The sight of eyes that seemed to penetrate the truth involuntarily made me gulp down dry saliva.
If my father finds out that I went out of the mansion today, I won’t be able to leave my room for at least a month. Therefore, I absolutely couldn’t let him find out.
(TL/N: Looks like someone is afraid of being grounded.)
“B-blood smell? Are you sure you’re not mistaken? There’s no way I would smell of blood.”
As I didn’t confess everything until the end, my father seemed to lose the intention to press further and slowly nodded his head.
“If you say so, then it must be. Now, let’s change clothes and go have dinner.”
Only after seeing my father pass by me did I feel somewhat relieved.
Secretly relieved, instead of following my family upstairs to change, I headed straight to the dining room.
***
After dinner, I went near the laundry room with my father’s permission.
There, a boy with dark red hair was hanging laundry on a long clothesline.
As soon as I saw the boy struggling to hang the laundry, a playful smile formed on my lips.
The boy’s name was Tommy, a laundromat attendant and my only childhood friend whom I’ve been close with since a winter day six years ago.
“Tommy!”
“Ah!”
Startled by my loud call, Tommy, who was hanging a bedsheet soaked with water, dropped it.
“Oh, this was washed today,” he said, looking dejected. As I walked towards him with light steps, the look in Tommy’s eyes softened.
“Little Miss?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Were you very surprised?”
“No. I wasn’t that surprised.”
“For someone who wasn’t that surprised, your reaction was quite funny, though?”
“…That’s because.”
I burst into laughter seeing Tommy, unable to finish his sentence with his face turning all red.
Finally realizing I was teasing him, Tommy grumbled with a sulky expression.
“Don’t tease me.”
“Okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
“Do you know how many times you’ve said that?”
“Let’s see? Maybe 50 times?”
“You little miss!”
“Alright, I won’t do it anymore.”
They decided to stop teasing there, as it was certain that continuing would make him cry.
“By the way, what brings you here? Oh, it’s about time to feed Lily; did you come to see Lily?”
Tommy, who seemed to have been deep in thought for a while, asked.
“That’s right. It feels like I haven’t visited her in a long time.”
I affirmed to his question.
Lily was a white pet canary that I received as a birthday gift from my sister last year.
Watching Lily, who couldn’t fly because her feathers were clipped, time seemed to fly by without needing to do anything. That’s why I used to visit her every day without fail, but recently, I haven’t visited her even once.
I should have visited her more often.
Despite being her owner, I regretted leaving Lily in Tommy’s care and not doing anything.
“Well, you haven’t visited her for a few months. So, I’ll go get Lily’s food now; can you wait here for a moment?”
“Okay.”
“Yes. I’ll be right back then.”
Tommy, with a bright expression, casually placed the bedsheet he was holding into a basket. Then he ran towards the direction where the servants’ quarters were located.
Suddenly finding myself alone in the garden, I looked up at the sky, which was turning dusky.
“……”
Gazing at the orange sky, I was reminded of the boy I had met in the forest.
I wondered if his injuries had been properly treated…
The vivid image of the numerous wounds on the boy’s body made me feel uneasy.
As I was lost in my worries and staring blankly at the sky, Tommy returned with a bag of food for Lily and, touching my forehead with concern, asked, “Miss? Why are you like this?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.”
The touch of his cold hand snapped me out of my reverie, and I quickly composed my expression.
“Let’s go see Lily.”
“Are you sure it’s really nothing?”
“It is. I was just spacing out.”
He gave me a skeptical look, but eventually shrugged his shoulders.
“I understand. I’ll trust you.”
“Then let’s stop talking about this and go see Lily.”
“Yes.”
We ended our brief conversation and walked towards the glass greenhouse.
Lily, who cannot fly, was inside a silver cage in the greenhouse. It was because of my wish for Lily to be as close to nature as possible.
Upon reaching the beautifully decorated silver cage, we saw Lily chirping softly, her voice boasting a deep blue hue.
“Would the young lady like to feed her after such a long time?”
Ignoring Lily’s singing, Tommy turned to me as he took out about a handful of bread pieces from a bag.
“Yes. I’ll feed her.”
I nodded trance-like, fixing my gaze on Lily and reaching out.
