The Seed Thief

Still, as a man, he couldn’t bring himself to say he wasn’t good at it.

Meanwhile, Lulu was leading him deeper into the Magic Tower. They walked and walked through the seemingly endless corridors and winding staircases until they finally reached their destination. A secluded area where no one would ever venture. 

Ervandas swallowed nervously. This was it, he thought, his heart pounding in his chest. His moment of… sacrifice.

Lulu opened the door, revealing a pitch-black darkness beyond. An impenetrable void, devoid of any light. This was where he would be corrupted. But he was prepared to sacrifice himself, his body, for the sake of everyone’s winter.

“Come this way.”

Lulu smiled seductively, pulling him by the hand. He followed her into the darkness. Oh, God, here it comes…

Just as he was wondering if he should start unbuttoning his clothes,

“…!”

A bright light suddenly appeared in the air. His eyes, which had been adjusting to the darkness, were momentarily blinded. Ervandas, well-trained for such situations, quickly raised his arm, shielding his face, and waited for his vision to adjust.

When he lowered his arm and looked up, he was dumbfounded by the sight before him.

“This is…”

He had envisioned a room filled with every imaginable form of debauchery. Walls adorned with lewd paintings… a large, plush bed with crimson silk sheets… scattered rose petals…

But there was nothing of the sort. All he saw was a mountain of books, papers, and unidentifiable junk.

“This? My study.”

He was about to ask if she meant her garbage dump, then stopped himself.

“But the bed… the flowers…”

“Bed? Flowers? Ah, there is a small bed under those books somewhere, but I can’t see it. Flowers… are these dried ones okay? But why are you looking for those?”

“No, it’s nothing. More importantly, why are we in your study?”

His words came out stammered, trying to hide his flustered state. Lulu replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world,

“Why else? To clean. You lived in the temple for a long time, right? I heard that temple people are incredibly organized and clean. So I thought you’d be good at it. As you saw on your way up, the Magic Tower… well, some people are good at that sort of thing… but they all ran out crying after seeing my study. Said they couldn’t handle it.”

“…”

Looking around, he could understand why those mages had fled. The incredibly tall and spacious room was like a thousand years’ worth of garbage had accumulated there.

“So… you chose me… to clean this place…”

“Yes. And because you’re handsome. This is going to take a while to clean, so it’s better to have someone nice to look at. Mages love beautiful things, you know.”

“…”

“I’m counting on you. Remember, the fate of everyone’s winter rests on how well you clean this place. Got it?”

“…”

“Well, I’ll be going… Huh?!”

Lulu turned her head, surprised by Ervandas’s hand grabbing hers. 

Ervandas, even more surprised by his actions, jumped back and grabbed onto her sleeve instead.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“But as you can see from this mess, I won’t be much help…”

“No. There are so many unidentifiable objects here, you’ll need to tell me what they are. And I need help organizing the books. And most importantly…”

Ervandas sighed, looking around the room.

“Could you at least create some windows with magic?”

Lulu didn’t notice, but the nape of Ervandas’s neck was flushed red. The former Temple Knight was embarrassed by his inappropriate fantasies.

* * *

Thus began the cleaning. Ervandas, who had initially addressed Lulu with a semblance of courtesy, became increasingly blunt and critical as they unearthed more and more bizarre items.

“Do you know what this is?”

“W-What is it?”

“It’s the remains of something that was once called bread. It’s so hard and dried up that I could probably hammer nails with it. Were you planning to make a hammer?”

“…”

“There were three identical copies of the same book on this one bookshelf. Do mages have a habit of buying multiple copies of the same book to prepare for the future? Surely you wouldn’t be foolish enough to forget you already bought it.”

“…”

“And what is this? Some kind of cloth…”

“Give it back! Those are my underwear!”

The cleaning progressed throughout the day, accompanied by their conversations, or rather, Ervandas’s mostly one-sided nagging. Lulu, who had initially whined and complained about not wanting to clean, realized the only way to get this over with was to help him.

“Why aren’t the other mages helping?”

“It’s a basic rule of the Magic Tower. You clean your own room.”

He understood now why the rest of the tower was in such a state of disarray.

A week passed. Ervandas got used to Lulu’s late rising. So much so that he would even guide the stumbling Lulu to a chair, receive easily digestible food from the other mages, and feed her.

