"What do you mean, my Lady? Do you see something dangerous in the future? You can talk about it with me or the other." Winslow wants to bear Renneshia's burdens.
"Thank you. But I couldn't tell anyone about it if I wanted to avoid or prevent it." Ludger (Renneshia) answered with a sad smile.
"Haa...Then I hope you will never tell anyone about the future." Winslow sighed and said with a bitter tone.
Ludger grabbed Winslow's nearest hand. His hand feel warm and his kindness makes him feel at ease.
"Just let me hold your hand for a while. I... Actually I..."
Knock. Knock.
When Ludger just wanted to tell Winslow about something, suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Ludger, I heard you're awake. Can we speak for a bit?"
It was a great surprise for Ludger because Edgar, who had had the minimum interaction, suddenly wanted to talk with him. While Ludger was wandering, trying to guess Edgar's objectives, Winslow quietly opened the door and looked at Edgar's face with a cold expression as if he felt suspicious about his identity.
Edgar peeked into the room and saw Ludger on the bed. He suddenly frowned as if he felt angry about something. Looking at Edgar's reaction, Ludger suddenly remembered what had happened before he fainted.
'Wh-What should I do!? I didn't think anything about it at that time...But I couldn't hide my embarrassment from being carried in a princess carry style like that. Even if I currently disguise myself as a boy named Ludger, my maiden heart couldn't help but to feel flustered and my pride as a man will also make me too embarrassed to see him right now!' Ludger (Renneshia) feel flustered because of the princess-like treatment he got from Edgar before.
As the flustered Ludger looked down when his eyes met Edgar's, and felt panic because of his embarrassment, Ludger didn't realise that Edgar had already walked closer to him. Winslow seems to be thinking about something and lets Edgar get closer to Ludger. While Winslow still felt a bit suspicious of Edgar, he somehow didn't feel that Edgar would harm his Master.
At this moment, although Ludger seems calm, he is actually scared that Edgar will find out how loudly his heart is beating right now. Edgar was standing beside his bed, looking at his condition. Ludger couldn't understand why he felt like this, but he seemed unable to calm down after being carried like a princess before he lost his consciousness.
"You... Are you still feeling unwell?" Edgar asked as his hand touched Ludger's temple while bringing his face closer to look at Ludger's expression more clearly.
Edgar's warm hand and how close his face was made Ludger feel his face getting hot.
Panicked, Ludger quickly said. "I'm just still feeling weak after what happened before... It's not something you need to worry about. Maybe I just spent too much magic power so I will be alright after having enough rest."
Edgar frowned when he heard Ludger's words and suddenly grabbed his chin so Ludger couldn't turn his face and looked directly into his eyes. Ludger's mind suddenly went blank because he felt shocked by Edgar's sudden move.
"Listen carefully! How can we not feel anything when something happened to you! If you don't want to make us worry, you should act more carefully and avoid any dangerous things that happen around you. You should have asked for our help before deciding to face something dangerous like this next time. I might not be your family or someone you can trust like the other, but didn't we decide to become friends?" Edgar at first seems to be angry, but the more he speaks, his tone seems to sound sad.
Ludger is stunned as he is surprised by the unexpected side of Edgar. His heart seems to be bursting out and exploding because of how fast it is beating. Looking at Edgar's worried expression, Ludger felt sad and hurt but also touched by his kindness and warmth.
Ludger pushed Edgar away from him because he felt so embarrassed. "I-I understand what you mean... My mother and Brother, Winslow, already scolded me about it before...but should you put your face so close like that?... It's embarrassing..."
While Ludger seems to be expressionless, Edgar is surprised when he pushes him away. At first, he thought that Ludger might hate him because he acted too familiar with him. But after he heard what Ludger said, he suddenly saw an overlapping figure with Ludger.
Shyly, Edgar turned his face and said something because he felt awkward. "I-I'm sorry...I just feel frustrated because you seem not to have thought about us as your friends...Maybe because I don't have any friends besides Rain and Leo... Wait, why do you feel embarrassed? Both of us are male, so what are you thinking I will do to you?"
