Little Pink Starfish

From within, something that shouldn’t have been seen seemed to catch Nyne’s eye, and his expression darkened. Gwen quickly shut the torn rift in the air. He gave an awkward laugh.

“It’s a space that gets messy again no matter how much I clean it…”

Nyne was about to ask if he’d ever cleaned it at all, but instead realized his anger had significantly subsided. That he was so easily swayed by visuals brought a sense of self-disgust, and he pressed his lips together again. But perceptive as ever, Gwen seemed to know Nyne’s mood had lightened a little. He asked gently:

“Lord Nyne, are you thirsty?”

“I don’t recall permitting you to speak my name so casually.”

“My apologies, Sha.”

Even as he was scolded, Gwen smiled brightly and brought over a cup. He poured sweet-smelling wine and offered it respectfully with both hands. Nyne sighed and accepted it. The wide bath, now fully infused with Gwen’s bath additive, had turned a color like seawater. Sipping wine while watching the bubbling foam, Nyne found it rather pleasant. The enchanted duck toys occasionally made soft quack sounds as they floated gently around.

But Gwen’s attempts to lighten Nyne’s mood didn’t stop there.

“…What’s that?”

Nyne had sensed something flickering at the edge of the bath. Now he saw that something small was actually swimming. Glancing at the waterway flowing into the bath, he assumed a fish had gotten in through it.

But the fish’s color was strangely familiar. Could it be…? Nyne looked toward Gwen, who gave a knowingly innocent smile. As expected, a pink-hued creature darted toward Nyne. And it wasn’t just any fish—it was a pink dolphin, just slightly smaller than Nyne’s hand. It poked its head out of the water with a bubble on its snout that popped with a pop.

Nyne stared wide-eyed at the dolphin. Its slightly open mouth made a pee-pee sound that seemed like it was smiling. It flipped onto its back to float belly-up, dove under, then suddenly jumped up through the surface.

But dolphins—at least the ones Nyne knew—were never this small. Even their young weren’t.

“Are there dolphins like this on other continents?”

Nyne reached out cautiously, and the little dolphin rubbed its head into his palm and flapped its tiny fins. Gwen’s reply was surprising.

“This is a toy.”

“How can this possibly be a toy?”

Nyne instinctively shook his head. The sensation under his fingers was unmistakably that of a living creature. But come to think of it, he’d seen something like this before. Gwen had once appeared as a miniature person.

“Crafting lifelike puppets that move like real creatures is one of my specialties.”

Gwen closed his hand for a moment and tossed something. A bunch of pink flower petals scattered into the air. The little dolphin leapt up and caught one in its mouth.

“I can control anything—birds, cats, lizards, even dolphins.”

So all the pink animals that had come to visit Nyne… had been puppets. He recalled ordering the sacred priests to dye innocent animals pink for no reason.

The dolphin, flower in its mouth, quickly swam over and placed the pink blossom in Nyne’s hand. Now that he looked, the subtly smiling mouth seemed to resemble Gwen. Even knowing it was a puppet, it still felt alive. Its blinking eyes and fluttering fins moved without a hint of awkwardness.

“So you’re controlling this?”

“Yes, Sha.”

Gwen spun his finger, and the dolphin twirled in place as if synced to the motion, not merely obeying commands. It let out artificial, rhythmic squeaks: beep, beep, beep.

As Nyne stared blankly at the dolphin’s movement, the image of the fox came to mind. During the hunting festival, when he’d grown dazed from the incense that Ossen Iyad had burned, that fox had nestled into his arms as if to comfort him… But instead of asking about the fox, Nyne awkwardly patted the dolphin.

“Cute toy. So… they’re always pink because you like pink?”

“Hmm, no…”

While having the dolphin swim in a heart shape, Gwen replied awkwardly.

“To control puppets this precisely, a part of my body needs to be in them. The easiest to collect is hair… and since my hair’s pink, they all end up that color. Nails work too, but they take a long time to grow.”

So that’s why all of Gwen’s animals had been pink. Nyne laughed without meaning to. Black might’ve been less conspicuous, but pink was too flashy. As he enjoyed watching the dolphin playfully splash about, Gwen suddenly offered:

“Shall I give you a massage? You told me to learn it properly, didn’t you? I really studied hard.”

“A massage?”

It seemed random, but Nyne didn’t mind. He nodded.

“I’ll start with a hand massage.”

Despite saying he’d studied hard, Gwen merely fumbled with Nyne’s hand. Clearly, his dexterity in puppet-making didn’t extend to massages. Though it wasn’t particularly pleasant, Nyne let it be, unlike last time. Watching the dolphin chase the duck toy around, Gwen asked:

“Lord Nyne, may I ask something?”

Instead of looking at his face, Nyne looked at Gwen’s hand—unclear whether he was massaging or just petting.

“A Lesha is a servant of a Sha, is that right?”

“…Yes.”

“A servant meant to bring a Sha pleasure… So it should be okay for me to bring you joy, too, shouldn’t it?”

Nyne, who’d been listening casually, suddenly lifted his head. He couldn’t tell what Gwen was aiming for.

“You’re a Sha as well, Lord Nyne. It’s not as if only Lord Amon is allowed to enjoy the Lesha.”

“Well…”

According to the scriptures, it wasn’t entirely wrong. While Amon’s pleasure took priority, the Lesha did indeed exist for Nyne too. With some reluctance, Nyne nodded.

“That’s true. But why are you asking?”

“I wanted you to know that I’m fulfilling my duties properly as a Lesha.”

With a bright smile and water droplets rolling down his clear face, Nyne found himself momentarily speechless. He finally understood what Gwen meant. He opened his mouth to speak, then frowned. It should be something he scolded Gwen for—but technically, there wasn’t anything to scold.

“If it’s permitted by Lord Amon, then surely by Lord Nyne as well.”

Gwen spoke gently as his hands moved from Nyne’s hands up to his arms. The massage, which had seemed normal, suddenly carried a personal intention.

“…I don’t want that. And you’re still terrible at massages.”

Nyne cut him off bluntly and pushed Gwen’s hand away. Gwen didn’t seem hurt at all. Instead, he casually summoned a tray of fruit with magic and offered it.

As Nyne chewed grapes, trying to cool his flushed cheeks, Gwen asked:

“Lord Nyne, honestly, doesn’t calling this a ‘trip’ seem silly when we’ve just gone from one temple to another?”

Given that the activities in the Lotus Hall and Fifth Tower’s temple were virtually the same, Nyne agreed. He’d only come to give Rue something to be praised for. He replied listlessly.

“That’s true, but there wasn’t much choice.”

“Then how about visiting the Sixth Tower tomorrow?”

As he made the suggestion, Gwen popped a grape into Nyne’s mouth and gave him a bright smile.