Chapter 35
***
lody gazed at Isaiah, who was kneeling before Claude. A mont from the past, almost magical, ca to her mind.
It was when she had to part with the kind doctor in her hotown. She had wished lody happiness and made a single request.
“And if you et my son in the capital, don’t forget to smack him on the back of his head. He’s a bad boy for not contacting his mother.”
“Hehe, I will.”
How could she have almost forgotten such an important promise in her excitent?
lody quickly looked around. Conveniently, she spotted a thick catalog that soone had rolled up and left lying around.
As she gripped the rolled catalog, it felt just right in her hand.
lody approached Isaiah from behind.
Truth be told, she hadn’t been listening to a word Isaiah was saying to Claude.
After all, when had Isaiah ever said anything proper? He was soone who spoke through his actions, not words.
lody took a deep breath, then swung the catalog at the back of Isaiah’s head.
***
“No, I’m expressing my gratitude for taking care of l, even if it was brief. It seed proper to offer my thanks.”
Claude looked incredulously at the boy who dared to offer ‘thanks’ for a decision made by the Duke.
On what authority?
“Well.”
Claude intended to make it clear that Isaiah’s gratitude was not needed.
He really ant to say it.
But the mont he saw lody behind Isaiah, her eyes gleaming devilishly as she swung the catalog, he was struck speechless.
It was an exaggerated full swing, one that seed to surpass even human limits.
Whack!
The sound of the catalog striking echoed pleasantly through the drawing room.
It was a sure sign of a direct hit.
Claude was a bit frightened of lody. To think she could smack soone like that with just a catalog.
anwhile, lody felt a sense of pride.
She raised her head slightly, thinking of the doctor back in her hotown.
If only the refreshing sound that echoed off Isaiah’s head could reach all the way to her hotown.
“Ouch!”
Isaiah clutched his head in agony, then turned around and yelled at lody.
“Why did you hit !”
His expression of indignation made lody feel slightly taken aback.
She placed her hands on her hips and looked sternly at him.
“Isaiah. Did you write to the doctor?”
“Are you crazy? How could I write a letter!”
“Why not! Write one right now!”
Isaiah was about to retort with ‘I don’t want to!’ but then he quietly closed his mouth when he saw the catalog in lody’s hand.
lody, ard with the catalog, was intimidating. The fact that he couldn’t retaliate against her only added to his fear.
As his arrogance subsided a bit, lody explained the situation in a softer tone.
“The doctor was so frustrated, she asked
to smack you on the back of your head if I t you. That’s why I had to hit you.”
“So you just smacked
out of nowhere?”
“I had no choice. I made a promise with the doctor.”
Despite her words, lody felt a bit guilty about hitting him. She crouched down in front of Isaiah, who had slumped onto the floor.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
“I’m not sure, but one thing is clear, my brain has definitely gotten worse.”
“Don’t worry. Even if it gets worse, it won’t make much of a difference.”
Isaiah murmured dejectedly, his ears drooping like a dog’s.
“…It really did hurt, you know.”
lody felt a slight prick of conscience. Still, she resolved not to say sorry, knowing the doctor was anxiously awaiting news from Isaiah every day.
But since she was a bit concerned about the pain she caused, she gently rubbed the spot she had (precisely, vehently) smacked earlier.
“That’s why you have to write a letter today, okay?”
With these soothing words,
“But, you see.”
He blinked his sad eyes slowly, still appearing troubled.
“l, you know I left ho to beco a knight, right?”
“Yes, I know.”
“But if I write in the letter that I’m still just a squire, won’t mother be disappointed?”
Why…?
lody asked with only her lips. She couldn’t understand what part of that would be disappointing.
Becoming a squire ant he was steadily climbing towards his dream of becoming a knight. Surely, the doctor would be relieved to hear this news.
But Isaiah scratched his head, his cheeks turning a peculiar shade of red, and he averted his gaze, looking terribly embarrassed.
“So, you see, my mother probably thinks I’ve beco a mber of the Royal Knights by now!”
lody was too shocked to respond.
It was unexpected for Isaiah to think his mother would assu he’s already part of the Royal Knights!
Even the villagers, who might not know much about the capital, understood that a position with ‘Royal’ in its title was incredibly significant.
Nobody would believe that sixteen-year-old Isaiah had secured such a position.
In fact, few believed he’d even safely landed a spot on the path to becoming a ‘knight’.
