Chapter 9
The words came out abruptly, but there was a tremor in the child’s eyes.
“Lunch time has already passed. Are you perhaps hungry?”
While Isabella fumbled in embarrassment at Claire’s reaction, Claire simply waited in silence for the child to continue speaking.
Avoiding her gaze, Isabella muttered under her breath.
“I don’t eat lunch. I have breakfast and dinner, so if I eat lunch too, I’ll get fat like a pig.”
At those words, Claire’s calm expression broke.
“Only… two meals a day?”
This was outright abuse of a growing child.
Isn’t it basic to eat five meals a day during growth?
During her own growth years, when her appetite had been at its peak, Claire—true to her bear beastkin nature—had possessed a tremendous appetite.
Even the mountains of food Angela had brought her every month had not been enough, and she had supplemented her meals by hunting and gathering herself, always eating to her fill.
To Claire, hearing that Isabella—who was already so small—only ate two meals a day was a huge shock.
Perhaps sensing Claire’s disbelief, Isabella added a few more words.
“That’s enough. If I eat more, I’ll get fat.”
“Pardon? Fat? Did you just say fat?”
Claire’s face twisted further, as though she had heard something absurd. Disregarding propriety, she carefully scanned Isabella from head to toe.
Where exactly was there any fat on those thin, fragile limbs?
Judging from what she was saying, the condition of her breakfast and dinner must have been just as poor.
“Who told you such a thing, young lady?”
“I already know what I need to know.”
As if unwilling to continue the conversation, Isabella firmly shut her mouth.
She turned and walked toward her room. Through the open door, the room looked neat, but it felt bleak for a young noble lady’s quarters.
As Isabella entered and reached for the door to close it, Claire watched her with lowered eyes.
If she left it like this, Isabella would likely spend the night alone, drained and exhausted, waiting for morning to come.
Just like Claire herself had once done in a cabin during her childhood.
“Lady Isabella.”
Claire gently placed a hand on the door before it could fully close and opened it again.
“Would it be alright if I prepared your lunch for you?”
At those words, Isabella puffed out her lips and pushed against Claire, trying to force her out.
“I said I don’t need it! Get out!”
Of course, Claire did not budge. She ignored the child’s feeble strength and continued speaking.
“I can bring it in secretly. And I’ll clean it up afterward, of course. I’m sure it will be delicious.”
“I’m not some kind of food monster!”
“Food monster?”
For a moment, Claire’s expression turned cold.
Realizing her mistake, Isabella clamped her mouth shut.
“Who said that to you? Was it that person earlier?”
Isabella’s face went pale. Her previously fierce expression vanished, and she glanced nervously at Claire.
Claire immediately understood that her suspicion had been correct.
Deciding not to press the frightened child further, she took a step back.
“Lady, I’m not angry.”
Claire made an effort to soften her voice as much as possible.
“I simply wanted to prepare your lunch. The young master has been eating properly and growing much stronger, after all. Does it seem strange that he is gaining weight?”
At that, Isabella shook her head vigorously.
“No!”
“Exactly. And it’s the same for you, young lady. I just want you to be healthy and happy.”
Those words brought to Isabella’s mind the image of Claire carefully wrapping cloth around her injured foot earlier.
The only person who did not shout at her, who met her eyes directly.
A flicker of hope appeared in Isabella’s eyes—but it quickly faded.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll just end up like the other nannies. They all did. All of them.”
Tears welled up in Isabella’s eyes. She blinked, and one tear after another fell to the floor.
She reached out and pushed Claire out of the doorway.
This time, Claire allowed herself to be pushed back by the child’s hands.
She could not say that things would never change. In the end, she would leave once she saved enough money. But still…
“Lady, if you ever get hungry or need help, tie a cloth to your window frame. I will check every day.”
Perhaps she could at least give this child, whose heart had closed off in suffocating fear, a small place to breathe.
Am I being selfish?
Even Claire found herself unfamiliar with her current feelings.
She had simply not wanted to see a child guarding a lonely room alone, and before she knew it, she had said all this. Perhaps it was memories of her own past overlapping.
The door slowly closed as Claire was pushed away.
Just before it shut completely, a small voice slipped through the gap.
“…Start bringing lunch from tomorrow.”
Thud.
With those words, the door closed.
The sky was overcast.
Claire sniffed the air outside the window and said as she closed it,
“It’s going to pour. It’ll probably rain through the night and only stop around noon tomorrow.”
“You can tell that just by smell…?”
“Usually, yes?”
“…Hah.”
A normal person might be able to guess that rain was coming from the scent in the air, but not how long it would last.
Theodore blinked weakly, too exhausted to even argue. His whole body still felt drained after a recent episode of madness had swept through him.
“It’s a pity we can’t go to the garden.”
Claire looked up at the heavy sky with dissatisfaction.
A proper meal, followed by a walk under the sun—her ideal recovery routine had been ruined.
Tomorrow it will still be chilly after the rain. Then we’ll start walking again the day after. I’ll bring Lady Isabella’s meals during the young master’s nap time as usual.
As she adjusted her schedule in her mind, Claire naturally added Isabella’s meals to her plans.
It had been two weeks since Claire began sneaking into the annex to speak with Isabella.
Since then, she had never once missed bringing the girl a meal during Theodore’s rest time.
She’s slowly lowering her guard. Kind of cute, actually.
At first, Isabella had been horrified at Claire climbing up to the third floor by tree. Now, a small shadow that appeared at the window every lunchtime had become somewhat endearing.
Good thing I managed to win over the cook.
Though “win over” was closer to “coerce.”
After what had happened in the food storage, it hadn’t been difficult to secure extra meals for the child—just one additional portion was enough.
Feeling satisfied with her own efficiency, Claire took out a chessboard.
“Shall we play again today?”
“Yes.”
Another small change had become part of her daily life with Theodore.
And surprisingly, it had been Theodore who suggested it first.
“Care for a game of chess? It’s boring just staying in the room.”
She hadn’t known the rules at first, but the sight of Theodore awkwardly presenting the chessboard had been oddly cute, so she had learned diligently over the past four days.
She still stood no chance of beating him, but chess had turned out to be unexpectedly enjoyable.
“Take back your move.”
“One must accept the result.”
“You flipped the board last time.”
“That was because of an episode!”
“Even the result of flipping the board must be accepted.”
Theodore clicked his tongue in frustration and relented.
It had already been three months since Claire arrived at the Boltaire household. As time passed, their conversations had become more casual.
“Checkmate.”
“Ah.”
Claire lost again.
She accepted the result calmly and reset the pieces.
“One more game?”
“Yes. I’ll play black this time.”
Just as they were about to reset the pieces—
Tap. Tap.
A light tapping sound came from the window, followed by the sudden roar of heavy rain.
“It’s coming down hard.”
“Should we collect the water?”
“Rainwater?”
Theodore turned his head from the window, looking at Claire in confusion.
“Yes. Where I come from, water often became scarce during dry seasons when streams dried up. So on rainy days like this, we would place out buckets and collect rainwater.”
Claire looked at the downpour with a faint sense of regret. With this amount of rain, they could have stored two weeks’ worth of water in one go.
Ah, well, I guess it doesn’t matter here.
Still, it felt wasteful.
As Claire lingered in that thought, Theodore’s expression darkened.
Come to think of it, I know almost nothing about Claire.
