Chapter 101

 

***

 

“…Alright.”

“Be careful, Melody,” Loretta warned, so Melody carefully raised one foot.

“Hmph, not even that heavy… Huff.”

And when she placed her other foot up as well, Ronny gasped and struggled under her weight.

“See? I told you it’s heavy. I’ve been eating three meals and three snacks a day lately.”

“It’s ligh… Huff!”

Even though his breathing was a mess, Ronny seemed not to want Melody to come down.

“Hurry up and find out the secret!”

Urged by his words, Melody had no choice but to support herself on the window sill with both hands. It was higher than she expected.

“Can you see anything?”

Ronny asked from below, grunting.

“No, not yet. I think I need to go higher.”

“Ugh! Seriously!”

Ronny then raised his back a little higher.

“Hurry and look! Unless you want to kill me.”

It would have been better to stop if it was that difficult. It would be a big problem if he got hurt.

Worried about him, Melody gripped her hands tightly and lifted her toes.

Finally, Melody’s view reached above the window sill.

“Can you see?”

Ronny asked, but Melody just stared silently at what Mrs. Higgins had left on the window sill.

“Hey! Can you see or not!”

Prompted by his urging, Melody quickly came to her senses and answered.

“I can see. But…”

“Is Mrs. Higgins alone inside? Right?”

Melody quickly surveyed every corner of the kitchen. Mrs. Higgins was alone, tidying up the dishes.

“Yes, she’s alone.”

“Good, make sure to thoroughly check for any hints. Especially unravel the secret of what’s placed on the window sill.”

“But this is…”

“Even if it looks like nothing, it must be important to Mrs. Higgins! To carefully place it down like that. It has to be something precious!”

Doesn’t seem like it.

Melody muttered to herself, scrutinizing what was right in front of her eyes, harboring a slight suspicion that perhaps Ronny was right about a hidden secret.

But no matter how she looked at it, it was just…

“An apple pie.”

“What?”

Ronny barely turned his neck to look up at Melody.

“I said it’s an apple pie.”

“Are you telling me Mrs. Higgins went through all that trouble to keep everyone away, just to make an ordinary apple pie?!”

“It doesn’t seem ordinary to me.”

“Alright. Does it look like there’s a secret?!”

“Umm…”

Melody, gripping the window frame tightly, pondered what secret the apple pie might hold.

“A secret… recipe? It looks incredibly delicious.”

“Do you really not want to take this seriously?!”

“I am serious.”

“Don’t joke, bring that pie down here now so I can see it for myself.”

“Bring it down?!”

“Yes. The whole thing.”

Ronny sighed heavily, his forehead resting on the ground. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Melody.

After offering his sturdy back, to not even get a small hint in return was frustrating.

“You’re really no help at all. So frustrating!”

He continued to grumble.

“Hurry up and bring the pie down without Mrs. Higgins noticing! Are you still far off?”

But no matter how long he waited, the heavy Melody did not come down from his back.

With a face full of irritation, he suddenly looked up.

“Are you really trying to crush and kill me?!”

The sharp retort, surprisingly, came from a very high place.

“Are you trying to scare me to death, young master?”

“Ah!”

Ronny thought his insides were about to leap out of his mouth.

Now he saw Mrs. Higgins sticking her head out of the window, watching them.

‘What do I do?’

Ronny widened his eyes, reflecting on the current predicament.

This made it look as if the mansion’s young master was stooping to steal a pie from a servant!

“Ah, this isn’t what it looks like.”

Ronny, still lying flat on the ground, began to make excuses, even though Melody had quickly gotten off his back.

“I had a righteous purpose!”

“I’d very much like to hear what kind of justice can be achieved by stealing a servant’s pie.”

Of course, there was no such justice, and so Ronny lay flat in despair. Everything seemed bleak.

It was as if it were a sign of his future.

 

***

 

The implication hit the mark.

He, alongside Loretta, received a stern scolding from their father.

