Chapter 76
At my response, Hoyeon and the children couldn’t say a word. I simply smiled and stroked Rodi’s hair. Like a cat, Rodi rubbed his face against the folds of my skirt.
Before long, Cloen was the first to grumble.
“Do you know how worried we were?”
“Really?”
When I asked back, Cloen gave a big nod. Then, pouting his lips, he muttered in a small voice.
“I thought the Director was going to die.”
“Right. That’s why Cloen cried, isn’t it?”
“W-wait… Ren! That was supposed to be a secret…!”
“Oh? So Cloen cried? Were you scared I might die?”
At Ren’s words, I teased in a sly tone. Cloen pressed his lips tight shut. His face was flushed as if it might explode.
After a moment, Cloen mumbled in a tiny voice.
“You’re the only guardian we finally got… If you’re gone, we won’t be able to live anymore.”
His attachment to me and his fear of loss were written plainly on his face.
And it wasn’t just Cloen. Idy, Ren, even Rodi all clearly showed how much they had been worried.
Each of them carried the wounds of abandonment, and so they feared being left alone again.
Looking at them with pity, I deliberately put on a cheerful tone.
“You worried for nothing. I’d never disappear and leave you all behind.”
The children looked up at me.
“By the way, where’s Jack?”
“He’s in class right now,” Hoyeon answered.
Checking the time, I realized the lesson would soon be over.
‘I’d better finish my walk and return before then.’
I still intended to go out for a stroll, so I quickly set off.
I barely managed to stop the children from following me, but there was no stopping Hoyeon.
“Ah, finally I can breathe.”
Once outside, I took a deep breath of air, letting out a long exhale. It felt like the tightness in my chest had been cleared away.
“You should go back in quickly, or your cold might relapse.”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
Since Hoyeon was so worried, I couldn’t stay out for long and returned inside.
“Oh, class just ended?”
I ran into Leonard, who was coming down the stairs. His face lit up when he saw me.
“Are you feeling better now? I was really worried when I heard you collapsed.”
“Yes, I’m completely fine now. Thank you for worrying.”
Answering energetically, I looked past Leonard to see Jack standing behind him.
“Jack, it’s been a while.”
I greeted him warmly, but Jack just stared at me in silence. Was it just me, or did his complexion look bad?
I wanted to ask out of concern, but Leonard cut in first.
“Shall we go inside? The tournament schedule has been announced.”
“Ah, yes.”
Even though Jack was on my mind, I couldn’t keep Leonard waiting, so I went with him to the Director’s office.
After offering him a seat, I sat across from him. Soon, Hoyeon came in with tea: green tea for Leonard and ginger tea for me.
I took one sip and quickly set the cup down as the spicy flavor burned my throat. I felt bad for Hoyeon, but ginger tea just wasn’t to my taste.
“In any case, I’m glad you’ve recovered. After you collapsed, Jack couldn’t focus on his lessons at all.”
“Jack?”
Surprised, I asked, and Leonard nodded.
‘Jack was like that?’
Come to think of it, he hadn’t looked well earlier.
Honestly, it was unexpected. Sure, we’d grown closer, so it made sense he’d worry about me, but Jack was usually so good at separating personal matters from his studies. I never thought it would affect him in class.
“The tournament date has been moved up. Since the ‘Lishan’ week is coming soon, they probably want it finished before then. Things get hectic at the palace during Lishan.”
Lishan. The word rang a bell.
Once a year, during a week-long total lunar eclipse, monsters go berserk. That phenomenon was called Lishan. The week of Lishan was when the nation mobilized to subjugate them.
During that time, defense had to be reinforced, and no public events were held to keep the troops focused.
So the tournament had been rescheduled earlier.
“When is it being held?”
“In two weeks, at Sberadi Palace.”
‘As expected, it’s in the palace.’
Since the royal family was hosting, I figured the venue would be the imperial palace, but it was still frustratingly predictable.
