Mary woke up in the middle of the night covered in sweat.

No matter what, sleeping between a large wolf and a baby griffin would end up like that.

"..."

For a moment she hesitated whether she should just open the window or go outside and embark on a short walk.

In the end, she opted for the walk.

She snuck out of the room and went to the front door.

But before she reached it, she almost crashed into someone coming from the kitchen.

"Ah! Sorry! My night vision skill is just level one!"

She backed away a few steps and started apologizing without checking who she almost walked into.

"Graough. (Don't worry, nothing happened.)"

The calm groans were a dead giveaway about who the other person was.

"Graough? (Why are you trying to sneak out of the mansion at this hour?)"

Zombie asked tilting his head, but, funnily enough, there wasn't much curiosity in his voice.

"Oh, I just wanted to get some fresh air without waking up my monsters... It gets pretty hot with two furballs in the same bed... oh, and I want to check up on my senior..."

Mary fidgeted and looked to the side awkwardly.

"Graough? (The one that angered my master?) Graough. (Go ahead.)"

Zombie shrugged his shoulders, it was clear that he wasn't in a mood for a late-night talk.

"What about you...? Why are you walking around and not sleeping?"

Mary fidgeted and asked curiously, it wasn't so obvious in the darkness but she blushed a bit.

"Graough. (I don't sleep. I'm an undead.)"

Zombie shrugged again.

Even though he still looked as if he was ten years old he was way taller than the fourteen years old Mary.

"Ah...! Sorry, I forgot..."

Mary twitched and looked away embarrassed.

"Do you wear your high hills boots even in the house at night...?"

Mary couldn't help herself and pointed out the reason for the height difference.

"Graough. (I do. I can't feel pain so I don't get sore and I don't sweat so just routine cleaning is enough to keep everything nice and clean.) Graough. (Also, they are really pretty, my master helped me picked them.)"

Zombie brightened up while talking and started sounding a lot happier.

"Ehehe, I see. Even though I haven't seen any other boy wear shoes like that, they do look good on you."

Mary giggled and leaned to the side.

"Say, did someone told you before that your blue skin is really pretty...?"

She asked shyly.

"Graough. (Yes. My master did.) Graough. (Blue is actually Cranberry's favorite color.)"

Zombie answered smoothly causing Mary to flinch.

"O-oh, is that so...?"

She mumbled awkwardly.

"Whew, it is really hot in here, I should definitely go get that fresh air...!"

Mary fidgeted and tried to get out of the conversation she walked herself into.

"Graough. (Wait.)"

"Y-yes?!"

Zombie groaned and Mary instantly stopped and straightened her back.

The blue boy then put down the jug he was carrying - Mary noticed that he was carrying something only then - and approached the brown-haired girl.

"Grough... (Stay still for a moment...)"

He groaned and leaned towards her.

"Eh?! A-already?! I-I mean, yes! Go ahead!"

Mary fidgeted, closed her eyes, and pushed up her lips.

The next thing she knew something pleasantly cold was touching her forehead.

"Graough. (Sorry, I can't really tell the temperature at all.)"

Zombie growled apologetically.

"Graough. (But I think that maybe you have a slight fever from exerting yourself too much.)"

Mary opened her eyes and realized that the cold thing on her forehead was Zombie's left hand.

"...!"

The next thing she noticed was Zombie's face, close to her own.

Close but within the appropriate distance.

"Graough... (Please, watch your health...) Graough. (You are my master's follower after all.) Graough. (Don't make her worry about you.)"

The blue boy groaned gently and the corner of his lips raised a little bit.

"...o-okay..."

Dazed Mary nodded, looking into Zombie's eyes without blinking.

"S-say... w-would you be w-w-worried about m-my health too...?"

She lowered her head and asked bashfully.

"Graough. (I would.) Graough. (It would affect my master, so of course, it would make me worry.)

Zombie nodded and pulled his hand away.

"Graough. (Now, I need to get this to my master.)"

He picked up the jug and motioned towards the inside of the mansion with his chin.

"A-ah! Of course! I'm sorry that I've been a bother!"

Mary hurriedly apologized and started bowing.

"Graough. (No, not at all.) Graough. (There's no way that my master's follower could be a bother to me.)"

"...!"

Zombie showed Mary a gentle smile that made her legs weak.

"O-oh...! Th-thank you..."

Mary lowered her head, even more, to hide how much she was blushing.

"Hmm...?"

But thanks to that she noticed that something was off.

"Hey, Zombie... where's your right hand...?"

She asked carefully.

"Ah! Don't tell me that Arion took it and buried it somewhere?!"

She instantly jumped to a conclusion and started panicking.

"Graough...? (What...?) Graough. (No, it wasn't like that at all.)"

Zombie tilted his head in confusion and waved his stump dismissively.

"Graough. (I can't move my right arm too well so I usually detach it at night.) Graough! (If I have it on in the darkness I keep bumping it into everything!)"

He laughed it off.

"Ah! I see! Thank god..."

Mary breathed out in relief.

"A-anyway, I guess that I just return to my room just in case...!"

She added and started leaving.

"Graough... (If you want I could bring you some water too...)"

Zombie growled after her.

"You would?! Please do!"

Mary jumped as if it was some amazing news and hurriedly nodded.

"Graough. (Alright. See you later then.)"

Zombie nodded at Mary and left towards the Cranberry room.

Mary on the other hand, simply plopped on the floor right when she was standing and grabbed her burning cheeks with her hands.

"He's so good! He's different, but he's so good! I can't wait...!"

She whispered trembling from the excitement.

Zombie approached the door to Cranberry's room and gently knocked at it with his elbow.

The muffled sounds of crying coming from the inside stopped and only silence responded to him.

"Graough. (Master, it's me.)"

Zombie growled.

"...whatever..."

It was a rather weak response but it was definitely Cranberry's voice so Zombie opened the door and went inside.

The red-haired girl was in her bed wearing a pajama and hugging a pillow.

Her back was turned towards Zombie and she didn't make any movements to face him.

"...go away..."

A weak murmur that was more akin to a sob was the only sound the girl made.

"Graough. (I got you some water with lemon.)"

Zombie put the jug on the nightstand by the bed.

"...shut up, I don't care..."

Cranberry hugged her pillow tighter.

"Graough. (No matter what, I am Your eternal servant, Cranberry.) Graough. (I won't betray you.)"

"..."

"Graough. (Goodnight, master.)"

Zombie groaned, but after getting no response he left the room.

Only after the door closed and the sound of the footsteps went away Cranberry rolled onto her other side, put aside the blue hand, and reached for the jug.

She poured the cold water into a glass and slowly raised it to her lips.

"...I don't believe you... no one is on my side... Not in this house."

She whispered, looking at the door with eyes red from crying.