Chapter 114
***
Ronny was reminded of the magicians’ earnest pleas. They were worried Jeremiah was conducting strange experints!
“You, don’t tell !”
Suddenly, Ronny beca insanely worried about lody.
He feared Jeremiah might have turned her into a cat or a hamster as part of so experint.
“You, even if lody is cute, you shouldn’t do such things!”
anwhile, Jeremiah, holding the curtain, was slightly smiling—a smile he rarely showed.
Ronny’s face turned pale at that sight.
No wonder he had been so bothered by the many cats on the magic tower’s stairs!
Swish.
The curtain opened, and Ronny, feeling fearful, covered his face with his hands.
He didn’t want to see lody turned into a cat. It was bound to be too cute.
“Quickly change her back!”
He shouted while his eyes were covered, soon receiving a reply filled with difficulty.
“She’ll be alright in two days. It’s sothing Miss Higgins herself wished for, so it’s unavoidable that it takes so ti.”
“She wished for it?!”
Ronny, who was quite close to lody, had never heard her express any strange desire to beco a cat.
He had seen her provide water or food to the stray cats that sotis ca to the mansion’s backyard.
After a while, with the curtain drawn back, Ronny timidly opened his eyes through his fingers.
Due to the extre tension, he initially couldn’t focus on what was beyond the curtain.
It took him so ti before he could fix his gaze on one spot.
He was motivated by the thought that only he could rescue lody from any trouble.
“…Huh?”
But the lody he saw didn’t seem to be in any trouble at all. She was just lying quietly on the bed.
She was neither a cat nor a hamster but perfectly human, breathing normally and asleep.
Ronny let out a huge sigh of relief at this peaceful scene.
“…What? She’s just sleeping. Why did everyone make such a fuss over nothing?”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you, brother. The magicians worry too much.”
“Definitely. I thought you had turned lody into a cat.”
“It would be unseemly for
to use such distasteful magic.”
Ronny nodded repeatedly. After all, Jeremiah, the future tower master, highly valued the natural order.
“Miss Higgins was in a very exhausted state. The magic simply guided her into a situation conducive to recovery. If she continues to sleep like this for about two days, her fatigue will completely disappear, and she will be able to wake up.”
“She has been overdoing it lately.”
Ronny frowned slightly as he looked at lody’s deeply sleeping face.
“I knew this would happen. Such a fool.”
Ronny playfully poked lody’s cheek, feeling sowhat annoyed with her.
It was a relief that she would be healthier after a good rest.
“…Huh.”
But soon, he was seized by a strange unease.
Why?
It wasn’t a big issue for lody to fall asleep in Jeremiah’s room.
After all, Jeremiah was not only a fine magician but also a gentleman of the capital. He would offer his room to lody and find sowhere else to stay and eat.
In the anti, a maid from the ducal house could take care of lody.
Of course, the Higgins couple or the duke might worry about her staying out.
But they too had been concerned about lody overexerting herself recently, so they wouldn’t likely disturb this precious sleep.
‘But why….’
As Ronny pondered, he rembered sothing lody had said recently in response to a question about why she was studying so hard.
“Because the archivist exam isn’t far off.”
“…Huh!”
Ronny hurriedly ran over, grabbed lody’s shoulders, and began to shake her.
“Hey! Wake up, now’s not the ti to be sleeping?!”
Initially, he shook her gently, but when lody’s eyelids didn’t budge, Ronny started to shake her more vigorously to wake her up.
“The exam is tomorrow, and you’re planning to sleep for two days! Wake up right now!”
At his outcry, Jeremiah repeated, “What?” in confusion.
Ronny, still holding onto lody’s shoulders, turned to his troubleso brother.
“lody has her exam starting tomorrow morning! She has to take the archivist recruitnt exam!”
“Ah.”
Realizing the situation, Jeremiah slowly nodded.
“That… the archivist recruitnt exam that’s held irregularly every few years?”
“Yes!”
“So, Miss Higgins was so sleep-deprived because she was preparing for that.”
“Yes, that’s right! Ah, really….”
Ronny suppressed his almost overwhelming frustration, trying his best to regain his composure.
As the second son of the Baldwin family, he had resolved nurous small and large family issues.
Thus, he believed he could sohow solve this situation too.
“Jeremiah.”
“Yes.”
“You said the only way for lody to wake up naturally is to ‘wait for two days,’ right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then.”
