When Rei asked the question, Ciel fell silent for a moment before slightly shaking her head. "Right now… I don't know."
She had been discarded by the Church and the Burial Agency.
Ciel wasn't someone who couldn't accept that reality. She now felt like a student who had just completed a long exam and suddenly found herself with too much free time. Before, her mind was always preoccupied with the exam, but now it was blank, leaving her confused about what to do next.
After a brief pause, Ciel looked at Naoki. "But if there's something I can think of, it's probably repaying my debt to you. First, you helped me take down the Forest of Einnashe, and you also saved my life from the Church—I'll find a way to repay both of those debts."
It could be said her life was saved twice. Honestly, Ciel didn't know how to repay him now.
Hearing her words, Naoki waved his hand dismissively. "I told you, saving you was just incidental. You don't need to think about repaying me. I went to take care of the Forest of Einnashe mainly for this little lady."
Walking over to Marie and crouching down, Naoki patted her head and asked, "No danger, right, Miss Marie?"
"Yes, thanks to this maid—wait, don't touch my head!"
Quickly swatting Naoki's hand away, Marie, her face slightly flushed, crossed her arms and turned away. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to touch people's heads so casually? That's rude!"
"Sorry, I'm just used to patting heads…"
At home, Naoki practically patted Gray's head every day. There was also that mischievous kid, Mordred, back in the day. Plus, the women at home were accustomed to this level of physical contact, so Naoki didn't think much of it.
Taking Naoki's hand and placing it on her own head, Rei smiled. "If Master wishes, you can stroke my hair as much as you like. If you want, other parts are fine too—"
"Miss Sajyou!"
Trisha hurriedly interrupted Rei. "The young lady is still here. Please don't say such things to her so soon."
"Hehehe~~ In that case, Master, let's head back to our room. You just finished fighting; you should rest first. We've prepared some food, so please relax after eating."
"No, I'm still full of energy. No need to go back to the room…"
Naoki's instincts screamed that he absolutely shouldn't return to the room with Rei right now. Otherwise, he'd be utterly exhausted!
And it was still daytime! Who goes to bed in the middle of the day?
As if anticipating Naoki's refusal, Rei leaned close to her master's ear and whispered, "Of course, regarding Miss Ciel, I'd like to discuss further with you, Master… It's not appropriate to talk about Church matters in front of Magi, right?"
"Besides, this time I don't mean that. You don't need to worry, Master. During the day, I'll let you rest properly."
"If possible, I'd like to rest tonight too."
"No can do. This is a rare honeymoon trip. Neither Rei nor Manaka will let you off, Master."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A few minutes later, in Naoki and Rei's room.
For once, Naoki wasn't with Rei in bed. He sat with her on the room's sofa, enjoying sandwiches and coffee on the table. His face showed a relaxed expression.
"Even though I don't feel tired at all, eating leisurely like this is pretty nice. Thanks for going through the trouble of preparing this in the kitchen, Rei, Manaka."
"No, my prince doesn't need to thank me. This is just a daily act that a lover and wife should do." Manaka, who had taken over, said, looking at Naoki with a joyful expression. "More importantly, how's the taste, my prince? Is it to your liking?"
"Yeah, it's really good."
Rather than Naoki liking the taste, it was more accurate to say Manaka's cooking was so delicious that even if he hadn't liked the flavor before, he'd grow to love it now. Of course, there were things he absolutely couldn't eat, like wasabi.
If Manaka added wasabi, he might eat it once but never again.
Seeing Naoki finish all the sandwiches in the basket, Manaka took a tissue to wipe the sauce from his lips. "So, about that vixen… Ciel, my prince, what will you do? Like Crane who came before, will you let her stay in the apartment too?"
"Hmm… I'll ask her later—speaking of Crane, I don't know if I'll see her when I get back."
Naoki had returned to London a week ago, but when he did, he didn't see Crane at the apartment. At the time, Crane had locked herself in the deepest room on the second floor, sewing spiritual clothing day and night. Apparently, after seeing so many cute girls in the apartment, her inspiration was sparked, and ideas kept flowing endlessly!
According to Merry, Crane wouldn't come out until she finished making a spiritual outfit for everyone.
How to put it… professional! Truly worthy of being the obsessive DD leader who could create an idol anomaly with the Holy Grail!
Honestly, Naoki was a bit curious about what kind of spiritual clothing Crane would make. The girls at home all had great figures. Even in casual clothes, they were already stunning. If they wore custom-made spiritual outfits…
(Wouldn't I be so charmed I'd lose my mind?)
Naoki, thinking this, wasn't entirely confident. The others might be manageable, but if it was Merry or Rei, he might truly lose control.
He shouldn't underestimate his restraint, but he also shouldn't overestimate it.
"But if Ciel stays at the apartment, there won't be enough rooms. I remember the only spaces left are some storage rooms."
"Then how about Ciel goes to Morgan and Mordred's place? You could visit them too, my prince. When was the last time you went there? Early last month, right? This time, will you bring Lia and Gray?"
Morgan and Mordred, like Atalanta and Shiki, didn't live in the Camelot apartment. Though Mordred desperately wanted to stay, she was forcibly dragged away by Morgan. But they didn't live too far. Compared to Atalanta and Shiki, who were far off in Japan, at least they were still in England.
Sometimes, Naoki would also take Artoria and Gray to visit them.
Let Ciel go to their place?
"Forget it, let's put that aside for now. I'll talk to Ciel properly later. I can't decide her destination for her."
As Naoki spoke, the scenery outside the window, which had been still, began to move backward gradually.
The Mystic Eye Collection Train, which had stopped due to entering the Forest of Einnashe, was now moving again after Naoki destroyed the forest.
It was now the third day of the Mystic Eye Collection Train.
Tomorrow was the auction day.
(Tomorrow… I'll meet her. It's been a while since I last saw her.)
On this train, Naoki didn't only sense Ciel as an acquaintance.
There was also someone he hadn't seen in two years.