TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 36
Another sunny morning.
As always, wearing my crisply ironed Butler Suit and black shoes, I walked briskly toward the Young Lady’s room on the second floor.
The current time is 10 a.m.
Normally, the Young Lady would be having breakfast by now, but due to my oversleeping, I failed to sync with her Belly Clock.
I thought to myself.
‘Overslept again. Will the Young Lady scold me?’
After realizing my right hand could no longer hold a sword, I desperately focused on swordsmanship to find an alternative, which naturally led to more frequent oversleeping.
Fortunately, the Young Lady is not fond of mornings, so even if I overslept by an hour, it wasn’t a major issue. Still, feeling guilty for not fulfilling my Butler duties, I quickly buttoned my shirt and rushed down the corridor in hurried footsteps.
At that moment, I ran into the Honorable Maid carrying a Laundry Basket in the corridor.
“You seem busy, Butler.”
The estate’s only Maid greeted me with a benevolent smile. The Honorable Maid, who gives a professional smile to the real Proprietress who pays her wages.
I smiled in satisfaction at the professionalism of the Honorable Maid.
I bowed my head and greeted her.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, good morning. Ah, by the way, did the Young Lady say anything yesterday?”
“I haven’t heard anything.”
“Ah… Surprise…”
The Honorable Maid trailed off.
She glanced at me hesitantly as if she had something to say, then finally muttered, ‘Never mind.’ This vague behavior from the morning left me feeling uneasy.
Unable to bear my curiosity, I asked the Honorable Maid.
“Hoho. It’s nothing. Just commenting on the nice weather.”
Her response was nothing more than an Eye Smile. She mentioned I didn’t need to know and that I’d find out later, but it felt like something was being done behind my back, and it made me nervous.
Would it hurt to share something good with me?
Even being hit is less painful when you know it’s coming.
“Please don’t keep it to yourself and let me know as well.”
Despite my persistent questioning, the Honorable Maid simply smiled kindly, carried her Laundry Basket, and left. She kept her ambiguous smile until the end, saying “Hoho,” as she headed to the laundry room, leaving me, a curious Korean, feeling quite unsettled.
It felt like forgetting something important at the Entrance.
While I was casting a resentful glance at the Honorable Maid for giving me a morning riddle—
-Aaaaah! Air Raid Alarm!
The Young Lady had woken up.
***
The Young Lady, who had just woken up, rubbed her eyes and looked at me.
From bottom to top.
From top to bottom.
After scanning me, the Young Lady nodded her head.
“I thought you were jerky.”
“Which part are you referring to?”
“Your red hair.”
“Would you like to eat it?”
“Mhm.”
Deciding on jerky as today’s snack, I handed the Young Lady the honey water I had prepared, hoping she would wake up quickly.
Gulp. After downing the honey water, the Young Lady looked at me again. With drowsy eyes, she stared intently, as if examining whether something was on my face this time.
“Hmm…”
What is this?
“Hmmm.”
The Young Lady propped her chin and observed me closely.
Noticing I hadn’t washed my face before reporting for duty, the Young Lady couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from my unusually handsome face.
“Have you never seen a handsome person before?”
“Ugh.”
The Young Lady grimaced in disgust.
What’s wrong with my face?
Feeling hurt since no one cared about my wounded pride, I flicked the Young Lady’s forehead lightly to vent my frustration.
“Oww… Why did you hit me!”
“Think of it as Employee Benefits.”
“Eeeek!!”
After the Pillow Fight ended, leaving the Young Lady’s hair in disarray, she patted the side of the bed.
“Ricardo. Sit here.”
Without even tidying up the blanket, the Young Lady asked me to sit on the bed. Having just scored a direct hit on the Young Lady’s face during the Pillow Fight, I approached her side without a word.
The Young Lady softly gazed at my face.
“Something feels off.”
“What do you mean?”
The Young Lady touched my face.
She stretched it sideways, then up and down. Just like how I would tease the Young Lady’s face, she played with mine as if it were clay.
Perhaps due to her drowsy eyes making her vision blurry, the Young Lady pressed my cheeks like a fish using both hands and leaned her face closer.
It was close.
Too close.
“What are you doing?”
The Young Lady spoke to me.
“Ricardo.”
Her expression carried a hint of concern.
“Are you sick?”
Unexpectedly stumped by her question, I replied to the Young Lady with a blank expression.
“I’m not sick. If anything, I’m too healthy. Didn’t you see me throwing pillows earlier?”
Suddenly asking if I’m sick.
Why would she say that?
Thinking it might be because of my oversleeping, I flexed my left arm to show off my bulging bicep.
“Isn’t this intimidating?”
The Young Lady didn’t even pretend to listen.
With eyes full of concern, the Young Lady spoke again.
“Your eyes look very tired. Like you’d collapse if someone nudged you.”
“My eyes?”
