NOVPUB
Chapter 280: Springtime for the Beastkin Maid (4)
“You... why would you say those things? Tell me, okay?”
...He’d asked.
Will took a deep breath. After voicing the question, he felt the tense knot in his chest, wound tight by Eir’s icy magic and unnerving words, loosen considerably. `Right.` At least he could act on his own will now. That terrifying period was over. Since it was Eir, the one who ultimately brought him hope, he could relax a little.
“I...” Eir let her hands fall to her sides, her head drooping. She stammered, unable to get the words out. In this state, she looked exactly like a student suddenly called upon by the teacher, knowing the answer but unsure how to phrase it.
Seeing this, Will sighed in relief. At least, the ‘feeling’ Eir gave him now was still the same as before—the little maid who listened to him.
“It’s okay. You’re in front of me. Just say whatever you want to say,” Will said, trying to look at Eir with what he thought was a “gentle” expression—though, admittedly, he found it hard to adopt such an attitude.
“It’s difficult for me to describe... my current mood... because Eir is always very... very uneasy right now.” Eir slowly raised a hand to her chest. Her eyes didn’t dare meet Will’s directly, only flickering slightly below his gaze, focusing on his lips through her trembling vision.
“It’s like... Eir is very scared... very scared Young Master will get hurt...”
“Whether it’s from a fall, or a scrape, or having his heart tormented by other bad women... Eir... Eir is very scared...”
“A Young Master injured like this... it must be... it must be because I didn’t protect him well...” 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
“So, when I saw that eye, Eir... Eir was thinking, could it be some kind of curse left by Treya.”
“Because...” She paused. But as she reached this part, she boldly lifted her head, looking directly at Will again... and at that eye. Her foot, which had taken a step back as if to leave, now planted itself firmly. She took a deep breath, as if steeling herself, before finishing the sentence—
“Because protecting Young Master is Eir’s duty by Young Master’s side.”
Will listened quietly to Eir’s words. He’d noticed that during the first half of her explanation, she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye, especially his left eye. But... he also saw that when she spoke the latter half, she boldly raised her head and met his gaze directly.
...Undoubtedly, this was where Eir differed from her ‘original story loser’ persona. She had overcome her timidity. For the ‘person she liked’, she could bravely take this step, speak her heart. Not like the coward she used to be, always retreating when it was time to express her feelings loudly.
“Yes, Eir... that’s exactly what I was thinking!” she declared, beaming. She looked as happy as a child who had successfully answered a teacher’s question, smiling brightly at Will.
However, Will fell into a brief silence—
`If this is where she started to grow, then... is this also where she started to ‘go dark’?` The first two people he had subtly influenced both began their ‘darkening’ alongside their ‘transformation’. If he analyzed it from this angle, where did Eir’s ‘staining’ begin? Because of her protective instinct, she wanted to eliminate anything that seemed ‘dangerous’?
But Will felt it was more than that. There had to be... some deeper, yet purer, simpler ’emotion’ driving the current Eir. Because the Eir before him, whose tail wagged excitedly whenever he was present, had always been a simple person.
“Mm. But, don’t be afraid. For now, it seems this purple eye, apart from letting me see a few more things and curing my nearsightedness, doesn’t have any other functions.” Will released Eir’s shoulders.
“What’s wrong? Young Master, is there anything else you need Eir to do? Eir... Eir apologizes again. Could... could Young Master please completely forget what just happened?” Eir was extremely sensitive to his every move. The moment his hands left her, she seemed terrified he was angry, her soft palms quickly covering his retreating hands. Her eyes still seemed to hold a trace of the tears she’d shed while speaking earlier, her grey irises reflecting Will’s image and the bright window behind him.
...Alright. Will admitted it. Although he asked such questions to ‘fish out’ the source of Eir’s ‘darkening’, hearing her sincere answer, seeing her dazzling smile, feeling the warmth of her hand carefully holding his... While being ‘touched’, he also felt a pang of guilt. Eir, at this moment, truly had given him, who had felt completely desperate and controlled by ‘yanderes’, a ray of light.
When she held his hand, he didn’t know if it was because of this room, but it felt like he had returned to the past.
“Alright, alright, I’ve forgotten. What else do you need to do?”
“Eir might still need to clean the courtyard. That way, we can sit in the courtyard like before, later on.”
“Mmm...” He was thinking of a question that could draw out more information. If this was such an ‘proactive’ Eir, then clearly, her ‘obeying his commands’ was like a leash around her neck. Will glanced at the glinting silver collar around her neck, her name engraved on its side.
`When you’re holding the leash, the dog on the other end is often under your ‘control’, and doesn’t show its truest state.` `So, what he needed now was to...` `Loosen the leash.`
“Eir really did an excellent job. Whether it was rescuing me, or bringing me here... you did very well.”
“Mm...?” Eir tilted her head. Hearing such praise, her expression didn’t change much, but Will could already see her tail wagging into a blur behind her.
“So, I want to give Eir a reward.”
“A reward!” Her eyes lit up.
“That’s right. A reward I can provide right now. Ask for anything you want.”
“...Anything?” Her ears perked straight up.
“That’s right.”
“Then... then it might be a little... a little too much?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Hearing Eir’s question, Will suddenly felt... `Was loosening the leash right now a bit too risky?` In this situation, just the two of them in a secluded house, with no one else to intervene, asking this question... It was practically like throwing himself into a fire pit!?!
But a loosened leash, it seemed, couldn’t just be retied.
Just as Will was bracing himself for Eir to pin him to the bed and have her way with him... he heard an entirely unexpected request—
“Eir wants to hear Young Master’s response.”
—
