Rai sat alone in the living room. Seira was in the kitchen making him his favorite tea, but… it wasn't the same.
Frankenstein wasn't here.
The tea that tasted of home didn't taste quite the same without Frankenstein being present.
There was no reason for that that Rai could identify. It made no sense that the tea should taste different based on who was around. But of course, the tea defied all reason and tasted different anyway.
"Here you are, Sir," Seira said politely, setting the teacup down in front of him.
Rai nodded in thanks. He picked up the cup and sipped carefully… Normally, he'd be half buried in Frankenstein's thoughts right now. That also seemed to add something to the flavor of the tea.
Digging into Seira's head would be rude. And she wouldn't share the same connection with him anyway. It would be rather one-sided.
Frankenstein had been gone for seven days. Normally, that would be nothing to him. Maybe it was because he'd only recently returned to this world, but he felt Frankenstein's absence much more sharply than he did before. Instead of his companion's warmth and brilliance, there was a cold, empty space in his head.
That mind… that intriguing, ingenious mind… How he wished Frankenstein would walk through that door right now. He knew quite a few of people found his companion to be terrifying. And it was true that Frankenstein harbored a great deal of dark, sinister energy within him, but that was only a cover for the true soul that was hidden within.
Suddenly, Rai remembered something he possessed, something that might make him feel better.
Digging in his jacket pocket, he eventually pulled out the slightly crumpled photograph of Frankenstein that he'd been given when he'd first woken up. Frankenstein's handsome face beamed up at him.
For decades, he'd lived alone with Frankenstein in his mansion. And every morning and evening, Frankenstein had come to serve him his meals. At least twice a day, he got to see his companion's smiling face as they silently spoke together over tea or simply enjoyed each other's company.
Frankenstein… Come home… My soul isn't complete without you next to me.
He barely managed to stifle a sigh so he wouldn't alert Seira. He shouldn't be like this… He had everything he needed. But his heart was still so heavy without his bonded companion.
The sound of the doorbell ringing startled him out of his reverie. He knew immediately who was at the door after hearing the children's giggling through the speaker. Rai hastily folded the picture in his handkerchief and tucked it in his pocket.
Standing up in one smooth motion, Rai made his way to the front door. It occurred to him that he wouldn't even be able to let his friends into his home if Frankenstein hadn't taught him to open the door.
"Hey, Rai!"
Shinwu was the first to bound in the door, followed by Ikhan, Sui, and Yuna.
"Hey Seira!" Sui said cheerfully, setting the groceries on the kitchen counter. "We bought some of Rai's favorite ramyeon!"
Rai sat and contentedly listened to the children's chatter while Seira prepared the ramyeon. He enjoyed these moments very much... just being a part of the group and not being alone.
Later, when the ramyeon was ready, Rai ate at the coffee table with the children. The ramyeon wasn't as good as Frankenstein's, but it was close. Rai smiled to himself at the thought of Frankenstein's tortured expression if he could see the mess the children were making... Lost in thought, Rai pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his mouth.
"Hey Rai, you dropped something..."
Shinwu leaned down and picked the small photograph off the floor. After one look at it, Shinwu burst out laughing.
"Hey, this is that picture of the Chairman!" he laughed. "Why are you still carrying this around, Rai? You have a cell phone now, and you know where you live, right? Come on, nobody's that directionally challenged..."
Rai looked around at the kids. They were all laughing at his picture. Rai couldn't understand why it amused them so much. It was perfectly acceptable to have a portrait of someone important to you, wasn't it?
He flushed. He'd obviously misunderstood something about the current culture again…
"Rai?" Yuna asked, peering at his face. "Sorry, we weren't trying to make fun of you or anything, but, um… don't you live with the Chairman? Why did you have his picture wrapped in your handkerchief?"
"He is… not here."
"Come on, guys, you're embarrassing him!" Sui interrupted.
He looked away. Why was he embarrassed? Frankenstein was his loyal bonded companion. It wasn't unusual to miss him… and think about him…
"Um… Here…"
Shinwu put the picture back in his hand. Rai stared at it. Portraits had come a long way in the last 820 years… It really seemed like Frankenstein was here, looking at him with those sapphire blue eyes.
Rai swiftly tucked the picture back in his pocket.
"Do you miss him?" Sui asked. "It seems like you do. Why didn't you go with him?"
Miss him… of course, he missed Frankenstein. Why wouldn't he? Frankenstein took care of him and eased his loneliness, even when he hadn't been asked. He'd been like that since the day Rai had let him into his home.
"He and the others had business to take care of," Rai said quietly. "He asked me to stay here."
"But you didn't want to? You seem sad now."
"Did we tease you too much?" Ikhan asked. "Sorry!"
Rai shook his head.
"Rai… you're still blushing."
All the kids looked at each other at once. Then they all put their heads together, whispering things Rai couldn't hear.
"Um… Rai… how close are you and the Chairman?"
Now there was a question he couldn't answer honestly. He couldn't explain to the kids about his true nature as a noble or the blood contract he'd made with Frankenstein.
"Very close," he said simply. That was true, at least.
