#Episode 67
‘Ugh, what a stubborn brat, like a mudskipper!’
At first, she thought she could handle that temper of his by playing along and gently coaxing him, but when the situation came right up to her face, the reality was far from the ideal.
Handling a kid like Todd was way too difficult for a beginner like Vasha.
It was hard to judge when to be stern and when to be gentle.
Especially today, Todd was being particularly stubborn. Usually, if she reason with him, there’s a chance he might yield, but today he wasn’t leaving any room for negotiation.
‘I can’t force him to stop. If I do, I might lose his trust… That would make it difficult to persuade him during critical moments. Ah, raising a child really is hard….’
Vasha let out a soft, exasperated sigh.
While Vasha was at a loss for words, Todd quickly slipped out of her grasp. Despite Vasha’s efforts to wipe him down, Todd dashed straight into the pouring rain.
“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m off to train!”
“Todd!”
“I’ll swing the sword around for a bit longer, so go in first!”
“No. I’ll wait until you’re done.”
Vasha shook her head. She hoped that by waiting there, Todd would finish his training a bit earlier.
‘If I keep asking him when he’s coming in, he might get annoyed and wrap up training sooner, right?’
Seeing Vasha’s stance, Todd frowned.
Perhaps it was due to the heightened senses of a vampire, or maybe because he was Vasha’s familiar, but even in the downpour, Todd could clearly sense Vasha’s presence.
The water splashing as she wiped Todd had stained Vasha’s silk shirt. Although the rain didn’t reach the corridor, the damp air had caused Vasha’s thin shirt to cling to her shoulders, outlining her frame.
For some reason, seeing that made Todd irrationally irritated. He shouted with frustration.
“Just go back! You’re annoying, and you’re in the way!”
Through the streaks of rain, Todd’s tightly pursed lips looked fierce. Everything around them was hazy and blurred, but Todd’s golden eyes shone brightly as if they could burn everything in their path.
‘Damn it. How did he figure out that I was trying to interfere….’
He really was a sharp little brat.
“Hurry up!”
At Todd’s commanding shout, Vasha grumbled as she turned away.
‘Fine, fine. He would have trained even if it wasn’t raining. I’ll just pretend it’s no different from usual.’
Vasha glanced back at Todd. As soon as Vasha stepped away, Todd was already swinging his sword. It wasn’t long before his body warmed up, and the water droplets that splashed against his small frame evaporated into a thin mist.
‘At least he won’t catch a cold….’
Vasha let out a sigh of relief. No matter what, Vasha prioritized Todd’s health over stopping him from becoming stronger.
***
“Achoo!”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t catch a cold! I believed you!”
Todd’s face was flushed red with a fever, and the sharpness that usually characterized his eyes had softened.
Seeing his face, which resembled a withered tomato, made Vasha feel suffocated.
So much for not catching a cold!
Todd fell ill right after finishing his training. The next day, despite his fever, he went out to attend his classes as usual, only to collapse on the spot.
When Vasha heard about it, she jumped up in alarm.
‘I got completely tricked by that Van Drake excuse! I’m never trusting Todd again no matter what he says!’
Vasha repeated her resolve over and over again.
“Be quiet… My head is throbbing….”
When Vasha continued to scold him, Todd grumbled in a hoarse voice and pulled the blanket over his head.
The raspy sound of his voice suggested his throat was sore. Usually, Todd would argue back with multiple retorts for every one thing Vasha said. But now, seeing Todd struggle to utter a word or two made Vasha feel nauseous. It was like her stomach couldn’t digest anything, even though she hadn’t eaten.
Whether Todd understood Vasha’s feelings or not, he still couldn’t resist making sharp remarks, even though he struggled to speak.
“Why? You didn’t like me training anyway… You should be happy I can’t do it for a while.”
“Happy?! Why would I be happy? Your health comes first!”
Vasha burst out, exasperated. Her frustration naturally turned into nagging.
Seeing Todd curling himself up in the blanket like a cocoon only made Vasha’s frustration rise further, and she let her nagging pour out.
“Even if it’s Van Drake, there’s no way a child’s body could withstand that kind of abuse without falling ill. Acting all smug and confident… it was all a lie!”
“Damn it….”
Even Todd had nothing to say in response to that.
Although he never explicitly lied, the fact that he had now fallen ill turned all his previous words into nothing more than excuses.
‘She’s going to act so smug for a while now….’
Just thinking about Vasha insisting, ‘I can’t trust anything you say,’ made Todd’s head throb even more.
With every word from Vasha, Todd felt his mind grow foggy and his fever rise. He even thought that if Vasha weren’t right next to him, his fever might drop a little.
But why?
He could spout sharp retorts just fine, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Go away, you’re annoying.’
“Come out from under the blanket, Todd. Staying buried like that will make you feel stuffy.”
Vasha pried open Todd’s clenched hands, which were gripping the blanket tightly, and pulled it away.
Vasha brushed away Todd’s disheveled hair, strand by strand, from his bright red forehead and placed a damp cloth on his searing hot head.
“Look at this. Your fever has gone up….”
Vasha bit her lip in frustration.
What was it that she was supposed to do if the fever kept rising?
Vasha, who wasn’t particularly skilled at nursing, recalled the advice she had heard from Melina.
No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like she would only get in the way rather than help Todd recover. But there was no one else to look after Todd.
Todd would never, ever show his vulnerable side to the maids or servants. There was no choice but for Vasha to do it herself.
‘Now that I think about it, Melina said I should wipe off his sweat.’
Vasha spoke as she wet the cloth again.
“Todd, take off your shirt for a moment. I’ll wipe your back.”
“Hack, cough!”
At Vasha’s words, Todd gasped and coughed as if he had swallowed air the wrong way. Startled, Vasha leaned forward and patted Todd on the back as he bent over, coughing violently.
“Are you okay?”
“D-Damn it… cough, cough, hack….”
Todd continued coughing for a long time.
Amidst his coughing fit, Vasha vaguely heard words like ‘shameless’ and ‘lecher,’ but because the words were so broken up, she couldn’t figure out what Todd was trying to say.
One thing was clear—Todd absolutely hated having his sweat wiped.
Vasha tried to coax him.
“Are you worried it’s going to be cold? It’s not. The water is warm. You’ll feel much better after wiping off the sweat.”
“Who said it’s because it’s cold?”
“Then why?”
“…………”
Despite Todd’s sharp retort, Vasha’s simple question shut him up.
It was clear from Todd’s silence that he had no intention of discussing this topic any further.
“Then how about I just wipe the back of your neck? You don’t have to take off your clothes. How’s that?”
Vasha didn’t understand why she had to negotiate so much for something that was for Todd’s own good. Yet, without even realizing it, she was already trying to persuade him.
Todd gave a slow nod as if to say he would allow it this time. It felt like a grand act of mercy.
Not knowing when Todd might change his mind, Vasha quickly propped him up and used a damp cloth to wipe the sweat from behind Todd’s ears and the back of his neck.
Through the slightly open collar of Todd’s clothes, Vasha caught sight of a necklace with a ring hanging from it.
‘That’s the Van Drake family crest ring, isn’t it…?’
Todd treasured that ring like it was his lifeline, never taking it off for even a moment. Since it was the only remaining trace of his family, Vasha didn’t question it.
‘I thought a crest ring from the Van Drake family might have some sort of vampire-repelling power… but it doesn’t give off any particular energy.’
Even so, it felt unsettling. To be safe, Vasha carefully avoided touching the ring while wiping Todd’s sweat.
Although it was only for a short time, Todd’s head started bobbing like a sick chicken’s. Seeing this, Vasha sighed deeply.
