~ The frost of time progresses with the tone ~

Luckily, I found us an inn and begged the innkeeper to take the payment the next day, since clearly Xi Ken was out of his mind. He even started to whimper all over me while I dragged him to our given room, even the inn keeping staff pitied my situation.

I was really grateful when he did not ask Xi Ken's name, because I felt as if, when the morning would come, the restaurant would be plummeted to the ground.

I had full knowledge of how prideful Xi Ken was, if his pristine conditioning with every step he took was anything to consider, then remembering such a loose behavior would surely make him very mad.

I snickered when I saw him stumbling over the bed, almost falling face first on the floor. The sight was so entertaining, my stomach hurt trying to keep my laugh inside.

"You should take some rest," I told him, following his crawling form as he stopped to look back at me, his hair still tied in a knot, but with how silky the strands were, the loosening tie was not shocking to me.

I wouldn't understand how people could have such long and healthy hair, and that too when the person was a male. Didn't he have split ends or dandruff? I mean, my mom was always worried about those issues. So once in a month she would go to the local parlor for monthly maintenance. It cost a lot, but dad wanted mom to be happy, so he gave her a lot of money even though she had her own source of income. She was a librarian, and even if that wasn't really a gifting profession, she loved books and people always said good things about her. And so there were times when she would also get bonuses.

I found myself frowning at my own hair, which was coarse and unkempt, not really soft or silky, and that was worrying.

By chance my fingers touched upon the charms still hanging in my hair, bringing in a tsunami of emotions. 2000 chunks... that was a shocking amount and not to say, even the meat hadn't been cheap.

I looked back at Xi Ken of the present, his face staring at me as he sat still on the bed, swaying back and forth with some sort of unknown impatience. Like a child... or someone possessed. I shivered.

"Do you want water?"

He shook his head, still facing me doing nothing.

"Do you want to sleep?"

He still did not make any move to appear coherent, and that was simply disturbing. A lack of rationality and response from him did not fit his dominating style, that was for sure.

I stepped towards him to finalize my decision, which was to make him go to sleep. I had no doubt the next morning he would be back to himself, and it was a relief. "Take off your outer robe, feel more comfortable."

He of course, as expected, did not move, but simply sat there like a child waiting for an order he wouldn't even understand.

Sighing, I stooped in front of him and started to take off his robes, even loosening the sash belt he wore around his waist.

By the end of it I was heaving with weariness, the man's arm was heavy, and he wasn't even trying to move them. It had taken a while to get his robes off of him with his lack of motivation and concern.

When I was sure he was only laying with a thick under robe and nothing else, I was pleased with myself, trying to not mind the contours of his body and the silk cloth stuck to his frame. I had known he had a narrow waist and broad shoulders, having seen him closely the entire time, but after all the layers were off, I realized his physic wasn't just nice, but also, well groomed with muscles. Real solid muscles which were more prominent with lesser amount of clothes.

Why did a guy like him even need muscles, I couldn't understand the concept of it, did he even had the use of them? Or was making muscles his secret hobby.

I shrugged, mentally exhausted, covering his body with a thin white sheet and untying the knot on his hair. But while doing so, my fingers brushed against his blindfold, and I had an urge to keep those away as well.

Yet, when my fingers twitched to take off the piece of cloth, to uncover the mystery behind it, I felt my gut clench with uncertainty.

It wasn't my place to dig for secrets and I would feel bad if I unknowingly hurt Xi Ken. So whipping my hands into action, I patted his head instead, to gesture him that it was time to sleep, wanting to go and take a bath while I was free.

I didn't want him to complain to me that I smelled, it would make me annoyed if he did that again.

So when I though Xi Ken was finally down for good, I stood up and raced out of the room to find some staff, and call him to draw a bath for me. I really did not have it in me to do the preparing if the staff turned out to be lazy.

"Our bath house is at the end, please take the robes from the attached store room and also, drain the water away after you are done."

I nodded a thanks at the staff person and quickly made myself comfortable in the bath house. My robes folded at one corner and another set of bathing robes hanging next to it.

There was no pool in this bathing house, but the round pail of fresh water and a drawing cup, were provided with great care. All of them were clean and even the stone tiles under my feet looked scrubbed and polished.

