Chapter 203
* * *
It was a whisper so small that it was actually almost just the movent of her lips.
Anyone else probably wouldn’t have been able to understand it at all.
But he was Claude Baldwin.
His senses were persistently focused only on her, so he could clearly hear and understand that fragile sigh-like speech.
Even the emotions contained within it.
For a mont, he was gripped by the urge to stop this terrible farce of a play altogether.
Just then, through the blanket they were holding together, he faintly felt the contours of her beloved fingers.
He wanted to grab them.
Toss aside this stifling blanket, intertwine their fingers right now, and pull her close until their wrists touched…
‘…But on what grounds?’
Nothing had changed now.
Although Claude had sensed sothing from the Magic Tower Master, he hadn’t been able to gauge what it was or what impact it could have.
If it was revealed in this situation that Claude had found lody’s whereabouts, it would only make lody anxious.
He tried his best to answer in a light tone as he finished folding the blanket.
“I hear that kind of thing… sotis, that I have a common face.”
“That’s not what I ant. That you resemble soone else or…”
She stopped talking for a mont while trying to give an excuse, and eventually let out a small sigh.
“Soone working at the temple shouldn’t lie. I’m sorry, I did see you that way a little.”
“See, I told you I have a common face.”
When he brought a new blanket and made that remark, lody shook her head.
“It’s not because of your appearance.”
“It’s not?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
The blanket spread out wide with a whoosh. They started folding the blanket again at the promised pace.
“The way you blink your eyes, your gait… Even the way you use your hands when explaining is similar.”
“Oh, that’s quite specific.”
Claude was quite surprised.
He didn’t know she rembered that much about him in such detail.
“But after all, what’s most similar is your voice.”
“Ahem!”
At the unexpected observation, Claude inadvertently coughed.
Co to think of it, even if his appearance changed with the illusion magic, his voice didn’t change.
“Of course… there are plenty of people in this world with similar voices. It’s not sothing to be particularly surprised about, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He smiled as if it was no big deal. Only then did lody seem sowhat relieved.
“I’m sorry, for arbitrarily…”
“It’s alright, you can do whatever you want with .”
“That’s what I an, that way of speaking and tone…!”
As she slightly raised her voice, Claude lifted the blanket to completely cover his face and asked.
“Is it exactly the sa as that person?”
It was a rather mischievous prank, so he thought lody would scold him.
But when there was no response for a few seconds, he slowly lowered the blanket.
“…”
He thought lody would be making a sulky face at him, but she was just blankly staring at him with eyes brimming with tears.
“I…!”
The startled Claude hurriedly tried to apologize.
“Everyone’s up early. Wow, Mr. Clyde! You’re helping out in the morning too?!”
…But everything was ruined by the sudden appearance of Wiley Neal.
lody let go of the blanket and ran out of the dining room, and Claude couldn’t bring himself to follow her.
Neal took lody’s place and folded the blankets with Claude, eagerly asking what had happened between them.
But Claude only gave a vague answer of “Nothing.”
* * *
lody, who had run to her room, slamd the door shut and wildly shook her confused head on the bed.
Actually, she had been this confused since she first t that person.
How could there be soone so similar?
Moreover, his voice was surprisingly identical.
To the point where she shuddered several tis at his faintly heard voice.
Furthermore, just a mont ago, when he spoke with his face completely covered, really…
‘I really thought it was the young master.’
Even though she clearly knew he was soone else.
‘Besides, there’s no way the young master would… co looking for .’
lody knew Claude Baldwin better than anyone else.
He never breaks a promise he has once nodded his head to.
By now, he must surely be working hard for Loretta rather than searching for lody’s whereabouts.
‘So that person is…’
lody spoke aloud the all-too-obvious fact, as if to inform herself.
“He’s not the young master.”
“Absolutely not.”
In the first place, isn’t it excessively rude to be reminded of soone else through another person?
Both to Clyde and to Claude.
‘Really, even their nas are similar…!’
lody tapped the bed with her fist and resented them for no reason.
Is there a need for there to be two such arrogant n in this world?
After grumbling alone on the bed for a while.
lody gradually started to regret her actions.
No matter how much she missed Claude to the point of dreaming about him every night, she shouldn’t have acted like she did a mont ago.
Looking at the benefactor who distributed dicine to the village as if resenting him.
‘What should I do for acting so foolishly.’
