw.

Anna consciously held out her palm in response, and there Bertram’s huge hand enveloped her softly.

Their two hands were now overlapped in their opposite directions from earlier.

His rough fingers wrap around Anna’s wrist like a wool bracelet, then leaves. As a very light touch, it does not leave a red mark.

Only the warmth disappears.

“I do not know fear, that is true. But if this warmth that has always been near me disappears, I will be sure to regret it on a cold night someday.”

“…For someone who doesn’t feel emotions, that’s a very poetic expression.”

“If it can reach you, I do not care what form I take.”

Were these truly words of a human who did not know feelings, she wondered.

Anna lowered her head to her chest.

It was like homework she’d staved off to the side had now e for her all at once.

At first, she had only ever thought of him as ‘the weirdo she must feed.’

But ever since that time when he’d sleep-talked that he was ‘scared’ while he slept looking forlorn in one nook of the restaurant, he had no longer bee someone to fear.

On the day they had almost been pulled into the human trafficking ring, he had looked like the male hero inside a novel when he’d e for them.

When they’d stood in the middle of the castle ruins, he’d given her the image of a sovereign over a fallen country. If she took her eyes off of him for even one moment, it had felt like he would disappear into one of the majestic murals.

And now.

He may really disappear.

“…To be honest, I’m afraid of people carrying swords roaming around the village. But what I’m even more afraid of is you, Mr. Bertram, leaving us.”

“And that means?”

“That means, I don’t know what kind of person you are to me yet, Mr. Bertram! So, that’s why, until I know…. Please don’t go.”

Gripping onto the ends of Bertram’s clothes, Anna spoke once more.

“Let me get to know you better.”