Can I trust her?
Such fear was only for a moment, as a cold touch cautiously went down the auricle.
The cotton swab soaked in oil gently and carefully moistened the inside of the ear.
She took the swab out and gently massaged the ear and its surroundings, waiting for the earwax to loosen.
"Shall I start cleaning now?"
The main event began.
While he was chanting a prayer in his mind, Phoebe inserted the ear pick and began to gently scrape out the earwax.
Contrary to what he thought would hurt, her touch was surprisingly delicate.
'She's using just the right amount of force.'
Ear cleaning may seem easy at first glance, but it's difficult to do skillfully.
If you apply too much force to remove the stuck earwax, it's painful, and if you scrape too gently, it doesn't come off.
Phoebe maintained a perfect midpoint between the two, cleaning Reed's ears with a pleasant touch.
'Did I guard myself too much because of the prejudice of her strength?'
Reed knew how strong Phoebe could be.
She was as monstrous as Adonis, the strongest among humans, or even superior to her.
That's why he was anxious about Phoebe touching his body.
He also didn't let her massage his shoulders for that reason.
"Does it hurt?"
"No, you're very delicate."
"Is that so?"
"Cleaning someone else's ears is easy, but you're the first one to do it so skillfully and delicately."
"Ahaha, I'm embarrassed when you praise me like that…"
Her ear cleaning hand stopped for a moment.
She must have stopped because she was really embarrassed and worried that something might go wrong.
She started scraping the inside of his ear again like a filial child, as if calming herself down.
"It's all thanks to you, Master."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I've become so delicate. I used to hate it."
"So you've come to like it?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"How~."
Phoebe let out a low laugh in response.
"You said that if there's one thing that doesn't change, other things will change."
"So everything changed because of that?"
"Yes."
"It's not very believable."
The idea that something can change because there's something that doesn't change.
Could a human, an adult with a stubborn mind, really change themselves with such a mindset?
"When I think about it, I definitely feel like I was born with dragon blood. Like those who pursue their destiny."
"Destiny…"
It kind of made sense when she put it that way.
Protecting Reed.
No matter what kind of pathetic villain he became, she never left him.
"And you've changed too, right?"
"Have I?"
"You've changed a lot from the past. You've become softer, and I can see that you're trying to take better care of me…"
Yes, if she had changed, so had I.
The possessed Reed was a completely different person.
Even if he was acting, he followed his true nature too much.
"Do you think I'm strange like this?"
Phoebe shook her head.
"No. As long as you're still the Master, I don't care what kind of Master you are, hoo~."
Phoebe blew a light breeze into his ear to blow away the earwax for the last time.
"Shall I do the left side now?"
"Alright."
With the right side pleasantly finished, Reed was able to turn his body lightly.
On the left ear, he opened another conversation topic.
"Do you remember? Back when I called you my master."
"…Master?"
Reed asked again, thinking he had heard it wrong.
Phoebe's face, which had been massaging his auricle, turned red.
"Ahh, my gosh… I meant 'boss.' When I had just become a member of the Silence Tower, you told me to call you 'boss.'"
"That's right."
"It seems like a difficult word. Supervisor and master. If you say it wrong, it sounds like a master-slave relationship, not a subordinate-boss one. So maybe that's why they call us the watch dogs of Silence Tower?"
"Hmm…"
Did it derive from that?
The dog-like impression is strong, but since she used to be fierce, he just accepted it.
In fact, he had never really been interested in that aspect.
"Right? I liked that title."
"Is there a reason?"
"Maybe it's a bit of regret…? If I had known I would follow you like this, I should have avoided such a mistake… That's what I've been thinking."
The atmosphere sank with regret.
It was a similar awkwardness to when they had eaten together.
Phoebe calmly scraped his ear, and Reed thought about what had happened between them.
'It may not be a big deal.'
She's so sensitive that she might be holding onto something that could have just flowed by.
"Don't dwell on the past too much. You're enough right now."
"Is that so?"
"Rather, I feel indebted to you for many things, and I don't think I've done anything for you, so it's bothering me."
"What? No way!"
Phoebe pulled the ear pick out of his ear and spoke.
"Master, you don't owe me anything! I've received so much from you!"
"Master?"
"Ahh! I'm sorry. I got flustered and misspoke…"
Phoebe was embarrassed, biting her red lips.
It took a long time for her to calm down.
It took over an hour for the ear cleaning to finish, and she stood up with the ear cleaning set.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, yes."
Her voice was even more drawn out and melting.
Her face was radiating an aura of joy as if flowers were in full bloom.
"This is…"
"It's a brooch. I bought one as a gift for you."
"A, a gift…"
Perhaps because she had been embarrassed a lot, she wasn't too flustered by the gift.
Phoebe opened and checked it on the spot.
A dark orange chest ornament.
When reflected in the light, white cat eyes appeared.
"It's beautiful. Really…"
"It's called a cat's eye gem. I bought it because it's similar to your eyes."
"Really? But it's so white and pretty… My eyes are dark and ominous."
"Try opening your eyes."
At Reed's words, she cautiously opened her eyes.
Golden irises with black pupils.
Sharp, slit-like eyes that could suppress an opponent just by staring at them, the powerful eyes of a dragon.
"Okay, I was wrong."
"Right?"
"Your eyes are several times more beautiful."
"Wha-what?"
Reed calmly looked down at her eyes and spoke.
"With these eyes, you've attacked enemies, and with these eyes, you've protected me."
"Huh?"
"No matter how beautiful a gem is, it can't protect someone. Instead, it blinds them and creates jealousy. So, your eyes that protect me are much more beautiful."
"Ah, ahh…"
"Thank you always. Whether it's me or Rosaria, we're always grateful to you."
"Ahh… Ahhhhhh…"
Phoebe tried to shake it off.
But she couldn't.
It seemed like a broken drawer that kept opening.
No, it wasn't broken.
There was so much love from him that it couldn't close.
And when it wouldn't close.
"Too-too-too-too-too muchhhhhh…"
"Huh?"
"You know what happens when I get so embarrassed…!"
"What…"
"Cover your ears?"
"Ears?"
As she said that, Phoebe quickly walked away somewhere.
She disappeared, and Reed mulled over the sound of covering his ears.
'Why is she telling me to cover my ears?'
And a moment later.
"Kwaaaaak!"
A deafening roar echoed throughout the mansion.
Reed quickly covered his ears.
It was the cry of a dragon.
Out of nowhere, a dragon let out a cry in the middle of the night.
"…Phoebe?"
It was Phoebe. It was definitely Phoebe.
She had soared into the sky and unleashed a "Dragon Roar."
Well, while it's called a "Dragon Roar"…
It was no different from a girl screaming "Kyaaak!" due to embarrassment.
Anyway, one thing was clear from her actions.
'She screams when she reaches her limit.'
It was similar to plucking the whiskers of a sleeping dragon.
That day, the mansion was on high alert due to the mysterious cry.
