Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: A Summer Cold
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Spending the summer was exhausting, as expected.
Every day, I only ate cold things like ice cream or shaved ice with Lize and Rozalin, and wore light, breezy clothes, but it was still so hot.
Of course, even so, it didn't feel like the heat was properly relieved.
That's why I had no choice but to eat even more shaved ice diligently and enjoy the cool breeze from magic as much as possible.
Yeah, there was no helping it.
"Cough... cough...!"
"...Camellia, are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
...I did catch a cold, but I had no regrets.
After all, it was hot.
Honestly, in that sweltering state, I thought it was the best, the optimal, the maximum choice I could make.
Lize always scolded me for it, but honestly, I was satisfied.
"Cough!"
"Um..."
"Sigh..."
"You look like you're in a lot of pain..."
"It's not that bad... keh..."
Lots of coughing, though.
Anyway... it was fine.
For now, at least.
"You know... Lize told you not to overdo it..."
"...It was hot."
"Sigh..."
Hmm.
Today, hearing Rozalin's sigh felt somehow embarrassing.
Of course, it was definitely my fault.
Still, enduring the hot weather... nothing beat shaved ice for that.
Yeah, no helping it.
Lying alone in bed, coughing away, that's what I was thinking.
"Ah..."
No matter how I thought about it, eating shaved ice had been fine...
Probably, in my opinion, it was because I kept sleeping without covering myself with a blanket every night.
If just eating a lot of shaved ice and ice cream could cause a cold like this... I would've gotten it days ago already.
Yeah.
Hmm.
How long do I have to stay in bed like this?
"Lize, how long do I have to stay like this?"
Rozalin had left the room, leaving just Lize and me, so I asked that.
"Young Lady."
"...No, I don't mean it like that, I'm just curious... Do I have to stay like this for about a day...?"
"Sigh..."
Rozalin had sighed, and now Lize sighed too.
Hmm... Was it that pathetic?
If it were anyone else stuck sitting still like this... they'd hate it too, honestly.
"Cough...!"
"Young Lady, just... please stay lying down obediently. It's not good for someone who's sick to keep moving around."
"But... it's boring..."
Even on normal days, doing nothing was boring, but today it felt even worse.
I'd already been lying here for over an hour.
A wet towel was on my forehead, the blanket was fully covering me... sweat pouring out and all...
"Lize..."
"Young Lady."
"You're so cold today..."
The usual Lize definitely wouldn't have acted like this...
I wasn't some invalid; it felt excessive.
Just a bit of coughing, a slight dizziness, and lots of sweating, that's all.
Lize just sat motionless on the chair by my bed, doing nothing.
"Lize...?"
"Yes, Young Lady."
"Hand."
"...Yes."
Still... she gave me her hand.
Lize really was a good girl.
Though today she felt a bit colder... her hand was warm, so yeah.
"Lize... I'm hot..."
"...I'll wipe your sweat."
"Mm..."
"Young Lady, please sit up a little."
"Yeah... okay."
My head was a bit dizzy, but this much was fine.
As Lize said, I propped up just my upper body from the bed.
...Dizzy.
But compared to just lying still, this was much better.
The blanket had been suffocating me, and now without it, it felt liberating, I guess.
That was more comfortable.
"...Young Lady, I'll remove your top for a moment."
"Okay."
The door was closed anyway, and Lize was the same gender.
No need to be shy.
Though I was a little.
Lize proceeded to unbutton the shirt I was wearing, one by one.
It was much easier than me doing it with my dizzy head.
"Lize."
"...Yes."
"Untie my bra too."
"...Understood."
Unlike when I was little, I now had some chest to speak of.
Of course, wearing a bra was a given.
Though my size was still smaller than Lize's, but anyway, what I cared about wasn't my chest size—it was my height!
Anyway, after Lize unhooked my bra from behind, my body finally felt at ease.
"Haaah..."
"...Is it cool?"
"Yeah, super cool..."
I'd been sweating buckets under the blanket until just now, so it was only natural.
It felt really good.
"Whew... this is it..."
"...Young Lady, please wait a moment. I'll get another towel."
"Okay, go ahead."
I couldn't use the one on my head to wipe sweat.
I sent Lize off and savored a brief moment of...
Freedom...?
Liberation?
Something like that.
Honestly, it was so cool that I almost forgot I had a cold.
"...It's cooler than even when I'm not sick?"
Really.
