I Became the Main Character’s Demon Sword

48

That night, while Rohan was in the bath, Arpel walked to the garden in a corner of the temple. Perhaps because it was a secluded place usually not frequented by people, and also due to the late hour, the space occupied solely by him was filled with a lonely quietness.

In the Empire, there was a culture of giving flower bouquets and thread bracelets to those who came of age. Usually, it was common to receive these from the closest adult. Arpel naturally thought that he should be the one to do this.

Dionel deserved credit for discreetly informing him of this fact, but unfortunately, this information had long been erased from Arpel’s mind.

“This and…”

He carefully plucked the flowers he had spotted earlier in the day. For stems too tough to break by hand, he even employed his power to cut them cleanly.

His hands were full of bright yellow and vermilion flowers. Their colors were vivid even under the moonlight. These light and warm hues always reminded him of Rohan. Whenever Rohan smiled brightly, it evoked the image of a sun sprinkling gentle spring sunlight.

Following what he had roughly heard, he bundled the flowers together using sticky leaves and wrapped the outside with decorative ribbon. Having never done this before, his movements were inevitably clumsy. As the flower petals kept getting disheveled, Arpel’s brow furrowed along with them.

“Arpel.”

“…Ah.”

After all his efforts, even the person in question had arrived. Perhaps due to his intense concentration, his senses had dulled, and Arpel only noticed Rohan’s presence when he was already at close range. His eyes, filled with awkwardness, turned towards the one looking down at him.

Having rushed out right after bathing, Rohan’s breath was heavy, and water dripped from his slightly damp brown hair.

After trying to understand the situation for a moment, Rohan’s eyes soon filled with delight.

“Were you making this for me?”

“…Yes. I’m late, though.”

“It’s okay if it’s late. I like everything about it.”

With a melted expression and a smile on his face, Rohan silently waited beside Arpel as he loosely tied the ribbon with his clumsy hands. Although slightly disheveled and amateurish, it could be called a bouquet.

Rohan smiled brightly, quickly hugging the bouquet to his chest as if he had received the most precious gift in the world. Whether it was due to a lack of immunity to such clear emotions of happiness, or if the situation itself was embarrassing, a rare look of bashfulness crossed Arpel’s face.

“The thread bracelet… I couldn’t get one. I’ll buy you one when we go out together.”

“This alone is enough for me. Really.”

Anyone who saw his face would probably know this fact. Holding the flowers with a slightly flushed face and a shy expression, he looked as if he had embraced all the happiness in the world.

“In exchange… grant my wish. Right now.”

A small voice dissipated nearby. Arpel’s lips quivered as he looked up at Rohan’s face, which had somehow come close. Tomorrow hadn’t come yet. The vague question disappeared quickly.

Due to his slightly bowed head, his wet hair was particularly noticeable. But more than that, his earnest expression was even more visible. It suddenly reminded Arpel of a large dog whining and tugging at clothes, begging to play.

“I’ll grant it. What’s your wish?”

“…Kiss me.”

“Kiss?”

Isn’t that something we do often? A thread of doubt arose.

The light kisses on the cheek given as goodnight greetings since childhood were still ongoing even as he was approaching his 20th birthday. So it felt strange that he would specifically mention this.

“Not on the cheek.”

“…Then where?”

“…On the lips.”

The following words were half mumbled. It was just a tiny whisper that would have been inaudible if they weren’t close. Yet, Rohan’s face was already bright red.

Arpel blinked silently. For some reason, he couldn’t easily take his eyes off Rohan’s face.

Thinking that the lack of response was a sign of rejection, Rohan’s face gradually turned into a sulky expression. It was a face he hadn’t seen much recently.

“Lower your head.”

“…Will you do it?”

“Yes. Because you asked.”

Due to their closeness, their voices were like whispers. It felt as if his ears were ticklish, and strangely, his chest felt fluttery too. Since he rarely fully understood the emotions he felt when with Rohan, Arpel perceived this as a natural change.

He reached out and grasped Rohan’s nape, pulling his face closer. The face that obediently came down was full of shyness.

Their noses bumped. Just from that, Rohan let out a small gasp. To him, this situation felt like a dream.

The amethyst-like eyes blinking while maintaining direct eye contact, the faint breath felt due to their proximity, the clean white neckline naturally revealed as he slightly tilted his head.

Only after the soft lips left a stamp-like, jelly-like sensation did they part. Even that moment was slow, and Rohan, who had been holding his breath at some point, could only belatedly let out a heavy breath.

“Was that enough?”

Arpel carefully took in every detail of Rohan’s flushed face, down to each finely trembling eyelash. An indescribable emotion seemed to heavily fill his chest.

He didn’t particularly question this wish. He simply found it endlessly pleasing and satisfying to touch Rohan and to take in the sight of his shy appearance. To Arpel, it felt natural that all his emotions culminated in Rohan.

Unless he consciously searched his memories, he didn’t compare his actions to those of his previous life. This meant he didn’t delve deeply into the reasons for Rohan’s shy reactions, or the changes in himself where his chest seemed to fill with indescribable emotions. Perhaps it was because he wholly welcomed the peaceful daily life.