I turned my head toward the Dressing Table beside the bed.
“Oh…”
Reflecting on my face in the Mirror, I could see faint Dark Circles that gave me a decadent charm. It seemed to be the aftereffect of overexerting myself in swordsmanship practice yesterday.
Although I did look somewhat sickly, it wasn’t concerning enough for the Young Lady to worry, let alone ask if I’d seen something strange at night.
After the Bathhouse Incident, the Young Lady’s tendency to worry seemed to have grown.
To ease her concerns, I lightly shook my head and said.
“There’s nothing wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I just didn’t wash my face today.”
The Young Lady backed away in disgust.
“Ew… Gross.”
“Cleaner than the Young Lady’s Pocket.”
“My Pocket is clean.”
Showing an odd sense of Pride, the Young Lady clumsily used a Wet Towel to roughly wash her face, then slowly sidled back toward me. Groaning softly, she guided her body with her hands, which made my heart ache slightly while also finding it endearing.
The Young Lady held my hand.
A soft sensation enveloped the back of my hand.
“Ricardo. Don’t get sick.”
“I’m healthy.”
“Still. Don’t get sick.”
The Young Lady met my gaze.
Like an Orphanage Teacher giving advice to children with, “Please, play nicely without punching your friend in the face,” the Young Lady held my hand tightly and gave her earnest words of advice.
“No matter what happens, you mustn’t get sick. I hate it when people are sick.”
She emphasized it to me once again.
“Got it?”
I nodded my head.
***
After finishing a late breakfast, just as the Young Lady’s Belly Clock started to ring again.
The Young Lady spoke to me as I was brushing my teeth.
“Rihardo. (Ricardo)”
“Please wait until I finish brushing my teeth.”
“Hiro. (No.)”
The Young Lady spoke, spraying white foam everywhere. I wanted to flick her forehead, but seeing her unusually well-behaved demeanor today, I decided to hold back.
She got out of bed and didn’t doze off again.
She didn’t eat Chocolate before brushing her teeth.
She worried about me not getting sick.
Today, her exemplary behavior was so remarkable that it even deserved opening the Hidden Snack Storage.
I listened attentively to the Young Lady’s words.
“Hey, do you know what day it is today?”
“Today?”
I pondered for a moment.
Since the Young Lady’s birthday is in winter, it couldn’t be that.
It’s not the Head of the Household’s Birthday or the Deputy Head of the Household’s Birthday either.
Then…
“Is it your Day of Magic?”
“Shut up!”
It had been a while since I heard the Young Lady curse.
I asked the fuming Young Lady.
“Then, what day is it today?”
“Don’t you know?”
“No, I don’t know.”
“You really don’t know?”
The Young Lady smirked mischievously.
She seemed to know something extraordinary.
For someone like me, who even remembers her first birthday party, this behavior of hers, commemorating something, felt quite unfamiliar. The Young Lady, acting like she knows and teasing me…
It’s a bit scary in various ways.
The Young Lady spoke to me.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“Yes…”
“Really, really don’t know, do you?”
“That’s why I’m asking you to tell me…”
The Young Lady lay on the bed and burst out laughing, pounding the bed with her fists like a Villainess scheming something fun… Oh, right, she is a Villainess.
Anyway, with a happy smile like a Villainess, she looked at me, her Bright, Shining Eyes fixed on me, making my ears burn.
I said to the Young Lady.
“Young Lady. On your chest.”
“What about my chest?”
“Th- Th- There…”
The white foam splattered on her chest while brushing her teeth gave me improper thoughts.
The Young Lady nonchalantly wiped it off with her hand and put it into her mouth.
“What are you doing? That’s filthy!”
“It’s fine. It came from my mouth, so it’s clean.”
With a satisfied expression, the Young Lady puffed out her chest proudly. Seriously.
I felt good about having such an amusing sight.
***
Late in the evening.
After finishing my Swordsmanship practice in the Yard, I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
“This should be good enough.”
The ground was covered with numerous Sword Marks.
From marks as small as a pinky finger.
To marks large enough to fit a person.
Having gotten used to wielding the sword with my left hand, I let out a Deep Sigh that I had been holding in.
‘This should be enough to manage until the next Story.’
Even if I’m not as good as Ballack, I should be able to handle Pascal or Mikhail with ease.
Compared to the precise and meticulous attacks I made with my right hand, the powerful single strikes with my left hand seemed even better in some ways.
I looked down at my right arm with a sense of regret.
The small tremors in my right arm persisted.
It didn’t seem like it would move easily.
Until my Dark Magic Resistance increases, my right arm doesn’t seem likely to recover. Since it’s come to this, I should focus on overcoming my weaknesses and making the best of it.
If I were to strain my right hand like I did during the Ballack incident, even my healthy left hand could end up suffering extended Aftereffects.
