Chapter 138
* * *
Of course, lody could not deny his words. When she had spotted the drifting shoe, not only did she fail to think of Claude, but the option of simply buying a new one never even occurred to her.
“…That’s true.”
lody whispered her admission in a small voice.
“I only thought I had to hurry and retrieve it.”
“But why?”
At his dissatisfied question, lody fell silent for a mont.
Claude did not press further, rely applying the dicine to her wound. Once the stinging subsided, lody took a deep breath before finally speaking up again about those tis she rarely recalled anymore.
“My shoes too… were brought to
by Isaiah.”
For an instant, his hand stilled, as if startled by sothing.
“I don’t understand why children always bully other children in that way.”
Back then, as an outcast, lody might have felt the need to say that she too had lost her other shoe.
In any case, standing around wearing only one shoe had been utterly miserable.
“…I wanted to imitate Isaiah a bit. He was always a great comfort to
as a child.”
Of course, Isaiah’s existence remained precious to her even now. But back then, it seed he had been even more absolutely vital.
He was nearly the only person who would fight for her sake.
“I see…”
“But you’re also right. Now that my circumstances have changed, I should have considered the option of buying new shoes instead.”
“No.”
He imdiately shook his head, having just scolded her for failing to think of that solution.
“…I was mistaken.”
Repeating the sa words, he set down the dicine bottle.
It seed the treatnt was finished.
“Young master.”
After gauging his mood, lody carefully spoke up.
“I didn’t bring up that story to evoke your pity. Of course, in your view, my childhood was…”
“Not pity, never that.”
He shook his head adamantly, insisting otherwise.
“Absolutely not.”
“But you did suddenly take my side, with a rather sad expression.”
“It was just…”
He trailed off before lowering his head, coincidentally letting his forehead rest against her ankle.
“…It was…”
His quiet words carried his breath all the way to the tips of lody’s toes, making her feel ticklish.
“A bit… pathetic of .”
He deeply bowed his head, letting more of his weight rest upon her slender ankle.
In the small stillness, the clear sound of a raindrop striking the glass window resonated loudly.
lody’s gaze turned towards the world outside.
The azure sky was gradually being swallowed by inky blackness – dark rain clouds seed to be rapidly gathering.
Though not long after, even the sun disappeared behind the clouds, dimming the surroundings into near-darkness, tinting everything in muted shades.
It was then that Claude suddenly whispered sothing.
Unfortunately, the intensifying rain drowned out his words from reaching lody’s ears.
When she asked “Pardon?” he replied with a wry laugh,
“I just thought… I could have retrieved that shoe too…”
“But if I had waited for you young master, August’s shoe might have drifted even further away.”
He turned his head towards lody, still resting his face near her ankle.
“That shoe is not what I wanted to find.”
Even if lody lacked perception, she could hardly be oblivious to whom the ‘shoe’ he now referred to belonged.
He was speaking of her childhood self.
“Well, that’s… unavoidable, isn’t it?”
“I know.”
He slumped his body wearily, his lips lightly brushing against lody’s leg.
“The version of you I got to et was rely the one who ca to own several pairs of shoes.”
His lips ticklishly grazing her skin felt unfamiliar yet not exactly unpleasant.
“If I had known you from an even earlier ti… perhaps I could have been more helpful.”
For so reason, those words carried a tinge of regret.
It seed he wished he could have shown kindness to the younger lody he never t.
He did have a habit of spontaneously showing affection at tis.
“…Still.”
lody replied in a sowhat dreamy voice.
“I beca so happy after gaining all those extra pairs of shoes.”
“Ah, then we’ll buy more.”
Startled by Claude’s imdiate response, lody exclaid,
“Huh? What did you say?!”
Lifting his head, he flashed lody a bright smile.
“Let’s buy more shoes.”
“Why all of a sudden? Why?!”
“You said so yourself, lody. That you beca happy after owning multiple pairs of shoes.”
“That was a taphor! aning my circumstances improved compared to before…”
“Miss lody’s circumstances can always improve further. And if shoes asure that, then we must buy more, no matter what.”
It was a complete sophistry.