For whatever reason, that seemed to surprise the kids. Suddenly they were looking at him as if they were very concerned about his well being.
"Aren't you guys related?"
Family… Shinwu was asking if Frankenstein was his family. It was funny… Rai had asked Frankenstein the same thing just days ago. The household had assured him that they were, indeed, a family. And Rai had heard their reassurances, but it was the warmth he felt from Frankenstein's mind that had really put him at ease.
"Rai?"
"We are not related by blood. But he is my family."
Now everyone looked confused.
"Did he adopt you?"
Right… the kids thought Frankenstein was much older than he was. Apparently, Frankenstein appeared old enough to be his father. Which was almost amusing, considering how much older Rai was than Frankenstein.
"No."
"So… why were you blushing when you saw the Chairman's picture?"
Rai just stared at them. He wasn't entirely sure what was happening with this line of questioning. Why were they all so curious about his relationship with Frankenstein?
"It's just… carrying around a picture of the Chairman… and blushing about it… is a little weird."
Rai felt his forehead wrinkling in confusion. What exactly were they implying?
"Guys, I don't think he gets it," Yuna said, sounding concerned.
"Well, he is foreign," Ikhan said reasonably. "Things might be different where he's from. Maybe he doesn't think of that kind of relationship as being weird."
"Still!" Shinwu argued. "The Chairman is our principal and Rai is his student! Even if they are living together, it just wouldn't be right! We gotta tell him."
"I'll tell him," Sui said, cutting off everyone's anxious voices. "Listen, Rai… It's okay to have a crush on someone, but you can't go out with the Chairman. It's not okay."
Rai had stumbled over the terms 'crush' and 'go out with.' What did that mean? Crush? Crushing what? And he went outside with Frankenstein all the time, but now that wasn't okay?
"He still doesn't get it," Shinwu pointed out.
"Then let me try this," Sui sighed. "Rai, it's not okay to be romantically involved with our school's principal."
Oh…
A rush of emotions flooded Rai's body. He was desperately glad that he wasn't connected to Frankenstein's mind at the moment…
He got it now. The kids were implying that he was in love with Frankenstein.
"We're not… involved," he said quietly. "Don't worry."
Everyone's faces relaxed. Shinwu laughed.
"Of course not, that'd be silly!" He pulled out a game from his bag. "Like the time I thought you were dating a guy, Ikhan. Wasn't that funny?"
"No!" Ikhan said crossly. "You shouldn't have been messing around on my computer, Shinwu!"
"I said I was sorry! Come on, we've had our ramyeon, let's see if Rai's gotten any better at this game!"
Rai spent the rest of the afternoon losing at board games to the children. Apparently, he hadn't improved at all, which the children also relentlessly teased him about.
After the kids had left to be escorted home by Seira, Rai sat in contemplative silence while he sipped his tea.
Were the kids right? Was he keeping Frankenstein's picture with him because he had romantic feelings for him? But according to the kids… those feelings were wrong.
Rai closed his eyes, probing his own thoughts.
He could still vividly remember the first time he'd ever seen Frankenstein in his home nearly a thousand years ago. Upon seeing the handsome stranger, he'd assumed the Lord had sent another noble to visit him. But it soon became apparent that this person was definitely not a noble.
The human male was obviously injured and tired… blood was seeping through his shredded white shirt. Rai had curiously reached out to touch the stranger's mind, but instead of his thoughts, he had encountered a wall of fury, anger, and hatred. Whatever the human's thoughts were, they were buried under an assault of murderous intentions.
The human was merely a host to hundreds… no, thousands… of malevolent souls. And yet… he was still walking around and talking like a normal person.
What had been done to him?
Rai had silently agreed to the man's presence in his home. Really, what else could he do? The man already carried such sorrow in him, how could Rai possibly punish him further?
Whatever the stranger's intentions were, he didn't seem to be a particularly malevolent person himself, despite the evil entities harbored inside him. When Rai had offered his guest tea, the stranger had prepared it himself. The human had even shared his own tea leaves… the only thing he'd had on him.
Of course, it wasn't long before two family leaders had come to claim his new housemate. A human in Lukedonia was very irregular, after all. But… Rai didn't want to give up his guest just yet, so he'd told the family leaders that the stranger was his butler.
And, oddly enough, the stranger didn't seem to mind.
It wasn't long before Rai was completely at ease with Frankenstein. It was just natural for Frankenstein to bring him tea, to sit and read with him, to help him dress in the morning… Frankenstein eased his loneliness without him even asking for it.
Rai had eventually teased out Frankenstein's true thoughts from the mess of darkness in his mind. The human was intelligent and composed, mostly thinking about research and accumulating more knowledge… At least, until the evil spirits tore at his thoughts. Then he thought about getting more power, about proving that humans were not disposable.
And sometimes… sometimes Frankenstein thought about ways to make him happy.
Rai swallowed as he felt his cheeks heating up slightly at the memory. At the time, he'd thought about asking Frankenstein what his intentions were. Why was a human staying here with him for so long? Would he stay forever? Frankenstein didn't seem to be aging at all… And Rai had no family of his own left.
Rai never thought of Frankenstein as disposable. In fact, he had begun to feel irreplaceable.
