Chapter 113: The Cold (1) |
On the evening of our return from the capital,
After a hearty dinner, I looked over to Olivia, who lay demurely in bed. With her hands folded on her belly and wearing a white sleeping cap, she counted the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on the ceiling with bright-eyed curiosity.
"One star. Two… Three… I'm hungry again."
-Blink, blink.
"Please go to sleep now."
"I'm not sleeping."
"It's late."
"I'm not sleepy."
Olivia was adamant about not sleeping. She declared a break-up with drowsiness, her eyes brightly defying the night, claiming it wasn't trying hard enough to put her to rest.
-Blink, blink.
"Is there something on my face?"
"You're ugly."
Affronted by her impudent attack, I flicked her white forehead lightly enough to make a ‘snap' sound.
A ‘ugh' escaped Olivia as she feigned pain. Satisfied with her reaction, a smile appeared on my lips.
Rubbing her forehead as if she had grown an extra head, she shrieked dramatically. I sighed and demanded a retraction of her previous statement.
"Where else would you find a handsome butler like me? Apologize."
"There are many. Therefore, I won’t apologize."
"Ha! Your forehead seems unusually broad today. It's nice to have a large area to flick."
I threatened with a finger primed for another flick. The daunting gesture made Olivia squeeze her eyes shut and wail.
"Eeeek! Spare me!"
She frantically covered her face with the blanket, and a small smile leaked from me.
"Pfft…! Please don't turn a kind butler into a bad person."
When she was younger, I used to threaten her with becoming as short as a yodeler if she went to bed late. However, since the harsh reality that growth plates are a limited edition product for teenagers dawned on her, that particular threat lost its effectiveness.
‘I want to get her to bed quickly.'
I wanted to rest due to a hint of a cold coming on.
And sleep imbalance is not good for health.
I whispered into Olivia's ear with a weary voice, urging her to sleep soon.
"Aren’t you tired? You were nodding off in the carriage."
"Hmnya… That wasn't me."
"Then who was drooling on my shoulder while sleeping?"
"A ghost."
"If you keep joking, a maiden ghost will appear in your dream tonight."
"Yikes."
Apparently frightened by the mention of ghosts, Olivia scrunched her brow and buried herself in the blanket. The outline of her face peeking out from under it coaxed another quiet laugh from me.
Having had a throbbing headache since earlier, seeing Olivia's cute antics seemed to bring my fever down a bit.
Olivia peeked out from under the blanket and glanced at me sneakily.
"But I still can't sleep."
"What if a closet door slowly opens in the middle of the night and a ghost comes out?"
"That's…"
Olivia looked away, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Then she smiled sheepishly and naively confided in me.
"Ricardo will catch it for me."
"I'm scared of ghosts too."
"Eek… Ricardo, you coward."
"Puha…! Still, I will do my best to catch it. If I fail, you'll have to sleep with me."
"I don’t want that. You snore."
"Better than ghosts, isn't it?"
I smiled and stroked Olivia's hair. As each fluffy strand passed through my fingers, a tender smile spread across my face.
"Ugh… I'm not a puppy."
"It feels nice to touch because it's fluffy."
"Eek! Stop it…!"
Olivia frowned and flailed her hands. Despite her vehement protests that I should pet Gomtang instead, I playfully messed up her hair.
"Eh… I shouldn't have worn the hat."
She sighed at the sleeping cap that had fallen under the bed, looking at it pitifully.
"That’s why you should sleep."
"Hmm…"
Olivia shook her head stubbornly, refusing to sleep. She seemed elated not to be overcome by post-meal drowsiness for once.
"I'm not sleepy. I feel like I could stay awake all day."
"I'd rather you refrain from such horrifying declarations."
"Why?"
"Because overtime work is the scourge of society."
…
Olivia pouted her lips in displeasure.
"Is looking at the prettiest face in the world considered overtime work?"
The villainess-like Olivia unabashedly made such brazen statements.
But since there was no argument against the truth, I closed my mouth tight.
Because it was a fact that Olivia was beautiful.
Even without my rose-colored glasses, Olivia was an exceptional beauty. Her dignified looks were enhanced by the charm of her treasure pouch. Although it was annoying to hear such shameless words from her own mouth, it was an undeniable fact.
However.
