Chapter 56
This time, she was at a loss for words for a different reason. What exactly did he want to see? Did he really expect her to eat it right in front of him?
While Alice hesitated, Fiore balanced the plum between two fingers.
“If you don’t eat it, it’ll fall.”
“Wait, don’t play with food! That’s wasteful!”
“Don’t worry. If I tell Doki, she’ll come lick it up. Dogs love sweets. She’ll probably hit me after, though.”
“I’ve always wondered, Fiore, do you have some kind of illness where you die if you form peaceful relationships with people?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never tried. Want to find out together?”
The plum wobbled between his long, thick fingers.
Had he washed it? A droplet of water rolled down the round surface of the plum, and Alice suddenly realized her mouth was watering.
When was the last time she ate fruit?
But his bait didn’t catch Alice.
A red plum doesn’t only bring to mind sweetness.
“…Fiore, about yesterday.”
“Yes? Yes, yesterday.”
Alice unconsciously looked up, then quickly looked down again when she caught the slight smile on his lips. He was clearly proud of “yesterday,” meaning the time they’d spent together.
Don’t get swept up in that.
Set aside your gratitude for now.
“Yesterday, Arno…”
“Hm? Yes, Arno.”
“He said he thought he saw the wanted criminal the constable mentioned. The one with the beard, all those knives… Wasn’t he dark-haired?”
“Oh, I remember now. He said red hair. But is Arno alright? Knowing his temper, I’d think he’d pick a fight.”
“He said he hid because he didn’t have a weapon. Did you see that man, Fiore?”
“No, I didn’t. I must have been busy with someone else.”
Fiore’s eyes curved gently. At some point, he bent his knees to meet Alice’s gaze, making it impossible for her to look away.
But that also meant Fiore couldn’t easily escape from Alice either.
Alice spoke in a short, clear voice.
“Why are you lying?”
“Sorry?”
“You saw the murderer. And it didn’t end with just seeing him, did it?”
“…”
Fiore’s lips were still curved softly, but his eyes were losing their smile. Before he could pull away, Alice reached out and grabbed the hand still holding the plum, the hand that seemed to be waiting for her choice.
“The constable said the murderer was bald. But it turns out he was hiding his hair under pigskin to disguise himself. People usually remember obvious features, so being known as bald would help him escape.”
“…”
“Arno found butcher knives, red hair, and pigskin in the murderer’s belongings. That’s his theory, and I agree.”
Now for the final deduction.
“You saw the murderer, killed him… and ate him, didn’t you?”
Arno isn’t someone you can trust completely. But he’s not the type to imagine things for no reason. His cruelty always comes from cold realism.
If something made Arno so horrified, it must have been violence beyond reality. Still, Alice pressed him…
Fiore, unable to shake off her hand, answered.
“…Yes. I saw him, and killed him by eating him.”
“…”
“Humans aren’t exactly appetizing prey. Too many small bones, the fat distribution… Well, that doesn’t matter. When he pulled a knife, my teeth were the most effective weapon I had.”
Fiore’s voice continued.
At dawn, the wounded fugitive climbed over Reki’s fence. The moment he saw Fiore, who was drawn by the strange scent of blood, he tried to stab Fiore in the stomach.
Of course, that wasn’t a guest’s virtue. Fiore judged that letting him go would only end badly, so his teeth pierced the man’s bones and flesh.
It was the usual excuse… he had no choice, for everyone’s sake.
Alice thought that excuse didn’t suit Fiore at all, but she pressed him again.
“So you ate him?”
“…”
“Not just killed him.”
“It’s a little different. For me, there’s not much distance between ‘killing’ and ‘eating.’”
Fiore didn’t deny it anymore. His voice poured out like a broken dam.
“I bit and ate him. That’s the kind of life I am. Even before you came to the village, and after, I’ve taken a few bites of fresh intruders. Does that scare you?”