I found some rubbing herb in a box next to the bucket and I smelled them, finding the strong scent of natural grass and some tangy fruit.

It was sweet but also enticing, very subtle yet discernible.

Humming happily to finally having the luxury of a soap... well I thought it must be soap, I took a great amount of it in my palm and rubbed it all over my body, the wetness from the water quickly making it diminish into suds.

And after finishing, I came out of the bath house wearing the robe that the inn facilitated, the grey color dull and boring, but the shirt length showing off my lower half of the legs.

Not that it made me conscious of my appearance, but considering the ancient technicalities of this world, what if even picking up robe sizes was a thing.

I wouldn't know, and I really needed to sit down one day and learn things from Xi Ken.

Unfortunately, I had been a bit absentminded and did not see where I was going, so I bumped into a man taller than me and fell on the floor, on my butt.

Winching, I rubbed my back as I tried sitting up, looking over to who was so rude to knock me down and not even apologize after doing so.

I noted it was a young man, no older than me. Had short blond hair and piercing blue eyes. A typical 'foreigner' look that side characters in manga would have.

"Do you not watch where you go?" I asked sulkily, hoping that my butt wouldn't bruise overnight.

He seemed to realize his mistake even if it was mine in actuality, he turned his eyes away from me- or my...legs... which were even more visible since I fell down, the robes parting a bit too much. And when I noticed it, I glared at him, shuffling to cover my legs, as I stood up despite the pain.

Was he what people called a 'pervert'?

I wasn't very sure.

Even then, I did my best to sneer at him, pushing him away, to make myself a path and go upstairs, but he must have not liked my rudeness, since he shouted an "Oi, where are you going," and pulled me back from my wrist, but unintentionally got hold of my long sleeves instead, and parted my robes with the harsh tug.

Knowing how bad I was in tying up sash belts, I was pretty sure they were loosened, but what made me red with rage was that my milk white chest was visible for him to see, even the nipples and the marking on my shoulder.

I always forgot I was marked, so when it was up on show, I panicked, was it okay to show it to others? Why hadn't Xi Ken elaborated on that? Would he be mad if others would know? Was it okay to show it? What symbolism did it have in this society.

And when I absently noted how the blond man was stunned to see the marking, I felt too self conscious, almost as if he was trying to stare through it.

"What is wrong with you!" I asked out loud, quickly covering myself back as he was left shocked to hear the sudden loudness. While his eyes were still pinned on my shoulders.

"Do you not know how to conduct like a human being? Are you nuts or something?" I glared at him, ranting as I climbed up the stairs to get away, not really feeling okay to just stick around with that person.

Who knew if I would be targeted again.

"Wait, you there, stop," the blond ran after me, giving me a scare as I ran even faster, reaching the first floor corridor and almost entering the room, but the blond was not giving up on me, as he sprinted to catch me from my waist, pouncing over me as I fell on my knees in a fetal position, trying to protect myself from whatever he was about to do after catching me.

"Got you, you run so fast," he complained, his right hand keeping me still as the left one pulled my robes out of the way, trying to get a clear view of my shoulder.

Fear gripped my heart since I couldn't escape his hold, his strength too strong for me to overthrow.

"Can you just let me go?" I asked trying to shove him away, but he kept me rather still, his palms pressing me down.

"I want to see what kind of ink you have, because if you are a slave, then you cannot enter this part of town, you will be fined along with your master."

"Who are you to spout such nonsense," I snapped, feeling his hand pressing on my bare shoulder to see the inking, tracing it out.

"I am part of the guardian ring, my job is to enforce law and order."

Oh... so that was why he was so bold, tackling a person just to see the ink.

Everything would have gone great if he had let me go but then I heard his breath falling over the crook of my neck, as he stated very blatantly, "For a man you sure smell good, and even your skin is soft." To make his interest more obvious, he even rubbed his thumb over my collar bone, numbing my body.

"A-Aren't you scared my master would be angry?" Not that I was a slave, since Xi Ken made it clear that he wouldn't take me as a slave, but... still, I wanted to know what this blond thought.

I wasn't startled when he started to laugh at my tone, "I am a noble, who will be more mighty than me?"