#Episode 71
“I was told that if I told the young lady about this, there would be serious consequences…. This time, he might actually try to kick me out….”
“If he realize that I know, it’s going to be a huge deal….”
Melina and Vasha both let out a deep sigh.
Vasha didn’t really want to know the truth either!
If Todd found out that Vasha knew, Todd would definitely starve himself….
‘Seriously, what’s the big deal about this? Todd can be surprisingly shy sometimes.’
There was no other choice. Vasha nodded with a determined look, as if making a resolution, and reached out her hand toward Melina.
“Alright then, let’s just pretend none of this ever happened.”
“Pretend it never happened.”
Melina grabbed Vasha’s hand and nodded in agreement.
A strong bond of trust passed between them through their gaze.
***
After that, the roses stood out more and more to Vasha.
Come to think of it, the roses were always prepared before Vasha woke up. If Melina had prepared them, she would have done it together with Vasha when she woke up and called her.
It was strange that she hadn’t noticed this before.
Vasha lightly tapped the roses in the vase with her fingertips.
The leaves of the roses quivered with a slight tremble.
Knowing that Todd had prepared them on purpose, the roses felt a little more precious.
It was exhausting to pretend not to know, but fortunately, Todd showed no signs of suspecting anything, not even in his dreams.
Vasha let out a sigh of relief.
Thus, the days passed, one by one.
Vasha spent most of her time in Laurus’s study, flipping through books.
After all, since she had to continue living in this world, it was wise to gather as much information as she could while she had the chance.
Moreover, Laurus’s study had a secret bookshelf, and that shelf contained books about sorcery that Laurus had collected for Lucy.
Because of the teachings of the Lamphas Church, which revered vampires, all books related to sorcery were classified as forbidden texts, making them difficult to obtain.
Since Lucy seemed interested in books on sorcery, Laurus had been collecting them whenever he had the chance. But in the end, without ever showing them to Lucy, he ended up filling an entire bookshelf. Laurus laughed heartily as he shared this.
‘They say it’s hard to get books on sorcery, but if it’s Menorah, she probably has even more sorcery books than anyone else…’
She’s a direct descendant of the Vampire Lord. Given the knowledge inherited from the Lord and the long years she’s lived, she must have amassed a considerable number of sorcery books.
On the other hand, the books on sorcery that Laurus had collected were quite decent, but they were too basic to pique Menorah’s interest.
‘Well, it’s possible Lucy was just pretending to be interested in sorcery for Laurus’s sake… Either way, I ended up benefiting from it.’
Vasha read every single line of the contents written in the sorcery books without skipping a word.
She had a slight feeling, and as expected, there was a strange sense of familiarity every time she read these books on sorcery.
‘If I already knew it all along, I should have just remembered it right away… Do I really have to read it again for it to come back to me?’
Vasha grumbled as she turned the pages.
Flip, flip — The sound of the turning pages was occasionally mixed with the sound of Todd’s training, where wooden swords clashed against each other.
One of the great perks of this library was that Vasha could watch Todd’s training from there. Vasha accumulated knowledge while listening to the background sounds of Todd’s training.
As she returned to this daily routine, Vasha slowly lost her sense of time. To begin with, she had never lived a life where she counted the passing days.
How much time had passed like that?
It was about the time Todd usually came out to train, but outside, it was oddly quiet.
Sensing something strange, Vasha stopped reading and looked out the window.
“…No one’s here.”
Neither Todd nor Oliver could be seen at the training grounds outside. Since Todd never missed a single day of training, the unusual sight felt all the more strange.
“Did something happen?”
Worried, Vasha set out to find Todd. Just as she was about to sense Todd’s location, she happened to run into Oliver in the hallway.
Half-relieved and half-concerned, Vasha asked,
“Oliver, is there no training for Todd today?”
“Yes, Lady Vasha. Young Master Todd said he would take a break from training today… Didn’t you hear?”
Oliver looked surprised as she asked, and Vasha was equally shocked.
“Taking a break from training? Is he sick again?”
A look of concern swept over Vasha’s face.
