TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 185
The Young Lady had always been prone to catching colds since long ago.
-Young Lady, why are you in the lake?
-Sniff….
-Judging by the lack of protest, it doesn’t seem like someone forced you in. It seems like you went in on your own.
-Snort…!
-I hope it’s not because you were annoyed by a butterfly fluttering in front of you.
-Gasp…!
-So that’s it.
In her childhood, the Young Lady often caught colds for the most absurd reasons.
-No! I’m a flower, but it’s avoiding me!
Annoyed at the butterfly, she fell into the lake.
-That darn thing won’t eat the food I give it!
-That’s a reasonable noble’s discrimination.
-Ugh! I’ll make it eat!
-Ah… Young Lady!
Claiming that the carp discriminates against people when eating food, she threw herself into the lake like Sim Cheong.
-Ricardo, I’m going to make a blanket out of the snow.
-That’s a novel nonsense you’re speaking.
-It’s not nonsense.
Sometimes, with the bizarre idea of making a blanket out of falling snow, she would leave the window open on snowy days and sleep, catching colds as a result. Such eccentric behavior made her prone to colds.
As she grew older, those eccentricities faded, but the Young Lady remained a frail person who easily caught colds.
*
Today, too, the Desmond Estate was peaceful.
Feeling a tickling sensation, the Young Lady wrinkled her nose, seemingly annoyed.
“Eeeek… Eeeeeeek.”
The Young Lady was trying to suppress a sneeze.
Clenching her fist and furrowing her brows, she was determined to hold back the sneeze, though it was unclear why she was so dissatisfied.
“Eeeek!”
I sat quietly, observing the Young Lady to see how long she could endure.
Though sneezing isn’t a bad thing, I couldn’t understand why she was holding it back. Still, as a Butler, encouraging the Young Lady’s meaningless efforts was part of my duty, so I silently cheered her on with a clenched fist.
“Hic… hmph.”
“Oh…!”
“Hheeeek… hooah.”
“Ohhh…”
“Heeeeek!”
Like a bobblehead, the Young Lady’s head jerked repeatedly without producing a clear result.
Seeing that her stress might worsen and raise her fever, I stopped cheering and told her to give up.
Sometimes, giving up was the wiser choice.
“Just let it out comfortably, Young Lady.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s bothersome to wipe my nose.”
As expected, the Young Lady had a reason for all her actions. Having a face covered in a runny nose would indeed feel unpleasant.
To solve her concern, I softly offered an innovative suggestion.
“I’ll wipe it for you, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”
“Oh…”
The Young Lady nodded at my words.
Realizing she didn’t have to handle the bothersome task herself, she seemed to have a revelation. She let the breeze carry her and opened her nostrils.
“Hee… Heek Heeetch.”
When the sneeze disappeared, she looked at me with a devastated expression.
“It’s not coming out.”
“It seems you missed the timing. Sneezes are shy creatures; if you reject them once, they don’t come back.”
With a dejected look, the Young Lady stared at the tissue in her hand and pouted.
“I feel empty. It’s like all the sugar in my body is gone.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Eeeeeeek…”
I wiped the runny nose flowing down the bridge of her nose with a handkerchief and placed the back of my hand on her forehead.
The warmth of the Young Lady’s body temperature.
She definitely seemed to have a fever.
Her face was red.
Her runny nose was flowing like water.
At this rate, it felt like I could fry a fried egg on her forehead. So, I carefully placed my hand on her shoulder and spoke.
“Let’s lie down.”
The Young Lady shook her head.
Even when sick, the Young Lady showed no intention of listening. She looked at me and stubbornly voiced her opinion.
“I don’t want to lie down.”
For someone who usually loved lying down, her refusal was puzzling. I looked at her with a bittersweet smile.
“Why don’t you want to? You seem to have a high fever. If you lie down and rest, you’ll recover faster.”
“I was supposed to go out with Ricardo today. I’ll take medicine and go out with Ricardo.”
“You can go another day.”
“But I want to go today….”
With pitiful eyes, the Young Lady looked at me. She seemed like she might collapse from disappointment rather than the cold if she couldn’t go out.
I placed my hand on her forehead and replied gently.
“You can go another day. Today isn’t the only day, after all.”
“Today is the day.”
“What day?”
“The day I’m not bored.”
“Pfft. What is that?”
“Ricardo is always busy. He hasn’t played with me lately…. What if he’s busy tomorrow too?”
“Starting today, he’s someone with plenty of free time.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
With a serious expression, the Young Lady asked again.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then.”
With her bright and sparkling eyes, the Young Lady looked at me, urging me to help her lie down quickly. Finding her laziness endearing, as she thought lying down alone lacked warmth, I chuckled softly and supported her weight carefully.
“Going down.”
