## Chapter 37 – Hilda. Drunk on the Moon
The sound of water hitting the bottom of the usually unused dawn bath echoed.
Number 25 stood under the showerhead as water poured down.
I wish the pouring water could wash away the wounds in my heart.
But the internal injuries inflicted by people were not so easily healed.
Number 25 blankly faced the warm water falling from above, lost in thought.
Did he really do something so wrong?
It felt like the sensation inflicted by the maid still lingered on his body.
Number 25 bit his lip tightly and began to scratch his body so hard that red lines appeared.
If he didn’t do this, the unpleasant sensation would stick to his body like glue, following him like a brand for the rest of his life.
Hilda asked worriedly when she heard the sound of Number 25 scratching his body.
“Are you okay?”
Hilda followed Number 25 into the bathroom, worried that he might make a wrong choice due to the aftermath of the sexual harassment.
She kept her gaze fixed on the wall, not wanting to make Number 25 uncomfortable, but she couldn’t block out her hearing, so the sound of Number 25 muttering and scratching stimulated her ears.
At Hilda’s question, Number 25 stopped scratching his body, but answered softly in a still trembling voice.
“…I’m okay.”
The casual tone he used only with Hilda had already returned to a polite one.
“Sorry, if I had come a little sooner…”
If she hadn’t taken it lightly when she first heard strange noises from the bathroom and had come right away, he wouldn’t have been subjected to such a severe act. Hilda bit her nails in self-reproach.
Number 25 turned the valve to turn off the shower water and replied quietly.
“It’s not your fault, Hilda. I did something weird…”
Number 25 swallowed his tears, unable to finish his sentence, as the terrible event that had just occurred came to mind and his emotions welled up.
The pain of the mind far surpassed the pain of the body. Number 25, who had endured much physical pain, could not easily shake off the shock of being forcibly violated by the women.
Just before being consumed by sadness, Number 25 barely managed to hold back his tears, wrapped a towel around his waist, and gently placed his hand on Hilda’s shoulder.
“Let’s go now.”
Number 25 headed to the dressing room and changed back into his pajamas. Hilda asked, looking at Number 25’s back, which seemed smaller than usual.
“Are you going to go to sleep now? Should I walk you to your room?”
Number 25 stopped walking and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Soon, as if he had something to say, Number 25 turned around to face Hilda.
Number 25’s eyes were swollen as he faced Hilda.
Seeing his expression as if he was about to shed tears at any moment, Hilda felt as if a sharp dagger was piercing her chest. She hated herself for not being able to offer even a simple word of comfort to her first friend.
Number 25 rubbed his eyes with his sleeve to wipe away the tears that were about to flow, and forced a bright expression.
“Could you maybe stay with me for a little while?”
He didn’t want to be left alone in the dark room with this feeling. He was afraid that a terrible monster living in the darkness would devour him. Hilda readily nodded at Number 25’s request.
“Then, shall we take a walk outside?”
The two didn’t exchange a single word during their walk to the yard. It was the complete opposite of how they had spent their time chatting idly in the morning.
The night air that enveloped them as soon as they opened the door on the first floor was colder than usual.
But even that night air was like the warmth of spring compared to Number 25’s frozen heart.
Of course, there wasn’t a single person in the yard. The two walked aimlessly along the path that shone white in the moonlight.
Number 25 would occasionally stand blankly and look at the flowers in the flower bed.
He felt strange when he saw the flowers blooming brilliantly, each with its own color, fixed in one place just like himself.
Hilda pointed to a bench near the fountain and asked.
“Shall we sit here?”
“Yes.”
Hilda sat on the bench and handed the warm water bottle she had brought with her to Number 25, who was next to her.
“Here, calm down by drinking this.”
Number 25 received the water bottle Hilda gave him with a slightly trembling hand and quenched his parched throat.
Hilda, who couldn’t possibly know the whole story, asked Number 25.
“What on earth happened? Ah, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Hilda regretted bringing it up even for a moment, thinking that her question might bring up memories he wanted to forget.
Number 25, as if it was okay, told Hilda everything that had happened during the night.
Hilda had a troubled expression on her face after hearing everything from Number 25. She thought there might be a reason why Number 25 was sexually harassed, but that it was because he was caught masturbating with underwear. It was so different from what she had imagined that her head wasn’t working properly.
But Number 25 had a serious expression on his face.
What kind of comfort should she offer? She couldn’t figure it out at all. She could somewhat realize that ignorance was a sin. First, Hilda blurted out anything.
“Um, well… Isn’t it natural for even a guy to masturbate? It’s ridiculous to be threatened with that.”
“But those people said I was weird and that they would tell other people…?”
“That’s because you showed a weak side from the beginning. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
It wasn’t true that he didn’t do anything wrong. Masturbating in a public place was already wrong in itself.
