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Chapter 7
“……I slept so well.”
I sat up and blinked my eyes slowly. I slept so deeply without dreaming, it felt like I had passed out. Whoa, what time is it anyway?
Let’s see.
I rubbed my eyes and looked out the window.
Judging by the sun, is it about time for lunch?
‘So a person can actually sleep until this hour.’
Well, of course a person could sleep this late.
I just never thought that would ever apply to me.
My commute between home and work used to take five hours back and forth, so to avoid being late, I had to wake up and get ready by at least five in the morning.
That meant preparing to go to work and making breakfast.
Neither my brother nor my father would even touch a meal unless it was freshly cooked rice and freshly boiled soup.
Even after becoming Hermia, I was forcibly woken up every dawn on the pretext of having to attend early morning prayers.
“……”
I blinked slowly under the sunlight streaming through the window.
It feels warm and lovely.
So this is what leisure feels like.
Grumble.
How long had I been basking in the sunlight? My stomach, which had been starving all day yesterday, went on strike, and at the same time, another desire began to creep up.
‘I want to wash up.’
The moment I felt safe, my body began to itch.
After being trapped in a filthy attic all day yesterday, I ended up getting covered in dirt and dust from blowing up the mansion at the end, didn’t I?
In fact, I fell asleep last night without even washing my face!
‘A shower—no, I need to at least wash my face first.’
I raised my body carefully so as not to wake Veloa, who was still fast asleep.
Let’s see.
What was I supposed to do to call a maid?
Is it this? This one? Ah, it’s this one!
“Did you call for me?”
When I rang the bell resting on the table, it wasn’t long before the maid who had guided me here yesterday knocked on the door.
“I would like some washwater, please. For both Veloa and me. Could I ask for warm water? Ah, and also clothes to change into.”
‘I can’t keep wearing this.’
I had rolled around on the dirty, dusty ground so much.
The dress that was a bright cream color when I stole it from my half-sister’s closet had turned gray.
“Understood. I will bring it right away.”
Her tone sounded a bit cold, but she seemed to be a very kind person.
‘Well, this is Archduke Leandro’s household where Veloa, the female lead of a childcare novel, resides.’
It makes sense that there are only good people here.
Well, even if a few strange folks are mixed in, that’s just something I need to root out now.
‘Since I’m here anyway, I should clean things up nicely so that neither Veloa nor Archduke Leandro experiences any problems.’
Only when the bond between Veloa and Archduke Leandro becomes as tight-knit as in the original story will Veloa suffer less shock when I leave.
“Veloa.”
I gently shook Veloa, who was still sound asleep.
“You should wake up now. The sun is high in the sky. Let’s get up, wash, and go eat.”
I shook the child a few times, but Veloa didn’t budge at all.
What is it?
It felt too strange to just say the child was in a deep sleep.
If I shook like this, there should be at least a small toss and turn.
Could it be?
It was right when my heart felt like it was going to drop.
“Ooo?”
Veloa barely opened one eye and looked at me.
“Awoo.”
As if asking not to be woken up, the child snapped their head away and buried their face into the pillow.
“Phew.”
Thank goodness. The child wasn’t sick.
“Veloa.”
I shook Veloa again. In my heart, I wanted to let the child sleep deeply in a comfortable place until satisfied, but…
‘We still have to wash up and eat.’
I felt the same way, but Veloa hadn’t eaten proper food yesterday either.
At best, all the child had was a piece of bread I packed and half a cookie eaten at Archduke Leandro’s mansion.
“Let’s get up. Let’s get up, wash, and go eat. I’ll ask for those cookies you ate yesterday, too.”
“Oo.”
Only after being woken up several times did Veloa blink with a scruffy face. Though the child barely sat up, their face looked as if they would fall back asleep the moment their head touched anything.
“Aww, you got up! Aww, good job!”
Just as I was showering endless praise to keep Veloa from falling asleep again…
Knock, knock.
“Excuse me. I brought the washwater and the clothes to change into that you requested.”
The maid pushed a silver trolley and entered the room.
On the silver trolley were two porcelain bowls that looked like washbasins, along with a pitcher, two sets of clothes to change into, and towels.
‘Is that enough water?’
