Chapter 83
Wherever one went, the first basic principle upon entering was to secure an escape route. Next was securing one’s field of vision. It was actually better if the bed was visible the moment the door opened. If an enemy opened the door, he would be able to see the enemy immediately as well.
As soon as Isaac opened the door and stepped inside, he checked in order the position of the bed, the dressing screen that half-obscured it, and the wardrobe set as if tucked against the corner. The ceiling was high, and the window was also placed high up, making it difficult to access. That much, at least, was a relief.
With his face rigid with tension, Isaac continued to scan the room, analyzing every element from a tactical perspective out of long habit.
“The bed is bigger than I expected.”
Sasha said this calmly as she passed by him and went inside. Isaac, his face stiff, moved only his eyes to stare at the round back of her head. Then, in a voice that seemed to shrink into itself, he answered, “……Yes.”
Because of this sudden turn of events, he was far less in his right mind than usual.
“I’ll wait outside. Change first.”
Whether or not the man beside her was looking at her with an awkward, stiff expression, Sasha looked around the room. There was a bed large enough to take up half the room, and the room was reasonably furnished with a wardrobe and a bedside table.
Ah, there’s no couch.
After confirming that much, Sasha turned around and left the room.
Once she stepped into the hallway, the sound of the rain, now even louder, rang in her ears. With a worried expression, Sasha approached the hallway window and examined the situation outside. The thick streams of rain battering the window without pause made it hard to see, but through the blurred scenery, she could make out the large tree in the inn’s backyard swaying little by little.
The road was bound to be a mess. Roads in small villages like this were not well maintained to begin with, which made it especially troublesome. Charles had not said he would inspect the wheels for nothing.
She was watching the tree sway as if it might topple, thinking that to make matters worse, the wind had picked up as well, when there came a knock from inside and the door opened, leaving only a narrow gap.
“You’re already done changing?”
“Yes.”
As though to say it was now her turn, Isaac came out into the hallway and turned his body sideways so she could pass.
“I don’t need to change. I was just going to take off my coat and sleep.”
“……Please go in first.”
Sasha spoke as if suggesting they go in together, but Isaac spat out the words quickly without even looking at her. At that answer, Sasha raised her brows, then soon glanced at Isaac and went inside without saying anything.
Only after closing the door for her did Isaac step well away from it, as if he had been waiting for the chance.
‘She saw my face. Yes, she must have. What sort of expression am I making right now?’
For some reason, he felt so ashamed he could hardly bear it. The woman already knew full well that he had no proper experience in romance. Because, some time ago, he had rattled it all off to her himself as if making a confession. Splendidly done. Isaac Pinscher.
Yes. So it was nothing he needed to feel ashamed about. And yet, the fact that he had been showing that woman, with his entire body, how completely at a loss he was since earlier was unbearably embarrassing.
Miss Grayson must be no more accustomed to this sort of situation than he was. Yet she looked astonishingly unbothered. Was she not as calm as if he were not a robust man at all, but a dog she sometimes slept beside?
Isaac searched his clothes out of habit. He groped for the inner pocket where he usually kept his cigars, then remembered he had only just changed his clothes and let out a sigh laden with despair.
“Looking for this?”
From beside him, a cigarette was smoothly held out. It was a cheap, roughly rolled cigarette.
Isaac looked down at him with an expressionless face.
“Are you an employee here?”
Undaunted by Isaac’s size, the man hiccupped with a dazed face.
There was no need to ask. A typical drunkard. He reeked of alcohol.
“No. There was a party downstairs, so……. My head hurt, and I came out for a bit.”
“……I see.”
Isaac did not refuse the match the man offered along with it, either, and took it.
“Then stop loitering around up here and get lost.”
“……Eh?”
“Don’t poke around. Go downstairs. Now.”
Only belatedly did the drunk look up at Isaac, who was far larger than he was, with distant eyes. Beneath his black hair, damp and curling more than usual, only his blue eyes glared whitely.
“Shall I escort you?”
Without waiting long, Isaac reached toward the back of the man’s neck, and the drunkard hastily stumbled back. Having even handed over the entire matchbox in his confusion, the drunk turned around without complaint and headed toward the stairs.
Only after seeing him disappear completely did Isaac put the cheap cigarette the man had left behind between his lips. Then, just as he was about to light it, he took the cigarette back out of his mouth and shoved it into his trouser pocket along with the matches. Now, belatedly, he craned his neck and sniffed at his shoulder blades and arms to check his own scent.
Isaac let out another low sigh, then took a long, deep breath as if trying to steady himself. Then he approached the door and knocked carefully.
“There’s no couch in this room.”
As soon as he opened the door and entered, Sasha, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, looked up at him and spoke. Isaac looked at the small wooden chair placed by the window.
He felt Sasha following his gaze to that chair. Then she looked at him as if telling him not to say something absurd.
“Then I will sleep on the floor.”
“……I thought you would say that. Then, please wait a moment.”
As if she had expected it, Sasha shrugged and rose from her seat, then left the room as she was. Isaac stood blankly in the middle of the modest room, staring in the direction she had gone. Like a loyal dog ordered to wait.
No, when he thought about it, she had indeed told him to wait. Isaac muttered inwardly, rationalizing his own awkward appearance.
