The next day.
Inside Roswaal L. Mathers's mansion—
"Ram… you're way stronger than you look… relax, it's fine…"
On the large, soft bed, Grin drooled into the pillow and muttered in his sleep.
Judging by that twisted, deeply suspicious expression on his face, he was clearly having an excellent dream.
He pulled both arms inward and hugged the warm body beside him tighter, then lifted a leg and hooked it over them.
"Ram, you're too kind… Mwah~"
After mumbling that, Grin puckered his lips and planted a passionate kiss on the face of the "beauty" in his arms.
"Ah! Mr. Grin, wake up!"
A strong hand shoved his approaching face away and tore him straight out of his sweet dream.
Holy hell. Holy hell.
Grin shot awake and cursed twice in a row.
"Otto, are you trying to die? What are you doing in my bed?!"
He instantly yanked the blanket up over his chest, as if he were the one who had just been violated.
"Mr. Grin, I didn't mean to! Miss Ram said the mansion didn't have enough spare rooms and asked me to share with you so she could look after you more easily. How was I supposed to know you'd try to…"
"Get lost!"
Grin kicked Otto right off the bed and sent him tumbling to the floor.
Otto looked completely wronged.
"Mr. Grin, that's too cruel. I was the one who carried you into the margrave's mansion last night."
Only then did Grin remember.
He had collapsed from exhaustion during the escape yesterday.
Otto had driven the dragon carriage and brought him and Ram back to Roswaal's mansion, and because it was already late, Otto had stayed overnight as well.
"Sister, sister, another guest's dignity has just been ruined in his thoughts."
"Rem, Rem, you're mistaken. The one who was actually violated was the other guest named Otto."
"Sister, sister, this guest is terrifying. He even preys on men."
"Rem, Rem, hurry and warn all the other men in the mansion to be careful."
That two-part wake-up commentary finally pulled Grin's attention away.
Ram and Rem stood there hand in hand, staring innocently at him on the bed.
Rem was about the same height as Ram. Her short light-blue hair brushed her neck, parted in the opposite way from her sister's, with her bangs naturally falling over her right eye instead of the left.
Her eyes were large and clear, blue like a quiet lake, calm and cool. Her features were soft rather than striking, which only made her look cuter, and with those peach-pink lips, the whole effect was sweet to the point of unfairness.
Faced with that scene—pretty enough to look like a painting—Grin only froze for five seconds.
In moments like this, the key was to strike first.
"Ram, you're too much! This mansion is huge, and you couldn't even find Otto a room of his own?"
Hearing that, Otto looked unexpectedly touched and reached for Grin's hand.
"No need, Mr. Grin. This is already far better than floors and stables."
Grin pushed up a pair of imaginary glasses that did not exist, then pointed at Ram.
"Otto, you don't get it. She only shoved you in here because she couldn't be bothered making up another bed."
Ram looked faintly surprised.
She had known Grin for less than a day, yet he had seen straight through her inner thoughts.
Then Rem delivered the finishing blow.
"Sister, sister, it seems your laziness has been discovered by the guest."
But Ram was not about to surrender so easily.
"Rem… Rem, don't let the guest distract you. He's only trying to shift the topic away from what happened to Otto."
"You—you're slandering me! We're innocent!"
Grin stared at Ram with sudden seriousness.
This little girl had actually seen through his plan.
Ram curled her lips into a sly smile and pointed at the damp glistening marks still left on Otto's face.
"Foolish white rat, look carefully. That guest was fully awakened by your kiss."
"What?!"
Grin looked as if the sky had collapsed on him.
He flung himself over the side of the bed and gagged.
"Ugh! Hurry, take me somewhere and pump my stomach!"
Otto once again wore a deeply injured expression.
"Aren't cheek kisses normal between good friends? Why does Mr. Grin look like he swallowed a fly?"
Grin completely ignored the idiot and turned toward Ram with dead eyes.
"Why didn't you wake me up? Damn it!"
Ram covered her mouth and laughed.
"It was too entertaining. Ram and Rem watched for quite a while and simply couldn't bear to interrupt."
The fact that Grin had used her as material in his dream and even muttered things like "you're too kind" had genuinely annoyed Ram.
But the moment he rolled over and started fondling Otto instead, she had completely lost the ability to stay angry.
If anything, she had nearly laughed herself sick trying not to wake them.
"You awful woman, I'm going to wash up right now, ugh—"
Grin could not take it anymore.
He felt that if he even pursed his lips, the smell of hay from Otto's face would come drifting back out.
Thinking that, he moved faster, yanked the clothes from the hanger by the bedside, threw them loosely over himself, and hurried out of the room.
"Mr. Grin, don't leave me!"
Otto stretched out a hand after him like some abandoned wife.
"Otto, have some manly dignity!"
At that point, Grin no longer dared stay even a moment longer and fled the bedroom like a man escaping a disaster.
The interior of Roswaal's mansion blended mystery and luxury so thoroughly that it felt like stepping into the magical world of some ancient noble house.
Grin strode down the corridor, eyes darting about as he searched for anything resembling a toilet or bath.
"This is absurd. These wicked rich people build houses this huge, but where the hell is the sacred place of grain reincarnation?"
Having no better option, he picked a door at random and reached to push it open.
And then—
Bang!
The door exploded outward from inside.
A disheveled young man dressed in black came flying out right after it.
"Ah! Catch me!"
Grin reacted on instinct and caught him, but the force behind the impact still slammed him against the wall so hard he nearly tipped out the nearby window.
"Are you insane? Launching a terrorist attack inside the mansion?!"
Dizzy from the collision, Grin shouted in fury.
Subaru Natsuki shook his head hard, trying to clear it.
"Thanks, brother. Good thing you caught me. Otherwise I definitely would've fallen straight into the flower fertilizer in the garden below."
That gratitude took some of the edge off Grin's mood.
Still, seeing Subaru Natsuki here caught him by surprise.
He had assumed that after Elsa withdrew, Subaru would no longer have much reason to get involved.
"Hiss—!"
Subaru stood up and twisted at the waist, only for a tearing ache to shoot through his muscles at once.
"That damned drill-haired brat. I'm definitely remembering this grudge."
Grin immediately understood.
This guy had probably just gotten thrown out of the Door Crossing.
Each door in the mansion had a chance of connecting to a special room in another dimension—the magical Forbidden Library. If you were "lucky" enough, opening the right door would lead you into that book-filled space.
And the "drill-haired brat" Subaru was cursing was almost certainly the Great Spirit who guarded the library.
Beatrice.
Betty.
"By the way, sir, you must be the new guest. My name is Subaru Natsuki, and I'm the head servant of Roswaal's residence. If there's anything you need, just let me know."
After straightening himself up, Subaru gave Grin an awkward little salute.
It looked ridiculous enough to be almost impressive.