Ronny carefully laid lody down and turned to Jeremiah.
“Is there a way to wake her up unnaturally?”
“….”
Jeremiah remained silent.
“Why aren’t you speaking? You’ve forcefully awakened Loretta from sleep before, haven’t you?!”
“That situation is different from now.”
“It’s exactly the sa?”
“It may seem so, but the essence is different.”
At that ti, Loretta had fallen into a sleep to shut out reality after receiving a huge shock.
“Miss lody fell into a deep sleep of her own volition, driven by her own will.”
“What about the exam?!”
“Obviously.”
Jeremiah answered with a calm face.
“She won’t be able to take it.”
“….”
“I suppose I’ll have to advise her to manage her physical condition better for the next exam. It’s regrettable, anyway.”
No, this regrettable situation is all because of you.
Ronny wanted to argue that point, but he was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t say anything.
***
The sun dipped further, staining the sky red.
The sunset viewed from the magic tower was a sight that could make anyone marvel, yet Ronny’s eyes saw only despair.
In the distance, he could see a servant carrying his letter heading back to the ducal mansion.
When he returned, he would likely be accompanied by the duke or the Higgins couple.
…How on earth should he explain this situation?
“Uh… Brother.”
Soon, Jeremiah approached Ronny with a guilty face.
He had spoken as if lody’s situation was not a big deal just a mont ago, but now the atmosphere had completely changed.
It seed like he was watching Ronny’s reactions.
“What?”
“I’ll have so food prepared.”
“…It’s okay.”
Ronny sighed again as he looked at lody, who was deep in sleep, unaware of the world.
“Speaking of which. What about lody?”
“What about her?”
“Food. She can’t eat if she keeps sleeping.”
“It’s fine.”
Jeremiah answered confidently.
“Sotis, after staying up for five days, I refrain from eating and drinking and sleep straight for about three days. It hasn’t been life-threatening.”
“What? You an you were made to work without sleep for five days?!”
“It was my choice to stay awake. Though the Tower Master greatly disapproves.”
Despite his words, Jeremiah seed pleased that Ronny had raised his voice in concern for him. It was evident as he lightly touched his cheek with his fingertips.
“Anyway, Miss Higgins is filled with my magic, so there won’t be a problem due to hunger.”
“…Well, if you say so.”
Ronny looked out the window again, his head bowed.
‘Even if I manage to explain to the adults sohow… how do I explain this situation to lody when she wakes up?’
At first thought, simply saying ‘Jeremiah put you to sleep.’ might do.
In a way, that was the truth.
‘But what if lody ends up disliking Jeremiah because of that?’
Although Jeremiah was almost like a stranger in his childhood, he had steadily repaired his relationship with the family since a family gathering six years ago, becoming quite close.
‘But still…’
It wasn’t as if he could just relay Jeremiah’s explanation.
‘It’s because you responded to the magic in a tired state. You fell into sleep following your instincts!’ By saying this, lody wouldn’t bla Jeremiah.
‘Instead, she would bla herself.’
Ronny didn’t like that either.
‘If only I could just say it was all my fault.’
The thought crossed his mind montarily, but he had nothing to do with the situation’s occurrence.
Feeling suffocated, Ronny montarily loosened his shirt collar and pulled at his hair.
“…Brother.”
“Ah, sorry. It’s a bit difficult.”
Ronny walked over to the sleeping lody and flopped down onto the bed beside her.
Even as the bed shook, she showed no signs of waking up.
“I apologize.”
Soon, Jeremiah offered a formal apology.
“Suddenly why?”
“That is.”
He seed to hesitate for a mont but soon answered calmly.
“Because I realized how worried you are about Miss Higgins.”
He bowed his head again, saying, “So, I apologize.”
“Jeremiah. What about you?”
“Pardon?”
“Were you worried?”
“About Miss Higgins?”
As Ronny nodded, Jeremiah tilted his head this way and that, lost in thought.
Yes, he had been worried initially due to her unexpected reaction.
But lody had accepted his magic well, and now she was in the process of recovering from her fatigue and becoming healthier.
Was there still sothing to worry about?
“Honestly, I’m not sure why I should worry about soone who will wake up healthy as ti passes.”
“Didn’t you tell
several tis before that ‘Miss Higgins is special’?”
“Yes, of course.”
Jeremiah answered as if it was obvious, glancing briefly at her sleeping face.
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