Sasha returned in less than a few minutes.
“Even servants don’t sleep like this these days.”
Sasha said this as she set down the blankets she had brought on the floor beside the bed. Perhaps in consideration of his build, she had brought quite a lot. Looking down at the layers of blankets, Isaac said,
“I’ve slept in conditions far worse than this many times. It was common for me to simply lie down and sleep in a trench dug out of the earth.”
“……This isn’t a battlefield.”
Watching a woman far smaller than him make a place for him to sleep made his stomach twist for an entirely different reason.
“I’ll, I’ll do it.”
Regardless of whether Isaac fidgeted anxiously beside her, Sasha devoted herself to spreading the blankets she had brought in layers, making a makeshift bed that looked fairly decent.
Isaac, who had been following each of her movements with uneasy eyes, repeatedly reaching out and drawing his hand back, stared blankly at the completed temporary bed. Then, as if needlessly embarrassed, he cleared his throat and grumbled.
“……I actually sleep poorly if it’s too soft.”
“Then switch with me.”
Isaac promptly threw himself onto the blankets.ⓓNo sharing
＊＊＊
When Sasha turned off the lamp, the entire room sank into darkness. In the dark, Sasha had no difficulty finding Isaac’s figure, if only by its outline. Isaac was lying on the blankets she had spread out, his large body folded onto them. With his back turned to her.
For an instant, the small window above flashed, and his figure shone white before sinking back into darkness.
Even thunder. This is worrying in all sorts of ways. Sasha muttered inwardly without much feeling, then flopped down in her place. And for quite some time, she could not fall asleep, staring only at the ceiling.
Isaac was quiet. Judging from what he had said earlier, perhaps he had wanted to insist that he could sleep anywhere. Even so, he falls asleep very quickly.
“……Miss Grayson.”
No sooner had she thought that than Isaac’s voice came from below.
It was extremely cautious, and lowered as if he were afraid of disturbing her in case she had fallen asleep. Sasha lay looking at the ceiling and answered, “Yes.”
“Why are you still awake? You looked tired.”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps because this is an unfamiliar place.”
Sasha answered calmly. Even after hearing her reply, the space below remained silent for a while.
Still lying down, she moved only her eyes to look at the shape of the man lying on the floor opposite her.
“If you are uncomfortable because of me, you may tell me honestly. Truly. I can leave right away.”
“What? No.”
At his repeated stubbornness, Sasha felt irritation slowly rising and replied.
“You went through such a thing not long ago. So, ……I have seen a few women who had that kind of trauma. I would like you to speak comfortably. Truly. I already look like this, so…….”
Isaac had been rambling, muttering without even realizing what he was saying himself, but when he heard movement from above, he reflexively raised his body. Again, there was a flash of lightning, and for one brief instant, his eyes met those of the woman looking straight down at him.
The room sank back into darkness. Belatedly, a rumble of thunder like a lion’s growl reverberated through the room.
“I know what you mean.”
The irritation that had surged up for a moment at Isaac’s stubbornness vanished like snow melting, as if it had never existed.
“I’m not unable to sleep because of that sort of discomfort, so you don’t need to worry. Of course, it isn’t as though I have no trauma at all in that regard. In the future, when I see men who resemble Butler, I will probably flinch regardless of my will.”
“…….”
“But you are different. You are the opposite, Isaac. Rather, even afterward, I have often calmed myself by recalling the words you said to me. So you are an exception. I appreciate your consideration, but I would prefer that you not behave as if you were pushing yourself away from me like that.”
Sasha’s quiet, measured voice lodged in him word by word. Isaac remained frozen, still half-raised, and only when Sasha asked, “Do you understand?” did he belatedly answer, “……Yes.”
Relieved that the question had been resolved, Sasha lay down again.
“In any case, all right. So that’s why you’ve been so restless since earlier.”
That was not all.
But Isaac chose to stay silent rather than say it aloud.
“Miss Grayson.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. For readily agreeing to come with me.”
It was an abrupt change of subject. Sasha turned her head and looked down again at Isaac’s back as he lay facing away from her.
Thanks to her eyes having adjusted to the darkness, she could see his silhouette more clearly than before.
“Not at all. In fact, I was rather glad. If I had stayed there, things would only have remained chaotic. To be honest, part of me accepted because I felt as though I was escaping. Come to think of it, last time as well, I seem to be unintentionally using you as a means of escape.”
“……If that is so, then it is fine. I can be at ease. ……And strictly speaking, unlike last time, this time I am using you as well.”
Isaac spoke, still stubbornly keeping his back to her.
“And thank you. For not asking about my father.”
Sasha was silent for a moment. She was choosing what to say, wondering how she should answer.
But before she could open her mouth, Isaac continued.
“It is something you should have asked about long ago, is it not? And yet, knowing that my relationship with my father is uncomfortable, you did not ask at all. It was the same with my grandmother.”
“……That really is nothing much, Isaac. It isn’t something you need to thank me for so grandly.”
“It is grand to me.”
Isaac replied.
“Thank you, Miss Grayson.”
Sasha did not answer.
Isaac went on, unconcerned.
“Sleep, Miss Grayson.”
Only then did an answer come from above.
“……You too. Sweet dreams.”