Chapter 109
***
The two of the sa age had maintained a long-standing friendship, and since last spring, they decided to honor that friendship by calling each other by their nas.
“Okay, I’ll accept your apology.”
“Thank you. Then, Ronny, apologize to
too. You snooped through my notes without permission.”
“Hmph, snooped! The problem is that you made
wait in the first place.”
“I didn’t even know you were coming. Did you knock before entering?”
“I did. Once.”
lody was fully hidden behind the screen, led there by the maids.
“I told you to wait outside until I answered. Loretta also said she dislikes that about you.”
“It doesn’t matter when I’m going to enter anyway.”
“Ronny!”
“…Ah, fine, I’ll apologize if that’s what you want.”
He grumbled displeasedly for a mont but soon gave lody the apology she sought.
“I’m sorry for entering your room without permission and snooping through your notes.”
As his apology ended, lody’s preparations to go out were also completed.
When she erged from behind the screen, Ronny was bowing deeply, offering a sincere apology.
lody quickly bent her knees in response.
“Thank you, for apologizing.”
“Well, it’s only natural for a gentleman….”
Ronny, while responding, subtly lifted his head. Their gazes t again, but this ti, his expression seed a bit odd.
“That’s a dress I haven’t seen before.”
“I received it as a gift on my last birthday.”
His scrutinizing gaze montarily lingered on the exposed neckline, turning white.
“You…, aren’t you cold wearing that?”
“It’s sumr, so it’s actually hot.”
“It looks, looks cold though.”
Ronny seed hotter by the mont, so lody offered him a handkerchief.
He flinched and stepped back, but he never accepted the handkerchief from lody.
“Isn’t your exam not until tomorrow?”
“That’s right.”
“And you’re dressed up so prettily… no, where are you going dressed like that?”
“Um, I have various plans today, but first, I’m heading to the library.”
“The library? Because of the book you borrowed last ti?”
“That’s right.”
“You could return it after the exam.”
“I was planning to do just that.”
A letter had arrived from the library. It urgently requested the return of the book if possible, as soone else wished to borrow it urgently, asking if it could be returned a bit early if it had already been read.
“You should have soone else run such errands. You say you barely have ti to sleep with all the studying, so why go yourself?”
At Ronny’s scolding, lody just shrugged her shoulders and smiled slightly.
Indeed, as he said, it would be more efficient to have soone else handle such tasks.
However, even after years of living as a noble’s daughter, lody found it difficult to ask others to do such things.
“Actually, I feel more at ease doing it myself.”
The books in the library were very important.
If she entrusted such a task to soone else and it wasn’t returned properly, lody would be upset.
And being upset wouldn’t help her perform well on tomorrow’s exam.
“Still as stubborn as ever….”
Ronny grumbled and picked up the library book that was on lody’s desk.
“Is this the only one you need to return?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if these two books are the only ones you need to return.”
“Well, yes, but.”
“Got it.”
He arbitrarily embraced lody’s books.
“I’ll return them for you. Change out of those… cold clothes.”
“Huh? But.”
“I was going to return my own book anyway! The one you borrowed without asking last ti!”
“Ah.”
At the ntion of “borrowed without asking,” lody hesitated for a mont, so Ronny added an explanation not to misunderstand his words.
“Of course, I needed that book. I survived because you lent it to . That… what’s it called. I was thankful, for starters.”
lody smiled broadly, now reassured.
“I’m glad I could be of help to Ronny.”
“Right, so this ti, I’ll be the one to help you. You wouldn’t refuse my kindness, would you?”
lody hesitated for a mont but then nodded. She felt secure entrusting precious books to Ronny.
“Okay.”
“Uh… and.”
He fiddled with the tip of his glove for a mont. It seed he had sothing else to say, so lody quietly waited.
“Do you need anything? Sothing to eat or ink… stuff like that.”
“No, I’m good.”
“Good to hear, but still.”
He hesitantly approached lody.
“Do well, okay?”
“Yes.”
“I went to all this trouble to help you… know that I’ll be mad if you fail.”
lody covered her mouth and chuckled for a mont. She knew that his seemingly spiteful words were actually sincere encouragent.
“Thank you, my lord. I really want to pass too. Not just for my own sake, but also to repay those who have raised .”
“You.”
Soon, Ronny began to glare at lody with sharp eyes again.
“What is it?”
“You called
‘my lord’ again.”
“Did I?”
“Yes!”
Even as he raised his voice, lody just smiled broadly.