Clyde gave dicine to a village where he knew no one and readily stepped up to help with nial tasks.
‘I should… apologize.’
And if he plays a prank like he did a mont ago again, she should just laugh it off next ti.
And say, ‘Hearing it again, it’s totally different.’
“…The young master is an idiot.”
And lastly, lody didn’t forget to send words of resentnt to the sohow detestable gentleman in the capital.
* * *
When lody went to have breakfast, the blankets were already all neatly folded and Clyde was nowhere to be seen.
When she asked the housekeeper lady, she was told that he had gone to Mindy’s inn a little while ago, saying he was preparing to leave.
‘Even so, he’s leaving without even saying goodbye?!’
lody ran out of the hut without even having breakfast.
Passing by the villagers who greeted her, she arrived in front of Mindy’s inn and saw Clyde tending to the saddle.
“Mr. Clyde!”
When lody called out, he turned around with a startled look. She soon beca out of breath from narrowing the remaining distance in one breath.
“Without even… saying goodbye…”
“Breathe slowly, I’m not running away.”
He moved his hands up and down slowly to calm lody.
“But you left without a word.”
“No way.”
Clyde smiled and explained. He was planning to take the horse and go to the temple.
“…Then I misunderstood again.”
lody clasped her hands together and bowed politely.
Reprimanding herself for why she kept making mistakes with this person.
“No, I’m the one who created the misunderstanding. I’m really sorry.”
“Ah, no. I’m more…”
As she tried to apologize again, she saw sothing yellow on the ground in her downward gaze.
“…?”
A flower… bouquet, if you could call it that? It was a simple one made by weaving flowers and grass that had blood in front of the inn.
“…This is.”
As lody cautiously spoke while straightening her back, he held out another flower.
“If it’s alright, will you accept it?”
“?”
“Yes, Miss May.”
“Why… why?”
“Why, you ask.”
He had a face that seed to say it was obvious.
“It’s your birthday today.”
Was it her birthday? Co to think of it, she hadn’t been able to properly check the calendar since the disease beca prevalent.
She didn’t have the leisure to buy a new newspaper either.
“Judging by your face, it seems you had forgotten.”
“Yes… But how?”
“Soone told .”
“Wh-who?”
“Well, I wonder if it was the talkative Wiley Neal.”
He answered vaguely and just laughed.
“Anyway, accept it.”
“Thank… you.”
“Happy birthday.”
lody carefully held the small bouquet, worried it might get ruined.
‘Co to think of it, the young master before…’
lody recalled the conversation she had in Jeremiah’s hut where he grew dicinal herbs.
“Since you like it, should I hang plant decorations for your next birthday, Miss lody?”
“Yes, that sounds good. It’ll be even prettier if we mix flowers in too.”
“You an yellow spring flowers, let’s prepare them together.”
Of course, even recalling the promise made that day… it was of no use now.
“I’m happy, truly thank you.”
“It’s nothing, really. And I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t an to make you uncomfortable, I just… how should I say it.”
He fiddled with the horse’s reins for a mont, choosing his words.
“I thought if I did that, I could make you laugh. It was a complete miscalculation.”
“I apologize too.”
lody took one step closer to him and raised her head high.
The angle of looking up at him felt strangely familiar, but she tried to shake off that feeling of déjà vu.
“I shouldn’t have resented Mr. Clyde…”
“Then, do you resent the person I resemble, Miss May?”
lody shook her head at his question.
“I don’t resent anyone, it’s just…”
lody looked at the yellow flowers in her hand and smiled bitterly.
“It’s just that my longing has deepened to an unbearable degree.”
“…Since I touched that painful spot, I should apologize all the sa.”
“No. It’s a little different.”
lody smiled naturally.
“It was a feeling I secretly harbored alone… Talking about it like this, I feel a bit relieved.”
“But you shouldn’t say such things to another man. That person will definitely be jealous.”
“How do you know that?”
“You said I resemble him, right? In behavior and such.”
When lody nodded, he replied with a grin.
“If he thinks like
too, he’s probably a narrow-minded man who would be jealous of every single thing like this.”
“That’s too much, the young master is not narrow-minded at all…!”
lody, who was unknowingly defending Claude, quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
“…”
“Heh, heheh.”
As Clyde started laughing at the sight, lody turned her body away with flushed cheeks.
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