"Lord Marie, let us stop joking with each other."
"Yes."
Become a dog rather than a hound? Forgive me—that wasn't it at all. I understood perfectly well.
"'Become my dog' was merely a figure of speech. I apologize for the rudeness. What I meant was that I would like you to become my partner. Of course I will pay you compensation."
I had forced the Queen to apologize. Anouk was glaring at me quite severely. Still… receiving payment to become a dog?
"Does that mean you want me to become a host?"
"What is a 'host'?"
The Queen asked with a perfectly straight face. There were no hosts in this world? If I refused would I become a "hanger"? No deep meaning there. This was not the time for jokes.
"Umm… a male prostitute, then?"
I couldn't think of anything else, so I tried it even though I was sure the nuance was different.
"A male prostitute? Anouk, do you understand the meaning?"
The Queen didn't know that either. Anouk, however, clearly did; she whispered in the Queen's ear.
