Chapter 116
***
Ronny, visiting Jeremiah’s room for the first ti, looked around restlessly but eventually found his gaze returning to lody’s face.
A new wave of concern washed over him.
“You… you’ll wake up after two days, right?”
Why do ominous thoughts spread so quickly in all directions?
Ronny was frightened at the thought that she might never open her eyes again, just like Loretta had once been.
‘That can’t happen.’
He was surprised to find his worry so deep, sowhat similar to the concern he felt for his father or brother.
‘Maybe this feeling is because I’ve seen lody put in a foolish amount of effort…? To study so hard, only to sleep through the exam day.’
At the end of his continued worries, Ronny recalled what Jeremiah had ntioned earlier.
The story that a true kiss of love from a beloved could awaken lody.
Of course, he still thought it was nonsense.
‘But, if it really could wake her up.’
lody would be able to take the exam she had worked so hard for.
Suddenly, her small lips caught his eye, moving slightly with her breath.
What should he do?
This thod was fraught with too many issues.
It wasn’t simply about shedding the garnt of ethics.
He would have to be prepared to be hated by lody, and Ronny found he could not muster such a resolve.
“I really want to pass. It’s my own desire, but… it’s also to repay those who raised .”
lody’s past words echoed in his mind.
Rembering her determination brought back his agony.
He wanted to help lody by any ans, but the thod was…
‘Only a kiss.’
He rubbed his burning face repeatedly, then mustered a little courage to glance around lody’s lips.
‘Pretty….’
He was unaware of such thoughts crossing his mind when, without a knock, the door burst open.
“Ah!”
Ronny scread involuntarily, stepping back several paces in shock.
With a face turned pale.
“…!”
Who would do such a thoughtless thing as opening a door without knocking!
Ronny leaned against the window side, looking through the casually opened door.
“…Loretta?”
When Ronny called out to the figure standing in the doorway with a trembling voice, the child-like a rabbit tilted her head and then hopped towards him.
“Brother?”
With a face that seed to question why he was so startled.
“You…! You know, if you enter without knocking, you won’t beco a fine lady of the capital, right?”
He tried to maintain his composure, but his lips trembled from being overly shocked.
“But.”
Perhaps Loretta noticed his deanor was different than usual.
Despite the terrifying threat that she wouldn’t beco ‘a fine lady of the capital,’ Loretta took a step closer to him, lifting her head bravely.
‘Could it be… did she see?’
Ronny desperately hoped she hadn’t noticed him staring at lody’s face, or more precisely, her lips.
“Brother.”
“Uh… Yes?”
“You did sothing.”
“No, I didn’t do anything!”
Ronny blurted out, and truthfully, he hadn’t. Not even his breath had touched lody’s lips.
But Loretta didn’t seem convinced. Her large eyes sharpened.
“I saw it!”
“Guh, that’s…”
From a distance, it might have looked that way. From afar, a tragedy looks like a cody… or was it the other way around? Maybe that’s irrelevant?
Loretta furrowed her brows, sensing sothing odd as Ronny panicked.
“Why so surprised, brother? Are you now embarrassed about entering my room without knocking?”
“…Huh?”
“You said entering without knocking would prevent
from becoming a fine lady of the capital. But you were the first to do that.”
Loretta tightly grasped Ronny’s hand, which had turned cold from nervousness.
“So, you can’t beco a fine gentleman of the capital, right?”
Ah, that was the story.
Ronny nodded repeatedly at his kind sister’s words.
‘Thank goodness… Really, thank goodness.’
Soon after, Jeremiah returned to the room, followed by Loretta.
Ronny expected their father or the Higgins couple to follow behind him, but there was no one else behind Jeremiah.
“Adults?”
Ronny asked, and the answer ca from Loretta.
“Huh? Why would the adults need to co?”
“Didn’t you get my letter?”
“I did. It said lody had fallen asleep like a princess who ate a sleeping apple. So, I ca.”
“…?”
Ronny narrowed his eyes and stared at Loretta, who seed oddly happy, not fully grasping the situation.
