“Why is everything red?” I asked, gesturing at all the red jewelry options he’d chosen. “There are many types of gemstones, like emeralds or sapphires.”

“Red suits you well, Master.”

It’s whatever, he says, because anything looks good on me.

Seth smiled and picked out a necklace for me.

Fortunately, the gemstones were small, but the problem was that they were all tightly clustered, eventually covering the wearer’s entire neck.

There was a red gemstone hanging on the necklace made of woven diamonds.

“Is it a ruby?”

“No, it’s a red diamond.”

“Ahem, I see.”

I pretended to be bold, but I was nervous that I might lose it later.

A red diamond? Was such a gemstone even real?

“Since I came early today, we can spend a lot of time together,” Seth whispered affectionately as he stroked my hair. 

He’d even taken it upon himself to brush my hair personally, and he keeps touching it as if he recently found the act of stroking my hair to be rivetingly interesting.

“Okay, good. I want to go back to the treasure vault,” I demanded. 

“Then let’s go later.”

He narrowed his eyes, smiled, and kissed my cheeks. Then he left the room.

The constant skinship had been strange at first, but now his touch was so familiar that I didn’t mind.

“Mmm…….”

Upon careful consideration, I realized that such contact maybe never bothered me. It still doesn’t.

“Hmm.”

He may be a bad person but he’s my baby!

I clamped my mouth shut at the sudden rush of emotion. Even though he is a dark figure, which is somewhat scary, it seems that I couldn’t help but have an unknown love for the character I created.

I’ll have to stroke his head a lot when he comes back.

I clenched my fists tightly and made up my mind, then resumed my stroll around the garden.

“Hmm…….”

“Well, what are you thinking about?”

Once again, the gardener appeared, blushing as usual.

“I was wondering if I could climb up on the trees.”

If I could climb trees as tall as buildings, wouldn’t I be able to escape? Even if escaping was difficult, at least I could see the scenery outside.

“Shall… Shall I help you?”

“Loun?”

“Yes. I’ll hold you, Miss. Um, if you’re okay with it, that is.”

“Okay.”

The gardener, who blinked as if he couldn’t believe I readily agreed, approached me. His face became even redder.

Perhaps it’s because of the world of a reverse harem, but it seems that people near important characters receive a beauty buff. Even an ordinary gardener looked fresh and appealing.

“Well, then. I’ll carry you, and you can step on that branch over there.”

The gardener swiftly lifted me up, and I reached out and grabbed onto a thick branch of a nearby tree. I tried to hold on and endure, but with my poor stamina, it was impossible.

He even tried to lift me up onto the tree, but it was impossible because of my awkward dress.

… Seth, did you anticipate even this?

Since your body is weak and you can’t escape anyway, feel free to roam the garden.

I don’t think so, judging by how, despite his quietness, he is still very hot-tempered.  

“I can’t, Loun. I think I’m having too much trouble.”

I grabbed a branch lower down, intending to retreat, but the gardener’s gaze was lodged somewhere on my body.

“Ah.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

I noticed that the strap near my chest had loosely come undone.

The gardener, whose face seemed like it was going to explode, hastily apologized, and I reassured him that I was okay and tried to tie it with a ribbon.

But I was terrible at tying things, so it was a futile attempt.

“Should I…tie it for you?” 

“Yes, please.”

The gardener fumbled at first, but eventually succeeded in making the ribbon into a bow. It had a slightly different shape than before.

“Thank you, Loun.”

“You’re welcome.”

Is there any way to escape from this seemingly impenetrable mansion?

***

“Hmm, if I can’t get out, I guess the only way is to wait until….. he meets the heroine,” I mumbled dejectedly. 

I stared in frustration at the walls of the bedroom that had become all too familiar.

Even though I’m the author, I neglected to gather information because I was only thinking about going back home.

In the first place, the heroine and the male leads were aristocrats or something equivalent, while I am a commoner. Even if I tried to gather information, there would be clear limitations.

Moreover, I’m not a meticulous person, and I didn’t clearly specify dates or anything…

“Ugh.”

Add to that the fact that Seth, the person I interact with, is blocking information, I become completely incapacitated, as I am now.

I often ask the gardener for various news, but his knowledge is very limited.

“Sob, sob.”

Is being held captive by the villainous chancellor the only thing I know how to do?

And of all the people who could’ve found me, it had to be the craziest one. Even if I had been caught by the Sword Master male lead, I wouldn’t have been in such agony.

“Sigh…”

I racked my brain in deep anguish and lay down on the bed.

Come to think of it, Seth knows that I’m the author, but does he also know about the existence of the female protagonist?

I searched the study, and while I had expected it, there was nothing important.

