TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 47
After sending off the Histania Siblings.
I stood in front of the Young Lady’s Room Door with breakfast in hand.
Today’s breakfast was the Young Lady’s favorite in the world: ‘Paprika’ juice and bacon toast. It was a menu designed with her health in mind after a week of eating only meat.
Juice made by blending carrots and paprika, and crispy bacon toast.
When the Young Lady sees the thickly blended juice, she will undoubtedly say, ‘This isn’t something humans can eat.’ But, considering a Butler’s duty to care for their Master’s health, I decided to attempt a little Noble Abuse today.
After a week of Noble Expansion, it was about time to scale it down.
Just imagining the Young Lady’s expression after drinking the juice brought a smile to my face.
-Knock. Knock. Knock.
No reply came back.
Instead, I could hear the Young Lady’s passionate snoring from beyond the door.
-Snore… Cool… Grrk…
-Cool. Grrk. Hiyo…
The Young Lady seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Considering she had stayed up late talking with Hanna, the passionate snoring was understandable.
It seemed to be a conversation about Mikhail.
Eavesdropping wasn’t my hobby, but it was clear the Young Lady had stayed up well past her usual bedtime.
That would explain such loud snoring.
-Snore… Cool… Growl… Cool…
Out of consideration for the Young Lady’s deep sleep, I waited about 5 minutes before opening the door.
-Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Excuse me.”
A room filled with Chilly Air.
The window was wide open.
Despite my repeated reminders to close the window before sleeping, as always, the Young Lady had gone to bed with it wide open.
A sigh escaped me.
“Honestly, after all the trouble you went through with that cold last time… Again…”
-Mumble… Grrrk..!
The sight of her peacefully sleeping face swallowed up my urge to nag. It was my fault for not checking. I’ll have to be more attentive.
I approached the Young Lady’s bedside and spoke softly.
“Air Raid Alarm…”
Twitch.
The Young Lady furrowed her brows.
I leaned closer to the Young Lady’s ear and whispered, like Past Life’s ASMR.
“Young Lady, it’s an Air Raid Alarm.”
At the sound, the Young Lady tried to pull the blanket over her head, but as someone who had woken her up for 13 years as her Butler, I easily thwarted her attempt.
I grabbed the edge of the blanket to prevent her escape into its depths.
“Hngh! …Ugh…”
The Young Lady scrunched her eyebrows.
“Ricardo… The gravity is too strong… The blanket won’t budge…”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Though I felt sorry for waking her from her deep sleep, as a Butler who believed breakfast was essential, I had no choice but to wake her.
The Young Lady would undoubtedly be upset, but nothing was more precious than her health.
Tap. I lightly touched the Young Lady’s cheek.
The Young Lady frowned.
Seeing her adorable expression, I brought my lips closer to her ear. And then.
-Yawn─!
I bit her ear.
“Eek!!!”
The Young Lady opened her eyes and screamed.
“Hyaagh!! I’m being eaten! The slime is eating me… Huh?”
The Young Lady shot up noisily.
Above the Young Lady’s head, a familiar Blue Window began to appear.
[Desmond Olivia Lv.0.5]
[Occupation: Unemployed]
[Favorability: 82]
[Favorite topics of conversation: Food. Meat. Bath Bombs. Ricardo’s health. Gold Coins. Walks(New)]
[Least favorite topics of conversation: Mikhail. Vegetables. Paprika. The past. Debt.]
‘Huh…?’
Something was missing.
What is this…?
Rubbing my eyes, I thought I might have seen it wrong, but one of the keywords that had been there for a year was missing.
The familiar name that had always occupied the first spot in the list of favorite topics of conversation.
[Mikhail]
That name had disappeared.
I rubbed my eyes again.
Trying to make sense of what was happening.
The old keyword I thought would ‘disappear someday.’
I turned to the Young Lady, who was throwing a doll at me, and asked.
To check if this was a dream.
Had she finally ended her long Unrequited Love?
Or was she just taking a brief break from it?
I cautiously asked the Young Lady.
“Young Lady.”
The Young Lady, irritably wiping the saliva from her ear, looked at me.
“What…”
The Young Lady rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I didn’t sleep well because you woke me, Ricardo.”
“It’s magic to awaken the Sleeping Princess.”
“I’m a princess?”
“No. You’re a pig.”
The Young Lady frowned.
