Chapter 46
Real Telephone (2)
“Cough, cough!”
The dry cough kept coming.
Aria leaned against the bed, weakly reaching out her hand. The hot water the maid had brought earlier had already cooled to lukewarm.
Her head was spinning.
‘It’s been a while since I was this sick.’
It was the first time since she became Aria.
‘Still, it’s better than when I was Elodie.’
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that even a little exposure to cold wind would cause her to suffer from a fever for a week.
Elodie was certainly happy, but when it came to health, she was never free. She had always been envious of her sturdy older brothers.
Now that she had a healthy body, she had forgotten what this felt like. Aria sniffled her dry nose.
She couldn’t breathe well.
“Haa…”
What she was most thankful for was that Bonita, who looked just like Elodie, was healthy. It seemed she had inherited Luke’s constitution.
Aria suddenly felt a chill when she thought about the environment Bonita grew up in.
Asthma is a difficult illness to manage.
Even a small mistake could lead to death in an instant. Sensitive patients could have attacks just from being exposed to the scent of someone smoking a cigar nearby.
She thought of that house.
The one where the floor creaked with age, dust rose with every movement, and wind and rain came in without resistance.
If Bonita had been born with the same congenital asthma as Elodie, it would’ve been a miracle for her to survive past her first birthday.
Aria’s face turned even paler.
Then, there was a knock.
“Come in…”
Aria answered weakly, and the door quietly opened. As she blankly looked toward the door, her eyes widened.
“Bonita?”
She tried to sit up right away. But her feverish body didn’t move the way she wanted it to.
To make things worse, she started coughing again. Aria quickly opened her mouth to send Bonita away.
“Bonita, if you stay here…”
“Here you go!”
“…What’s this?”
Aria blinked at the object handed to her.
Meanwhile, Bonita had already pattered out of the bedroom. Threading the string through the keyhole, Bonita said excitedly,
“Mom!”
That voice reached Aria’s ears.
She too had played with string phones when she was little, so she quickly figured out what Bonita was trying to do.
“Mm… Bonita.”
“If we do it like this, we can talk even if you’re lying in bed. Right?”
Aria pressed her lips together.
Her chest felt ticklish.
Even being sick didn’t feel so bad anymore.
From the other end of the paper cup, Bonita chattered happily.
“I said I wanted to talk to Mom, and Lady Lisianthus told me something fun!”
“Did she?”
So it was Catherine’s idea that led Bonita to this.
“I thought it was just a paper cup, but the lady said this is a ‘telephone’. It’s amazing. I wonder who invented it first?”
The string telephone was a common toy among noble children. It was invented about 50 years ago by a duke of the empire.
What’s interesting is that the names “telephone” and “paper cup” feel quite odd. They’re called paper cups, but as soon as you pour water in, they get soaked and tear—totally useless as actual cups.
When people asked why she gave it such a name, she gave only a vague answer:
“Because that’s what it’s always been called.”
That’s all she said.
Aria gave a brief explanation of that story. Bonita, of course, showed interest again.
“Sounds like such an amazing person!”
“Hmm, for someone who’s still alive, there are certainly a lot of legendary tales…”
“What do you mean?”
Aria had to wipe her brow as Bonita’s endless curiosity led to one “why?”, “how?”, and “then what?” after another.
Even so, Aria’s face showed joy that couldn’t be compared to just moments earlier.
“Ahem.”
Just as Aria was recounting an old legend, a cough came from behind Bonita.
It was Catherine and the maid Mary following her.
With her usual curt expression, Catherine spoke.
“You seem to be enjoying your chat with Miss Hilton.”
“Lady!”
“Still…”
Catherine looked a bit hurt by being called “Lady.”
But asking to be called “Grandma” directly was too embarrassing.
[Bonita, who came to visit?]
Bonita, with her ear to the cup, replied.
“The lady is here! And Mary, too.”
“Young miss, I’ll come in for a moment. I need to bring Miss Hilton her medicine and meal.”
At Mary’s request, Bonita obediently stepped back like a good child.
As Mary entered Aria’s room, only Catherine and Bonita were left outside the door.
Silence fell again.
