Chapter 153

 

* * *

 

That evening during dinner, Ronny was in a very good mood.

It was thanks to the thick slices of meat served on the menu, which was still Melody’s favorite dish to this day.

She was sitting across from Ronny, stuffing the large pieces of meat into her mouth and looking immensely delighted.

Perhaps if no one had been around, she might have even kicked her feet happily.

For some reason, just watching Melody’s appearance made Ronny feel a peculiar sensation of being full too.

After finishing the meal, the siblings and Melody gathered for tea time.

Loretta showcased her recent piano skills, with Claude accompanying her on the violin.

The young girl’s performance occasionally lost rhythm with the tempo speeding up or slowing down, but Claude never lost his smile, adjusting to match her playing each time.

(Of course, in Claude’s case, Loretta’s performance likely sounded more splendid than that of any professional musician.)

While they played, Ronny and Melody sat side-by-side on the sofa.

They kept a distance of about two palms apart, not too close but not too far either.

Whenever Melody moved, Ronny found himself enjoying the scent of paint that wafted from her hair.

How strange.

When he painted, the smell of paints usually gave him a headache…

Yet now, he felt he wanted to bury himself completely in this fragrance.

“Ronny.”

In the midst of the ongoing performance, Melody suddenly called out to him in a quiet voice.

“You see?”

It seemed Melody didn’t want their conversation to disturb the two musicians.

She closed the remaining gap between them and began speaking in a whisper while sitting closer.

At that moment, Ronny audibly gulped down a large mouthful of saliva.

It was partially due to the tension, but more so because the fragrance that had been distracting his mind grew even more intense.

To the point where he could barely focus on Melody’s words.

‘No, why am I getting flustered…?’

He tried his best to listen to what Melody was saying.

But in the end, he found himself simply staring at her bright green eyes and diligently moving small lips, unable to catch a single word.

“Aren’t you looking forward to it?” he suddenly heard her ask.

Not knowing what exactly he was supposed to be anticipating, Ronny still nodded anyway.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Since the scent might disappear, you’ll probably be glad about that.”

“…The scent is disappearing?!”

Ronny ended up raising his voice slightly without realizing it.

Startled by the outburst, Loretta’s playing faltered momentarily, drawing Claude’s sharp gaze their way.

“Oh, um. Sorry, Loretta.”

Ronny offered a brief apology before turning back to Melody with an awkward expression.

The idea of her wonderful fragrance disappearing seemed far too unfortunate.

“Well, I like it actually. If possible, I want to smell it even more…”

He meant that he enjoyed it enough to want to be surrounded by the scent up close, but of course he couldn’t bring himself to say that outright.

“You like it so much that you want to keep smelling it?”

“Ah, no, not in that weird way.”

As Ronny hastily tried to make excuses, Melody just shrugged her shoulders while smiling.

“I know. Only Jeremiah is terrified of the cucumber scent. Anyway, let’s test it out once the ‘cucumber scent-concealing spice’ arrives from the Briggs store.”

What an odd product she was talking about.

But Melody’s face shone with such delight while discussing this strange thing that Ronny soon found himself smiling along with her.

The tea time ended later than usual that day, and the siblings each returned to their own rooms.

Melody went with Loretta to her room, as they had agreed to brush each other’s hair.

As for Ronny, he flopped down onto the sofa by the window in his own chamber.

Several books were haphazardly stacked around that area, and he picked up the one he had been reading until that morning.

It was titled “My Fiancée is my Childhood Friend,” and the story progression matched the title faithfully – a boy and girl who grew up close together gradually realized their feelings for one another.

Ronny opened the book again while embracing his complicated emotions, attempting to read.

 

* * *

 

Around three hours later, he somehow managed to turn to the final page.

It had been an arduous reading session. He couldn’t focus on the story at all, having to re-read the same sentences over and over.

“Ah, honestly.”

With an audible thud, Ronny set the book down and leaned back comfortably against the backrest.

This was all Melody’s fault.

Throughout his reading, a miniature Melody had been frolicking around in his mind, distracting him constantly.

A tinge of annoyance towards her welled up inside Ronny.

“Sometimes when I see her, she’s really vexing…”

She made him get into fistfights at social gatherings.

She allowed some guy to come visiting the mansion with flowers.

She even fell down the stairs… Truly, it was impossible to take his eyes off her.

‘And then what did she say?’

Ronny recalled Melody’s words of gratitude to him that afternoon.

