Who are you?

Even though what I said seemed to upset Paimon about suggesting to leave this place, he still was excited to spend more time and actually hear stories about the outside world. He opened the door and let me come inside. My first instinct was to put something, like a piece of fabric to have the same use as a mask since keeping my hand in front of my nouse would seem offensive, although the whole point was for him and me to be safe, and maintain a normal conversation. However, the smell of blood faded after the window was open for so long and after being blasted by the strong scent not too long ago I had started to control my instincts better.

It was uncomfortable at times when Paimon walked or moved closer to me since I am still new with this whole "blood with a sweet scent that can create a path that leads you to the source of it" thingy and both, my right and his left eye were glowing so brightly while looking at each other which was rather distracting, but thankfully nothing out of "ordinary" happened and I was proud at myself when we both set on the floor and I saw those red eyes sparkling with joy.

"…*sob*…*sniff*…H-how is that possible!? The witch didn't need her anymore so she, s-she…but I thought they were becoming friends…waah!"

I really don't have a filter with kids, do I? I think I went a little overboard by telling him that I, in fact, the girl in the story had a tragic ending and that the witch burned her alive inside the room she was trapped in for months. It sounded better in my head, and I thought maybe, just maybe he would take the hint and then wish to leave this house before something similar happens to him as well. I didn't anticipate this reaction though and now I feel bad for making him cry.

"Don't cry, Paimon. It's just a story, no one was harmed, and the girl never… received such a fatal punishment."

"B-but why did she do such a thing to the girl when she was the one who took her in? She didn't own her, she wasn't entitled to anything. It wasn't a pet that she could get bored of and throw it away later, it was a human being."

"You are right, but the girl did bad things too. Unforgivable things that ruined innocent people's lives."

"Yes, but that still doesn't justify the witch's action. The girl never threatened her life and they both acted as if they were friends, so she had no reason to be so scared to the point of locking her up and straight up betraying her over something she did to someone else, who was not even related to her in any way. That's just horrible!"

Heh! Poor thing, such an innocent child. Hearing you say that makes my heart ache even more, I don't deserve your pity, really, worry about yourself first.

"*Gasp*…Can you do that again?"

"Hm!? What?"

"The thing you did with your hand just now when you put on my head moving it gently up and down, left and right."

"Oh, you mean caressing and petting your head? Sure~ if you don't mind!"

Sigh! This habit of mine, I always do it without thinking, but I'm glad he likes it. It felt like something natural for me to do in the past, when I saw that someone close to me was feeling down, my hand automatically went for the head and I petted whoever it was like a little puppy.

Others called me weird for doing what they don't like or that I was invading someone's personal space just to feel better myself, and that was partly true, yet I was not confident enough to give a headset to a complete stranger just for my own satisfaction. That would be so weird!

As I was running my fingers through his soft and fluffy hair, I noticed him every time my hand moved to one side he would tilt his head in the same direction with it while humming and when I stopped he would stop too and take my hand and place it himself above his head, watching me with those big red eyes of his, waiting for me to continue.

"Miss Raelian, could you do it a little more? I feel so at ease when you do this. It's like I can imagine an autumn day, having a peaceful time sitting under a tree and watching all the leaves falling one by one. The sound of the wind, and the leaves crunching, it's so calm and relaxing that I can't help but fall asleep. Just like that, it blows all my worries away, hehe!"

"…?!"

Oh my god the ears, I can see the holy dog ears! …I want to bite him; can I bite him? Not literally, but couldn't bring myself to say no to such a cute little creature. First, I should try to calm down and then think about how I can take him home with me. I know it hasn't been that much time since I met him, but people can be distinguished easily by the way they talk and act with others, and as a result of my observation this boy is so precious. I must protect him at all costs! He is literally a cute little puppy that has lost his owner!

"Ahem~! I don't have too much time on my hands right now, but I am going to try to do it as peacefully as I can. Next time I assure you, I will do whatever it takes to give you as much petting as your heart desires all right? So you just have to wait here until the day I come back again.", even though I doubt I will have to chance to escape the guards like I did today since they will be more cautious of me from now on, I still hope that there will be a day when he trusts me enough to get him out of here for good.

"So, you have to leave now!? Can't you stay a little longer? No one can find you if you stay here, so why the rush?"

"You don't know how much I would love to stay and continue our little conversation, but there is a big possibility that I will be found here, and you don't want that, right? Therefore, we will have to say goodbye, for now."

He is potting? So cute. Am I emphasizing too much with him or is the mother instinct kicking in again? Whatever it is, I hope he doesn't stab me in the back after putting my guard down for him. Things will turn ugly really quickly and I doubt someone can end up winning against the one who has broken trust, and I don't intend to reach that level of desperation yet! …What am I even thinking, of course, he wouldn't do that, I think.

"Paimon, please think about my proposal again and give me a proper answer next time, all right?"

"…I will think about it, but I don't want to leave my mother alone."

"You can also disagree, that's your choice, but I hope you chose the best option and think about yourself first."

If it was up to me I was going to take him home with me without a second thought, to put him in a good and loving environment, watching out for any unnatural behavior or out of the ordinary so there won't be any problems when he interacts with other people, but first of all, I want to find out more about the things he said before, about one of our eyes glowing when are near each other, chanting spirits and creating vivid dreams. There is not much information out there about raphas where I can truly investigate the problem and the cause, so if there is a "logical" explanation for it, we need to wait and see how it will turn out in the end and find a solution afterward or live with it. However, I can't take him with me like this. I have to come here again after his mother visits him and to hopefully get a good response. Is not going to take long anyways, so we better get ready.

