Chapter 137

 

***

 

“Ugh…!”

Even as Melody waded through the water, the sharp rocks on the bottom occasionally jabbed at her feet.

‘Just a little further…’

Melody reached out her hand towards the  shoe visible only five steps away.

But the moment she took another step closer, the precariously perched  shoe began drifting with the current.

“Oh no!”

Melody hastily extended her arm towards the shoe.

Her fingertips barely caught onto the child’s leather shoe. Melody quickly gripped it tightly so as not to lose it.

“…Got it!”

Though she ended up completely drenched from the deepening water level, she didn’t particularly care about that.

Melody raised the shoe high as proof of her victory, and naturally turned back towards the riverbank with a pleased smile – if only to reassure the boy.

“Huh?”

But what came into Melody’s view was not the boy’s figure.

Instead, right before her eyes was a man’s pure white shirt. Drenched enough that his body was visible through it.

“…?!”

Startled, Melody lifted her gaze to see Claude wearing an extremely urgent expression.

“Melody!”

It seemed he had even forgotten their agreement to call her ‘Miss.’

Perhaps he was flustered. His rushed movements as he draped his jacket over her shoulders were rather uncharacteristic.

“Young master?”

Melody naturally reverted to addressing him familiarly as well.

“Just what…”

As he let out a deep sigh, Melody quickly thrust the worn leather  shoe out in front of him, her face beaming proudly.

“Aren’t you going to praise me?”

But it seemed her achievement did not impress him much.

“As I was crossing the bridge and spotted you, I…”

He started to shout but then shook his head briefly.

It appeared he realized they could not remain there any longer.

He extended his hand.

“Take it.”

When Melody barely touched her fingertips to his, he intertwined all his fingers and tugged her firmly.

As he led Melody through the waters, trudging heavily, his expression looked almost enraged somehow.

 

* * *

 

The moment Melody reached the shore, she let go of Claude’s hand and dashed over to the boy, handing him his  shoe first.

Though relieved to have found his lost item, the boy still could not bring himself to put the  shoe on right away.

“…Now that I think about it.”

Melody flipped the boy’s shoe over. Water came gushing out in a stream.

Inexplicably, she felt amused. No matter how absentminded, she really had tried to make him wear it in that drenched state.

“You can’t wear it until it dries, can you? That’s right.”

Melody set the boy’s shoe askew on a sun-exposed rock.

Afterwards, she slightly bent down to meet the boy at eye level.

“Hi, I’m Melody.”

Despite her brief introduction, the boy showed no particular reaction, merely looking at Melody’s bare white feet with an anxious expression.

It seemed he was concerned that she had lost one of her  shoes.

“I’m alright. There are still a few spare  shoes for me back at the Briggs mansion.”

Melody responded lightly with a shrug of her shoulders.

The boy slowly blinked a few times before fidgeting with his clasped hands.

“…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was being stupid.”

“It’s not your fault. I wanted to do this myself.”

Melody smiled as she neatly readjusted the boy’s crooked hat.

“I’ve seen you every day recently, so I couldn’t just pretend not to notice you. Do you remember me? We met on the bridge.”

The boy stared intently at Melody’s face before giving a careful nod.

“You do remember. I’m glad. Anyway, were you able to successfully…hold your breath and cross the bridge?”

Melody paused mid-question, seeing the boy’s crestfallen expression, realizing she didn’t need to hear his answer.

“Sorry, is it quite difficult?”

“…..”

“Actually, I tried it once too and it was really hard.”

Though meant as consolation, her words did not seem to reach the boy, as he only hung his head despondently.

‘Well, he was subjected to such treatment by the village children too… He must feel really upset.’

Melody had often been called a cursed child or liar herself when she was young.

Perhaps that was why.

Seeing the boy with his head bowed like this tugged at Melody’s heart, quite apart from whether he was the male protagonist or important to Loretta.

“Hey.”

Just as Melody called out to the boy, a man’s urgent shout echoed from the bridge above, as if frantically searching for someone.

The boy’s head immediately turned in that direction, his eyes flickering with fleeting anticipation.

But soon after, the boy let his head droop in disappointment, likely realizing the call was not meant for him.