I hope there won’t be any major Events in the meantime, but with Mikhail’s Awakening Event just around the corner, it’s not like I can just sit idle.
Mikhail is an exceptional guy, so he’ll likely handle things on his own, but there’s always a chance something unexpected could happen. It seems like I should prepare thoroughly.
But what’s the point of worrying about it now?
I brushed off the dust and stood up.
***
Before returning to the Young Lady.
I stopped by the room at the end of the second floor and unbuttoned my sweat-soaked shirt.
The damp shirt clung stickily to my body and didn’t come off easily, but the thought that I gave my Best Effort today left me satisfied.
As I removed the wet shirt, the White Bandages wrapped around my arm were reflected in the Mirror.
From the sleeve of my right arm to my chest, the bandages ran across.
Looking like a mummy made me chuckle.
It reminded me of a character from a game I often played in my Previous Life.
A character who cried endlessly while looking for a friend. Was it Amumu? Anyway, for some reason, I found it oddly reminiscent of our Young Lady.
If I told the Young Lady she resembled such a character, she’d probably deny it and throw a Fork at me.
The forlorn expression of the Young Lady when her Chocolate was taken away and the expression of the game character overlapped in my mind, making me chuckle softly.
I’ll save that joke for later.
It’s childish, but when it comes to teasing the Young Lady, I don’t care.
Am I aging backward?
“Crazy Bastard.”
After catching my breath, I slowly unraveled the bandages.
Starting from the sleeve of my right arm, I carefully unwound the sweat-soaked bandages that extended to my left chest.
The scars gradually came into view.
Burn-like scars grotesquely distorted my back and chest, and torn flesh scars began to emerge.
If the Young Lady were to see them, they were so repulsive she’d likely run away in fright.
Particularly, the necrotic wound on my right arm, turning black, oozed pus and was enough to make anyone frown.
“Tsk… It seems a lot better than yesterday, though…”
It didn’t hurt.
Occasionally, as the necrosis progressed, I felt a sharp sting of Pain.
Or rather, maybe I’ve just grown accustomed to it?
After a year of repeatedly experiencing both Regeneration and necrosis, the Pain I’ve endured seems to have become something I’m used to.
“It’s really grotesque.”
I stood in front of the Mirror, lost in various thoughts.
From worries about the Young Lady running away at the sight of these Scars, to pondering how to hide them in the future.
And what if they spread all over my body?
“It feels hopeless.”
What weighed on my mind the most was the thought of the Young Lady finding out about these Scars.
If she were to find out, I had no idea what I should say; no proper answer came to mind in my current state.
Should I just laugh it off?
Or should I come clean and admit it plainly?
Perhaps, no matter the case, I would say something to avoid hurting the Young Lady. She’s easily frightened, after all.
As I reached for the handle of the Wardrobe to grab a fresh shirt.
Slowly, memories of what day it was today began to surface.
September, during the Fall when the Autumn Leaves ripen.
Around this time, the Young Lady always said something to me.
-Happy Birthday.
Last year, my Birthday passed unnoticed because the Young Lady had collapsed.
I let out an Empty Laugh.
“Ah, that’s right, today is my Birthday.”
A Foolish smile spread across my face.
I had no clue and even guessed it was the Day of Magic when talking to the Young Lady.
Now, I finally realized why the Young Lady and Honorable Maid had been acting awkwardly since this morning.
They could’ve told me earlier.
Once again, I was the only one left in the dark.
I should hurry and go complain to the Young Lady about why she was the only one who knew.
Knowing her personality, once today ends and the midnight bell tolls, she’ll definitely tease me, calling me a “Fool.”
I energetically opened the Wardrobe door to change into a shirt.
-Eeeek.
The Wardrobe opened without any resistance, swinging wide.
“Is it broken?”
Normally, I would feel the hinges catch, but the Wardrobe door opened so easily, as if it might swing open even with a Small Breeze.
I assumed it was broken.
After all, if it wasn’t the Honorable Maid, there was no one else who would enter my room.
Thinking little of it, I reached into the Wardrobe to grab a shirt.
“Huh?”
The inside of the Wardrobe, where shirts should’ve been hanging, was completely empty.
-Hiccup…
And inside, someone who had no business being there stared back at me with wide eyes.
“Ah… Young Lady?”
The Young Lady, wearing a Pointed Hat.
Hugging tightly in her arms a Chocolate Cake and a Gift wrapped in colorful Wrapping Paper.
‘Ah…’
With a face as though her world was falling apart, the Young Lady said.
“Ah… If you’re hurt…”
Repeating the same Foolish words.
“If you’re hurt… That won’t do…”
Looking at the teary-eyed Young Lady, I clumsily uttered a Lie.
Hoping she’d believe it.
“Ah, this… It’s just from falling over.”
“Don’t Lie!!!”
This time, it seemed my Lie wouldn’t fool the Young Lady.