WSRN 13

Chapter 13

I felt too scared to check it myself, but for some reason there was a strange sense of déjà vu. So, without telling Marianne or Wilhelm, I pretended to be going to look out the window and tiptoed away.

“Uh, is it going to rain~?”
“It’s been raining since dawn, miss.”
“Ah, right! I was just wondering if it had stopped.”

I giggled to cover up my excuse and walked faster. I could feel two pairs of eyes following behind me, full of puzzlement.

This room had a large window. And beyond that window, there was even a small balcony.

I pushed the window slightly, as if it were a door, and stuck my head out to peek around. Sure enough, there were the little shoes I’d grown familiar with.

“You—why—”

I wanted to immediately demand why the owner of those shoes was hiding here, but noticing the gazes behind me, I clamped my mouth shut.

Instead, I widened my eyes and signaled him to stay still. He silently smirked at me, as if mocking me.

‘How did my kid get so cheeky?’

I guess he really has been spoiled.

‘No, no. I mustn’t think like that.’

There are no evil masterminds in the world! That was the life motto I needed to live by now. Otherwise, how could I do anything at all?

He stared at me nodding to myself. Leaving him there, I quickly pulled my head back in and shut the window.

“It’s still raining.”
“Yes. At this rate it won’t stop until tomorrow.”

Wilhelm answered my sudden remark kindly, like a true professional. Even though raising a young master seemed difficult for him.

Well, that’s something I could help with. Walking briskly, I jumped back onto the sofa.

After skimming through the last of the documents, I stretched out my hand to point at one page. My arm trembled slightly from being too short to reach, but for me, it was a firm decision.

“I’ll go with this person.”
“Understood. It’s already evening today, so I’ll arrange for a meeting first thing tomorrow.”

Just before Wilhelm left the room, I made a small request to Marianne.

“I want to write a letter. Could you prepare what I need?”
“Yes. If you have a preferred type, I’ll take that into account.”
“I want something cute, clean, but still cool and stylish… and on pretty paper…”

Marianne’s expression became more and more puzzled as my words went on. I felt both embarrassed and guilty.

‘But I can’t help it.’

I’d love to say “anything’s fine,” but then she’d come back too quickly.

I felt sorry for her, but I had to send her out with this nitpicky order. I apologized to her inwardly over and over as I saw her bewildered face.

‘I feel like one of those terrible clients who don’t care at all about the staff…’

“Understood.”
“It doesn’t have to be fast! …Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be back soon.”

As she followed Wilhelm out, I waved my hand vigorously at her, pouring all my apologies into the gesture.

The moment Marianne left, I rushed to the balcony and flung open the window. Through the falling raindrops came a dry, cynical voice.

“Does paper like that even exist?”

Right there, precariously perched on the railing, was Sian.

‘It’s your fault Marianne went off to fulfill that ridiculous order!’

I was indignant, but it felt too embarrassing to openly show I cared, so I just glared at him. What’s so pretty about a brat like this that I—

‘…He really is pretty, though.’

Maybe because of the rain, Sian looked like a high-saturation young boy from a painting. Pale to the point of being icy, yet not losing a single shade of his own color. No wonder he’d grow into such a handsome man.

‘Wait, why am I admiring him?’

The flow of my unconscious thoughts scared me. Realizing what I was thinking, I choked in shock.

“Cough, cough!”
“…What the. Are you cold?”

Looking alarmed, Sian lightly jumped down to the floor.

I couldn’t speak because of the coughing and just shook my head, waving my hands. Sian frowned and firmly pushed me back inside the room.

“Why—cough—are you pushing—”

Even as I tried to speak, I couldn’t stop coughing, and his pushing only grew stronger.

Finally, when we reached the bed, I was able to stop coughing. I cleared my throat and spoke, annoyed.

“What’s with you? What if Marianne comes back!”
“You’re the one who’s coughing like that—why’d you go outside?”

I’d only swallowed wrong! The air was chilly from the rain, but it wasn’t exactly freezing.

“I’m not cold. I just swallowed wrong.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“That’s…”

I could never admit it was from admiring his looks. Never! I turned my eyes away and muttered vaguely.

“Just because.”

Sian let out a deflated sound and smirked at me. Then a shadow fell over my face.

When I looked up, Sian was right in front of me, his lowered gaze examining me as though dissecting me.

The irregular sound of raindrops seemed louder than ever. Even blinking felt tense.

Just as I managed to swallow, Sian gently pressed my forehead with his clenched hand.

He drew his hand back leisurely, but his eyes stayed on me.

‘Gosh… that startled me.’

It was hard to keep up with his rapidly changing moods. My legs gave out and I plopped onto the bed.

Seeing me relax, Sian gave a rare little smile.

‘Childish. He’s actually enjoying this.’

Rubbing my forehead, I glared at him. He declared, smug as if he’d guessed correctly:

“You’ve got a fever. Weak as always.”

‘…Me?’

I sat still with his hand still on my forehead. It did feel a little warm…

But there was no way I’d caught a cold. If I had, I’d be much sicker.

“I’m just tired. There’s been so much to do.”

Even just today was exhausting, and the last few days combined were even more so. Even an adult would need rest; for a weak child’s body to stay fine was strange.

Sian stared at my bandaged hand, then tugged at the knot. I winced.

“Ow.”

He pressed the spot gently, then let go.

“You should be more careful.”

If you don’t want to die. He didn’t say the last part, but his earlier warning echoed in my ears.

‘You scared me for nothing.’

I was about to scold him when I noticed his hair was much flatter than usual. Looking closer, he was damp in several places, as if he’d been outside a long time.

I put my hand on his shoulder, now darkened from the wetness.

“You’re the one who’s going to catch a cold… huh.”

Sian quickly brushed off my hand, but I ignored it. He was too cold!

“…It’s not that I have a fever—your body’s just too cold!”
“I’ve always had a low—what are you doing?”

Ignoring his grumbling, I quickly threw whatever was at hand over him. In an instant, Sian was wrapped in a bed sheet, thrashing violently.

“Hey, wait. Hold still—ugh!”

Our feet tangled and we rolled onto the bed. At least we’d fallen on the bed.

The sheet stifled me and I quickly rolled to the side.

Next to me, Sian was wrapped up like a burrito. Still lying face-down, he muttered through gritted teeth:

“…Do you have a death wish?”

His muffled voice was anything but threatening.

I giggled secretly and quickly covered my mouth, apologizing in a voice full of laughter.

“Sorry. Just stay still then.”

Sian didn’t answer.

‘Is he actually weak from being sick?’

I leaned diagonally toward him and peeled back the top of the sheet to check his face.

“…Yikes.”

The moment I lifted it, our eyes met. He was glaring at me with a burning intensity, like he could incinerate me on the spot.

After a long silence, only when I blinked first did Sian speak.

“I don’t catch colds.”
“Yeah right. You don’t know that.”

I lightly touched the hair near his forehead. It was not just damp—it was freezing.

‘Why was he even out there?’

He hates appearing in front of people so much, and yet he went that far just to watch me?

‘It’s natural to be suspicious of me, but still…’

It was better when he just followed openly. Even if he was the young lord of the Hilberg duchy, thinking about such a little boy standing outside in the rain made my brow furrow involuntarily. Sian’s expression turned strange when he saw my face.

Lost in thought, I slowly parted my lips.

“Sian, promise me just one thing.”