Hmm, how can I gather information from that guy? It seems unlikely that I can escape on my own for the time being.

“This bed is really soft.”

Seth somehow managed to find a bed and bedding made by a skilled craftsman by scouring various places in the empire. It was also because his personality is sharp and neurotic, to the point of causing sleep deprivation.

“Ugh…”

Since Seth’s suffering was all created by my hands, it wasn’t easy to view him negatively and avoid him. In a way, it was a natural consequence.

Moreover, he hasn’t done anything bad to me yet.

As I lay there absentmindedly, I involuntarily closed my eyes at the sound of the door opening.

“Master?”

For some reason, I didn’t want to look at Seth, so I pretended to be asleep.

“If you don’t wake up, do you want me to put my hand in here?”

But as soon as I felt a hand pressing against my chest, I opened my eyes.

“Heuk!”

Despite my noise of protest, he left his hand where it was! 

“I’m awake; why aren’t you taking it out!”

Even though I yelled in surprise at the presence of a hand still inside my clothes, Seth chuckled in a subdued voice.

“Okay, I’ll take it out. Don’t be angry, Master.”

A soft palm pressed in a slow circle over my rounded flesh, then withdrew. His gaze felt like he was licking me, so I couldn’t meet his eyes.

Why does this crazy guy exude such unnecessary sensuality? Who made him like this?

Oh right, I did.

“But by the way, you tied the knot again?”

Seth, who kindly asked what I had been doing today, shook the end of the ribbon that had been re-tied.

“Yeah, it was a bit loose,” I explained nonchalantly. 

“Hmm.”

As if he didn’t like something, his expression twitched in displeasure and then he firmly pulled the ribbon.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t like the shape of the ribbon.”

Seth’s red lips twisted. He retied the knot somewhat roughly and then–

–Snap.

“Seth!”

In the end, he grabbed the seam of the dress that was attached to the ribbon and tore it off in one breath.

“Let’s change clothes.”

Seth, who had disappeared outside the door, soon came back with new clothes.

“Now? Suddenly?”

“Yeah.”

He was smiling, but it didn’t seem like a genuine smile, so I couldn’t refuse.

Seth lifted my clothes off the hanger as he usually did, but that was where the normalcy stopped. When it came to taking off the old clothes or putting on the new, his hands moved explosively. He had an angry expression and used his own hands to remove my dress instead of letting me take my clothes off.

With his face finally showing relief, he picked up the new dress. Unlike what he had been choosing for me, it was a simple and plain garment. It resembled a long dress that I was familiar with.

How nice it would be to have comfortable clothes like this normally. I should ask for only these in the future.

“Let’s go to the treasure vault.”

Seth tightly held my hand and led me to the room on the fourth floor where he had collected treasures.

“Shall we make new clothes with this?”

He pulled out various fabrics, including silk, with a cheerful smile, as if he had never been angry.

“This color suits you well, Master.”

His face, as he presented various options to me, was the same as usual, which put me at ease.

“…..But why are all the colors you chose red?” I wondered aloud.

The consistent reddish hues, with slight variations in tone, bewildered me.

“I also like blue and yellow. And silver,” I added.

“I don’t like them,” Seth retorted in a strong tone, disposing of the silks in the colors I mentioned. “Let’s go with red.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll wear black clothes, so you wear red,” he insisted, his low voice picking up a subtle momentum as he continued speaking. “It’s about making clothes that match the color of our hair. It’s to show that I belong to you, and you belong to me.”

“Well, no one will see it anyway.”

As I retorted with a sigh, Seth ‘s face stiffened.

Although the current situation had a predetermined outcome and wasn’t fun, I moved forward to keep up the appearance of being complacent.

“So, Seth. If we make clothes with these beautiful fabrics, when can we show them off?”

He stared at me wordlessly.

“Master…”

“Yeah?”

“Is Master really good at picking up and letting go of people?”

“Your feet are firmly on the ground,” I replied.

“Hahaha. Fuhahahaha!”

…Lately, there have been many days when he laughs like a madman. Is it natural for him to laugh like a madman because he really is a madman?

Maybe, but it’s a bit scary.

“And Seth, you belong to me, but I don’t belong to you.”

Even though I could feel the threat to my life, I clearly stated our relationship.

Don’t try to compete with me, got it? I’m your master, so don’t kill me!

After a while, Seth gritted his teeth and covered his face with one hand. There was silence for a moment. He soon formed a neat smile and spoke kindly.

“Master, shall we go eat first? I’ll tidy up here and join you later.”

“Alright.”

I pretended not to know anything and left the treasure vault.

Crash! Bang!

Before the door even closed, loud noises started to echo out of the vault.

…My neck is still attached, right?