“I was worried Jack wouldn’t be ready in time if he kept fretting about you, but now that you’ve recovered, it’s a relief. By the way, it seems colds are going around. Even His Grace caught one.”
“His Grace?”
“Yes. He’s usually very healthy, but he must have caught it somewhere. He was bedridden for a week.”
“Ah…”
A sudden thought struck me.
‘Wait, don’t tell me he caught it from me…’
But that had only been a dream… hadn’t it?
‘That wasn’t a dream?’
Then when he brushed back my hair…
—“No, rather, seeing Your Grace’s face makes me feel like I’m getting better.”
—“Your Grace, you’re cuter than I thought.”
—“May I… hold your hand?”
—“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep again?”
‘Aaaah! I must have lost my mind!’
The flood of memories made me want to writhe in embarrassment, but I held myself back.
If Leonard hadn’t been here, I might have thrashed around enough to break the bed.
‘Sure, I wasn’t in my right mind because of the fever, but still!’
Just how baffled must the Duke have been? I almost tried to imagine it, but quickly stopped. I couldn’t handle it.
“Is something wrong? You don’t look well. Are you sure you’re fully recovered?”
“No! I’m fine. More importantly, is His Grace better now?”
“Yes, much better. Even while sick, he kept trying to work, so I had to stop him.”
“I see. That’s good to hear.”
At least he was better now. But still—if he really caught it from me…
“Then I’ll file the recommendation letter today. Also, on the day of the tournament, a guardian must accompany the student. Will that be all right?”
“Of course. That’s fine.”
Naturally. My child’s first tournament—I had to be there.
When I agreed readily, Leonard smiled in satisfaction.
After seeing him off, I returned to the office to catch up on my backlog of work.
On the way upstairs, I ran into Jack.
“Ah, Jack.”
He stopped at once at my call and looked down at me.
“Director.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Jack spoke.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes. I heard you worried about me a lot.”
“……”
Jack didn’t answer, just turned his head in embarrassment. A moment later, he nodded slowly.
“It was frustrating. I couldn’t do anything.”
“I’m sorry I made you worry.”
When I spoke kindly, Jack looked straight at me.
“Please… don’t get sick again.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t want you to be sick.”
“Ah, okay.”
His unusually serious face threw me off for a second, but then I nodded just as seriously.
“I won’t make you worry again.”
Jack gave a small nod and went upstairs. Watching his retreating figure fondly, I headed back to the office.
Now that I thought of it… how was the Duke doing?
‘Ugh, I can’t stop thinking about it.’
After a long moment of hesitation, I finally pulled out the new stationery and pen I had bought. I dipped the nib in ink and carefully pressed it to the paper.
Scratch, scratch.
The quiet room filled only with the sound of pen on paper.
“All done.”
After finishing the letter, I sealed it neatly, entrusted the orphanage to Hoyeon, and headed out to town.
He scolded me for going out again so soon, but when I promised to be back quickly, he reluctantly let me go.
In town, I bought ginger tea and honey. The honey was to soften the harsh taste of the tea.
Then I went straight to the post office and addressed the letter to Duke Creymon.
I wanted to deliver it in person, but…
‘After saying all that, how could I face him properly?’
I might die of shame first.
Leaving the post office, I walked back with light steps.
Hopefully, the letter would reach him well.
“Your Grace, Miss Peyrunt has sent you a letter.”
Dietrich, who had been working, looked up at those words. His complexion didn’t look very good.
Seeing this, Rick asked in a worried tone.
“You still have a fever. Please don’t push yourself so hard.”
“This much is nothing. More importantly, give me her letter at once.”
“Yes, yes.”
When had His Grace ever listened to him anyway?
With a grumbling attitude, Rick placed the newly arrived letter on the Duke’s desk.
Immediately, the Duke set his pen down to check it.
Rick couldn’t hide his disbelief. No matter how much persuasion he had tried, the Duke hadn’t let go of his pen while sick—yet now, he’d put it down so easily.
