81 – Summer Vacation – 14
“Aww. I will live.”
I lay down in the hot tub. I feel like my body is melting. After the first day, I was afraid that the Duke would come again and spend a suffocating time, so I just washed in my room, but since today was my last day here, I decided not to notice it and just use the large public bath.
I’m glad the wound healed quickly. I touched the wound on my head that had barely healed before I knew it. The wound wasn’t as big as I thought, and I was able to recover in an instant thanks to the Duke who devoted all his energy to taking care of my wound while running amok. At a festival held in his own estate, he spewed fire, asking if he would leave the injured person alone to save his daughter.
The duke has been airlifting expensive potions and a healing mage, a very expensive body, in an instant. I don’t know what I did, but it was an experience I don’t want to do again. Thanks to this, I was able to recover and take a bath, and although I enjoyed the festival diligently until the last day, it was a terrible feeling to experience the process of lacerations bubbling and attaching themselves.
The festival was fun. Yesterday, that is, the day after the accident, our party went out to see the streets despite the duke’s refusal. Because Cordelia had a very strong argument.
“Are you still in the mood to leave after going through something like that yesterday!”
“It was just a little accident.”
“How many people kept the position, how could it be a mere accident! I’m investigating the truth right now….”
“I don’t know! I hate you!”
“Cody!”
The Duke’s resolute will collapsed in front of Cordelia’s Dingkang. Eventually, at the end of the 30-minute long sitcom, the duke raised a white flag and allowed us to go out.
“Okay? Never go to a deserted place.”
“Don’t worry!”
He must have been quite worried, and he made a very trustworthy request to us until the end. In the end, nothing happened as Cordelia had said, but I thought it was not a simple accident, as the Duke had said.
I lay back in the bathtub and looked at the bracelet on my wrist. It is an object made of twisted yarn. It’s called a wish bracelet, and if you wear it until it wears off, your wish will come true. To be honest, it wasn’t a very good quality item. This is also the item Cordelia bought because she wanted to buy it.
“Shall we buy this together?”
“What is this?”
“I heard it’s a wish bracelet? If you wear it until it wears off, your wish will come true.”
While looking down the street, Cordelia suddenly stopped her steps. Her gaze rested on the accessory stand of a street vendor.
“No, what is this….”
“I like it.”
“Me too.”
“Mikhail, what did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
From nob le mt l dot com
My words, “Why are you doing this because I’m not a child?” Were buried in front of Hestia and Seol-ah’s quick affirmative answers. Women like things like this, even if the world changes, not nationality or culture.
In the end, I was forced to put a bracelet on my wrist too. Intense primary colors are colorful. No matter how you look at it, Hestia asked me as I was looking at my stretched wrist, thinking it was a bit childish.
“Mikhail, do you have any wishes?”
“Me? Hmm. That all four of her graduate safely without getting hurt?”
“Isn’t that too rough?”
She laughed at my answer. You seem to think I’ve said it loosely. But I was sincere. Seriously, I have nothing in particular to wish for except for all four of them to graduate safely.
I can’t put my mind at ease because the incident keeps popping up around me and Seol-ah. I am worried that someone might get hurt. Seola’s original knowledge? What’s the point of doing that when the story is already completely twisted? She probably never thought that she would visit the Duke of Deneb and watch the festival.
I reached out and touched the bracelet. It was a bit awkward at first, but considering that all four wear them anyway, it doesn’t seem too bad. It usually lasts for 1 or 2 years, so it won’t stop before graduation.
At that time, the bathroom door opened. I was a little nervous thinking that something had finally come. Still, this is what I’ve come to accept.
– Dripping.
“What is the water temperature?”
A low, heavy voice from behind your back. A presence that cannot be hidden even if one tries to hide it. It was the Duke of Deneb.
“It’s so good you don’t have to touch it.”
I told him in advance so that he wouldn’t adjust the temperature on his own this time. He scooped up the water by hand a few times, then entered the bath looking not very pleased.
“I wish it was a little hotter.”
“I think this is just right.”
Fortunately, I didn’t do anything today. The Duke sitting next to me kept his mouth shut. The duke was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. He looked at the bracelet on my wrist and said something.
“What is that bracelet? Not a kid.”
“The Duke’s daughter asked me to do it.”
“I mean it’s so pure and, uh, nice to look at anyway.”
The duke, who had suddenly said that his daughter was childish, made an excuse that didn’t make sense. He cleared his throat a few times, then changed the topic of conversation.
“How was the festival?”
“It was good. Not to mention empty words, the parade at the end really surprised me.”
It wasn’t really empty words. The festival had its own fun, especially the final parade was phenomenal. No matter how much cheat-key magic exists, isn’t this a pre-modern worldview? I don’t know how they prepared a parade of that scale. The scale of the procession passing by while playing exciting marching songs centered around the giant-sized wolf statue was enormous. Would it be better to describe it as a wave of endless crowds?
I later asked Cordelia why it was a wolf, and she said it was because the wolf symbolized a good harvest. Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard somewhere in the past that the sight of a barley field shaking in the wind after a good harvest looks like a wolf running.
The Duke laughed heartily after hearing my praise.