"Rai, what are you doing here?"

"Whoaa! ...*sigh*… Y-your Highness, don't scare me like that." I closed the door and covered my right eye on reflex, but I hope he didn't see anything or anyone. My heart is racing…I can't believe I jumped like that in front of someone. I was careless. It was so quiet and I didn't expect anyone to be outside the door when I opened it. I did double check if my eye was back to normal while using my hand. When I didn't see light appear on my palm I let out a sigh of relief and turned to his highness who was standing in front of me with a confused expression.

"Like what exactly?"

"P-poping out of nowhere which probably would have given me a heart attack maybe?"

"But you did the sam-…hmm, more importantly, why are you here? This part of the garden belongs to the queen and she has barred entry to anyone who wants to go inside. I am surprised you didn't face any guard on your way here."

"There was no one. So, does that mean you shouldn't be here either?"

"You are right, but I don't intend to stay for long since there is nothing for me to do here anyways. Except, I didn't know there was a house not too far away from the main palace. I wonder if there is something she wants to hide. Did you see anything suspicious, Raelian?"

Why is he looking at me like that, with such cold eyes? He moved his gaze between me and the door making me more nervous. I have a feeling that if I don't give him an answer fast he is going to barge in and find Paimon just as I did.

Wait…why do I have to be scared of him? I don't have time for this and the fact that he found me that easily creeps me out. If we were in the world I came from, I would have thought he had put a GPS to truck me all the time.

"Why are you asking me if there is anything suspicious? Even if there was something, is not like I was going to tell you."

"Well, I thought I would give it a try and I had nothing to lose by doing that, so why not."

"…Huh!?"

"All right, let's go, we will leave before the queen's puppets see you!"

And what will happen if they do? He is saying it like that's a bad thing, or maybe it is since I don't want someone scheming something behind my back. Hmm. Most of the time I don't have any idea if this person is serious or not, even now I couldn't tell if he was joking or not which made me stare at him with a black expression. My head was empty, I thought he would ask again more forcefully and things would have taken a different direction, so hearing him respond so calmly and unbothered to what I said shook me. There is no way I can understand this guy, so I will just let it go for now.

"Oh, by the way, I noticed just now that you were fairly wary of my presence and there would be no reason why unless something was bothering you."

"Me!? No, your highness might have imagined such a thing since I didn't give a clear response to your question.", I lied again the same way as I did before while looking at the wooden house one more time before going out of the forest. Telling him that the things he sees are fragments of his imagination. It's stupid if you think about it, because why would someone who saw what he saw that is not near unrealistic believe that? However, from the looks of it, he didn't seem to mind it all since he looked very serene. Yet another case of misjudgment.

"Maybe you are right, or maybe not. First, I don't think you noticed, but the thumb of your right hand was shaking a little. You do that only when you are uneasy or uncomfortable, you clench your finger into a fist and then start cra-...", he stopped almost immediately after turning his gaze at me and saw that I was standing six feet away from him.

"What did you just say?"

"R-Rai! I did…I didn't say anything. Forget about it."

'That's not how it works, your highness. It was bold of you to try and save yourself with the same excuse as I do, but that won't bring you anywhere. Unless you were actually trying to throw shade at me and prove a point which I don't understand why you would go this far.'

The pure shock of hearing those words made me freeze in place, unable to speak or act like I normally would. Startled, I looked at him who was more shocked than I was, like he did something unspeakable. Covering his mouth with the back of his hand, constantly trying to avoid my gaze, and his eyes darting back and forth for a few seconds. If he did it on purpose or to prove a point, then that reaction was weird. Of course, he didn't do it on purpose, because what would he expect to get after declaring himself a stalker? Yet the timing was completely off. He is smart and manipulative, well when he wants to, but there is no way he could have gotten this "information" from anyone, living or dead unless he has seen it with his own eyes.

"All right! Then so it will be. I didn't hear anything."

"Thank you for being so understanding!"

Do you think I am stupid or what? I clearly heard you say that. I never did that in front of him, also no one else knows about it except for Spencer, therefore he couldn't have just guessed it by observing me. He knows too much, and then it that, "When the moment comes when you are feeling a such way about me, I won't let you go. That's my punishment, and this time I am going to seek redemption, by not letting you escape this time.", he mentioned redemption. Why does he want to redeem himself by not letting me go? It's because of regret or fear? And then he said it is a punishment. For normal people, since someone cannot predict or control the course of events, with every mistake or obstacle they adapt and improve while the delusional ones think that every problem they have isn't their fault, but instead it's caused by a greater power, such as a curse.

Although, now I am well aware that such things shouldn't be taken that lightly since reincarnation, supernatural powers, and magic exists, I am still worried. What I am about to say is so difficult for me to do will a straight face and I don't have a breakdown here things don't go as planned. My nickname, birthday, what I like, what I don't like, and habits, and he did not only agree to my proposal right away but also made it a fait accompli that we would get engaged and refer to me as his fiance when I don't know if he has or not canceled his previous one.

Everything from the first to the last one is a big mess and needs a lot of communication to be solved, if only the other party would at least try to be part of it and give me a clear answer before I misunderstand something.

***