She was speechless for a moment. Did he really need to ask?
“Of course! You know that. Isn’t that why you lied to me before?”
“Yes, I was afraid you’d be scared of me. But now I realize there’s something scarier.”
“What?”
“That you might not be afraid of me, but you’re looking for an excuse to keep your distance.”
“What?”
“I’ll ask again. If you’re afraid of me, is it because I’m a creature that can eat humans?”
Logic in her head answered first. Of course!
As a dominant species in the ecosystem, and as someone with a moral code, it’s normal for a human to fear a man-eater…
No.
Another part of her mind pushed back.
This isn’t natural fear, but something you learn.
You learn to fear, so others don’t call you strange.
A normal person should be afraid of the villagers here. You should separate yourself from beasts.
But I… Fiore…
“You’re not afraid.”
“No! I…”
“What you’re really afraid of is this, isn’t it?”
Her right hand felt wet. Fiore was crushing the plum between them. The sweet juice made her dizzy… she hadn’t tasted fruit in so long. His sticky, juice-covered fingers slid over Alice’s, trapping her so she couldn’t escape. Only then did he say something completely unreasonable.
“That you want to touch me.”
“No…”
“If you don’t like it, let go.”
Impossible. You’re holding my hand so tightly. The juice is so sticky it’s not easy to let go anyway.
Even as she made excuses, Fiore’s hand slowly drew Alice’s hand upward. It was nothing like a gentleman’s escort. His fingers explored every joint and knuckle, then brought the connection between them right up to Alice’s nose.
The sweet scent seemed to swirl from the top of her head to deep in her belly.
Alice clenched her teeth, swallowing the crude urge to lick the juice, and spoke.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Fiore. I may be grateful, but I don’t have ‘those kinds’ of feelings.”
A normal man would have blushed and stepped back at that. But Fiore didn’t look flustered at all. He spoke calmly, without his usual playfulness.
“I doubt I’ve misread a desire I’ve been waiting for all my life. If I got something that important wrong, I’d be weeded out.”
“…”
“Should I try more?”
Fiore lowered himself to one knee. Their hands slowly moved away from Alice, but it wasn’t freedom from turmoil. Now their hands were in front of Fiore.
A shark shouldn’t like sweets. But as if confirming that the long-awaited feast was real, he brought Alice’s hand to his lips. That was all. Still, the moment his lips touched her, Alice’s body shivered like a fish on a net.
She wondered if he’d take that as rejection. But his dark sugar eyes softened, half-hidden by his eyelids. He knew he wasn’t wrong.
Just as she wanted to surrender all her senses to him,
The odd feeling of the plum pit in her hand snapped her back to herself.
Alice gripped the pit tightly, not caring if it tore her skin, and asked,
“Does it not matter to you if it’s any woman?”
“I’m not desperate for women.”
“Then tell me why you kept coming to me. If you say it’s just because I’m ‘like a sparrow’ again, I’ll show you I have teeth too.”
She said it, but she didn’t expect a real answer. What else could a man this flippant say besides “because you’re interesting”? If he tried to keep the mood and said something like “you’re beautiful,” she’d have an easy excuse to run away.
The answer came quickly.
“You looked lonely.”
A short, simple sentence.
And the last thing Alice ever wanted to hear from a man.
She remembered.
Back in college, the guys who approached her always used that excuse. “You looked lonely. I felt sorry for you.”
She hated when people confused pity with romantic feelings. But what was even more disgusting was realizing later that “you looked lonely” could also mean “you looked easy.”
“…Alice?”
Only then did Alice realize she’d pulled her hand out of Fiore’s grasp. The plum pit rolled to the ground.
Hiding her sticky hand behind her skirt, Alice glared at Fiore and said,
“Thanks a lot. That’s exactly the kind of awful, cliché thing I didn’t want to hear.”
“Alice? What… ”
Alice didn’t answer. She turned and ran for the clinic.