“And thank you again for getting angry on behalf of the Higgins.”

…Getting angry on behalf of the Higgins?

At the time, his mood had been good so he brushed it off lightly. But thinking back on it now, he felt rather irked.

Didn’t her words sound like if Melody wasn’t a Higgins, he wouldn’t have gotten angry at Stewart Middleton?

“What does she take me for?”

Ronny abruptly stood up from his seat.

If he didn’t clear up this misunderstanding right away, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to sleep properly.

So he decided to go see Melody immediately and lay out all the facts.

That his actions had been entirely for her sake.

Even if she didn’t belong to the Higgins, Ronny would have gotten angry for Melody’s sake regardless.

With heavy, thumping footsteps, he made his way all the way to his room’s door.

But the moment he gripped the cold metal doorknob to pull it open, he found himself freezing in place.

It was because the miniature Melody frolicking in his mind throughout the reading session posed one question to him.

‘Ronny got angry for my sake? Why?’

Why, you ask? Well, it’s because I…

“……”

The answer naturally came to Ronny’s mind, but he ended up just biting his lip instead of voicing it.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Melody, who had headed from the reception room to Loretta’s chamber, ended up lingering there much longer than expected.

After brushing each other’s hair as promised and solving newspaper puzzles together, they sat side-by-side on the bed, conversing.

Most of their talk was trivial chitchat. But the two listened attentively to each other’s voices, occasionally giving serious responses as well.

Their time together stretched late into the night, until finally Loretta, unable to fight off her drowsiness any longer, began nodding off.

“Loretta, you should lie down and sleep.”

Despite Melody’s suggestion, the child vigorously shook her head, trying to forcibly wake herself up.

“Mmm, not sleepy.”

Contrary to her words, Loretta had already closed her eyes halfway at this point.

Melody quietly watched the fierce battle between the girl and her eyelids.

No one in this world could withstand the powerful eyelids that relentlessly advanced downwards.

In response, the Baldwin princess who disliked losing poured all her strength into her eyes.

It was a moment showcasing her unwavering will to not surrender to any mere bodily organs.

“See, I can keep playing some more.”

Seeing Loretta’s solid determination, her eyelids seemed to change tactics, slowly inching down bit by bit instead.

“So you know? When I said I wanted a real sword instead of a wooden one…”

As Loretta struggled to continue her story, her eyelids slid down slightly without her noticing, taking advantage of the brief pause.

“Brother Claude measured my height and arm length.”

Loretta blinked her eyes sluggishly. In that instant, her eyelids stealthily added more weight, preventing her from opening them more than halfway.

“…If Brother allows me a real sword…”

Now her eyes were nearly shut, so Melody carefully laid Loretta down on the bed.

“I’d be so happy…”

With those final words, the child immediately fell into a deep slumber.

Having held off sleep for quite a while, she soon began snoring loudly. Once asleep like this, Loretta wouldn’t wake up even if someone carried her.

“Sleep well.”

Melody placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead, as if caressing it.

“May you have sweet dreams.”

It seemed her wish was granted, as Loretta’s face broke into a bright, adorable smile when Melody looked again.

 

* * *

 

As Melody exited the room, Loretta’s maidservant happened to be waiting outside.

“No matter how hard the young miss tries to stay awake, she can’t make it past this hour.”

“Yeah, she just fell asleep now.”

Melody stepped aside with a casual shrug.

The maid briefly bowed before entering Loretta’s room. She seemed to be preparing to tidy up and place a glass of water by the bedside.

Left alone in the hallway on the second floor, Melody let out a small yawn.

It appeared Loretta’s drowsiness had rubbed off on her as well. At this rate, she felt she might collapse into bed the moment she returned to her own room.

She started heading towards the stairs.

But then, she noticed a bright light seeping out from the duke’s study, which had remained dim lately.

‘Could Father and the Duke have returned?’

Melody shook her head, dismissing her own conjecture. If they had come back, the mansion wouldn’t be this quiet.

They would have at least prepared a small welcoming ceremony.

‘But still…’

What if the duke had returned late at night and decided to omit any noisy procedures out of consideration for the sleeping Loretta?

‘Even so, it wouldn’t be this quiet.’

Despite her thoughts, Melody still found herself drawn towards the study, dimly hoping to reunite with her beloved family members.

Reaching the doorway where the bright light spilled out, Melody raised her hand to knock.

“Eugh.”

But an odd sound from inside the study made her halt before her fist could strike the door.