Chapter 314
Chapter 314
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ashley's Midnight Routine
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Camellia spent a pleasant time with Grace and Ella, who had come to visit the Rose Territory.
Her loyal maid slowly managed the Rose villa, while Rozalin enjoyed her contemplative daily life back in her hometown.
That was roughly the routine in the Rose Territory.
During the day, everyone enjoyed their time like that, and at night, after it got late, they savored intimate moments with Camellia before falling asleep.
Life in the Rose Territory wasn't much different from life back in the Leonhardt Mansion.
"Yawn...."
And that applied just as much to the woman with sky-blue hair who was now slowly rising from the bed.
"You're up a bit early today...."
Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she glanced at the clock, where the hour hand had already passed 1.
A time when everyone else was asleep.
She was the only one who had opened her eyes at such an hour.
Just like always, Ashley's schedule was the complete opposite of everyone else's.
She fell asleep when everyone else woke up in the morning, and she rose when everyone else went to bed at night.
Of course, there were times when she slept or woke regardless of that.
But generally, Ashley's sleep pattern was entirely reversed from others'.
"I'm hungry...."
Wrapping the blanket she had been using over her shirt, she shuffled barefoot toward the door.
If it were daytime, she could have asked someone else for food.
Unfortunately, it was now the hour when most of the servants were asleep.
"...Light."
With just that soft murmur, a small flame flickered to life beside her.
Like the flame of a candle, it illuminated her surroundings.
Yet it followed her without burning the blanket draped over her.
Shuffle, shuffle—her small footsteps echoed repeatedly down the hallway.
No other sounds came from anywhere.
"Yawn...."
Even after sleeping for hours, she let out a yawn.
No matter how much she slept, her drowsiness rarely vanished completely, so it was only natural.
She simply made her way slowly down the hallway and stairs to the first-floor kitchen.
There, Ashley began pulling out prepared ingredients with practiced familiarity.
Bread, ham, lettuce, eggs, cheese, and the like.
Ingredients perfect for making a sandwich.
Once she had them out, just like in the hallway,
"Fire."
She uttered the same incantation to activate her magic.
But this time, it was entirely different from before.
Not a small flame, nor a cool one without heat—this was a blaze large and hot enough to cook and burn.
She placed a pan on it and began heating it up.
Once the pan was sufficiently hot, she added the ham.
"...I'm hungry."
Even though it was hard to tell if her eyes were open or closed, she continued cooking with skill.
It would have been incredibly difficult for her in the morning.
But at night, it was different.
In the dark kitchen, relying on the small flame beside her and the fire under the pan, Ashley kept cooking.
Slowly, steadily.
She placed the cooked ingredients between slices of bread.
"Done."
Her first meal of the day was complete.
As always, Ashley's first meal came not in the morning, but in the early hours after midnight, just past one.
She tended to take very long naps during the day, so if she didn't eat at this time, she might truly collapse.
Even at an hour that would worry most women, she didn't mind much.
"...Nom."
After finishing her cooking, she tossed the pan roughly into the sink and sat down somewhere convenient to devour the sandwich with relish.
If Camellia saw her like this, she would surely call her cute and praise her.
But now even Camellia was asleep.
Ashley knew Camellia would stay up with her if woken, but she deliberately chose not to.
Her lifestyle was entirely her own whim, but she was well aware of how much Camellia yielded to her every day.
That's why.
"...Hngh."
After lightly eating the sandwich, she stretched her back long and straight, listening to the cracks from her spine as she stood again.
It was barely 2 a.m. now.
It would be another five or six hours before anyone else woke.
........
In that situation, Ashley headed outside the villa.
To the garden of the Rose Mansion.
"There are so many roses here...."
She muttered in her usual flat tone, without much variation in pitch.
It was a comment while gazing at the Rose family's rose garden.
Even Ashley, who was usually unimpressed by such things, found the roses here noteworthy enough.
"But a garden with only roses is kind of meh."
As she wandered slowly, murmuring to herself, Ashley gently touched the roses.
From red ones to quite a variety.
Just like the family named 'Rose,' the garden was filled entirely with roses—nothing else.
And Ashley didn't care much for that.
After all, most of the gardens she had seen so far were those of the Leonhardt Mansion.
Since leaving the Magic Tower and living outside, Ashley had stayed continuously at the Leonhardt Mansion.
The garden there, which she had seen from her late twenties onward after leaving the tower, was quite diverse.
Vibrant flowers in spring, neatly trimmed green lawns in summer, beautiful fallen leaves and ginkgo in autumn.
The Leonhardt Mansion's garden was routinely changed by Camellia, so that was natural.
"If Camellia takes over this place next...."
She touched a wilting rose and plucked it lightly.
Then tossed it into the grass.
"From there to over there, it would be fine to tear it all up, right? Yeah, Camellia would probably like that too."
She imagined a redesigned garden in her mind as she spoke.
Leave a few roses, fill it with more vibrant flowers Camellia liked, add a small pond.
"Yeah, that sounds good."
Lost in such thoughts, she continued her stroll.
Still wrapped in her blanket.
*
"Yawn...."
By the time morning came, Ashley entered Camellia's bedroom.
Casually, naturally.
She climbed onto the sofa beside the bed where Camellia slept quietly and lay down, yawning widely.
It wasn't yet time for Camellia to wake, and she preferred this room over her own, so there was no hesitation.
........
Lying still on the sofa like that, for a long, long time.
Soon, rustling sounds came from Camellia's bed.
Back at the Leonhardt Mansion, Lize usually woke her first, but since coming to the Rose Territory, Camellia had been rising a bit earlier.
Probably around Lize's waking time.
Ashley knew well that Camellia woke at such an early hour.
After all....
"Teacher, good morning?"
"Mm...."
"Gonna sleep more?"
"Mm...."
Lately, they had this exact conversation every morning.
When the half-asleep Camellia opened her eyes, she couldn't help but see Ashley lying on the sofa.
They had repeated it for days now.
It was only natural.
"Yawn.... The weather's gotten so warm lately. Want to go on a picnic? Not morning, afternoon."
"If Camellia goes... yeah, sounds good...."
"Heehee, shall we?"
Perhaps pleased with the response.
Camellia began stroking Ashley's tousled hair.
Ashley didn't resist the touch at all.
A familiar sensation from long ago, far in the past.
A touch that was chilling yet pleasantly thrilling—Ashley simply enjoyed it, her lips curving slightly upward.
"When... are we going?"
"Hmm.... Probably around lunchtime. We'll pack tasty things and spend time outside in the warmth together. I don't have anything to do today either."
"Mm, got it."
"Want to sleep a bit more till then?"
"Yeah."
As they talked, Ashley's body, lying on the sofa, slowly began to float.
A strange sensation, not easy to get used to.
Even feeling her body lift by some invisible force, Ashley didn't resist.
It was a magic she had experienced often, even before Camellia entered the academy—long ago.
Camellia rarely showed her magic openly, so she didn't use it much.
But for Ashley, it felt like Camellia's signature spell, experienced so frequently.
"Then, Teacher, I'll wake you a little later. Sleep comfortably till then?"
"Yeah.... You too... yawn...."
Before long, from the sofa, Ashley was transferred to the bed Camellia had just been sleeping in.
Onto the pillow, under the blanket, on the bed.
And in the room, she inhaled the scent as she settled in comfortably once more.
As always.