“Ha ha ha! I’m glad you liked it. Even when I think about it, that wolf statue was definitely great. Just looking at it, that wolf seems to get bigger every year.”
He sang an unknown song that made him feel better. If you look at it this way, you’re an infallible bathroom man.
I decided to take advantage of the moment when he was in a good mood and ask what I wanted to ask.
“Duke, have the results of the investigation regarding the scarecrow come out?”
“The results of the investigation.”
In an instant, the Duke’s face changed from that of a housekeeper in a public bath to that of a cool-headed politician. He tapped the bathroom tub with his index finger. He made a few noises with his fingers, then frowned as if he was uncomfortable.
“Let me ask you one question. Any guesses?”
“Yes, there are. I can’t say it out loud.”
No matter how much he is Cordelia’s father, he fearlessly mentioned the prince’s name here first, knowing that something would happen. Perhaps the duke, like a veteran politician, measures things here and there….
“Yeah, Wilhelm, that bastard.”
“Yes?”
“What, were you thinking of someone else?”
“No. It’s true that I was thinking of Prince Wilhelm….”
I didn’t know you’d hit it so quickly. I struggled to manage my facial expression. As before, the Duke seemed quite dissatisfied with the Crown Prince.
“Then what is the problem? Anyway, Wilhelm that horo bastard. I can’t figure out what the hell our Cordelia did wrong. The breakup was a problem from the beginning. Listening to my wife’s words, I don’t have to say anything about neglect, just a quick death… !”
The Duke was filled with anger and grumbled, mixing wild curse words, as if his fever had risen at the thought of Wilhelm. More than that, it was the Duchess’s idea, not the Duke’s, that said neglect. Certainly, judging from the duke’s attitude now, it must have been a little necessary.
“Kuhm. Calm down a bit. Anyway, it’s rather fortunate that Cordelia and Wilhelm broke up.”
“What! Do you mean that our Cordelia has no charms?!”
No, how the hell do I have to interpret it to understand it like that? There is no such thing as Palbulchul. I explained my words to the duke in the best possible way.
“No, I mean, Cordelia’s marriage would have been unhappy if she had married someone like Wilhelm.”
“Hmm, that’s right.”
“And maybe Wilhelm is targeting me, not Cordelia.”
“What are you talking about?”
At my words, the Duke’s face, which had been showing a sly look, suddenly changed. I told him about what had happened with Wilhelm, dramatized in an appropriate way.
He is a crazy pervert who beats up the girl he likes, Lily asked me for help to get away from him, and at the end of the process, I finally beat Wilhelm and took a leave of absence.
“This is what happened.”
“hahahaha!”
The duke opened his throat and laughed so loudly that he could see his uvula. Especially in the part where I blew a hectopascal kick at Wilhelm, I thought the bathhouse was going away.
“I heard that the thunder-naked guy suddenly took a leave of absence, so I wondered what the purpose was, but there was a reason. It’s embarrassing that I can’t divulge the exact reason. Not enough to be deprived of the woman he likes, and even beaten up.”
“The expression of stealing is a bit….”
“If this isn’t stealing, then what?”
No, that’s true, but isn’t there such a thing as that tone? Despite my silent clamor, the duke continued to comment.
“And, as you say, I’m really glad that crazy pervert doesn’t like our Cordelia.”
“Yes, I think so.”
To be honest, I wish I could just live like that for the rest of my life without loving anyone. Or meet a girl who likes that kind of thing.
“Anyway, that’s right. I was targeting you, not Cordelia. Has this happened before?”
“Yes, there have been a couple of times. Someone instigated students to attack us. It’s likely Prince Wilhelm, too.”
As for me, I was almost certain, but there was no physical evidence that I couldn’t get away with.
“Okay. I’ll remember that. And thank you.”
“No.”
“No, it’s not something. Didn’t you save our Cordelia from being seriously injured? If this isn’t something you’re thankful for, what’s something you’re thankful for. I’ll pay you back somehow later.”
The Duke said thank you and stood up from his seat. What? Are you trying to move to another bath? The duke, who suddenly stood up, threw a question at me.
“Ah, come to think of it, did the daughter of Baron Adamas apologize?”
“After something like that happened to Cordelia, she is not the kind of person who will make friends without an apology.”
“Ha ha ha! That’s right.”
Contrary to my expectations, he turned his body towards the entrance. What? Are you going already?
“Have you washed up already?”
“As I get older, I get dizzy even for a little bit. And won’t you be uncomfortable too?”
Did I show too much discomfort? I bowed my head.
“… Excuse me.”
“No, your acting was great. Still, at this age, I mean, it looks rough. It would have been uncomfortable for me in the first place.”
Duke Deneb wrapped his towel around his shoulder. Right before leaving the large bath, he looked back at me.
“Come to think of it, I’ve been curious about it all along, but I couldn’t ask.”
“What is it?”
“Because I was just watching, he used very honorific words only for our Cordelia. Do you not like something?”
I kept my mouth shut. Isn’t it strange to say that your daughter seems to like this better? Besides, in fact, I certainly didn’t know her intentions either.
“No.”
“Really? Um, I see.”
The duke left without saying anything further.
I’ll have to ask Cordelia if she’s more comfortable wearing shorts when I’m done washing up in a little while.
–