I stared at the pitcher and spoke up.
“The amount of water in the pitcher seems a bit lacking, will it be okay?”
“It is fine. It holds much more than it looks.”
“Still……”
“Is the water temperature acceptable like this?”
Before I could continue speaking, the maid pushed the washwater toward me.
What is this uncomfortable feeling?
“Please check it once. I warmed it so that it is not too hot for the young master.”
It was just as the maid said. For an adult like me, it was slightly lukewarm, but it seemed to be just the right temperature for three-year-old Veloa.
“Yes, it’s just right. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Giving a bright smile, the maid began preparing the rest of the washwater.
In the meantime, I walked over to Veloa, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed nodding off.
Oh my, your head is so heavy.
“Veloa, come on, let’s wash up now. Splash splash. I taught you last time, right?”
“Oo-ung……”
With eyes half-closed, Veloa nodded politely. I picked Veloa up and set the child down in front of the prepared washwater.
“Now, what did I say we should do first?”
“Eeee.”
Veloa diligently rolled up their sleeves just as taught. However, as if it wasn’t going as desired, wrinkles formed on the small face.
How many minutes had passed like that?
“Hya!”
Having rolled up the sleeves, Veloa raised both arms as if boasting.
Hmm.
The moment those arms go down, they’re going to slide right back down.
“Good job!”
I quickly adjusted Veloa’s sleeves and secured them with a hair tie.
Because Veloa was so thin compared to peers, I intentionally brought smaller clothes, but the sleeves were still far too large.
“What did I say we do next?”
“Poo-poo-poo.”
Veloa rubbed their bare face as if washing it.
Good, good. Remembering accurately.
“Alright, let’s try it now.”
I pushed the washwater toward Veloa and said:
“Poo-poo, you can do it well, right?”
“Ung!”
Veloa nodded. Both eyes were shining brightly as if already having mastered face washing.
Great. Shall I wash my face now, too?
“Awoo.”
As I stood before the washwater and rolled up my sleeves, Veloa suddenly tugged at my skirt hem.
“Oo.”
A small finger pointed at the floor. When I lowered my gaze, the hair tie that secured the sleeve had fallen to the floor, having come undone at some point.
“Wait, why did this…”
“Ah!”
The moment I bent my waist to pick up the hair tie, a scream was heard. What is it? What’s going on?
Raising my head quickly, the scene I saw was…
“No.”
The maid stood frozen in flustered shock.
“Euaaa.”
And Veloa was curled up, holding their own hand tightly. The tiny body was trembling uncontrollably.
“Veloa, what’s wrong!”
I quickly checked Veloa’s condition. The small hand, which had been completely fine just a moment ago, was dyed red.
As if burned.
‘Burn.’
The moment that word crossed my mind, I plunged my hand directly into the washwater.
“……!”
It was scalding.
The washwater was boiling hot, to the point that even an adult like me pulled my hand out immediately in shock.
This isn’t the water I just checked a moment ago.
“Th-that, why is that over there…”
Behind the stammering maid, the trolley came into view.
There were two pitchers sitting on it.
The one I saw.
And another one cunningly hidden between the towels and the change of clothes.
Ha.
‘First, cold water.’
I quickly looked around. A flower vase placed on top of the fireplace caught my eye.
Running over immediately, I pulled out the flowers and placed Veloa’s hand into the vase.
First aid was done.
“Help!”
There wasn’t even time to pull the bell rope.
“Is anyone outside?!”
I raised my voice. In a grand mansion like this around noon, someone would surely be walking around the hallway.
“What’s going on…… Oh my goodness!”
My assumption was correct. On top of that, luck was on my side. The person who opened the door and entered was Mrs. Salisbury, who had welcomed me and Veloa yesterday.
“Mrs. Salisbury, please take Veloa! The child’s hand is severely burned!”
“Yes, yes!”
When I handed Veloa over, Mrs. Salisbury nodded quickly and immediately started running.
She must be heading to ‘her’, the mansion’s resident doctor.
Alright.
The urgent fire has been put out.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I slowly, very slowly closed the door.
Click. The sound of the latch locking sounded unusually loud.
Now, it’s just the two of us in this room, isn’t it?
I looked at the maid and smiled brightly.