I asked the Young Lady.
Because suppressing my curiosity didn’t suit my nature.
“Young Lady, about Mikhail.”
“Mikhail?”
At the mention of Mikhail’s name, the Young Lady’s expression hardened in real time.
I felt like I was about to be scolded.
It felt like I had stepped on a landmine.
I thought maybe I had been too hasty.
But confirming it was more important to me.
“Do you still like Mikhail?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m just curious.”
The Young Lady, knowing my usual rants about Mikhail, would probably guess what I was about to say.
If she answered ‘Yes,’ she would know that the word ‘Lolicon…’ would escape my lips.
She would also know the mood would sour.
I thought to myself.
If she still liked Mikhail, she would scold me; if her feelings for him had cooled, she wouldn’t say anything.
I waited for the Young Lady’s answer.
I was used to being scolded, but hearing that she still liked Mikhail might sting a little.
The Affinity Window does not lie.
Everyone said so, and so did the Young Lady.
However, the idea that the name Mikhail could disappear from the Young Lady’s heart was even harder to believe. I wanted to hear it directly.
Gripping the tray tightly in my hands.
I waited for the Young Lady’s answer.
“Hmm…”
The Young Lady fell into thought. She picked up the cup placed on the tray and pressed it against her forehead to cool down.
“Hey, Ricardo.”
“…”
“I don’t want to talk about Mikhail anymore.”
“I apologize.”
“I… now…”
My lips felt dry.
Even though I knew what the Young Lady was going to say, hearing it from her mouth was terrifying.
The worry of having to engage in another long battle, and the disappointment of not hearing the answer I had hoped for, weighed on me.
Biting down hard on my lips, I waited for the Young Lady’s answer, and then she finally said the words I had wanted to hear for the past year.
“I don’t like Mikhail.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t like him. He’s ugly.”
“But didn’t you say he was handsome?”
“No.”
The Young Lady looked at me.
“He’s ugly. He’s too lanky, it’s not my type.”
‘It’s true.’
There was no trace of a lie on the Young Lady’s face.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
This won’t work.
Today, I’ll have to go out with the Young Lady…
-Gulp. Gulp.
Huh?
Why did that go over there?
The Young Lady was drinking the juice.
She was drinking the poisonous concoction made of paprika and carrot like The Man.
‘Ah, this is bad.’
The Young Lady, who had emptied the cup cleanly, looked at me with dull eyes.
“What… is this?”
“…Paprika juice.”
“Pa… paprika?”
-Drip. The Young Lady spat out the juice from her mouth.
“Ack…!”
The Young Lady spewed out the juice and collapsed.
It was, in a way, a successful assassination.
***
I was able to start the day in a good mood. It felt as if I had pulled out a painful tooth, and my body felt light.
The Young Lady, however, was not in a good mood.
The Young Lady glared at me.
“Noble Abuser.”
“…”
“Noble Killer.”
“…”
“Noble Assassin.”
After the unintended assassination attempt succeeded, the Young Lady holed up in the corner of her bed, glaring at me.
The Young Lady, declaring she would never eat anything I gave her again.
Even when I tried to appease her with three chocolates, she turned her head away and said with her lips pouting that she wouldn’t even negotiate unless it was ten.
The Young Lady poured out words of resentment toward me.
Writing small letters on a piece of paper.
[Paprika is the evil of society.]
The Young Lady waged a timid protest.
I shouldn’t laugh, but I couldn’t help it; I kept laughing.
The Young Lady yelled at me as the corners of my mouth lifted. She shouted while rinsing out her mouth. She was so adorable it was driving me crazy.
“Why are you laughing!”
“I’m not lau… pfft… laughing.”
“You laughed!”
“No, pfft… puhaha! I mean, how can I hold it in? Paprika through your nose… pfft…!”
The Young Lady irritably crumpled the paper in her hand.
“Eeeek…!”
And then the Young Lady, taking a stance like a baseball player, threw it.
-Whoosh!
Drawing a grand arc.
-Plop.
The paper ball fell limply to the floor.
The Young Lady and I awkwardly exchanged glances at the sight of the pitiful paper ball.
“Pfft…!”
“Don’t laugh!”
Our shoulders shook.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
And the Young Lady couldn’t hold back her anger.
I gave the Young Lady a thumbs-up.
“It was an excellent trajectory. With just a little more effort, you might hit your target.”