"I'm also handsome. Handsome enough to live off my face."
"Pfft."
"What's with that laugh? It's unpleasant."
Olivia smiled mischievously, covering her mouth with her hand. She opened her crescent-moon-shaped eyes and shook her head.
"Ricardo. Drawing a line on a pumpkin won’t make it a watermelon."
"Where did you learn such an exquisite phrase?"
"‘Father, You Shouldn't Do This!' The fallen daughter-in-law said this to the abandoned mother-in-law."
"…?"
"Why? It's a wholesome philosophy book."
"…?"
Since her birthday incident earlier this year, I had rigorously censored her readings, yet it seemed some salacious material remained. I shook my head and pulled out the forbidden book from the table beside Olivia's bed.
"This is confiscated."
Olivia spread her hands wide and shook her head in despair.
"No…! It's my mentor!"
"We can do without such a sly mentor."
"Eek… Taking away what you gave is the worst thing in the world."
"Did you also learn that from this book?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Burn it."
Olivia clenched her fist and let out a sullen sigh.
"Don’t burn it… It's precious."
"Don't you have other books?"
"It's the book you gave me."
Wow… that's cheating.
As Olivia wriggled her fingers with a dejected look and whispered sweetly, a smile nonetheless escaped my lips.
"Ahh… No."
I was already feeling feverish from the cold, but now, after hearing Olivia's shy confession, my head felt like it was about to burst. Memories of ‘Hawawa…' sighs from my past life crossed my mind.
I couldn't help the foolish smile that was spreading across my lips.
"Alright. But only if you sleep now."
"Mhm."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
As soon as she promised, Olivia closed her eyes and lay down, pouting her lips as if offended, and turned over.
"Are you angry?"
"Don’t know."
"Don't be upset. I get upset easily too."
"Hmph!"
Olivia, apparently intending to announce her pique to the whole neighborhood, hummed indignantly. To soothe her, I sat quietly beside the bed and whispered softly.
"I will give you a tour of the manor tomorrow."
"I’m upset."
"You'll be surprised to see the remodeled manor. I’ve also created a room filled with things that you will like."
"What is it?"
I grinned mischievously and kept my lips sealed.
"A secret."
"Ugh…"
"If you don't sleep now, you'll have to wait a week to see it."
"That’s despicable."
"It's a known fact that the ugly ones are typically despicable."
"Eek… That’s true. I'll forgive you."
The curiosity on Olivia's face rekindled a conversation, and I smiled as I gently stroked her hair.
"Well, I shall take my leave."
"Mhm. Goodbye."
"Sweet dreams, Miss Olivia."
As I mustered a ‘Eusha!' to rise from my seat,
-Catch.
A sudden tug on my sleeve from Olivia's hand stopped me.
"Ricardo."
"Yes?"
Half-covered by the blanket, Olivia addressed me with concern.
"You're not sick, right?"
"?"
"Your face is really red."
I touched my hot cheeks and tried to maintain a casual look. There’s no need to worry. I’ll be fine after some sleep.
"I think it's because I saw the most beautiful miss in the world."
Her laughter at my playful reply made Olivia ask again with a smile.
"You're really not sick, are you?"
"My eyes hurt a bit."
"Why?"
"Because the halo around Miss Olivia is too dazzling."
"Giggle…"
With a pleased smile, Olivia waved at me.
"Don’t get sick."
"I always eat well, unlike Miss Olivia, so I’m always healthy."
"Eek!"
"Sweet dreams."
After turning off the room lights, I touched my burning forehead and headed to my own room.
"Dizzy…"
Thinking I’ll be better after some sleep, I moved my weary feet.
***
As the next day dawned,
Olivia, as always, played the morning bugle towards the sky. She wished for Ricardo to come quickly from the next room.
And she hoped her curiosity about the morning menu would be sated soon.
With the morning sunlight greeting her, Olivia shouted cheerfully towards the manor ceiling.
-Air raid warning!!!
Olivia's voice echoed through the quiet manor.
Just one more minute, and Ricardo would open the door to her room.
Olivia watched the door with her lips twitching slightly in anticipation.
‘When will he come…?'
One minute passed.
Then three.
Even after ten minutes, the door remained unopened.
A perplexed Olivia muttered to herself.
"Huh?"
No one came to find Olivia.
