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Chapter 14
“Young Master.”
“Where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?”
When I returned to the room carrying the sack Tilda had given me, Kallios asked without hiding his displeasure.
“There was something I needed to get.”
I shook the rattling bag and answered.
“What thing?”
“I’m about to show you, Young Master. But…”
I stopped speaking.
What if my guess was wrong? Then Kallios might have to suffer terrible pain.
“…There’s a chance this could hurt you, Young Master.”
“What on earth is it?”
I quietly set the bag down on the table. Stones clinked together inside.
“They’re mana stones.”
I explained.
“To be precise, defective ones leaking mana. After hearing what you said earlier, I thought of something. Mana is the power that allows magic to be used, right? It emits light, but its source is fundamentally different from sunlight or candlelight.”
Kallios listened more seriously than I expected.
Encouraged by that, I continued with growing confidence.
“So maybe… the light from mana stones won’t affect you at all, Young Master.”
Just from those words, Kallios seemed to immediately understand my intention.
“I think I get what you mean. Try taking one out.”
“Uh… really?”
His bold willingness to try made me hesitate instead.
Every time I opened the curtains before, I could still hear his screams of pain echoing in my head.
“Hurry.”
Kallios urged me on.
After hesitating, I reached into the sack.
Though Kallios had been acting calm, he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath before steadying himself.
“Then I’m taking it out, Young Master.”
I had a feeling that dragging things out would only torment him more.
I opened the bag at once and pulled out one of the mana stones.
There would only be one of two outcomes. Either a scream born from unbearable agony—
Or…
Silence filled the room.
One second. Two seconds. Three…
That brief moment stretched endlessly.
“…Ugh.”
Then Kallios let out a faint groan.
At the same time, my heart dropped.
“Young Master! Are you alright? I’m sorry—I’ll put it away right now!”
Pale-faced, I reached for the mana stone on the table.
“…Wait!”
But Kallios stopped me.
“I’m fine… It’s not because it hurts. It’s just… too bright.”
Ah.
Only then did I realize Kallios wasn’t writhing in pain.
He was simply dazzled by seeing light for the first time in so long.
“…I can see.”
After a moment, Kallios spoke in a trembling voice.
“I can see…”
See?
Then… did it work?
As if speaking from a dream, Kallios murmured:
“I can see everything clearly. The table, the room, and you…”
He stopped.
Then came the scraping sound of a chair being pushed back.
Kallios stood up and walked toward me, his clothes rustling softly.
Wait a second.
Come to think of it…
This had become an incredibly unfair situation, hadn’t it?
Until now, neither of us had been able to see each other.
Regardless of status, in that sense our relationship had been equal.
But now—
He could see me.
“Young Master?”
I called to him, but there was no answer.
What is this? Is he staring at my ugly face or something?
“Why aren’t you saying anythi—”
This time, I stopped speaking.
Because fingers lightly touched the tip of my chin.
Those fingers gently lifted my face, and soon a broad hand cupped my cheek.
“Um… Young Master?”
Why are you doing this?
Is seeing another person’s face after so long that fascinating?
“Haha… Young Master, tell me honestly now. My face isn’t that bad-looking, right?”
Trying to ease the awkward atmosphere, I joked without thinking.
Kallios replied calmly.
“…Fine. I’ll take back what I said about you being ugly.”
Huh?
Why admit it so easily?
Am I really that pretty?
For the first time, I became curious about what Lizzy Swan’s face actually looked like.
Heh.
“…Wait. What’s with that expression?”
“Huh? What expression?”
“You just looked ridiculously smug.”
“Well, Young Master, you stared at my face in a daze.”
Kallios, who had still been holding my face until then, suddenly let go.
He spoke in disbelief.
“Who said I was staring in a daze? And I never said you were pretty.”
“Yes, yes. I got it.”
“I’m only saying you’re not ugly.”
“Ah, I said I understand.”
Such an honest-to-a-fault fifteen-year-old.
Still, now wasn’t the time to tease Kallios.
Even at this moment, mana was continuing to leak from the stones.
Tilda had gone through trouble to get them—we couldn’t waste them!
I pulled out the remaining four mana stones and placed them on the table.
Then I asked:
“Young Master, how bright are the mana stones?”
“Not bad.”
“Bright enough for writing reports?”
“Yes.”
“The problem is… we don’t know how long they’ll keep glowing.”
Unlike me, who worried what if there isn’t enough time, Kallios answered calmly:
“Then we’ll start right now.”
He walked somewhere briefly before returning and setting something on the table.
Then came the clinking sound of stones dropping into glass.
“I put the mana stones into empty glass bottles. It really looks like a lantern now.”
Kallios sounded oddly excited.
It made sense.
After months, he could finally see with his own eyes again.
Imagining him happily holding up the glass bottle made my chest ache unexpectedly.
Doesn’t this make him look exactly like some poor scholar from the Joseon era?
The kind who studied by the light of fireflies because they couldn’t afford oil lamps…
Ah.
Why is this suddenly so heartbreaking?
* * *
When I first entered the ducal household as a maid, the very first thing I did was memorize the layout.
If I was going to assist Kallios, I needed to move around properly myself.
From my first day of work, I repeatedly went back and forth between Kallios’s bedroom, bathroom, and the hallways dozens of times, committing everything to memory.
However, there was one place excluded from that broad territory:
The young duke’s study.
Because the head maid had assumed Kallios would never use it again.
Well, who could have known?
Who would have imagined there was a way for someone suffering from light sickness to read and write?
“Wow, Young Master. This place smells completely like books!”
Standing in the study, I spread my arms wide and inhaled deeply.
In truth, commoners in this world almost never had opportunities to come into contact with books.
Who thinks about reading when they’re busy just surviving?
Besides, nobody here would believe a blind person like me could read.
But actually—
I was an enormous bookworm.
Before transmigrating, I used to enjoy audiobooks whenever I had free time.
Of course, I should clarify:
Most of them were romance fantasy novels.
Well… that’s probably why I ended up here.
Damn it.
“Why are you standing there blankly?”
When I remained frozen in place, Kallios asked.
“Huh? I just don’t know where to go. It’s my first time in your study, Young Master.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Kallios seem to realize I knew absolutely nothing about the room’s layout.
He approached me, took my hand, and gently placed it on his arm.
“…Is this how you do it?”
Apparently he remembered me always telling him to hold onto someone’s arm.
Suppressing a smile, I answered:
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Then… should I show you around the study for a bit?”
Unlike usual, he made the suggestion first.
The one who had always been guided—
Had now become the guide.
Awkwardly holding onto his arm, I began touring the study with Kallios.
“…These shelves have history books. Hmm… How should I explain them so you can picture them more easily?”
He seemed to be thinking hard about how to describe things vividly for someone who couldn’t see.
“Just tell me the book titles.”
“Titles? Let’s see… The first shelf has A Thousand Years of Imperial History, Nations Before and After the Holy War, The Abolition of Slavery and Its Consequences…”
“Ah, stop, stop! Skip this section!”
Nothing but ridiculously boring books on these shelves.
