Chapter 140

 

***

 

With the assistance of Briggs Company, Claude was able to safely return to the mansion.

Whenever Melody recalled the moment he had been fully submerged in the water, she worried immensely that something serious may have happened to him.

However, according to the doctor’s examination, he was perfectly healthy and merely required rest.

Upon hearing this, Melody was so overwhelmed with relief that she instinctively pulled him into another tight embrace.

Of course, she soon let out an “Eek!” and quickly withdrew, as if she had accidentally brushed against an insect.

 

* * *

 

The next day.

As the heavy downpours cleared up like a lie, the early morning sunlight dappled through pleasantly.

Reclining against the headboard, Claude posed a question to Melody who had come to visit his room.

“Miss Melody, truthfully, you dislike me don’t you?”

“…Huh?”

It was such an absurd inquiry that she repeated it in surprise.

“You recoiled so repulsed from our embrace yesterday.”

Seeing how terribly offended he looked, Melody quickly shook her head.

“Re-Repulsed? Of course not.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m serious!”

Yet he did not seem convinced by Melody’s words.

“I really am grateful to you, young master. If you hadn’t been there yesterday, who knows what could have happened… I’m also relieved you are unharmed.”

“But even when I covered you with that blanket by the river, you looked at me with resentful eyes.”

“Th-That was… because I was scared you were in danger… So it absolutely wasn’t because I dislike you!”

Her fervent denial seemed to get through to him as the stiffness in his expression relaxed somewhat.

“I see. So I misunderstood?”

“Exactly! A misunderstanding! We can happily share embraces of relief between us!”

At Melody’s rash statement, he broke into a grin and immediately opened his arms invitingly beneath the blanket.

“As much as you’d like?”

Melody stared at the arms he had extended out towards her.

“You want to…right now?”

“If Miss Melody does not mind.”

Well, if pushed to definitively state whether she liked or disliked embracing Claude…she did not dislike it.

Moreover, he currently seemed quite healthy, putting her at ease as well.

‘So in this situation, it would be fine for me to give an embrace of relief…right?’

Besides, it was not with any indecent intentions either.

“I’m…relieved you’re unharmed.”

Melody inched over towards the bed, awkwardly bending down.

Not knowing what to do with her hands, she let them hover about before finally grasping his shoulders.

As he only wore a thin shirt, the contours of his body were vividly felt through her fingertips, giving her an odd feeling.

A sense that something was…different.

“Thank you for worrying. I’m glad.”

Soon Claude patted Melody’s back soothingly.

The clumsy embrace with no other point of contact except her hands lasted a few more seconds.

‘How much longer should we stay like this?’

Truth be told, Melody wanted to find an opportune moment to withdraw. But with him continuing to pat her back, she could not.

At the same time, abruptly pulling away first made her worry he might say, “See, Miss Melody really does dislike me after all.”

‘Moreover, the patting feels rather affectionate…’

The heart that had raced since yesterday finally seemed to settle down.

More than anything, being able to clearly hear his heartbeat and breathing put her at ease, reassuring her of his safety.

‘A bit longer… I’d like to stay like this.’

Just as Melody was fully immersed in those peculiar feelings…

Knock knock.

An unwelcome rapping at the door reached her ears.

That small sound instantly snapped Melody back to reality.

‘What was I just doing?’

Not wanting to dwell on that discomfiting question, she suddenly felt her whole body grow hot.

Melody hastily released her grasp on him and took a step back, slightly on guard in case he asked, “So you really did dislike that embrace of relief?”

Claude was someone who never missed a chance to tease her, after all.

“…..”

But he said nothing, merely looking at her.

“Ah, um…”

Growing a bit self-conscious under his continued gaze, Melody let her lips move of their own accord.

“You seem very healthy, young master. I could tell just from touching you… No, not that simply touching your shoulders reveals anything.”

…Though she had not expected to blurt out such nonsense.

Soon he burst into laughter.

Well, anyone would react the same after hearing such an absurd statement, so Melody could not fault him for it.

“Heh heh, I’m glad to be healthy.”

“Th-That’s not what I meant!”

With a flushed face, Melody tried to offer some excuse but could not find the words.

Seeing how flustered she looked, he silently gestured towards the door with his fingertips.

“Oh.”

Only then did Melody recall that the knock on the door was what had snapped her back to reality.

Someone was likely still waiting outside.

She could simply give permission for them to enter, but Melody decided to open the door herself, using the time to collect her rattled composure.

‘Calm down, calm down, Melody Higgins.’

Taking slow steps, she worked on cooling her heated face.

‘Still, it’s fortunate that knock came when it did.’

If time had continued passing uninterrupted…

‘…What might have happened?’

Melody paused mid-step, burying her face fully in her hands.

A rather indecent scene had briefly flashed through her mind.

‘I must be going insane!’

Though Claude called out worriedly from behind, “Melody?”, her flustered state blocked it out completely.

‘It was just an embrace of relief! An embrace of relief, that’s all! Nothing indecent!’

Now that she thought about it, Melody had hugged and patted Loretta’s back on many occasions too. Today’s embrace between them was likely of that same nature.

No, it had to be.

From the start, nothing else was even possible with Claude Baldwin.

More than anything, the original work proved as much.

‘He loved Loretta so, so much that he never had a single scandalous affair – he never even married or dated until the very end!’

Melody gave a small nod.

‘It really was just an embrace of relief. That’s something perfectly acceptable between a Baldwin and a Higgins.’

Having reached that conclusion, her mind felt considerably more at ease.

“Are you alright?”

Claude’s concerned voice came from behind just then.

In fact, he had called out to her over ten times, but Melody confidently turned back without realizing.

“Oh, of course I’m fine.”

“But Melody…”

“I know. It was just an embrace of relief, you see? Um… I felt the profound bond between the Baldwins and Higginses. It has such a deep history, doesn’t it? Right?!”

“…Huh?”

Seeing his bewildered expression oddly delighted Melody.

No, she was absolutely overjoyed.

There was no doubt that fiend had been expecting – no, waiting – for Melody to misinterpret the ’embrace of relief’ as something else entirely.

He must have fully intended to tease her mercilessly, only for her to splendidly see through to the embrace’s true nature, leaving him stunned.

“There’s no way any other kind of embrace could exist between us!”

Melody declared with a haughty tilt of her chin, doubling down.

It seemed today would be a day she thoroughly emerged victorious over Claude.

His dejected mumble of “…I see” confirmed it.

Humming merrily, Melody flung open the tightly shut door.

“Good morning, Miss Higgins.”

The visitor was Wendel, the mansion’s manager.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“Not at all, I assure you I did not wait long.”

Wendel seemed relieved by Melody’s bright expression first and foremost.

“Seeing you smile puts me at ease, miss. The young master must also be in good health… Hmm?”

Glancing behind Melody at Claude’s state, Wendel trailed off momentarily.

It was understandable, as Claude had curled himself up fully beneath the blanket like a disgruntled child.

“Did something happen to the lord?”

At Wendel’s hushed inquiry, Melody nonchalantly shrugged it off.

“He must be acting that way because he failed to tease me as he intended.”

Wendel studied the two of them for a moment before easily reaching a wise conclusion.

“If anything, it seems Miss Higgins is the one tormenting the poor lord…”

“Pardon?”

But he could not bring himself to voice that thought aloud, merely shaking his head dismissively.

All that was left was to pray together that the hapless lord would not suffer such torment for too long.