Chapter 7: Kind Girl
“Sir, we finally found her.”
“So late! Where is she?”
“She bought a ticket to Courdieu.”
Upon hearing the name of the town, Mr. Nizea jerked his head back and exclaimed, “To such a rural place!” He had been arguing with his wife day after day, but when Mr. Nizea brought up the topic of divorce, his wife finally became quiet. However, Mrs. Nizea still didn’t know that Mr. Nizea’s intention to part ways was not just a threat, but a genuine decision.
“Bring her back! We must be ready and make preparations by then.”
The butler, Raven, replied humbly, but as soon as he left the room, he sighed heavily in exasperation.
“Sorry, Lucille,” Raven muttered quietly, but his words were drowned out by the bustling footsteps of the busy servants, with no one else hearing them.
‘Laundry items are here.’
The following week, one morning, there was a white lump in a basket with a note attached. Since Sensei’s clothes were all black, Lucille figured that it surely wasn’t a piece of clothing.
“Oh, it’s the bedsheet.”
Lucille decided to wash it immediately as soon as breakfast was over. Since it’s been warm everyday, it should dry very quickly. The laundry is supposed to be placed in the designated basket, and that’s how it’s been done. But she had a thought that she should actually do it like that.
If she makes a note with the object needed for her chore, Sensei would bring it the next day. When she saw pillowcases in the basket, she couldn’t help but laugh. However, what bothers her is that Sensei does the process of bringing them there himself.
If it were her, she would very much love to clean the room, change the sheets, and even ventilate the room if she were allowed to, but since he dislikes it, there’s nothing that she could do.
The second floor is Sensei’s personal space. It is an unspoken agreement and rule that it is a forbidden territory to go to. Early on in her stay there, as she was about to go upstairs with cleaning tools in hand, Sensei appeared as if he knew what she was going to do. He held out his hand in front of her and gestured to her to stop and said, “No need.”
It may just be right to handle it as he wanted since he’s stubborn but since Sensei follows her instructions whenever she puts up notes such as placing the sheets in the laundry basket, then he’s probably not completely eccentric.
“This trait of his is rather cute,” Lucille muttered. She is very much glad that she’s starting to gradually understand how Sensei is.
One day, after finishing cleaning the house and hanging the laundry, she picked wildflowers from the garden to arrange in a vase. When she returned to the living room, she arrived there to find it different from usual.
“…!!” Lucille was shocked.
Sensei was lying on the sofa, which should normally be unoccupied, in the living room.
‘Huh!? Eh!?? What’s going on!?’
Though it shouldn’t really concern her where the homeowner should be or what they do, she couldn’t help but worry since Sensei always follows the same routine. She was genuinely worried. After all, he never stays on the ground floor during the day.
Lucille cautiously moved to the side and looked at him from a distance. Sensei had his eyes closed while his arms hung weakly over the edge of the sofa.
“——!”
An unpleasant scene came to mind, and she instinctively approached the sofa.
“Sensei…!”
As she called out, Sensei slightly opened his eyes and frowned, his expression showed extreme displeasure, “What is this hand?” he asked.
“No, no, I mean…”
Sensei avoided her hand that she had brought closer to him to check if he was breathing, and looked as if it was a tremendous inconvenience to him. He sat up abruptly and gave her a piercing stare.
“You thought I was dead,” he said in a low voice, making Lucille flinch.
Feeling awkward, she looked away. She even checked his breathing, and he was definitely right.
Ignoring her position, Sensei got off the sofa and stood up. Lucille wondered if he had found her behavior foolish. She looked back at Sensei heading towards the stairs and saw him bend down to pick something up.
“Ah…” What Sensei was holding in hand was the bunch of wildflowers that she unconsciously had let go of.
When he silently offered her the flowers, she reached out both of her hands to take it.
“To you, I must seem like quite an old man,” he remarked.
.
“…….”
He said that statement in a calm manner and went up the stairs as usual. As for Lucille, she couldn’t move from where she stood. Sensei’s words earlier pricked her heart.
‘I’ve been terribly rude…’
“Master!!!”
“Oh no, Master!”
“Someone, come quickly!”
Before she knew it, she noticed that the flowers in her hand were wilting.
Sensei, who came down for dinner that day, remained his usual self. When Lucille bowed her head to apologize, he stopped her and that was the end of it. His straightforwardness left her with a mix of emotions. She felt partly grateful and apologetic at the same time.
Even the next morning, she greeted him with mixed feelings.
“There was a time where I found my former master collapsed in his mansion.” Lucille said.
“That must have been worrying.” Cortez responded.
After she finished her chores, Lucille hurriedly went to the Chamber of Commerce for an escape, wanting someone to listen to her excuses since Cortez was empathetic and willing to lend an ear.
“So, were you alright at that time?” Cortez asked.
She shook her head at his question and her expression tightened, “The master is gone, and his wife said that she’ll be moving to her daughter’s house. So, I was dismissed…Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to burden you with my personal troubles.”
“No, don’t worry about it.”
In this town, only Cortez and Mr. Theo are people she can talk to about such matters. When he said that, she then took advantage of his kind words and stayed a little longer.
“I understand why you were so worried about Sensei then.”
“You understand, right? It’s really tough when you fracture your femur.”
Cortez couldn’t decide how to respond and managed a wry smile, “Though, Sensei is a magician after all.”
“I’ve never seen him use magic though.” Lucille commented.
As their conversation gradually turned into casual talk, the cat by the window, who seemed to be listening to them, curled up and let out a bored, big yawn. Lucille felt somewhat refreshed after talking to someone.
When she returned home, she found the glass door in the living room open. She was sure that she had it closed before she left, so it must be Sensei who opened it.
“I’m back…” she said in a soft voice as she walked through the front door. When she entered the living room, she found Sensei sprawled out on the sofa, as expected. The gentle breeze coming in from the glass door felt pleasant. She snuck a peek at him and barely managed to suppress her laughter.
‘Sleeping’
On the low table beside the sofa was a note with a glass paperweight containing pressed flowers placed on top of it
‘Sensei…’ She couldn’t tell whether he was asleep or awake, but beyond it she felt pleasantly relaxed. Careful not to disturb him, she tiptoed back to her room. Sensei’s mischievousness made her face soften subconsciously.
The next day and the day after, the teacher left a note on the table saying “Sleeping,” and spent about an hour on the couch during the daytime. Lucille couldn’t help but wonder if Sensei had been holding onto that time when she was checking for his well-being, but she may perhaps be overthinking it. Most likely. Probably.
While he was sleeping, she decided to work in the field behind the house so as to not disturb him.
“He probably enjoyed spending time there on days when the wind feels nice.”
Lucille had only considered the sofa as something casually placed there before, but it seems it was a place of relaxation for Sensei. She was happy that she was able to get to know him a little better.
Anyway, it is very much up to him how to spend his whole day whether to stay in his room the whole day or relax on the couch like that.
“Please take your time~” Lucille murmured and let out a voice that she didn’t intend on saying out loud. Then, she quickly hid among the overgrown crops in the backyard.
After a while, she’ll go and bring him a cup of tea to wake him up from his sleep.
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