Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Sweet Dreams, Miss.
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Knock knock knock.
Tail asked in a soft voice.
"Miss Cecilia? Are you there?"
He waited a moment for a reply, but none came.
As the silence stretched on, Tail grasped the doorknob and turned it.
Creeeak.
'Huh?'
The knob turned smoothly.
'The door's unlocked?'
He cracked it open just a sliver and peered inside.
Thanks to the blackout curtains, the room was pitch black, unlike the bright outdoors.
It felt like stepping into a realm of night.
"Miss Cecilia?"
As he called out softly, he sensed movement from within.
Tail pushed the door wider and stepped into the tent.
In the dimness, the faint outlines of furniture emerged.
The eerie atmosphere made Tail flinch.
'Ha... I wanna go home.'
He sighed deeply to himself before speaking again.
He figured he should at least introduce himself since he'd barged in unannounced.
"Miss Cecilia. The Duchess sent me..."
Before Tail could finish, a sharp voice cut through.
"Get out!"
"...Pardon?"
It was a crushed, raspy voice.
Startled by the sudden outburst, Tail froze in place. Then came rustling from the shadows.
"Miss Cecilia?"
As Tail called out again, he vaguely sensed something flying toward him from the distance.
Before he could react, it smacked right into his face.
Thwump!
The soft yet thudding sensation was a pillow.
But her assault didn't end there.
A barrage of objects began slicing through the air toward him.
"Get out! I said get out!"
It was a voice thick with fury.
Clothes, papers, pens, wooden scraps—everything came hurtling at Tail.
By now accustomed to the dark, Tail dodged them with ease.
'She's got quite the armory.'
He thought to himself as a doll whizzed past his side.
'Fine, at least I'll get a look at her face before I go.'
He needed to know who his client was, after all.
And then, through a gap in the blanket draped over the corner, he spotted a girl.
She had deep purple hair and crimson eyes gleaming with intensity.
Her disheveled hair framed eyes sharpened with murderous intent and rage.
"I said get out!!!"
As Tail gazed at Cecilia, a clock came flying and struck his head.
Thwack!
"Ugh."
A burning sensation spread across his scalp, and Tail let out a short groan.
Something trickled down his forehead—blood, no doubt.
Cecilia looked shocked, as if she hadn't even realized what she'd thrown.
But she stayed huddled under the blanket, staring at him with wide eyes.
'That's enough.'
Poking further would just make her more prickly and feral.
They'd both gotten a glimpse of each other—that was harvest enough for now.
Seizing the moment while she was stunned into stillness, Tail bowed his head quickly.
"My apologies for barging in, Miss Cecilia."
He said with a faint smile.
"I'll come back tomorrow."
With that, Tail slipped straight out.
Cecilia watched him silently as he retreated, until the door clicked shut behind him.
Once the room settled back into complete darkness and silence, she yanked the blanket over her head.
The space fell quiet again, as if nothing had happened at all.
Tail emerged from the tent.
The Duchess stood waiting out front, having apparently arrived while he was inside.
She frowned slightly at the sight of him.
"Why are you out already? I specifically told you that you could heal her."
Her distrust was palpable in her tone, and Tail let out a short sigh.
"Madam. Have you tasked anyone else with this before me?"
She nodded curtly at his question.
"Of course. When my daughter's so heartbroken, it's only natural for a parent to try everything."
Tail sighed inwardly at her confident, matter-of-fact response.
It was classic behavior for a mother whose child had been deeply wounded.
Of course, such actions were hardly beneficial for the children involved.
Kids who'd shut down from trauma typically burrow into their shells.
It's an instinctive act, their way of finding safety and protection.
Forcing one out like that would only upset them more.
Tail took a deep breath to explain as simply as possible.
"Hoo-haa."
Then he looked at the Duchess and spoke slowly.
"The young miss is making it clear right now that she has no intention of communicating with outsiders."
He continued in a clear voice.
"If I kept pressing her, ignoring her will, how do you think she'd feel?"
"W...ell."
The Duchess furrowed her brow, clearly not grasping it.
"It's like pounding stubbornly on the door of a locked house."
"Ah...!"
Understanding dawned, and she let out a short gasp.
Until now, everyone had probably just tried to drag the child out.
They pitied the kid trapped in the dark.
But that ignored the child's own wishes.
In the end, she had to step out on her own—not be pulled out by others.
'And that won't happen overnight.'
It'd take at least three months, maybe half a year.
Tail continued his patient explanation.
"The right approach with the young miss is to knock politely, respecting her situation."
He gave the Duchess a faint smile.
"So please, trust me and give it time."
"Miss, have some red bean buns!"
Today, as always, that guy showed up right on cue.
The one who disrupted the quiet of her room.
Cecilia flinched at the light seeping in from beyond the door.
He noticed and quickly shut it.
The guy had uncanny perceptiveness.
Every evening at 6 p.m., without fail, he entered this dark space.
No matter how much she yelled, threw things, or screamed, he came at the same time every day. It left Cecilia quite flustered.
But since he never ventured past the shoe rack even after entering, she chose to ignore him.
"These are the local specialty, red bean buns. I'll leave them here."
He set down the basket of buns with a cheeky grin.
A delicious aroma tickled her nose.
Her mouth watered, but Cecilia turned away sharply and pulled the blanket over her head.
She was resolute: no talking.
But he just chuckled, unperturbed.
"Sweet dreams, Miss."
He was gone within minutes of arriving.
Wishing her happy dreams.
Pleasant ones.
Cecilia clenched her fists.
'Happy dreams, my foot.'
It was all pointless.
Just tricks to lure her out.
She scowled fiercely.
'I won't fall for it.'
He was surely just here on his mother's orders.
No one truly understood her.
'Never. I won't give in. Ever.'
She reaffirmed it inwardly, murmuring to herself.
'Never.'
Her eyes wavered unsteadily as she said it.
6 p.m.
Tail headed toward Cecilia's tent as usual.
'Wonder if she's still hovering by the shoe rack today.'
Any further, and she'd erupt like wildfire, so this was the safe limit to avoid provoking her.
The silver lining: at first, he'd get chased out the moment he entered, but lately, he'd been staying longer.
From one minute to three.
Three to five.
By the end of the first month visiting Cecilia's tent, it stretched to ten minutes.
'If that's progress, it's progress.'
Her tolerance for outsiders was growing—that was good.
'But she still won't talk.'
A full month in, and Cecilia hadn't uttered a word.
She'd withered away, barely eating and sipping water at best.
'Of course, as a mana user, she won't die from this...'
Still, when those fear-filled eyes stared at him from her gaunt frame, something twisted in his gut.
What had hurt this child so badly?
What had sealed her lips shut?
Her wounds ran deeper and wider than he'd imagined.
Her eyes brimmed with distrust toward people.
For some reason, it tugged at his heart.
Lost in thought, Tail knocked on the tent door.
"Miss Cecilia, it's Tail. Coming in."
He opened the door familiarly.
Creeeak.
The heavy darkness blanketing the large room hit him first.
By the shoe rack sat a basket full of stale red bean buns.
The ones he'd left yesterday.
'Hasn't touched a single one again.'
Tail picked up the cold basket.
And set down a fresh one brimming with steaming buns in its place.
He smiled brightly toward the corner.
Not yet adjusted to the dark, he couldn't see, but Cecilia was surely curled up there, watching him.
"Miss Cecilia, brought red bean buns."
The room remained deathly silent.
Undeterred, Tail pressed on.
"How was your day?"
No reply, as always.
Tail smiled as if he hadn't expected one and was about to continue when...