PTETD 10

chapter 10

Also, My Little Peach

As Ryan and Miren talked, time passed, and before they knew it, sunlight began to filter through the window of the room.

Although the weather had been cloudy for days, signaling the arrival of morning was unmistakable.

Ryan quietly looked down at Miren, who was in his arms.

Until dawn, he had been cradled in her arms, but now that she had fallen asleep, the positions were reversed—Ryan was holding Miren.

Being held wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

Only by holding her in his arms could he hope to quench the unrelenting thirst in his chest, even just a little.

As sunlight spilled through the clouds, Miren squinted her eyes.

“…Miren will wake up.”

Carefully withdrawing his arms so as not to wake her, Ryan suddenly chuckled.

Just a few hours ago, he had been terrified that she wouldn’t wake up, and his mind had been on the brink of madness.

But now, after seeing her awake for just a few hours, his heart had finally settled.

Still, she had been awake for a long time today.

It was the first time since they became a married couple that they had talked until sunrise.

Though, once again, they couldn’t have breakfast together.

Ryan rose from his seat, lowered the curtains to darken the room again, and silently headed outside.

Standing just outside the door was Maria.

“The Empress has fallen asleep again.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Make sure she gets her nutrition this morning. Today is also a day for her check-up. If the contents of her medicine have changed, report it to me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was the same order as always.

To avoid upsetting the Emperor, Maria bowed her head and replied calmly.

The Emperor, as far as he was concerned with Empress Edgar, disliked both over-involvement and neglect.

Everything had to be just right.

The Emperor demanded it.

The attention he gave to the Empress was for him alone; no one else could have it.

“Ah.”

Ryan paused as he was about to leave.

Maria, confused, lowered her head, and he asked with a low, amused voice:

“Did you teach her?”

“…I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’m not sure what you mean.”

From Maria’s bowed head, all she could see were Ryan’s feet.

From above, he spoke again, his voice tinged with amusement:

“Lovers are supposed to hold hands.”

“Huh?”

Hold hands?

Maria flinched, unable to understand his words.

Ryan, sensing something amiss, suddenly lost the laughter from his voice.

“Didn’t you teach her?”

“I don’t know anything about that, Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Ryan’s hand, which had been lowered, lifted Maria’s chin.

Meeting his gaze, Maria had to clench her trembling hands tightly, recalling the terrifying version of him from earlier that morning.

Ryan examined her eyes with an impassive expression.

Maria had to remain like that for a while, held in his grip.

Finally, as if surveying her, Ryan spoke:

“You say no?”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. As you know, during the day, Her Highness sleeps deeply. Due to her long-standing illness, she rarely wakes up. My attendants take turns guarding Her Highness’s room, but recently, she hasn’t awakened during the day.”

Maria reported calmly, and Ryan scrutinized her once more.

She couldn’t look away from his gaze.

Ryan’s pupils were so dark, devoid of light, that they sometimes looked like the eyes of the dead—truly frightening.

Finally, Ryan released her.

Maria, the most experienced of the Empress’s attendants, steadied herself as usual.

“The Empress has never woken up…”

“If she had, I would have known.”

Ryan chuckled lightly at that answer.

He eventually turned and left the Empress’s room.

“Gasp.”

Miren jumped up and looked around.

She recognized the familiar view of her attic room.

Realizing it was her room, she let out a sigh of relief.

Or rather, she tried to. She couldn’t relax because a tuft of white fur rested on her hand.

Startled, Miren jerked her hand back.

“…Hmm. You’re awake, huh.”

Only then did she realize that the white tuft wasn’t fur—it was Hegel’s long hair.

He had fallen asleep lying beside her bed, and his hair brushed against the back of her hand.

Having spent two nights with him unexpectedly, Miren frowned.

“Why are you here again?”

“What? Don’t you remember?! I saved you!”

“Oh, because I couldn’t swim, and you had to lift all the water, right?”

“Don’t remember unnecessary things.”

Hegel grumbled, turning his head sideways.

Ignoring him as usual, Miren stretched her legs to get out of bed.

At that moment, she lost her balance.

Hegel quickly caught her.

He toppled a chair behind him and grabbed Miren’s arm and waist.

“You drank a lot of water yesterday. Why not rest today?”

“I think you drank more than me, though?”

“Don’t remember unnecessary things!”

Miren laughed and freed herself from Hegel’s grasp.

Watching her stand on her own, Hegel felt a bit empty, and unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists, realizing it, and quickly released them before she noticed.

