The voice that rang out was so clear and sharp that it didn’t feel like he had just woken up from sleep at all.
Of course, at this moment, Laila was too distracted to focus on his voice.
Half of her attention was focused on Sion’s grip on her wrist, and the other half on the first drawer of the nightstand in question.
‘What could possibly be in that drawer?’
After much deliberation, Laila gathered her courage and asked Sion.
“…What’s in the drawer?”
“I don’t know.”
She asked for no reason.
When Laila fell silent, Sion stared at her.
His dark eyes.
His unwavering gaze.
Reflexively, Laila shrugged her shoulders with a hint of discomfort.
And at the same time, Laila’s wrist slipped out of Sion’s grasp.
Sion, releasing Laila’s wrist, got off the bed.
“I warned you.”
“…….”
“You can search or break the rest of the drawers as you wish, except the first one.”
‘How am I supposed to break the drawer?’
Laila asks, knowing how hard the drawers are. Wasn’t it too presumptuous of him to overestimate the strength of a ten-year-old, considering he was around the same age?
Laila grumbled at Sion’s words.
Only in her mind.
Sion, without saying a word, left Laila, who remained quiet, and headed to the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of running water could be heard.
‘Is he washing his face?’
As she listened to the sound of water from the bathroom, Laila glanced at the bedside table.
‘If I quickly open it while he’s washing his face…’
Laila’s hand twitched.
However, before she could reach out to the drawer, Sion’s voice echoed in her mind.
‘I warned you.’
“…Let’s not do it.”
Muttering to herself, Laila turned around, as if pulled by an unseen force.
‘Maybe he’ll finish washing his face faster than I thought. Oh, maybe he’s testing me. Yeah, that brat would do something like that. He’s probably pretending to wash up to see how I react.’
Unable to ascertain the truth but feeling uneasy nonetheless, Laila found it difficult to touch the drawer at this point.
‘Let’s come back later, at night or early in the morning. When he’s deeply asleep. I’ll tell the maid not to clean this room today…’
Alright.
The plan was set.
So for now, I’ll just step back for a moment. I’m not running away. Really.
With a familiar excuse in mind, Laila slipped out of the bedroom before the bathroom door opened again.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“Ha.”
As soon as she reached the courtyard, Laila sat down on a bench and let out a deep sigh.
Soon, she was sitting up and curled into a ball.
‘I’m going crazy.’
The sensations she had momentarily forgotten due to the lack of urgency had resurfaced and engulfed Laila like waves.
With her arms wrapped around her stomach, Laila closed her eyes tightly.
‘……I’m so hungry!’
It had been a week since the day of the hunt.
Five days had passed since Sion regained consciousness and moved to the bedroom.
And…….
*Growl!*
It had been five days since Laila had begun her fast.
‘That lunatic. Crazy villain. How could he give such an order?’
Five days ago, after facing Sion as soon as she regained consciousness and coming out into the hall, Laila was immediately summoned by the butler who had been looking for her.
The butler then informed her of her punishment, as decided by the Marquis of Hildegarde.
Laila’s punishment for sneaking into the hunting grounds without permission the day before and causing a scene.
The details of the punishment were as follows:
First. A reduction of 1/10 in maintenance allowance for three months.
Second. Banned from leaving the Marquis’ estate for one month.
Third. Restricted to one meal a day for a week.
Initially, upon hearing the full details of the punishment, Laila thought, “It’s not a big deal,” passing it off as trivial. After all, she had been prepared for much worse, even being physically punished.
But to come out of it unscathed!
She considered herself lucky.
That’s what she thought.
Until the butler added the next words.
‘Oh, and this punishment is to be shared between you and the orphan slave who, as of today, belongs to you.’
‘……what?’
‘As the slave is not entitled to a monthly allowance, that part doesn’t apply to them.’
The butler spoke while arrogantly turning his back on the young lady he was serving.
‘The ban on leaving also applies to the orphan slave. Neither the young lady nor her slave can leave the estate grounds for a month.’
‘Do you have to use that term, orphan slave?’
‘Shall I call them ‘orphan plaything’ instead?’
Laila frowned.
Slave. Plaything.
Not only the term ‘orphan’, but in fact, it wasn’t an incorrect statement.
At least within Marquis Hildegarde’s domain.
Since Laila had publicly taken over Sion’s ‘ownership’ from the Marquis of Hildegarde, Sion could not be considered a ‘person’ in the castle.
While Laila remained silent with an uncomfortable expression, the butler continued.
‘Then allow me to continue. Just like the ban on leaving, the one meal a day rule applies to both the young lady and the slave. However, this will require further explanation.’
‘……?
‘For the next 7 days, the young lady will receive a portion of food at a designated time once a day. And that meal must be shared between the young lady and the slave.’
Laila stiffened momentarily, then barely managed to speak up.
Surely, she couldn’t help but think.
‘…Are you saying we’ll be given two portions for the meal?’
‘Of course not.’
“Trash!”
Recalling the previous conversation, Laila angrily slammed her fist onto the bench.
Of course, only her hands hurt.
Grumbling, Laila sighed deeply.
‘Dirty sadist.’
Laila vaguely guessed why Marquis Hildegarde had issued such orders.
‘It must be a test, I suppose, to see how far I’m willing to go for the slave I…… so desperately wanted.’
Laila frowned.
Sion was injured. He had been shot in the shoulder and was still recovering from the wound, with the bandages not even removed yet.
On the other hand, Laila? She had briefly passed out not long ago but quickly regained consciousness, and there wasn’t any particular injury.
With only one meal a day for the two of them, there’s not enough food.
The decision Laila had to make was practically already decided.
That’s right.
For the last five days, Laila has been sacrificing her entire daily meal portion to Sion.
‘You happy, you villain? Enjoying the sight of your own daughter starving while only drinking water?’
Laila bit her lip.
In truth, when she had gone hungry for about two days, she had seriously considered it.
Should she take just one bite?
A whole meal or a slightly diminished one?Would you like a full meal or a slightly reduced one?
There wouldn’t be much difference in quantity or nutrition, anyway.
How about just taking one bite and giving the rest to Sion?
But the thought ended.
Laila didn’t touch the meal that day, or the next, or the next.
It was out of spite.
Yeah, you villain. Let’s do this.
If you really want to test me by starving me to death…
I’ll gladly face that test head-on.
Whether it’s for a week or two weeks, bring it on!
I refuse to put even a single spoonful of the meal meant for a patient into my stomach!
‘…no, but maybe two weeks is a bit much.’
Laila’s stomach clenched again as the overwhelming feeling of hunger returned.
‘Thank goodness it’s only a week. Yeah, thank goodness.’
There are just two more days to endure.
Laila hoped the remaining days would pass as swiftly as light, but suddenly, she thought of Sion.
‘Come to think of it, why doesn’t he ask why he’s only given one meal a day?’
If Sion ever said, even in passing, that this was all he got, Laila would explain right away, as if she’d been waiting for it.
‘Actually, I’m being punished right now…… This food was meant to be shared initially, but considering your injury…blah blah blah.’
But Laila hadn’t been able to bring herself to provide such an explanation to Sion, even until today.
Because Sion hadn’t said anything about the meal.
‘A normal person eats three times a day, so why isn’t he curious that he only received one?’
