Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Children's Escape
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Five days had passed since I regained consciousness.
If counting from the day I fainted, it had been just under two months.
That meant I'd been out cold for a full month and a half.
When I opened my eyes, the marsh marigold field outside the window had already bloomed into a sea of yellow flowers. It was warmer than usual this year.
...How infuriating!
It had been a blanket of white snow when I closed my eyes, but now it was a flower field. The sensation of time stolen from me hit me after so long.
In the past, I'd been grateful just to wake up once or twice a year, but people never know contentment—now even a single month felt regrettably precious. My life, sliced away just like that...!
My sullen expression must have shown.
Mayches, who had taken the bowl from Doria and was feeding me soup, looked sad as well.
"I should have used magic to stop them from blooming."
"No need for that..."
I was currently eating in Mayches's room. It had a better view of the garden than mine.
Mayches said he'd rearrange the structure within two days so I wouldn't have to worry, but that only worried me more.
I needed to regain some sense of normal standards...
Doria, robbed of her duty by Mayches, sat on the sofa fiddling with something, crafting it.
The day I fainted and was carried in on Mayches's back, Doria had sobbed as she reset the placard to '000'.
[Lady Aiel has been eating well and living healthily for the 153rd day!]
And on the day I woke, as Doria wiped my face with a cloth, her eyes welled up and she frantically rang the bell on the wall—the one that summoned the family head himself—ting-ting-ting without pause.
Mayches, who had been pulling an all-nighter handling backlog paperwork over the break, rushed over with red-rimmed eyes.
It had been ages since I'd seen that.
The comfort of things that didn't change with time washed over me, and the placard started counting from '001' again.
Doria said she never knew her own temperament was so hasty.
"Starting over from 1 feels off somehow. I've already seen up to 153, after all."
She wasn't the only one who'd realized her impatience.
I was the same.
In my case, it wasn't because of the placard.
"My condition... All that hard-earned health I built up...!"
The moment I set foot on the floor, my joints ached dizzyingly, and my sense of balance made it feel like the ground was swallowing me.
Thanks to that, I knew now. My health had vanished like dust.
To my dazed self, Mayches hooked his pinky with mine and promised to put in even more effort.
And as part of that boost, he was now spoon-feeding me nutritious restorative soup.
Maybe because of what happened before I fainted, but it felt like he was hovering even more...
"I wanted to do all sorts of things with you this winter break..."
I knew Mayches had been looking forward to the break.
Let's do this, that, oh yeah, that too—we'd made so many plans since the semester started.
But because I fainted, only two weeks of break were left, and my health was halved.
"Sorry. I hope you at least enjoy the remaining break, Brother. Hang out with your friends or..."
Mayches gave a dry laugh.
"Friends? I don't have any, Aiel."
Huh? He didn't faint, so why was he regressing to his lone-wolf phase?
As I tilted my head, someone knocked on Mayches's door.
"It's Grenji."
"Come in."
But Grenji didn't enter alone. Trailing behind him like sausages on a string were several people as he boldly opened the door.
Mayches rarely used magic indoors.
His eyes darkened slightly, and the door slammed shut with a bang.
Then, click—the lock engaged perfectly.
But the lock clicked back, and the door opened again.
Grenji stood beside it, chuckling with a keyring in hand.
Calipan quickly grabbed the doorknob.
"Bro, we weren't being nosy or anything—we were just trying to help. Why keep doing this?"
"Grenji. I said those busybodies are banned from entering."
Grenji bowed his head, feigning dejection.
"I have no power, my lord Count. They say this isn't a personal visit."
Mayches glared at his weasel-like butler, then ran a hand through his ash-gray hair.
"Is that so? Let's hear it."
But his expression was set to rebuff whatever they said.
To such a Mayches, Bamper pulled a rolled-up paper from his pocket.
Protected by magic, it was pristine, uncrumpled and unstained.
"Count Rudelriz. Spring is already here, isn't it?"
Bamper untied the deep green ribbon and unfurled the paper.
He held the neatly spread document right in front of Mayches's eyes.
I sneaked a sideways glance at it.
[Ilenaias Third Kingdom Agreement: Four Seasons Blessing Parade]
Ah, the Seasonal Encouragement Speech!
Sure enough, the bag Yan held looked unnaturally bulging.
Exactly like it was stuffed with Puppy Tickler.
Seeing Yan with it, they must have rigged something after all.
Mayches couldn't dismiss the edict stamped with the emperor's seal.
In the end, he let his friends in, and behind him, butler Grenji smiled contentedly.
I was rolling around on Mayches's bed.
Honestly, this seemed a bit rude even for the second daughter of an ordinary household, let alone a noble lady.
But it had only been five days since I woke up, so sitting for long was impossible.
Today's quota for "sitting endurance and health" had been used up while eating earlier.
So at first, I tried to leave.
"I think I need to lie down... I'll head to my room."
But Mayches insisted the ones who should leave were mistaken and started shoving his friends.
Daluh, looking exasperated, pushed Calipan forward.
"Your little sister is great, but your manners suck, bro."
Calipan stood firm against Mayches's pushes and chimed in.
"Yeah, aren't you embarrassed in front of your sister?"
Sensing another round starting, I quickly soothed Mayches.
"No one needs to leave this room. Including me, Brother."
And so I settled on Mayches's bed.
Then took on the role of the quiet little sister watching her big brother play with his friends.
At first, it was embarrassing to burrow into the covers in front of them, but they acted so nonchalant that my sense of propriety gradually lowered.
Now, I was lounging like a total bum, munching on the snacks Doria brought for snack time.
Calipan, sitting at the corner of the square table, peered at my snack like he was observing it. He furrowed his brows.
"What's this, Mayches bro? Give her something to dip it in at least."
"It's fine. She's picky because of her health."
"No way..."
I wished they'd stop fussing over me and just get on with Puppy Tickler already.
As I waved my hand again to dismiss it,
My eyes met Jayhan's exactly.
He'd been gazing out the window at the sea of marsh marigolds until just now—I didn't know when he'd turned to me.
His languid red eyes seemed to emanate a serene spring aura.
More than that, he looked like he'd dragged the entire fresh grassy scent of spring in with him. His face sparkled as always.
"Like flowers?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I do."
Even with the sudden topic shift, his face made it sound contextual and natural. I answered readily.
"There's a garden no one visits."
"A garden?"
"It's warming up now, so the camellias are gone, and red pansies and purple magnolias are blooming. Deer come sometimes, but they won't hurt you."
As I gazed up at Jayhan, his face seemed tinged with amusement.
"You can come play."
Before I could react, protests erupted from Mayches's friends.
"Oh come on... Oh, come on. That garden you always came back from smelling like camellias?"
"Whoa, Jayhan bro...? You always played dumb when we asked to know?"
"Dude, Jayhan... Wow... You're seriously disappointing..."
"Futile, futile. Did we ever tell you friendship was like that?"
But I was just as shocked as they were.
Was the place Jayhan meant the 'glass pavilion garden'?