Usually, people speculated he’d use his lively nature to follow so rchant group or another.
And now he’s saying he can’t write because he’s not in the Royal Knights!
“Isaiah.”
“So, I can’t contact mother until I officially beco a Royal Knight. She’d be disappointed if she saw
like this.”
lody felt her hand twitching to swing the catalog again.
But she held back. The doctor had asked for ‘one smack’, not a thorough beating.
“Mother’s already disappointed! She said she couldn’t fall any lower, wondering how you could not contact her at all.”
“So I can’t let her know how I am now… Ah, that’s it! I’ll just write that I’ve beco a knight!”
At his ntion of sending a false letter, lody, almost involuntarily, swung the catalog again.
Whack!
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
The thought of the doctor worrying, and him planning to lie, was too much. It was downright wrong.
“Ow.”
He rubbed the spot on his forehead where he’d been hit by the catalog and cautiously observed lody’s mood.
“…You’re really mad, l.”
“Of course, I am!”
“Ugh, okay.”
He bowed his head deeply, signifying his submission to lody.
“I have no choice. I’ll write the letter.”
“Make sure it’s honest, okay?”
“Yes.”
“And you have to write a lot.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
lody nodded in satisfaction, feeling she had perfectly resolved a problem she had to deal with since coming to the capital.
…Or so she thought.
But there was still one more issue.
“But l, how do you write a letter?”
“…What?”
lody was at a loss for words.
Upon reflection, she realized she had never actually written a letter to convey news to soone.
After all, she only started using pen and ink freely after arriving at the Duke’s house.
“Just write about everything that’s been happening to you, Isaiah.”
“Uhm, so I write, ‘I have beco a squire,’ then?”
“That’s too short!”
lody counted the number of letters in the sentence he suggested and frowned in disapproval.
She hadn’t smacked her dear friend on the back of his head for such a short letter.
“Don’t you have more to write? Write it longer.”
“Well, even if I think hard… Hmm, how about, ‘I have beco a fffabulous squiiiire.'”
That only added the word ‘fabulous’ and made the sentence grotesquely elongated.
The number of letters might increase, but that wasn’t really an improvent.
After much deliberation, lody and Isaiah looked at Claude with faces that seed to be desperately pleading for help.
He was the only one in the room who seed likely to have experience writing letters.
Claude gave a slightly troubled smile as if to say, ‘, really?’
***
Several schedules got tangled up.
Firstly, while lody and Isaiah were bickering over the letter, the working hours at the central prison office had ended.
Of course, there was still a buffer of about two weeks, and they could co back later… But lody still felt bad for having troubled Claude, who had co with her from afar.
And the next day, lody ended up troubling Claude again.
Isaiah, who was clueless about subtlety, had shalessly arrived at the Duke’s house ‘to et l’ first thing in the early morning!
Even when visiting a friend’s house, it was customary to avoid such early hours, let alone the Duke’s house, which even high-ranking nobles approached with caution.
“I thought you would be more familiar with the capital’s etiquette than I am.”
lody chided him as soon as she arrived at the drawing room where he was waiting.
“Of course, I’ve perfected the capital’s etiquette. My master values the etiquette of knights greatly.”
He proudly responded while pouring an excessive amount of sugar into his tea, even lifting the entire sugar bowl!
lody was a bit skeptical about what exactly Isaiah’s master had taught him.
“What kind of etiquette did you learn?”
“Of course, it’s sothing like this.”
He made a clinking sound stirring his teacup, then stood up and approached lody, extending the hand he had been hiding behind his back.
In his hand, marked with nurous scars, was a soft and fluffy dandelion puff.
“Bringing a gift that the other person likes is considered proper etiquette,” he said.
He smiled broadly, expecting praise.
Indeed, lody had always been fond of dandelion puffs. She liked how they swayed peculiarly when carried around.
She rembered how, back in her hotown, they would spend all day looking for big and beautiful dandelion puffs. Usually, it was Isaiah who joined her in this playful pursuit.
“Thank… you.”
lody felt a bit embarrassed for having scolded Isaiah.
Instead of fretting over the capital’s etiquette, she should have been grateful that a friend had co to visit.
“Sorry for being grumpy when you ca to visit.”
“That’s okay. Little l could do with a bit more practice in being grumpy.”
He ruffled lody’s hair carelessly.
Though the maids had styled her hair beautifully in the morning, it was now a ss. But lody didn’t mind; she was happy.
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