Miren, having taken care of her white socks, began preparing to leave.

“I’ve been busy these past few days helping Hegel with farm work piling up. Um, when will you go?”

“Hmm?”

“When… will you leave?”

Miren, heading out the door, glanced back.

Hegel quietly watched her.

Blinking, Miren asked softly:

“You said you’d leave as soon as you found the herbs.”

“I’ll leave. I don’t need to be told!”

“Ah, yes.”

Finishing her errands, Miren quickly headed downstairs.

Hegel muttered something in a sulky voice but followed her.

Miren had already greeted her parents and was heading outside.

Hegel, curious, followed closely behind.

She glanced back at him once, then focused on her path.

“Nothing interesting if you follow me. It’s just farm work.”

“I know that much.”

“Seems like you don’t?”

Muttering, Miren moved quickly to the field.

Far away, her father saw her and waved.

Miren nodded briefly and entered the field.

Her father had been cultivating the land alone, raising peach trees.

He had started when Miren was ten, making it fifteen years now.

At first, trees wouldn’t grow, or peaches would rot from pests, but he had gotten used to it.

Miren, who had followed her father to the orchard since childhood, knew the place well.

Peaches were sensitive to moisture and pests, so even slight negligence could ruin them.

The trees were now laden with ripe peaches. Miren began carefully harvesting them one by one.

Hegel, watching her, tentatively followed suit.

As he plucked a peach, Miren called out:

“Hegel.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a worm there.”

Hegel, proud of the peach he had harvested, looked at Miren.

Confused at first, he followed her gaze and noticed a caterpillar climbing up his arm.

“Ahhh!”

“Stay still! I’ll remove it.”

“It won’t come off! It won’t!”

“Yes, yes, I’ll take it off. Done.”

Miren reached out and removed the caterpillar from his arm.

Peaches, being sweet, often attracted worms, so it was normal.

Holding the caterpillar, Miren said:

“All done.”

“You… caught that barehanded?”

“Want me to give you gloves?”

“No, I couldn’t catch it even with gloves.”

Miren handed him an empty glove while keeping a peach on her arm.

Out of his sight, she quickly disposed of the caterpillar and returned.

Meanwhile, Hegel held onto the peach he had harvested, waiting for her.

He kept looking around nervously, fearing other worms might appear.

When Miren returned, Hegel immediately stayed close to her.

“Nothing stuck to my head, right? My back? It itches a bit.”

“No. You’re not a peach, so why would a worm stick to you?”

“Hmm, I’m very sweet, though.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ignoring him lightly, Miren continued harvesting peaches, with Hegel closely behind her.

As the sun began to set, they filled a basket, and she finally left the field.

Of course, Hegel was still close behind, with three peaches tucked into his arms.

“Ah, that was exhausting.”

“Farming isn’t supposed to be easy.”

“Right. Magic is easy, that’s why I like it.”

Hegel let out a short sigh and looked at Miren beside him.

Her face was flushed from the sun as she struggled to carry the basket full of peaches.

He had no intention of helping carry it.

Instead, Hegel snapped his fingers.

Miren’s heavy basket floated into the air and began moving on its own.

Seeing this, Miren turned to Hegel sharply.

“Do you want to try farm work? Wage is 100 silver.”

“One peach for 100 silver? You’re trying to hire me, Hegel Karner?”

“Can’t pay more. How much could I earn selling these?”

Huh! Hegel let out a hollow laugh.

Not even an annual salary negotiation, apparently.

A single ordinary magician in the imperial palace earned 9,000 gold weekly.

Selling 10,000 peaches would earn that much.

Miren boldly offered employment, letting him refuse if he wanted.

She started running after the basket, Hegel trailing behind.

“Hey!”

“Hegel, shall we go soon?”

“What? …We’ll leave tonight. Stop giving me the look, I’ll go on my own!”

Miren paused at the place where the harvested peaches were gathered.

She crouched and sifted through a few peaches.

Then she stood up and handed a small basket to Hegel.

“This.”

“What is it?”

“Today’s daily wage.”

Five peaches in total.

Miren smiled:

“Thanks for your help.”

“…You’re the only person in the world who would hire Hegel Karner for five peaches.”

“Then consider it a gift of thanks.”

“What for?” Hegel asked, puzzled.

Miren casually wiped a peach with her arm, took a bite, and replied:

“For saving me yesterday.”

Hegel’s eyes widened in surprise.

The reason was simple: Miren bit into the peach and smiled brightly at him.