[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
Chapter 49 - Massage (1)
"Uhmm… Ah…"
Shiver.
Charlotte trembled and groaned in her sleep.
Not because of physical pain, but because she was being dragged into a deep, dark nightmare.
A nightmare that tornted her with mories of a day she had desperately tried to forget.
Despite all her efforts to move on, Charlotte found herself reliving that day.
‘My sweet girl, you can sleep on your own now, right?’
‘Mom, where are you going?’
‘Just for a little while, I have sothing important to do. I’ll be back after ten nights, so stay here until then.’
‘But this place is for kids without parents, isn’t it?’
‘There’s no other choice.’
Her mother’s face, with that awkward smile, was still vividly etched in Charlotte’s mory, despite the years that had passed.
That face, once again brought to life in her nightmare, was filled with emotions—guilt, regret, sorrow, and pain.
Even after all this ti, Charlotte hadn’t understood the true aning behind that look.
How foolish she had been, waiting endlessly for her mother.
‘Hey, co play with us.’
‘No. I’m not like you. My mom will be back soon. She said she’d return after ten nights.’
‘You actually believe that?’
Charlotte had believed she was different from the other children, that she would soon leave that place.
Because of that belief, she distanced herself from the other kids and built emotional walls around herself.
Weeks passed, then months, and it was only when those months turned into a year that Charlotte finally realized sothing was wrong.
Most of the children there shared similar stories—they had all gone through sothing similar to end up at the orphanage.
By the ti Charlotte figured this out and tried to adjust to life at the orphanage, it was too late.
‘You said you were different from us.’
‘Your mom is coming back, right? Just wait a bit longer.’
‘Hey, let’s go sowhere else. I don’t want to play with soone who looks down on us.’
The painful mistake of isolating herself ca back to bite her, leaving Charlotte as an outcast.
Or so she thought…
‘My na’s Yuri. What’s yours?’
‘…?’
‘Your na. What is it? You have one, right?’
When Yuri showed up, Charlotte’s world changed.
Yuri was the first to approach her without hesitation, breaking through the bleakness that had surrounded her.
‘You look scary when you frown like that. How about smiling more?’
With Yuri’s hand guiding her, Charlotte slowly began to lower the walls around her heart.
As Charlotte changed, so did the attitude of the other children at the orphanage—they began to open up to her.
Slowly, Charlotte found herself moving forward, leaving the past behind.
She learned to smile again, even brighter than before, as if to cover the old scars.
‘Mom? I don’t wait for her anymore! I’ve forgotten all about her! Now I have you guys!’
Even when she felt sad, she forced herself to smile.
When mories of the past crept up on her, she buried them under cheerful laughter.
When dark thoughts started to cloud her mind, she pushed them away with forced innocence.
She had managed to live that way for years, but every now and then, when her body and spirit were exhausted, an overwhelming sense of dread would surge back.
‘Mom, don’t go…’
She thought she had overco it.
She thought she had forgotten.
She believed she had grown stronger.
But this nightmare was telling her otherwise, whispering that nothing had really changed.
“No, nooo…! Gasp?!”
"Quite the dramatic awakening."
“…”
Charlotte bolted upright, eyes wide.
She found herself beside Aslan, who was calmly turning the pages of a book.
He glanced at her for a mont before returning his focus to the book.
"Did I… Did I say sothing in my sleep?"
"Who knows."
"I’m sure I was sleep-talking…"
"I wouldn’t know. You slept peacefully, as far as I could tell."
Oh… Really?
If that was the case, she was relieved.
Charlotte realized she felt surprisingly refreshed, not weighed down as she had before.
Turning her head, she noticed a pile of damp cloths—had Aslan been wiping her sweat all night?
“S-sorry… You stayed up all night because of …”
"I don’t sleep much anyway. Don’t worry about it. I was just reading here instead of in my office."
"Hmmm?"
Is that true?
Charlotte switched to detective mode.
The book in Aslan’s hand appeared to be well-read, open about halfway through.
But the key detail was the bookmark—it was placed only a few pages in!
That ant he had barely read anything and had been putting the book down frequently.
But what had kept him so busy?
She didn’t know!
That was the end of her deductions.
"Okay, I’ll believe you!"
Charlotte laughed, stretching.
Despite feeling heavy the day before, now she felt fully recharged, like sothing had replenished her energy—though she wasn’t sure what.
Rubbing her eyes, she noticed dried tear stains on her cheeks.
Glancing over at Aslan, who seed indifferent, still focused on his book, she wondered if he had noticed her tears.
She had cried in her sleep.
There was no way Aslan hadn’t seen it, yet he told her she had slept peacefully…
Charlotte realized there was a big gap between his words and reality, and she smiled.