The Young Lady threw the pen she had in her hand.
***
As time passed, and only after the Young Lady had stored fifteen chocolates in her emergency pouch, was I able to calm her anger.
Looking at the chocolates peeking out from between her chest, the Young Lady smiled brightly.
As if showing generosity, the Young Lady handed me a piece of chocolate and spoke. The warm chocolate—I’ll have to put it in the drawer.
“I’m rich. I’m rich!”
“…Is it that good?”
“Yes. Ricardo only gives me one chocolate a day.”
“That’s for your health, is it not?”
The Young Lady turned her head away primly.
“That’s Noble Abuse. I’m going to report you to the Noble Human Rights Committee.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“There isn’t.”
I found myself on the receiving end of the same prank I had pulled before.
After the long breakfast ended, the Young Lady pointed her finger toward the corner of the room.
At the item adorned with shiny wrapping paper and a ribbon. It was the birthday gift I hadn’t been able to give her because my scar was revealed.
The Young Lady pointed at the gift with her finger and said.
“That. Bring it over.”
“The gift?”
“Yes, that one.”
With a rustling sound, I handed the gift to the Young Lady’s arms.
-Ahem! The Young Lady cleared her throat and spoke.
“Turn off the lights and close your eyes.”
With a small smile, I followed the Young Lady’s words.
The lights went out.
Click-clack. The Young Lady began stacking chocolates on a plate.
It looked like she was making a cake.
Squinting slightly, I watched the Young Lady take chocolates out of her pocket with satisfaction.
“Don’t open your eyes.”
“Yes.”
“Seriously, don’t open them.”
“I won’t.”
The Young Lady smiled contentedly.
Rustle. Rustle. The sound of the wrapping paper being torn echoed. It didn’t seem to come off easily, as the Young Lady let out a loud “Heek! Hoo-aah!” while tearing the wrapping paper.
Sniff. She wiped her runny nose on her dress.
And then wiped it again on her dress.
She didn’t look like a Noble Lady.
It seemed like she was almost ready.
She placed candles on the cake made of chocolate, cleared her throat, and prepared herself. Through squinted eyes, I caught a glimpse of the Young Lady.
The Young Lady said I could open my eyes now.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Although the morning sunlight streamed in through the curtains, the fluffy atmosphere hadn’t disappeared.
A cake made of crushed chocolate and gloves caught my eyes. The Young Lady, smiling brightly, looked more beautiful than ever.
The Young Lady placed the plate on the bed and held the prepared gift in her hands.
“Are these gloves?”
“Yes. It’s winter now. If your hands get cold, they’ll hurt.”
Yellow mittens with chick embroidery. It was the Young Lady’s thoughtful gesture for the winter.
The Young Lady began putting the gloves on my hands.
The cautious touch of the Young Lady’s clumsy, cold hands felt strangely comforting.
It was warm.
And cozy.
While putting on the gloves, the Young Lady spoke to me.
“It’s late, but happy birthday.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you something expensive.”
The Young Lady lowered her head and spoke to me.
I shook my head and replied.
“To me, it feels more valuable than 1 Million Gold.”
“…It’s worth 1 Gold.”
The Young Lady was unnecessarily honest in such moments.
The gloves started warming my hands. As fluffy emotions welled up in me, my chest felt warm.
After about three minutes.
The Young Lady, who was putting on the gloves, made a strange sound.
“Huh…?”
Hup! She let out a shout of spirit and looked down at the glove stuck on the back of my hand.
The glove was too tight and couldn’t be pulled on any further.
The Young Lady looked at me with teary eyes, sniffling with her runny nose and trembling nostrils.
“Is it too small…?”
I said with an awkward smile.
“It fits perfectly.”
“Sniff…! Don’t lie…”
The Young Lady cried.
Blaming the Honorable Maid who had bought the wrong size.
“Waaah!!!”
She was sobbing uncontrollably.
I thought to myself.
How could anyone hate such a Young Lady?
***
The Academy training grounds.
Mikhail, his silver hair fluttering, was sparring in a duel with Hanna and spoke.
“That sword… it looks good.”
Hanna chuckled and said.
“It’s a gift.”
Thinking about the assignment due in a week, Mikhail asked Hanna.
“Can I borrow that sword for a moment?”
Hanna chuckled and said.
“Get lost.”