But what Hilda was doing now was comforting him. It wasn’t about judging his rights and wrongs. It was better not to say anything that would negatively affect Number 25.
“Besides, being subjected to such a thing means you’re that attractive…”
She was spitting out comfort as she went, but even as she spoke, she realized that this was not something to say to a victim. Hilda stopped talking in the middle and rubbed her face.
“Ugh, what am I saying?”
Number 25 tilted his head at Hilda’s appearance, who stopped talking in the middle and was lost in thought.
He had never had such a long conversation with a man before. Of course, he didn’t know how to cheer up a man. He thought that clumsy comfort could be poisonous.
Number 25 resumed the conversation that Hilda had paused while she was lost in thought.
“But I feel a little better after talking to Hilda.”
Hilda raised her head and looked at Number 25. He said he felt better, and Number 25’s expression was definitely brighter, even if only a little. Seeing that, Hilda felt relieved too.
“Really? That’s a relief.”
But one important fact remained. Hilda cleared her throat and carefully asked Number 25. Since it was about the perpetrators, she had no choice but to bring up the story more carefully than usual.
“I let those guys go on my own, but is that okay? I told them not to come to you again, but you might run into them. If you want, I can tell the Demon Lord right now…”
Number 25 cut off Hilda’s words. As if he didn’t want to hear any more.
“It’s okay. I don’t want to worry the Demon Lord, and I don’t want to think about those people anymore.”
Only then did she think that she had brought up the story too rashly. Number 25 wasn’t okay, he was pretending to be okay. Without properly understanding his inner feelings, she was just rambling about the perpetrators on her own.
It’s the worst.
At this point, there was a limit to words of comfort. The only way Hilda knew how to comfort someone was with alcohol. For the first time in her life, Hilda gathered all the knowledge in her head for someone.
Finally, one answer came to mind.
“Just stay here for a minute. It’ll only take 3 minutes.”
After finishing her words, Hilda left Number 25 alone and began to wander around the yard, gathering something. Number 25 leaned against the bench, not knowing what was going on, and blankly watched Hilda.
Hilda returned a little earlier than the 3 minutes she had said.
What Hilda was holding in her hand was a bouquet of colorful flowers. Hilda presented the bouquet to Number 25 in her arms and smiled awkwardly. She had never given flowers to anyone before, and she never thought she would do it like this today.
Number 25 held the bouquet in his arms and asked, bewildered.
“What’s this?”
“I thought you liked flowers when I saw you earlier… Or was I wrong?”
There was no man who didn’t like flowers. Number 25 narrowed his eyes as he received the bouquet Hilda gave him.
He thought they were fleeting beings living somewhere, just like himself, but he could approach them in this way.
Whatever the method, the flowers had escaped the flower bed that had bound them and regained their freedom.
The bouquet became a hope that he would one day regain the freedom that he had never held in his hands.
Number 25 buried his face in the bouquet and took a deep breath.
A soft, elegant, and rich floral scent spread luxuriantly to the tip of his nose.
“I like it, thank you.”
Drunk on the moonlight? Because he liked the scent of the flowers? Because his bright smile was so beautiful? Or because he heard the words “I like it”?
He didn’t know.
Hilda saw Number 25’s smile, which bloomed among the flowers bathed in the bright moonlight, a smile that came from the heart, and felt a feeling she had never felt before.
Just a friend, nothing more, nothing less. It was the first time she saw the person she had only recognized as a friend, someone she could talk to normally, drink with, and get along with, as a member of the opposite sex.
Her heart was beating faster than ever, and she couldn’t look him straight in the eye.
Even Hilda, who had no experience with men, could sense what this feeling meant.
Love was said to come suddenly without warning, but she had never imagined that she would fall for someone of the opposite sex she had met so recently.
But she knew. She knew too well. This feeling was not something that could be rewarded by trying. Number 25’s words of “I like it” would never be directed at her.
His side was already occupied by women who were more attractive than her.
Choose her, who was clumsy even when viewed by the same woman, over the bewitching Acer and Charlotte? It was hard to even imagine such a thing.
Besides, if she rashly confessed her immature heart, she would no longer be able to stay friends. She didn’t want to regret being separated from Number 25 due to a blind decision.
But she also didn’t want to regret seeing Number 25 completely fall for someone else without doing anything.
But people need to know when to fold. Yes, let’s put this feeling aside for now. She didn’t want to hurt Number 25 any more now. She couldn’t hurt someone who had been hurt by people with another person.
That’s what she thought, but it wasn’t as easy as she thought.
She didn’t care if she was called selfish.
Above all, she was drunk on the brightly shining moonlight and starlight, and it was harder than usual to suppress her impulses.
In her hazy mind, Number 25’s face felt closer and closer, and soon her vision went dark.
His lips were sweeter than any petal.
