CHAPTER 35
This Is Unfair
“This won’t do.”
Ehilie rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.
“We need to start by cleaning right away.”
“You may leave the cleaning to Hesend, so please rest in your room, Emilie.”
“How is Hesend supposed to clean this huge mansion all by himself?”
“There is also Tusi.”
At his calm reply, Emilie was left speechless.
Rek was kind and good at heart, but sometimes his thinking went strangely off track.
“The mansion ended up like this because it was too much for the servants to manage. Living in a place like this is bad for your health.”
And he’s already frail enough.
“Where are the cleaning tools?”
Rek frowned slightly as if he could not quite remember.
Gabriel answered in his place.
“I believe I saw them where I was staying.”
“That’s good. Mr. Gabriel, could you guide me there?”
Emilie followed Gabriel.
They arrived at their destination after walking through the chaotic corridor.
“Cough! This isn’t a room, it’s a storage room!”
It was a storage room filled with swirling dust.
Rek stood proudly before what was clearly a warehouse.
“It is a room.”
“In what way does this look like a room?”
“It is inside the mansion, so it is a room. I even laid out bedding so one may rest comfortably.”
“…Bedding?”
No matter how she looked, there was nothing that resembled bedding.
Ehilie pointed at the tattered blanket strewn across the floor.
“Don’t tell me you’re calling that bedding?”
“Yes.”
Ehilie let out a deep sigh.
“Rek, even if you don’t like Mr. Gabriel, making him sleep in a storage room is too much.”
“Emilie, I believe there is a misunderstanding.”
“Your Highness, what are you doing in front of the storage room?”
Herond appeared at that moment and sealed the matter.
Rek’s lips twitched.
“See? It is a storage room.”
“Yes, it is.”
Rek finally admitted it.
“Prepare a proper room for Mr. Gabriel, understood?”
“As you wish.”
In any case, Ehilie succeeded in securing a proper room for Gabriel.
***
“Rek, my path has completely burned down, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. Regrettably so. Ehilie, how about staying here for the time being?”
Ehilie decided to remain at the mansion for now.
If I return, Cain’s men might come again.
That night.
As she prepared to sleep early after a long day, Rek, freshly showered, naturally sat beside Ehilie.
Water droplets slid down from his still damp hair.
Transparent drops trailed from his neck to his collarbone and further down his chest.
He wore only a bathrobe loosely around his lower body.
His smooth chest and sculpted thighs were fully exposed.
Calm down. He’s a patient. A patient.
Ehilie swallowed dryly.
“Rek, you should go to sleep now.”
“Yes, Ehilie. You must be tired. Let us sleep.”
Rek naturally moved to lie down on the bed.
“Not here! You should go to your own room.”
“Is that not why I placed it here?”
“…This was your room?”
“Yes. It is my bedroom.”
No wonder this room alone was clean.
Ehilie sprang to her feet.
“Fine. Then I’ll ask Herond for another room. Good night.”
“Wait, Ehilie.”
Rek caught her wrist.
“Do not leave me here alone.”
He looked up at her from the bed.
His red eyes trembled desperately.
But this time she did not give in.
“Since this is your room, I should be the one leaving.”
“You always stayed by my side before.”
“That was because there was only one bed. This mansion has plenty of rooms.”
Rek looked as though he had lost the world.
***
Redemberg Lu Edeltein was thinking seriously.
He considered what sweet words he might use this time to coax Ehilie.
Convincing a human with words was easy for a cunning demon like him.
He had prepared dozens, hundreds of excuses in his mind.
Yet the moment soft lips touched his forehead, everything went blank.
“Ah, um, good night!”
Ehilie hurried out after the brief kiss.
The door clicked shut.
Redemberg Lu Edeltein let out a low laugh.
“This is unfair, Emilie.”
It was merely a kiss on the forehead.
And yet he found himself completely shaken.
***
The following days were busy.
Emilie cleaned the mansion every day with Herond.
Rek and Gabriel also helped.
“Rek, go rest. You’re a patient.”
“When my wife is cleaning, how can the husband remain idle? Household duties should be shared.”
He’s keeping up that married couple act even here.
“Mr. Gabriel, you should rest too. You’re not fully recovered.”
“Ah, I actually enjoy cleaning!”
With four people working together, the mansion slowly began to look livable.
“Rek, where is Herond?”
“If you mean Herond, he is right here.”
“No, not Mr. Herond. I mean the crow, Herond.”
“He has been staying in the forest behind the mansion.”
“What? In this cold?”
The north of Cameldot is freezing.
Even standing still feels like flesh might fall off.
“He was born and raised in the north. He is wild by nature.”
Emilie remembered how the crow had calmly eaten food on a blanket in the cabin.
“He is perfectly healthy. His feathers are thick, so he does not mind the cold. He dislikes staying indoors.”
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Then I should go see him.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Now.”
Snowstorm raged outside.
“Rek, may I go see Herond?”
“Yes, Emilie. Let us go.”
Herond the butler turned pale.
“Your Highness, perhaps after the snow stops?”
Mr. Herond must be sensitive to the cold.
“Then Rek and I will go. Mr. Herond, please rest.”
“Yes. I will accompany Ehilie, so you remain here.”
Leaving behind a flustered Herond, Emilie began preparing to go outside.