Above all, they were firmly cautioned against the dangerous act of having someone on their back. It was an act that could have resulted in serious injury.

This time, both he and Loretta ended up having to write letters of reflection.

The already thick file of ‘Ronny’s Reflection Letters’ seemed destined to grow even more substantial in volume.

The ‘Loretta Reflection Letters’ file was hot on its heels, which was a small comfort in not being alone.

However, there was one point that puzzled him.

“What about Melody?”

Ronny mustered the courage to ask his father.

It was a valid concern since, after the incident and upon returning to the mansion, Melody had been separated from the Baldwin siblings and taken somewhere by Mr. and Mrs. Higgins.

With a look on her face as if she was being led into hellfire.

‘Could it be… she’s being sent away from the mansion…?’

The Higgins were the chief stewards of the mansion. If they strongly insisted, Melody might have no choice but to leave.

‘That can’t happen.’

Without Melody, his life would become dull once again.

He anxiously paced back and forth.

He then remembered how Melody was preparing to be adopted into another family last time.

He had been happy then, thinking they could go out and play together anywhere, but now it seemed like a foolish thought.

He hadn’t considered how boring the ducal house would be without Melody.

“I was actually about to discuss something about Melody with you kids.”

The duke’s response gave Ronny a bad feeling, making the hair on his head stand on end.

“Don’t tell me.”

Unconsciously, Ronny took a step back.

“She’s really being adopted?!”

“Did you know about this?”

“Ah!”

Ronny frantically waved his arms and exclaimed.

“No, that can’t happen!”

There was a desperation in his voice. The duke’s response remained calm.

“However, it’s a decision made by Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, and we cannot interfere. Anyway, congratulations… Ronny?”

Before his father could finish speaking, Ronny had turned and started running down the corridor.

He raced down the stairs at full speed, bursting open every door where Mr. and Mrs. Higgins and Melody might be.

“Melody! Hey! Melody!”

But in neither the butler’s room nor Mrs. Higgins’s room could he find the three of them.

‘Could she have already been thrown out of the mansion?’

He pushed open the door to a nearby tea room. Since it was unlikely they were leisurely having tea, he didn’t hold much hope.

“Master Ronny?”

Contrary to his expectations, Melody was standing right in the middle of the tea room, looking perfectly fine.

Ronny, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness at seeing Melody, rushed over and hugged her tightly.

“I was wrong! You can’t leave the mansion! Absolutely not!”

He quickly apologized for his past mistake.

“Me?”

Melody asked back, but he just hugged her tighter, as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.

“You have to play with me!”

“…But I want to play with Miss Loretta.”

“What?!”

He pushed Melody’s shoulders away slightly in shock and yelled.

“What about me?!”

Finding his unjustly aggrieved face amusing, Melody couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Okay, I’ll play with you. After all, you and I are forever friends.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Ronny, relieved, finally noticed what Melody was doing in the tea room. With Mr. and Mrs. Higgins nearby and a maid bringing over a tea set, it seemed they were about to have an important discussion.

Probably about the adoption.

‘No, it can’t happen! Melody can’t leave!’

Ronny, anxious and unsure what to do, suddenly had an idea and clapped his hands together, saying, “Ah, right!”

He grabbed Melody by the arm and led her in front of Mr. and Mrs. Higgins.

“I’ve got an amazing idea! I’m a genius!”

He boasted with considerable swagger. Of course, Mrs. Higgins didn’t seem to give much credit to Ronny’s words.

“…I doubt anything could be more astonishing than the young master attempting to steal a servant’s pie.”

At her pointed remark, Ronny’s face reddened slightly, but he lifted his head proudly.

Now was not the time to be disheartened by such trivial matters.

“It’s not that! Melody will be adopted by the Higgins family! That way, Melody can continue to stay here and play with me! How about it?!”

He looked around with great anticipation, his expectations ballooning.

For some reason, Mr. and Mrs. Higgins started laughing together at the same time.