And Rohan, watching Arpel willingly grant his wish, felt affection towards him for cherishing him so. Although, there was also a complicated feeling about the fact that ultimately, nothing had changed.

“Let’s go back now.”

He tightly hugged the fragrant bouquet to his chest, not caring if it might stain his clothes.

When he extended his other hand to Arpel, he took it without hesitation. On this night before the lifelong contract that would bind them eternally, Rohan could be satisfied just by feeling the presence in his hand that wouldn’t disappear.

The colorful flowers that Arpel had plucked and made into a bouquet that day were densely placed in a small vase in the room, occupying a spot by the window. It was the place that would receive the most sunlight when day broke.

Rohan’s effort in carefully holding the vase with both hands and even thoroughly sprinkling it with magic to prevent wilting was an added touch.

***

The sound of grass leaves nodding continuously in the gently blowing wind could be heard. With each rustle of the leaves, the softly shining sunlight added to their sparkle. It was a nice morning like any other, but clearly different from usual.

The first day of Rohan’s 20th year, when the two had promised to make their contract. Rohan woke up early and moved about busily. Arpel, who couldn’t have missed this commotion, could only smile slightly at Rohan’s expression that seemed to be brimming with all sorts of expectations.

“Why are you dressed up like this?”

In the brief moment Arpel had looked away, Rohan had changed into the neat attire worn for attending services. Arpel asked as he naturally smoothed out the slightly wrinkled clothes. Rohan only prettily crinkled his eyes in response.

“Just because I want to remember today for the rest of my life.”

“…Should I change too?”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to, Arpel.”

Because you’re already pretty anyway. He swallowed the last words without uttering them.

It was a small desire to be remembered in a somewhat neat appearance by Arpel when he looked back on this day in the future, as it was the day they would be bound for life by the contract. Rohan didn’t voice this thought either.

Between dawn and morning, at that ambiguous time, the two stood in front of an isolated prayer room that even the priests rarely entered. Owen, who seemed to have been waiting there all along, greeted them.

“There’s nothing particularly needed, so you can go right in. I’ll keep watch outside just in case.”

Owen, who pushed the two inside with a businesslike tone, recited the precautions to be taken during the contract. His voice was monotonous, as if reading from a book. Soon after finishing the cautions, he closed the door with a thud.

Even the sound of the wind was completely blocked, and all that could be heard were the breaths of the two people. They soon stopped paying attention to Owen’s presence faintly felt from outside.

Rohan, who had been silent all along, reached out his hand towards Arpel. The two hands that met were warm.

“…Can I do it?”

There was shyness in the softly whispering voice. Rohan, who had been staring at Arpel without blinking once, lest he miss the nodding gesture, slowly moved his magic.

He could feel the magic sprouting in his hand. The movement seemed to be asking for permission, and it also felt ticklish, as if handling something that could easily break. The formless power that gradually spread began to slowly dig deeper from their joined hands inwards.

“Does it hurt?”

“…No, it’s fine.”

This was the first time he had felt Rohan’s own magic in detail from start to finish. Because it was something he had never done before, Arpel could only answer vaguely to the careful question asked out of concern.

Whether it was simply because Rohan was the source of the magic, or due to the essence of a demon sword being drawn to a blessed being. As the movement that started from their hands began to invade deeper into his body, Arpel felt an increasing sense of elation. Perhaps it was both.

“It feels… good.”

Rohan wanted to be with Arpel for life by making this contract. The same was true for Arpel. Even if he might give more of his heart to someone else, he wanted to become a being who could stay by Rohan’s side, using the contract as an excuse. Although he had never voiced this out loud, it was Arpel’s clear sincere wish.

That’s why this moment was more satisfying than anything else. Being completely dyed as a part of Rohan by him, it felt as if he was being branded as Rohan’s complete possession. It was the instinct of the ‘sword’ itself that had not yet disappeared.

‘…His expression.’

And Rohan, observing this, couldn’t ignore the loud beating of his heart. It was because he had never once seen this kind of completely relaxed expression on Arpel’s face before. His eyes rolled busily, greedily taking in Arpel’s appearance as if filling his stomach.

There was no conversation between the two, but neither felt that this moment was too quiet. In a space where no noise could be heard, they were simply filled with each other.

An eon-like time ended. Only after Rohan’s magic, which had extended to the tips of his toes, greedily dyed the being before him completely as his own, did a ringing sound like a huge lock clicking shut resound.

“The contract… it’s done, right? You’ll stay with me forever now, right?”

Although he instinctively knew that the contract had been successfully completed, Rohan repeatedly asked Arpel with a voice tinged with a slight whimper. Just that fact alone made Rohan feel an endless surge of emotion. The joy of finally achieving what he had long wished for ran rampant.

Although he was equally dazed, Arpel tried to habitually pull Rohan into an embrace to pat him.

“…Ah?”

If only it weren’t for the parade of countless emotions rushing in like a wave, as if it could easily bury this one thing.

His eyes opened wide, and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He heard Rohan’s voice calling him in confusion as he saw Arpel’s surprised face, but he couldn’t manage to answer.

Every time their eyes met, every time the hand he was holding twitched, every time the uttered voice clearly rang in his ears, it felt as if he had fallen into a deep blue sea whose depth he couldn’t even begin to fathom.