“Mm.”
“Third floor.”
“Oh…”
“Second floor.”
“Ooooooh…”
“First floor. We’ve arrived.”
“Not going down to the basement?”
“The basement isn’t fully constructed yet.”
“Heheh…”
Lying snugly in bed, the Young Lady let out a pleasant smile and a delighted sigh.
“See? It’s comfortable, isn’t it?”
“Mm. It is.”
“If you had lain down earlier, your body would feel so much more comfortable, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re right. I should have lain down earlier.”
The Young Lady looked at me with her bright, shining eyes.
Seeing the mischievous glint in the Young Lady’s eyes, as though she wanted something, I smiled faintly and soaked a towel in ice water.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because Ricardo is ugly.”
“…”
“From below, you look extremely ugly.”
The corners of the Young Lady’s lips twitched. She looked at me with an expression that seemed ready to burst into laughter at any moment. I wanted to flick her forehead, but as a dignified Butler, I couldn’t hit a patient. So, with a small sigh, I took the towel I had soaked in the bucket and spread it wide over the Young Lady’s face.
Of course, fully unfolded.
-Thwack.
“Hiiiik! It’s cold!”
“It can’t be helped. Life is inherently bitter cold.”
“My life is warm!”
“Let’s live coldly today.”
“No…!”
After laughing for a while at the Young Lady’s flailing reaction, I removed the towel and gently placed a cold one on her forehead.
Only then did the Young Lady show a relaxed expression.
I carefully sat by the Young Lady’s bedside, ready to attend to any errands she might request.
Of course, I had no intention of running a chocolate errand.
For a while, I stared blankly at the ceiling.
The Young Lady, who had been sulking with a sullen expression, cautiously opened her mouth and spoke to me.
“Hey, Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
The Young Lady turned her body to face me.
Her bright, shining eyes silently gazed at me, making me feel strangely burdened.
With a pleasant smile, the Young Lady spoke to me.
“Tell me a funny story.”
“Should I read you a fairy tale? I recently wrote a new one, and I think you’ll like it.”
“What’s the genre?”
“It’s a sensational, melodramatic romance about discovering that my Father wasn’t a rich man but a homeless person.”
“Pfft… What is that?”
The Young Lady chuckled softly and shook her head.
“Not that. Something else.”
“I don’t think there’s anything more amusing than that.”
“Today, I want to hear something else.”
“Hmm. What could it be?”
“Just tell me a funny story, Ricardo. Like something that happened outside.”
I gently swept the Young Lady’s hair aside and smiled softly.
“Shall I?”
A funny story.
Honestly, I wasn’t confident.
My life wasn’t the kind of life filled with amusing tales; rather, it had been full of hardships. I thought any story where I was the protagonist might end up being gloomy.
When it came to funny stories, they were all related to the Young Lady. But I didn’t have much to share, and I worried that talking about Yuria or Mikhail might upset her.
Especially, I didn’t want to boast about myself.
As I hesitated for a long time, the Young Lady smiled faintly and spoke to me.
“Why do you look so pressured?”
“I’m just wondering what kind of story would make you laugh. It’s a Butler’s duty to bring joy to the patient, isn’t it?”
“Hehe. Just tell me anything. Anything you’ve experienced, Ricardo.”
“Hmm… It might not be interesting.”
“It’s fine. Ricardo, your face is funny, so don’t feel pressured.”
“…Is that a compliment?”
“Yes.”
Encouraged by the Young Lady’s enthusiasm, I reluctantly began to speak.
“When I was wandering the slums, I had a friend.”
“You had a friend, Ricardo?”
“I had many. I even played the role of the leader.”
“That’s surprising. I thought you didn’t have any friends.”
“That hurts, you know.”
“It’s okay. I don’t have friends either.”
“That hurts even more.”
A story from my days in the slums.
Perhaps it was a story only I knew.
I carefully filtered out the sad parts and shared only the amusing parts with the Young Lady.
-I once begged for money.
-That’s right. I even gave you money back then.
-Yes, at that time, you were my VIP Customer.
-That’s true.
-I thought I had caught a decent push-over….
-Eeeek!
-Just kidding.
The Young Lady laughed.
And I laughed too.
-So, there was a time I made that friend beg for money.
-Yeah.
-The friend cried, saying they were too embarrassed and didn’t want to do it. Do you know what I told them?
-What did you say?
-I told them to catch a push-over.
-Was that me?
-Yes.
-Oh…!
“Ricardo, you’re smart.”
“I know.”
There were many stories that amused the Villainess.
Sensational.
Realistic.
Human stories.
The Young Lady liked those kinds of things.
Of course.
Only when they were funny stories, that is.
It was an old story.
The story of how I first met the Young Lady.
A story related to Mikhail.
A very…
Old story.