After thinking about their condition, both Ludger and Edgar feel awkward as they seem to have accidentally said something embarrassing to each other. Ludger, who hid his real identity (as Renneshia), and Edgar, who suddenly panicked because he wanted to hide his feelings from Ludger.
"Pffft hahaha..." Winslow, who watched everything from the door, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Winslow couldn't help but feel that both of them were funny and interesting. He feels interested because he never thought his Master would be flustered by someone around his (her) age. The Master, who often acted as if he (she) would disappear someday, when they lose sight of him (her).
Heard Winslow's laughter, both Ludger and Edgar glaring at him as if they wanted to turn their embarrassment into anger. For a moment, both Ludger and Edgar forgot about Winslow's existence as if only they were inside this room.
"Ha... Alright, alright. I'm sorry for laughing at both of you. It's quite satisfying as we know there are other who feels similarly to what we are feeling. You could say it was quite refreshing as we didn't have any power to help Ludger and could only worry about Ludger's well-being. I think you understand how frustrating it was. It was how we, the people in Red Dawn always felt." Winslow decided to honestly say his thoughts.
Edgar seemed to agree with Winslow's words as he nodded his head in agreement. Ludger, on the other hand, feels betrayed by both of them. Winslow's words and Edgar's reaction seem want to corner Ludger from doing anything dangerous.
Ludger want to protest about their thought about himself. As Ludger (or as Renneshia), he never wants to get near anything troublesome or even dangerous if possible. But what could he do if those dangers were fated to happen around him or befall him.
'It's not like I'm the person who deliberately founded those troublesome and dangerous things! Why did they always treat me like someone who was looking for my death like some reckless main character in some shounen story? Don't they know that I treat my life preciously, even more than money and treasures!' Ludger feel wronged by Winslow and Edgar's reaction.
"Haa..., both of you seem to have closer relationships with each other rather than with me now. As expected, a brother or a friend is less than someone who understands you. And both of you seem to have similar thoughts when badmouthing me, right?" Ludger said as if he were lamenting their slander while lowering his head hiding his smile.
Of course, Ludger didn't need to do it because his face became expressionless like it was originally. But living normally as 'Ludger' for more than two years made him reflexively do it.
'Dangerous! I just got a great inspiration from watching their synergy. Oh my goodness, why do they make me want to write the continuation of that BL novel! Maybe because both of them are so handsome...I finally understand why they said watching two handsome or beautiful men being close is the main attraction of the BL story.' Ludger seem to get an enlightenment of what he heard from the fans.
"Hey Ludger, what do you mean! And we didn't badmouth anything about you! Can't you understand our feelings, as we have always worried about you? How...How can you be so heartless?" Edgar felt wronged and shy because he suddenly remembered the (BL) book Leona had given him.
Winslow could only make a wry smile as he watched the two people in front of him. It was rare for him to see his Master act jealous like this. But the most unexpected thing is Edgar's reaction when he heard Ludger's words. While Winslow thought that Ludger was joking when he said it, for some reason, Edgar seems to be sensitive about it. But because he thought it would get more interesting, he just silently watched their interactions.
"What do you mean that I'm heartless?! I also never want to get into such dangerous situations too! I just want to live peacefully but can't you understand my frustration because they always come to me and try to harm me and everyone around me? Cough...Ugh...!" Ludger angrily shouted.
Ludger also couldn't believe that he suddenly reacted like this. It's because of something that Edgar just said that makes him unable to stop his emotions as they flood out from his mind. But after he said everything, his condition suddenly got worse as he started to cough and felt a headache.
"I'm sorry...I-I said something I didn't mean because I felt embarrassed. So, please don't cry..." Edgar gets closer and tries to wipe Ludger's tears.
'!!! Why? Why do I always like this when he's here?' Ludger felt shocked because he didn't realise he was crying until Edgar told him.