Maybe because I'd been stifling in the constant heat and stuffiness, and now this coolness.
"Young Lady, towel... I got it..."
"Oh, you're back?"
I'd stripped down almost completely.
Well, not totally naked—I still had my pants on, and my top wasn't fully off, just draped over my arms and waist.
Sure, I'd removed my underwear too, so Lize could see everything, but anyway.
I'd been showing my body to Lize since forever, so no embarrassment there.
"...Then I'll wipe you down."
"Okay."
Lize said that, soaked the towel in water, wrung it out, and pressed it to my back.
"Hup..."
"...Is it cold?"
"No, just startled...?"
Something cold suddenly touched my back, and I let out a sound without thinking.
Hmm... this is embarrassing.
Anyway, Lize slowly began wiping my back.
It was cold, but as the sticky sweat came off, it started feeling cooler and cooler.
Honestly, being fully under the blanket like before was way too hot.
Yeah... honestly, I wanted to just stay like this, but Lize and Rozalin would definitely complain that it'd make the cold worse.
"Lize."
"Yes?"
"...Soup for lunch, right?"
"Probably. Madam instructed the head chef that way..."
"...No helping it..."
Honestly, I hated how bland it was.
But if Rozalin had already arranged it... no choice.
"...Ask them to add some meat."
"Understood."
"Yeah... and some seasoning too... not too bland."
"Understood."
Anyway, I rested with Lize's help.
Personally, I wanted to stay even cooler, just without clothes, feeling the breeze... but Lize said no.
She aired out the room, but I had to stay under the blanket resting.
After changing into a fresh shirt, once again...
"...Boring."
I was stuck lying still in bed.
...My head was dizzy, but it wasn't that painful.
"Lize..."
"Young Lady, stay still."
"...Okay. Okay, then give me those papers on the desk."
Even with a cold, I could look at papers.
Of course, they weren't just any papers—they were business documents—but same difference.
"...Young Lady. Just in case, but I don't recommend working while you have a cold."
"Psh, it's fine. See, I've got this cold towel on my head, and I'm sweating it out properly under the blanket, right?"
"...That's true, but."
"So, it'll be fine! Probably?"
It's not like looking at some papers would suddenly make my head explode in pain and make me collapse.
Yeah.
It'll be okay.
"Sigh..."
"Don't sigh so much. Okay?"
"...Sometimes, Young Lady, it feels like you don't think about yourself at all."
"Is it that bad...?"
I didn't think it was like that...
Anyone hearing would think I was some selfless person who cared deeply for others and helped them a lot.
Not at all—I was just doing whatever I wanted.
Even making money with business was just because it was fun, fun to earn and spend as I pleased.
"Hmm... Lize, pen too."
"Sigh... Young Lady."
"N-No! I just... wanted to circle a few things..."
...I felt wronged.
Really...
*
Anyway, after spending the morning in bed, I finally got a brief... very brief liberation from the blanket for lunch.
"Hehe..."
"Is it that good...?"
"It's so stuffy."
"Camellia... even if it's hot, you have to endure a little. Isn't a short stuffiness better than staying sick longer?"
"That's true, but..."
I'd been sure we'd eat downstairs on the first floor.
We always did for regular meals.
But contrary to my expectations... we ate in my room.
With Rozalin spoon-feeding me the soup, no less.
"...I'm not eight or anything."
"You're twelve, though."
"...This is too babyish."
"Our Camellia is still a baby, isn't she?"
"...Mother."
"Hehe."
"........"
I gave Rozalin a slightly displeased look, but she was right—I was younger than her.
Hard to argue back.
Anyway, unlike what I'd thought about eating on the first floor, we ate in my room, with Rozalin spoon-feeding me soup.
"Tasty?"
"...Not sure."
"It's the cold."
"...Yeah."
Maybe because of the cold, I couldn't taste it properly.
I'd thought since my nose wasn't completely blocked, I could at least taste flavors and smells.
But nothing registered.
There was meat, but even its flavor didn't come through...
"...It tastes bad."
"Then you need to get better quick, right?"
"...Yes."
Definitely... I needed to recover soon.
It was one of the little enjoyments in my daily life, and I hadn't expected to taste nothing at all.
...In this state, I'd probably taste nothing from shaved ice either—just the coldness.
"So, listen to Lize. Okay?"
"...Got it."
So, no helping it... I had to say that.
...Honestly, it was frustrating, but staying sick like this meant no soup flavor at all.