Ronny wanted to pinch that infuriatingly adorable face. Did she think anyone would forgive her just because she smiled prettily and apologized?
“I’m sorry, Ronny. I forgot for a mont. Hehe.”
“….”
But once he received her apology, he found himself unable to question her further.
“Ronny?”
“This is really the last ti! I won’t let it slide from now on! Absolutely not!”
His trembling figure was sohow amusing.
So, lody willingly replied with a “Yes, my lord,” once again.
Of course, Ronny scread, and lody ended up laughing out loud.
***
As lody grew into a fine seventeen-year-old lady, Loretta also blossod into a wonderful child.
Eleven-year-old Loretta Baldwin was already a celebrity in the capital, known to almost everyone.
She was especially famous for being “the one who made the emperor’s beard disappear with a single remark.”
This incident occurred a few winters ago.
Loretta boldly told the emperor during a eting, “Your Majesty would look even more distinguished without a beard.”
Considering the emperor took great pride in his modest beard, it was a truly audacious comnt.
Therefore, people hoped that the young girl would not incur the emperor’s wrath.
However, that fear was unfounded.
The next day, the emperor appeared clean-shaven, having removed all his beard, even remarking, “It seems the young Baldwin might have been right.”
Following this, the chief steward, who was very pleased, sent Loretta enthusiastic letters and gifts for a long ti. After all, shaving off that unfortunate beard had been a great wish of his.
Since then, Loretta sotis received praise for “having the ability to bend the emperor’s will,” but she responded indifferently.
“I just spoke the truth.”
The charm felt in her nonchalant response made the people of the capital even more enthusiastic about her.
But the adoration of many or being the emperor’s darling wasn’t sothing Loretta considered significant.
That’s because Loretta felt,
“Life is tough.”
She found herself in situations that warranted this statent even today.
“The life of our young lady seems to be tough every single day.”
“Yes, that’s right. Life is tough every day.”
Loretta set down the book she was engrossed in and looked up sharply.
“But thanks to that, I’ve co to realize sothing.”
Her large eyes shone intensely.
“What is it, miss?”
The maid asked as she placed a neatly cut apple in front of her.
“That the apple Snow White ate wasn’t poisoned!”
“…Pardon?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m certain of it.”
Loretta suddenly stood up from her seat and paced back and forth near the sofa several tis.
It was a habit when she was deep in thought.
“Think about it.”
She stopped walking and began to explain.
“How Snow White lived at the dwarfs’ house.”
“She lived peacefully, of course.”
“That’s impossible. She was taking care of seven dwarfs by herself.”
“Uh…”
Finally, the maid nodded.
Taking care of one person can sotis be very taxing, let alone taking care of seven.
“Moreover, the princess wasn’t accustod to such tasks, so it must have been even harder for her.”
“When you put it that way… it does sound quite plausible…”
“Do you know the characteristic of doing sothing you’re not accustod to?”
At Loretta’s question, the maid pondered seriously before cautiously offering an answer.
“It takes… longer?”
It seed to be the correct answer. Loretta clapped her hands and smiled broadly.
“Exactly. It takes longer to do the work, so there would have been less ti for rest. And the kind stepmother was watching over Snow White’s exhausting life through the mirror.”
“The kind stepmother?”
“Yes, the kind stepmother.”
Loretta quickly added her reasoning for thinking so.
“She gave her the magical sleeping apple so that the tired Snow White could sleep deeply.”
“….”
The maid had questions she wanted to raise. If the stepmother was so worried, shouldn’t she have not driven her out in the first place?
Or, even if she did put her to sleep out of concern, did she have to go that far?
However, anticipating the maid’s objections, Loretta continued her argunt.
“Snow White’s tasks were so piled up that she couldn’t sleep unless she was fed the magical sleeping apple! It’s impossible to sleep deeply with so many worrying tasks undone.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s how it is! No doubt about it!”
After her fervent argunt, Loretta soon sighed deeply and slumped back in her seat.
“Speaking of which.”
She then gazed thoughtfully at the apple in front of her.
“…I wish I had a magical sleeping apple too.”
An apple that could plunge one into a deep sleep with just one bite.
“What would you use that apple for?”
“Well, obviously. I’d give it to lody.”
“Oh dear.”
The maid finally understood Loretta’s intentions perfectly.
The story of Snow White wasn’t that important.
She was simply too worried about lody Higgins, who was cutting back on sleep to work hard.
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