“How sick must he be… Todd isn’t one to skip over something so trivial…”
“Uh… Lady Vasha.”
“Todd’s in his room, right? Alright, I’ll go check on him later, Oliver!”
“Wait a moment, Lady Vasha…!”
But Vasha, anxious and impatient, paid no attention to Oliver’s words and ran straight toward Todd’s room.
Oliver, left behind, reached out a hand toward Vasha but could only watch her leave with a dazed expression.
***
‘Does that mean Todd is suffering alone right now? He could have told me! Why is his pride so important?!’
Vasha’s mind was filled with a whirlwind of worries as she sprinted toward Todd’s room.
Before she knew it, Vasha had arrived at Todd’s room. She immediately opened the door and burst in, shouting,
“Todd!”
Todd was lying calmly on the bed with his hands folded together. At the sudden entrance of Vasha, Todd lazily opened his eyes.
Vasha rushed over to Todd’s side, her voice filled with concern.
“They said you skipped training today! Are you sick? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Ah…”
“You don’t have a fever, that’s strange…”
Without giving Todd a chance to answer, Vasha’s words of concern poured out as she checked for a fever and touched Todd’s cheeks, her actions frantic.
Unable to endure it any longer, Todd shot up from the bed in annoyance and yelled,
“I’m not sick! Will you just listen to me?!”
“You’re not sick?”
Vasha blinked at the sight of Todd looking perfectly fine, contrary to her expectations. Holding Todd’s shoulders, she looked him over from various angles, muttering in confusion.
“Then why are you lying down if you’re not sick? You skipped training too… Do you have something on your mind?”
“…You told me to rest.”
“…What?”
“You said it’s good to take a break once in a while.”
“Ah…”
Todd’s grumbling words left Vasha speechless. So, it turned out that Todd was just taking a rest!
‘He said he’d think about it, but… Did he actually take my advice positively?’
Seeing Vasha’s realization, Todd got even more riled up.
“What? Did you forget? You’re the one who said it’s good to take a break every two weeks!”
“Ah, no! I didn’t realize it had already been two weeks!”
Vasha hurriedly tried to make an excuse. She couldn’t admit that she hadn’t expected Todd to actually follow her suggestion. If she did, Todd might decide to quit entirely out of frustration.
Cold sweat dripped down Vasha’s back.
Like someone trying not to provoke a wild animal, Vasha slowly and cautiously backed away from Todd’s bed, making he4 excuse as she retreated.
“I was just worried because you suddenly skipped training… Sorry for disturbing your rest. I’ll be going now!”
“W-wait!”
Just as Vasha was about to flee in haste, Todd grabbed her shirt. He pulled so hard that Todd himself was half-dragged off the bed.
“Pfft.”
Vasha tried to hold back her laughter, but seeing Todd dangling off the edge of the bed like a piece of laundry clinging to the line, she almost burst out laughing. She barely managed to stifle it by covering her mouth.
Todd’s ears turned beet red.
Holding back her laughter, Vasha slid her hands under Todd’s armpits and lifted him up as if picking up a cat.
“……….”
“Hmph…”
Todd’s feet dangled in the air, swaying. Watching this, Vasha’s cheeks twitched as she struggled to suppress her laughter once more.
Barely managing to put on a straight face, Vasha set Todd back down on the bed.
Todd’s face had turned as red as a boiled octopus, and he repeatedly opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for air.
It seemed he decided it would be too embarrassing to mention what had just happened, so Todd continued the conversation as if nothing had occurred.
“…You said taking a break would increase efficiency.”
“Hmm?”
“That’s what you said.”
Vasha didn’t remember saying that exactly, but if she admitted it, Todd might think, ‘Then what was the point of taking a break?’ and stop resting altogether.
That would be troublesome.
“Well, I think I might have said something like that.”
“You did.”
Todd’s response was firm and resolute.
The way he spoke made it seem as if he was ready to blame Vasha if the ‘efficiency’ didn’t improve. Vasha regretted nodding along, but it was too late to take her words back.