Catherine grumbled.
“You seemed to have so much fun. You don’t talk much when you’re with me.”
“Ah…!”
It was just a habitual complaint.
But Bonita’s expression immediately darkened.
“I-I’m sorry if staying quiet made you upset. I just didn’t know what to say to you…”
Hearing the nervous tone, Catherine realized her mistake.
‘Damn it. This is always my problem.’
The truth was, she also wanted to be kind to Bonita.
But after over 60 years of being habitually sharp, it wasn’t easy to change overnight.
And to make excuses… she also felt guilty and embarrassed.
When she first met Bonita, didn’t she accuse her of being a fraud and a fake?
Even after confirming their blood relationship, she hadn’t apologized—just stormed off, overwhelmed by her emotions.
As a result, things became awkward between her and her one and only granddaughter.
She felt ashamed.
‘Still, we held hands last time…’
And yet she’d scared her again.
Now, she was frustrated with herself. But even in this situation, she couldn’t bring herself to say, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Luckily for Catherine, Bonita was a very kind child.
“I never disliked you, Lady. Last time you listened to my stories so kindly, and this time you even made a string phone so I could talk to Mom.”
Bonita tapped her feet and spoke shyly.
“That’s why I like you. I mean, maybe you think kids like me are annoying…”
“Absolutely not!”
Catherine shouted in surprise.
Bonita’s eyes went round.
Seeing her face, Catherine stepped back, her face turning red.
“Ahem. You’re my… granddaughter. It’s only natural. Grandmothers are like this. You don’t have to worry about people saying they don’t like kids like you.”
“Because you’re a grandmother?”
Catherine had to fight hard to keep the corners of her mouth from curling up.
But she couldn’t stop her lips from twisting into a weird smile.
She covered her mouth with her hand and coughed.
“Hmph, ahem. That’s right. I am your grandmother.”
Pink eyes looked up at Catherine.
Bonita realized that Catherine was really happy.
‘Is it because I called her grandma?’
Bonita opened her mouth again.
She needed confirmation.
“Lady.”
At the return of the old title, Catherine froze.
Bonita asked, almost sure now,
“Do you want me to call you Grandma?”
Catherine’s body shook.
“Th-that’s…”
She couldn’t answer. She stayed silent.
Bonita tilted her head.
It wasn’t on purpose, but Catherine felt like the biggest fool in the world.
Looking away slightly, she muttered,
“If that’s what you want to do… I won’t stop you…”
“Yes, Grandma.”
Catherine’s lips curled up again.
Seeing that, Bonita thought:
‘Grandma is such an honest person.’
It’s not easy to show your feelings so clearly like that.
****
Bonita’s efforts of talking to Aria all day from outside the door had paid off—Aria fully recovered in just one day.
“I’m all better!”
Aria greeted the headache-free morning with a cheer.
She hopped off the soft bed and dashed out the door. The way she moved looked just like a mischievous little boy.
“Oh my!”
A young maid she bumped into in the hallway beamed at her.
Having only recently joined the duke’s household, the maid was quite fond of Aria.
“Miss Hilton, I guess your cold is all gone now?”
“Yup! I love having a strong body!”
“…Pardon?”
The maid blinked at the odd reply, but Aria was already gone.
Aria, happily skipping down the hallway, gradually slowed down as she reached Bonita’s room. With an excited smile, she carefully turned the doorknob.
If Bonita was still sleeping, she planned to sneak into bed without waking her.
Creeeak.
Worried about making even the slightest sound, she opened the door as carefully as she could. The pace was painfully slow.
When the door had opened just enough to fit a hand through, Aria lowered herself and peeked into the room.
‘Bingo.’
As expected for the early hour, Bonita was still fast asleep, gently breathing.
She occasionally puckered her small lips in her sleep—it was so adorable, Aria felt like nibbling on her cheek.
Stifling her laughter, Aria began quietly widening the gap in the door. Her plan was to sneak into bed and surprise Bonita when she woke up.
But the moment the door was fully open, Aria froze in place, her mouth falling open like she’d been hit on the back of the head.
“…Luke?”
That was because Luke was there, asleep a short distance away from Bonita.