Yet before lody could refute him, he had already summoned Wendel Benton to inform him, “Our return shopping will focus primarily on shoes.”
The delighted Wendel withdrew, promising to “prepare diligently across each region categorized by type and material!” His face bead with the prospect of great sales.
After finalizing the arrangents with him, Claude nodded in full satisfaction.
He already seed to eagerly anticipate encountering various shoes along their return journey.
By this point, lody was beginning to worry about him a bit.
“You know, young master, addiction to spending is an extrely dangerous thing.”
“It’s alright. I’m only indulging in necessary purchases.”
“You consider buying shoes categorized by type and material a necessary purchase?!”
“Yes.”
He calmly responded as if explaining sothing obvious.
“Buying the sa type and material would truly be an unnecessary purchase. But buying different shoes categorized by color is absolutely necessary.”
…Huh? Was that right?
His reasoning sounded plausible enough that lody unthinkingly agreed with an “I suppose so” once again.
Of course, it was only 10 seconds later that she realized he had slyly snuck in the absurd addendum of “by color” and had to loudly protest, “No way!”
* * *
The rain continued pouring.
While waiting for the dicine on her soles to dry, lody obediently sat on the sofa.
A maid soon brought over so warm tea. Forgetting the shoe shopping for now, lody gazed out the window.
“Perhaps it’s…fortunate?”
She was referring to the rain starting after eting August.
If she had failed to encounter him this morning, she would be returning to the mansion now with nothing to show for it.
“Miss lody’s expression seems far from relieved, however.”
He responded while examining her feet, likely checking if the dicine had fully absorbed.
“Hmm.”
“He’s weighing on your mind, isn’t he?”
“To be honest, yes.”
lody recalled August standing alone on the southern bridge.
Behind the solitary boy, children carrying pinwheels frolicked about. The yellow pinwheels were said to be gifts from parents on this day.
Nearby were also families holding hands firmly to avoid getting separated amidst the joyous occasion.
Only the boy stood alone in that festive space.
‘Of course, Prince Samuel must also love August…’
But given the need to conceal their relationship, it was inevitable that a strange loneliness would take root in the young boy’s heart.
Perhaps that was proof of it.
When lody retrieved August’s shoe, despite his sincere concern for her wellbeing, his head whipped around at a man’s distant voice, hopeful it might be his father co to find him.
He had likely anticipated that repeatedly while making his wish on the southern bridge.
lody could easily envision the child’s face lighting up with expectation, only to soon fall into disappointnt, over and over again.
“…Of course, eventually August too will be able to happily enjoy the festival with Prince Samuel, creating the wonderful mories he can recount to Loretta.”
But that future did not negate the loneliness the eleven-year-old boy felt now.
At Claude’s query of whether she wished to help the current August, lody both nodded and shook her head in response.
The thought that she should not involve herself further held her back.
“I know. For now, I must be satisfied with simply finding his existence and exchanging greetings.”
Rash action could lead to disastrous consequences.
“…In that sense, the rain is rather fortunate after all.”
lody turned her gaze back outside, where heavy downpours still relentlessly poured, blurring the world.
“In this weather, August likely won’t be alone waiting for his father on the bridge.”
Perhaps he was nestled against his nanny’s lap, humming the sa lullaby told to him since infancy – the very lody he would teach Loretta in the distant future.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Claude made a puzzled sound, carefully observing sothing beyond the window.
Sothing seed to have caught his eye.
Following his line of sight, lody noticed an umbrella.
“Did soone return from going out…?”
But the umbrella’s erratic bobbing movents made her doubt that, considering the heavy downpour – who would urgently run about with just an umbrella in this weather?
“Let’s go out.”
Perhaps sensing sothing was amiss, he rose to his feet.
lody followed, the dicine having fully absorbed so her feet no longer pained her.
The mont they reached the entrance hall, they found Wendel Benton there as well.
“Is sothing the matter?”
“Hmm, an old woman from the village seems to be searching for a child. But in weather like this, I can’t imagine what…”
“An old woman?”
“Yes.”
Claude and lody exchanged glances, a shared realization naturally surfacing between them.
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