“Did the letter reach Father or the Higgins?”
She shook her head lightly in response to his question.
“No. I received it on my way back from class, after saying goodbye to the professor.”
“This is crazy.”
Ronny briefly pressed his forehead. It seed like it would be faster for him to explain the situation in person.
“Where’s lody?”
At Loretta’s question, Ronny casually pointed towards the bed with his chin and straightened his disheveled clothing.
“Jeremiah. I’ll leave Loretta here for a bit. I think I need to go back to the mansion.”
Jeremiah imdiately nodded in agreent to Ronny’s hurried words.
“Understood. Don’t worry and…”
But he froze mid-sentence, his mouth agape.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just…”
A strange reaction followed, his gaze fixed over Ronny’s shoulder.
Since lody was sleeping in that direction, Ronny, filled with apprehension, turned around, fearing sothing worse had happened.
“…!”
And there, indeed, sothing worse was happening.
Loretta’s lips had clearly touched lody’s and then separated with a soft, unmistakable sound.
It was clear enough to not be misunderstood, so Ronny scread and rushed over, grabbing Loretta by the waist and pulling her back.
“You, you! What are you doing?! Where did you leave your ethics and morals?!”
“Huh? But this is how she wakes up, right? Isn’t that why you called ?”
“Don’t joke! Waking up from a true love’s kiss, that’s nonsense!”
“But.”
Loretta pouted her lips and slightly lifted her chin.
“It actually happened.”
“What?”
Ronny lifted his head in disbelief.
lody, who had awakened from her sleep and was half-opening her eyes, was stretching and yawning.
“See? It was the power of my love.”
Loretta said, escaping from Ronny’s hold with a victorious smile.
“lody, did you sleep well?”
Loretta, with her arms wide open, rushed towards lody and hugged her tightly.
Both of them looked incredibly happy as they embraced each other.
Beside them, Jeremiah was gleaming behind his glasses, furiously jotting sothing down.
He was clearly delighted to see a thod from ancient records realized before his eyes.
“…This doesn’t make sense.”
However, Ronny was still not in a good mood, feeling as though he had been duped.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly how or by whom.
“Ronny?”
Perhaps because of his strange expression, lody cautiously called out to him, prompting Ronny to burst out in frustration.
“lody! You’re a liar!”
“?”
But when she asked back, seemingly confused, Ronny found himself at a loss for words.
***
Ultimately, the uninterrupted deep sleep turned out to be greatly beneficial for lody, leading to another night of pleasant dreams.
The next morning, she woke up feeling much lighter than usual.
After finishing breakfast at her usual ti, lody dressed in comfortable clothes. Just as she was checking her bag, she sensed soone approaching the door.
It wasn’t unusual to hear footsteps in the bustling corridors of the ducal mansion, but now it sounded like several people were whispering just outside her door.
Was there sothing going on in the corridor?
Worried, lody slightly opened the door.
The people outside were startled and stepped back.
“, lody!”
They all called her na.
There were people lody cared about.
Loretta, the Higgins couple, Ronny, the Duke, and the friendly servants and maids.
“Oh, everyone…”
lody started to ask, “Why are you all here?” but then shrugged it off.
It wasn’t hard to guess why these kind people had gathered here.
“Thank you.”
Thus, she quickly offered a response that matched the kindhearted sentint.
“I hope we haven’t disturbed you.”
The Duke was the first to speak up, expressing his concern. It seed he was worried that gathering around soone about to take an exam might have an adverse effect.
“I’m grateful, really. If you hadn’t gathered like this, I would have gone to visit each of you.”
‘It would have been enjoyable in its own way,’ lody added with a bright smile.
“Moreover, I wanted to thank you separately for the exam information you provided yesterday, Your Grace.”
“It wasn’t anything significant.”
“Not at all! Just knowing that information in advance made
so happy.”
After her conversation with the Duke, Loretta gave lody a tight hug.
“lody, you have to do well and co back, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll try to make it satisfactory.”
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