房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Because...?"

Thankfully Zoemi had a lot of patience, otherwise, that conversation would be infuriating.

"...because he looks cute when he sleeps..."

Veo lowered her head, now blushing bright red, and answered the question in a barely audible voice.

"No. Not the first prince, Veo... I\'m asking you about the reason why Teo suddenly went on a strike."

The black-haired boy sighed and massaged his forehead in mild annoyance.

"Oh...! Ah.. o-of course...! Sh-she was sulking and repeating that she was a bad girl over and over again. But she wouldn\'t tell me why. Did you scold her?"

Veo wasn\'t uncooperative because of her personality, she was uncooperative because she was just a little bit angry at Zoemi.

Her younger sister must have been sad because of Zoemi - there was no other explanation considering how upset she was!

"Huh...?"

Zoemi tilted his head in surprise and Veo sighed.

"Sir Zoemi, Teo is always very stressed because she always has to do all the chores since from the two of us I\'m the one responsible for protecting our master - part of being the attendant - and can\'t do anything else. Even if she made some kind of mistake you shouldn\'t get mad at her!"

"Scolded? Mad at her? I did something? When?!"

Zoemi crossed his arms and glared at the short-brown-haired girl, daring her to answer.

"I\'ll have you know that yesterday Teo almost crushed me! If not for Patishi here I would have been bisected by her arms! But even so, I didn\'t scold her at all!"

"...eh...? I-I mean – yes! Big brother Zoemi didn\'t scold Teo!"

Patishi flinched, confused about the part when they were supposed to be the one helping out the black-haired boy when in fact he managed to save himself just fine – but then instantly nodded in agreement when they heard the part about Zoemi letting Teo off without reprimanding her.

"Not only that! I even patted her head and said it wasn\'t her fault - so don\'t give me that you-are-guilty look!"

Zoemi was actually suspecting that one of his ribs might have cracked while receiving the affection of the earth magician the day before - so he was actually kind of pissed off and not just playing it off.

"Eh...? She would never...!"

Veo\'s face showed her astonishment.

"Oh yeah?! Then explain this!"

Zoemi snorted and pulled up his shirt.

"!!!!!!"

"!!!!!!"

Aside from the old burn-marks, there was an almost two-inch dark-blue bruise going around his muscular, chiseled torso - a little below his chest, creating a perfect circle.

"Even if I yelled at her - which I didn\'t - I would have all the rights to do so!"

And because his nerves weren\'t in the best shape since he was getting more and more nervous worrying about the future, he blew up on the slightest provocation.

"Patishi!"

"Y-yes, big brother Zoemi...?"

The youth flinched – snapping out of the awestruck look they had on their face while looking at the perfectly defined muscles of the black-haired boy - and looked up at Zoemi with an anxious look in their eyes...

"The two of us will be preparing food for my master and for the first prince."

The scarred attendant commanded, pulling down his shirt and tucking it back in, so it wouldn\'t stick out from underneath the vest.

...and then he turned towards Veo and pointed his finger at her face.

"And you stay right here and don\'t touch anything!"

He declared before turning his back to the girl - so he missed the big brown eyes tearing up.

Zoemi took a deep breath and patted Patishi\'s head.

"Sorry for the trouble but you are the only one I can count on."

He smiled apologetically and messed up the youth\'s hair.

"Don\'t worry, big brother Zoemi!"

Patishi felt as if they could burst from pride at any moment – even so, they glanced at the short brown-haired girl who was trembling a little and felt bad for her, looking as if they wanted to call out and cheer her up - but their big brother was counting on them!

Patishi couldn\'t allow themselves to disappoint Zoemi no matter what!

So the brown-haired youth turned away from the girl who was trying her best not to cry and started the preparation.

Everyone has his limits...

Zoemi was under the constant pressure of having his master\'s safety depend fully on him.

And since a new problem - in the form of bullying way more aggressive than in the game - started, Zoemi\'s built-up frustration had to find an outlet or he would explode.

And so, Zoemi and Patishi finished preparing the breakfast, the black-haired attendant with the ugly burn-scar deforming his right cheek walked towards Veo and handed her the tray with food.

"Here, for you."

He didn\'t try to be mean but at the same time, he did not try to make up for shouting at the short girl either.

"…"

Veo took the tray without a word...

|No thank you, and not even an indeed, huh? I see how it is...|

The black-haired boy scoffed internally as Veo not only hasn\'t said showed any sign of gratitude but she hasn\'t even looked Zoemi in the eyes - she just took the tray with food and turned towards the door.

And that might have been a straw that broke the camel\'s back...

"I don\'t want to hear that bullshit about being in charge of only protecting ever again! Attendants do both! We serve AND protect - that\'s why we are not just butlers or maids - or bodyguards - but attendants! Seriously!"

The black boy called out getting the attention of everyone in the kitchen – both the kitchen staff and the attendants of other students.

"And tell your sister to start acting as a real attendant should, too - and not mop around all day! Who the hell do you both think that you are!? Don\'t take the duties of attendants lightly!"

"..."

Zoemi called after Veo but she didn\'t react and just walked out.

"Tsk...!"

Zoemi clicked his tongue and shook his head in disbelief.

It wasn\'t that he disliked the twins - he actually really liked those two girls who would always try so hard to keep the expressionless faces...

It was just that - the like he felt for them, and the absolute loyalty towards his master and the unmeasurable desire to protect her happiness at all cost - weren\'t in the same dimensions and couldn\'t be put up to comparison.

The black-haired boy didn\'t even feel bad for what he shouted at the older twin\'s back – instead - he went straight back to worrying about this night\'s date of his master and the first prince.

---

Standing in front of his master\'s room Zoemi took a deep breath and knocked, as always there was no response - if there was that would mean that his master doesn\'t want him in - so he tried opening the door.

And, as It turned out, it wasn\'t locked.

Zoemi entered the room and was greeted by the sight of his master sitting by the desk waiting for him.

Miriette looked perfectly healthy, but just in case, after putting the tray with the food in front of her, he asked.

"My lady, do you feel better?"

"Yes. All thanks to your care yesterday."

Miriette bowed her head magnanimously.

"Thank goodness..."

Zoemi breathed out in relief and smiled.

"I\'m unworthy of your gratitude, my lady, it\'s the greatest honor to be of use to you."

The black-haired attendant said and grabbed the hairbrush.