‘Ah.’

In that moment, Melody had a realization about what the boy had been wishing for each day as he climbed the bridge.

“There is… right?”

Melody spoke again with difficulty, but the boy’s gaze was focused elsewhere once more.

“Oh, there you are!”

Towards the old woman rushing over in their direction.

Her face ashen with fright, she hurried over and hastily embraced the boy’s shoulders.

Then, regarding Melody and Claude with deeply guarded eyes, she quickly bowed clumsily.

“My child has caused trouble for your esteemed presences.”

“No, that’s not-”

Melody tried to explain, but the woman repeatedly bowed and apologized again.

“The young one’s foolishness led to this incident. Please, be merciful and forgive…”

Melody attempted to say it was not so, but Claude stepped forward to stop her.

“You have not been troubled, ma’am. But the child seems startled, so it would be best if you take him and withdraw.”

At his words, the old woman expressed immense gratitude to the point of shock before quickly tugging on the boy’s shoulder to leave.

To return home, she urged.

Even as he was led away by the old woman, the boy turned back to look at Melody several more times.

Then, at one point, the boy twisted his body to break free from the old woman’s grasp and returned before Melody.

“…Thank you, thank you so much.”

The child spoke those words to Melody with a deep bow, as if only just then recalling he should express his gratitude.

“Thank you for saying that.”

Melody placed the  shoe she had left in the sun beneath the boy’s feet.

It was not yet fully dried, but it would be trouble if he walked back barefoot and hurt himself.

After putting on the  shoe, the boy hesitated briefly before speaking up in a hushed, secretive tone.

“I’m… August.”

“Hmm?”

Melody was taken aback, prompting him to repeat that name.

He seemed to think his voice had been too soft for Melody to hear.

With an awkward, strained tone, he answered again heavily.

“Au-August… That’s me! My na-name…”

August.

Well… given his peculiar hair color, Melody had expected as much.

But hearing the boy actually voice his name made her feel rather moved.

‘…So this child will truly become an important connection for Loretta.’

Suppressing her touched emotions, Melody responded as calmly as she could.

“Yes, it was nice to meet you, August.”

The boy scratched his cheek briefly before eagerly running off again after the old woman.

 

* * *

 

After parting with August, Melody returned to the carriage carried on Claude’s back.

She was not so injured that she could not walk, but given she had lost her  shoe, there was no choice.

Moreover, Claude’s tone had been oddly commanding as well.

Judging by how he did not even call her ‘Lady,’ it seemed he had abandoned playing the servant role.

The moment Melody returned to the mansion, she swiftly bathed with the maids’ assistance.

Perhaps it was thanks to using the ‘body-refreshing bath towels’ touted by Briggs Company.

When she returned to her room in a light indoor dress, she inexplicably felt blissfully happy, as if by magic.

“Have a seat here.”

However, the towel’s effects seemed only temporary, as her joyful mood completely deflated like burst bubbles upon facing Claude’s stern demeanor.

“…”

For now, Melody sat on the sofa as he had instructed, furtively gauging his mood.

“Put your feet up here.”

He soon brought over a low stool and placed it before her, along with a medical kit – it seemed he intended to tend to her injuries himself.

“I’m not hurt that badly though.”

“I know. If you were, I would have called for a doctor.”

He draped a blanket over Melody’s knees before kneeling down beneath the stool.

Melody gazed down at the top of his head, unconsciously fidgeting with the blanket’s edge.

‘It’s a bit strange.’

She was seated on the stool, yet the dignified heir to a noble ducal family was kneeling on the cold floor…rather improper, somehow.

“Melody.”

“…Yes, yes?”

“You’re a bit scraped here. Didn’t it hurt?”

As he asked while dabbing disinfectant onto a cotton ball, Melody shook her head.

“It didn’t hurt that much.”

“…It was just a  shoe, after all.”

The cotton soaked in medicine touched her wound, accompanied by his resentful words.

“You didn’t have to injure yourself leaping into the water like that. I could have bought the child a new pair… Honestly.”

Pausing during the treatment to check Melody’s expression, he let out a brief sigh.

“…It seems you didn’t have a single thought like mine in that moment, did you, Melody?”