"Feeling better?"
"Yep, I’m fine now."
"Then go have so breakfast. Julia should be eating by now."
"What about you?"
"I’ll finish reading first."
"…"
Without another word, Charlotte folded the blankets and gently slid off the bed, landing softly on the floor.
She noticed that while she had been changed into fresh clothes, Aslan was still in the sa outfit from the previous evening.
"Did you carry here, Mister?"
"Sylvia did."
"But I rember… You carried ."
"…Alright, I did."
Aslan reluctantly admitted it.
"Did you change my clothes too?"
"The maids did that."
"But I rember… You changed ."
"…Don’t make things up."
"Hehe. I was just joking."
With a playful hop, Charlotte landed behind Aslan, jumping onto his back and peering over his shoulder.
She brought her lips close to his ear and whispered softly.
"Please don’t tell Julia that… I cried. I don’t normally do this, but I guess I let my guard down because I’ve been feeling so comfortable lately."
"I won’t. I’ll forget everything that happened last night."
He’s really bad at this, Charlotte thought with a giggle.
"And sotis… Can I co to you when I feel like crying?"
"Do as you please. Holding back tears can make you sick."
"Hehe. Then I’ll have to make sure to co to you often."
I’m fine.
I’ve forgotten everything.
I’ve overco it.
But now Charlotte realized that she couldn’t hold back her tears forever.
She had kept them hidden from Yuri and from Julia.
But if Aslan had already seen her at her weakest, then there was no point in hiding it from him anymore.
"From now on, I’ll only show my weak side to you, Mister."
As Charlotte whispered those words with a sultry voice, she felt Aslan flinch slightly.
Hehe. Gotcha!
Feeling victorious, Charlotte laughed softly as she let go of Aslan and stepped away.
"Ti to eat! What’s for breakfast, Julia?"
"…"
With her usual lively tone, she sprinted out of the room.
Left alone, Aslan rubbed his now-red ear and muttered to himself.
"I really feel like I’m becoming a babysitter…"
He wasn’t particularly curious about Charlotte’s past or the trauma she carried.
He just hoped that from now on, she would only collect happy mories and that her future would be filled with joy.
After all, his life might depend on it.
[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ is demanding that you check our Dark Knight’s health again.]
"You sure you’re okay?"
"I’m fine."
She said she’s fine!
[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ is demanding that you take her temperature one more ti.]
"Let check your forehead again."
"Ugh, co on. If you keep doing this, my forehead’s going to wear out."
By now, I had checked her temperature about ten tis—by hand, with a thermoter, everything.
The results were always the sa: normal.
[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ is demanding that you call the doctor again…]
"Alright, that’s enough. You seem fine, so you can go outside and train."
"Yes!"
[The Evil God, ‘Kali,’ is openly expressing dissatisfaction!]
At this point, it was overkill.
The doctor was probably busy, and it wouldn’t make sense to keep calling him for nothing.
I decided to ignore Kali’s final demand and gave Charlotte the green light to go outside and play.
"…"
When I first saw Charlotte’s vulnerable side, I worried a lot.
Despite her cheerful deanor, her guardedness made suspect that the darkness inside her might be deeper than she let on.
How deep were those hidden wounds?
Were they festering?
Would she start avoiding after knowing I had seen her like that?
But…
"Whew. What a little devil…"
I never expected her to turn it into our secret.
I tried to pretend I hadn’t seen or heard anything, but she went ahead and made promise that she’d show her vulnerable side only to .
It was a bit unsettling, but it was also fine.
Charlotte now had a safe space to cry, which was invaluable for an orphan like her.
Maybe Julia needed that too.
Should I tell her she could cry in front of anyti?
…I thought about it for a mont but quickly decided against it.
‘She’d probably tell to get lost.’
Ten tis a day was about as much as I could enjoy Julia’s disdainful glares.
Anything beyond that would actually start to hurt.
Sighing, I closed the book and stood up.
"Ow?"
Was it because I had been sitting for too long?
Suddenly, a cramp hit my leg, making stagger.
It hurt. I wasn’t sure I could stand up straight.
Sylvia? Sylvia, are you there?
That girl—she’s always hiding in the shadows when I don’t need her, but now, when I actually do, she’s nowhere to be found.
"Ugh…"
"Mister?"
At that mont, the door creaked open, and Charlotte peeked in, her head tilted in curiosity.
Then, with a sly grin, she approached .
"Mister, you’ve got a cramp, don’t you?"
"I’m fine… Just go…"
"Looks like it’s ti to use that massage coupon, doesn’t it?"
Hehe.
With a mischievous smile, Charlotte walked toward slowly.
This wasn’t how I expected to use that massage coupon…
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
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