He also got used to her jumping from the balcony railing above. Lulu always floated gently to the ground just before impact, but Ervandas often caught her and pulled her into his arms. Whenever that happened, Lulu would laugh, her red eyes twinkling, and declare, “Since we’re already like this, let’s go clean!” and Ervandas, grumbling, would do as she wished.

After two weeks, Ervandas was allowed to enter Lulu’s room. He covered his face with his hands the moment he stepped inside.

There they were, the things he had imagined at first. A large bed, red sheets, red roses. But now, they just looked like a massive garbage dump that needed to be cleaned.

Three weeks. The cleaning of the study was finally finished. Lulu threw a party, celebrating the fact that the floor of her study was visible for the first time in ten years. Ervandas sat beside her, diligently peeling shrimp as she requested.

“Why is there no magic spell to peel shrimp?”

“It’s surprisingly difficult. And it’s a waste to use complex magic just to peel one shrimp. It’s better to just have someone do it.”

“Hah… Seriously. Here, open wide.”

“Ah.”

Ervandas, with practiced ease, brought the peeled shrimp to Lulu’s mouth, and she ate it without a second thought. The other mages, who had initially been surprised, said nothing, watching as Ervandas peeled the shrimp perfectly and efficiently.

The next day, Ervandas found a sign next to his room that read, “Shrimp Peeling Specialist.”

More time passed.

One day, as they were having their late afternoon “breakfast,” he spoke.

“Tomorrow marks one month since I entered the Tower.”

“Already?”

Lulu was so surprised that she dropped her butter knife. Ervandas quickly caught it and placed it back in her hand.

“Yes. So…”

“Ah, right. I promised to intervene in the war. Yes, I did…”

Lulu murmured, nodding. Then, she set down her butter knife and bread.

“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap.”

And with that, she vanished before Ervandas could say anything. He finished his meal alone, slowly. Lulu would keep her promise. He had seen many sides of her over the past month.

She was whimsical, lazy, and playful at times, but when necessary, she was strict in enforcing the rules of the Magic Tower. She analyzed situations thoroughly, grasped their essence accurately, and was more solemn than anyone else.

She would keep her promise, now that he had done what she wanted, cleaning her study. She would leave the Magic Tower and walk the continent. She would live up to her reputation as the most powerful Tower Master in history, ending the war with her overwhelming power.

Naturally, even more people would seek her out, following in the footsteps of those who had come before. And then… the boring prince who had spent a month cleaning a study would be quickly forgotten.

“…”

Ervandas set down his apple, his appetite gone. He had never, not even during his most austere days in the temple, left food unfinished.

* * *

Lulu didn’t appear all day. He had finished cleaning both the study and her room, but he felt awkward just sitting around, so he cleaned the corridors and the reception room as well. The only area left was the entrance to the top floor of the Magic Tower. Once he finished cleaning this, his task here would be complete. He would finally return, and peace would be restored to the continent.

The end of everything.

As he thought that, picking up his cleaning supplies to tackle the last remaining area, he sensed someone behind him and turned around. Lulu was standing there, holding a small vase in one hand.

“Lulu, what’s that…”

Lulu dropped the vase. It shattered on the floor with a sharp crack, scattering shards everywhere. Ervandas stared at the mess in bewilderment. What was she doing? Then, she spoke,

“It’s dirty.”

“…What?”

“It’s a mess. It’s not cleaned at all.”

It was an absurd claim. And she knew it better than anyone. Ervandas waited patiently, trying to figure out what she was up to. As if breaking the vase wasn’t enough, she stormed into the reception room and threw the cushions from the sofa onto the floor. She pulled books randomly from the bookshelf and tossed them onto the pile. And as she reached for a decorative candlestick, its sharp point pierced her hand.

“Ouch!”

“Lulu!”

Ervandas rushed towards her. Fortunately, the cut wasn’t deep, but drops of blood welled up from the wound. He started to look for a cloth to wipe away the blood. Lulu grabbed his hand.

“Er.”

“…”

Her grip was weak, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

He realized that if she truly wanted him to stay, she could have easily used magic to restrain him. But she had never used magic on him. She had given him complete freedom of movement, without any coercion.

She had simply made a request, with a condition attached, and he had fulfilled it.

As Ervandas watched her silently, Lulu lowered her head,

“I’ll do everything you asked for. I’ll end the war, I’ll prevent the winter frost from killing the barley, I’ll heal the injured. So… as payment…”

She looked up at him. Her red hair, her deep red eyes, her flushed face, all the same shade of red.

“Can you kiss me… just once?”

“…”