“Here,……”
Tommy stopped as he was about to hand me the pieces of bread he was holding.
“What’s taking so long? Hurry up.”
“Young lady. What is this wound?”
Impatient from waiting, he asked in a trembling voice when I pressed him.
“What wound?”
I finally sensed something was off and looked at my palm, which Tommy was staring intently at.
Oh no.
A feeling of embarrassment surged through me.
The hand I had carelessly extended to him was the one that had been cut by a dagger.
“I got hurt while playing.”
I hastily concocted a lie, but it was already too late.
“It’s not like I don’t know you, Miss. You wouldn’t get hurt just by playing.”
“…”
I was at a loss for words at his pointed remark.
“You won’t tell me how you got these injuries, will you?”
“Sorry.”
Facing Tommy, whose eyes were reddening as if about to cry, I had to admit the truth that I had done something unspeakable.
“Give me your hand.”
“Why do you need my hand?”
“Hurry up.”
Skeptical of Tommy suddenly asking for my hand, I complied, and then he placed his hand on mine.
“Hm?”
Upon seeing my palm healed as if the wound had vanished with Tommy’s gesture, I was engulfed in an indescribable sense of unease.
Not many could wield mana at will without a magic stone, but it was rare for a noble not to possess mana.
However, he was no commoner. Because not a single drop of a magician’s blood was mixed in, it was almost unheard of for commoners to have mana.
Of course, once in a hundred years, there might be a commoner who possessed mana, but those individuals always received a noble title.
But why did Tommy possess mana, and moreover, why could he use it? “If his lordship finds out you’re injured, you’ll be in big trouble, young miss.”
He quickly caught on to my astonishment and flashed a sly smile.
“You… how can you use mana?”
“I’ll tell you later. So, please keep it a secret for now. I’ll keep the young miss’s secret, too.”
Tommy said this and brought his index finger to his lips, as if to make sure this matter was kept strictly confidential.
“Hmm.”
I found myself unconsciously responding, drawn by an intangible force. And when I came to my senses, Lily’s song had already faded into the distance.
***
Time flowed like flowing water.
Repeating the same daily routines, I didn’t even feel like time was passing. But when I came to my senses, it was Wednesday again.
After seeing off my family, who were always headed to the imperial palace, I collapsed onto my bed.
Maybe I’ll rest today.
Since I don’t have any collected jewels this time, there’s no need to go to the cabin.
Just as I was about to close my eyes with that thought, I remembered a boy with beautiful platinum blonde hair.
“……”
I tried to ignore him, thinking that he wouldn’t remember me anyway, but the numerous scars he had came flooding back to my memory.
My ability is nothing but to heal people, so those wounds were probably still there, unchanged.
…Why did I go and heal him.
I reached out towards the ceiling and then clenched my fist tightly. My face contorted involuntarily.
Even though I hadn’t committed any wrongdoing, I felt as if I had committed a grave sin.
What should I do? Should I go to the boy? But creating more secrets from my father is dangerous.
After a short period of contemplation, I slowly got up from the bed.
It was already spilled water, so there was no need to worry about it. Since I had followed my heart from the start, it was right to do so this time as well.
“The medicine box must be somewhere here.”
I stood on my toes and looked up at the drawer on one side of the bedroom.
I saw when the family doctor came last time, he gave the maids a medicine box full of various medicines. And I saw the maids put it somewhere in this drawer.
While I was searching the top drawer relying on my touch, I felt the surface of a wooden box that was slightly larger than my hand.
Found it.
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
I took out the medicine box with both hands, packed bandages and herbs in a shawl, and tied it tightly. I only picked the herbs that could be chewed, not those that needed to be boiled in water.
“Will this be enough?”
I murmured, looking over the now bulging bundle. It was a considerable amount to use up today, but I could give the leftovers to the boy for later use.
Having finished preparing, I glanced at the clock and pulled out a piece of mica from under the armchair.
The robe, which had been left as it was stained with blood, was giving off a fishy smell, so I couldn’t bear to wear it.
Since I’m just going to give the medicine today, I guess I won’t need the robe.
I vaguely thought and hugged the bundle tightly. Then, I recalled the place where I had seen the boy a week ago.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew, and after blinking once, I found myself at the spot where the boy had collapsed.