Even when Frankenstein stumbled, when he fell too far into darkness, when the evil energy in him tore too deep… Frankenstein had never once stopped trying to protect him.
His companion was… everything to him.
Rai put a hand over his heart. Why… was it beating so fast?
Was he really... in love?
"Master, we're home."
Rai had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Frankenstein's energy approaching him. He turned to see his loyal servant striding towards him. Frankenstein was obviously tired, but he still had a gentle smile on his face when their eyes met.
Rai looked around to see Karius, Regis, M-21, Takio, and Tao trailing in behind Frankenstein. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be all right. Not that Rai had doubted Frankenstein, but knowing how dangerous Frankenstein's powers were, he'd still worried a little.
"I see Seira has taken care of everything around here," Frankenstein said, sounding pleased. "Where is she?"
"She is seeing the children home."
"Ah, I see. I'll thank her when she gets back, then." There was a slight pause as everyone shuffled into the kitchen for drinks. "Shall I refill your tea, Master?"
Rai glanced away. After his conversation with the kids, it seemed wrong to stare at his companion like this. That's right, he shouldn't stare. Having romantic thoughts about Frankenstein wasn't acceptable.
And if by chance the kids found out he was really having these inappropriate thoughts… he might lose his school friends. Rai really didn't want that. He wanted to preserve this normal life for as long as possible.
He shook his head, avoiding Frankenstein's gaze. It didn't help that his companion was very handsome. Even all these hundreds of years later, Rai still enjoyed looking at his bonded human.
"Master? Is something wrong?"
Rai swiftly shook his head once more.
Everyone was staring at him now. He knew he didn't talk much, but purposely ignoring Frankenstein was unusual. Rai felt Frankenstein's mind brush hesitantly against his own, but quickly blocked the mental contact. Frankenstein might figure out what he was thinking…
"Are… are you still angry?" Frankenstein said quietly. "About the experiments?"
"Sir!" Tao came rushing forward. "Don't be angry at him. It's our fault. We asked him to do this."
"Yeah," Takio said, also rushing to Frankenstein's defense. "And look, we're okay! Frankenstein took good care of us."
Frankenstein was looking rather upset. Some people might not have noticed, but Rai noticed the stiffness of his shoulders and the distance in his eyes, as if his mind were suddenly very far away…
"It's all right, you two," Frankenstein said, his voice as stiff as his shoulders. "I'm the one who agreed to your request. You don't need to take the blame for me."
Frankenstein bowed deeply to him.
"Forgive me, Master. I've disappointed you again."
Rai's fist clenched in his lap. He wanted so badly to explain, but Frankenstein was already walking away, likely to hide in his laboratory.
"Sir, it's really not his fault," Regis said, bowing his head. "And he took very good care of all of us. He was so concerned, he barely had time to rest. Please don't punish him…"
Disappointment? Punishment? As if he could ever be truly disappointed in Frankenstein or lay a hand on him in anger… No, never.
"I am not angry," Rai said quietly.
He stood up, walking silently past everyone. They all watched him go with concerned looks on their faces. Rai's first thought was to go to Frankenstein and explain that he was conflicted about his feelings. But then… what would Frankenstein think? His companion had been living in the current world for far longer… Frankenstein might think the same as his school friends.
So instead, he walked out onto the porch, letting the night breeze caress his face. Now that he was alone, he allowed his thoughts to wander again. One simple thought kept coming back to him: Why was it so wrong for him to have romantic feelings for his companion?
The kids hadn't exactly explained it. They had just told him it was wrong. Rai's fingers tightened around the railing.
But... what was so wrong about it?
He couldn't love Frankenstein because he was the leader of the school? Or was it because he was a man? Why did that matter so much? Why couldn't he give his affections to the one person who had always been there for him?
Why couldn't he love Frankenstein, the one person who cared for him more than he did for himself?
My Comments: I hate the implication the manwha gives that Rai has punished Frankenstein in the past. After Frankenstein breaks the seal for the first time in the story, he says he'll await his punishment. Rai doesn't punish him, of course, but I don't like the implication that Rai would ever punish Frankenstein. I guess you could consider the time Rai sealed Frankenstein's powers as a punishment, but still… unless Rai was talking about kinky sex games, I don't like the idea that he would ever hurt/punish his loyal friend.
I also don't see why Frankenstein would want to subject himself to that situation. He's a fairly proud person, so it doesn't really match his personality to want to be controlled quite to that level. I still think Frankenstein found a way reverse the aging process to extend his life through his own research (it's never confirmed by Frankenstein in the manwha how he managed to live for so long), so he could have served Rai forever without a contract controlling him. And he has enough power of his own, so he didn't really need to share Rai's power, so… yeah… I dunno, those are just my thoughts on the matter.
Also, especially in episode 110, it seems apparent that the story is a little homophobic. Shinwu literally starts crying because he thinks Ikhan is gay. So, there are a bunch of pointless straight "romances" that go nowhere, just to prove that the characters aren't gay! Rai and Frankenstein totally aren't gay for each other, guys! Really! (You aren't fooling me, author!)
