Chapter 167

 

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…It was just a few minutes ago that she was embarrassed about the lace merely touching him.

Now, not only the lace, but her entire body was leaning against him.

And while firmly grasping his clothes at that.

“Are you okay?”

At the question that came from above right away, Melody quickly nodded.

She regretted it immediately. Somehow it ended up rubbing her face against his chest area.

“See, I told you to be careful.”

There seemed to be laughter mixed in the voice that followed.

Melody clumsily getting off and falling over like this must have been quite amusing to him.

“…”

Of course, Melody didn’t find this situation amusing at all. Moreover, she disliked how she strangely fluttered at each and every thing like this.

‘I had decided not to harbor such feelings…’

Melody forcibly furrowed her brow. If she didn’t do that, it felt like he would notice her feeling embarrassed.

Untangling her hands that had been grasping him, she stood with slight force on her tiptoes.

Although a bit uncomfortable, she could stand right away.

As she took about one step back, Claude bent his waist to match his gaze with hers. With a worried expression.

“I’m sorry. My thinking was short-sighted. Let’s stop here for today, would it be alright to ask for next time if possible?”

Asking for next time, that was another line unlike him.

To reiterate, he had the right to Melody’s time.

Meaning, he didn’t need to make such an earnest, requesting expression.

‘Why is he acting like this today of all days?’

Disliking how he was acting unfamiliarly, Melody shook her head.

“It’s okay.”

“But it’s difficult for you to walk.”

“I told you, didn’t I? I grew up close to the soil.”

While saying that, Melody carefully took off her  shoes that didn’t suit this land.

The soft and warm feeling on her toes was really nice. Come to think of it, she had forgotten this feeling for quite a long time.

Melody let go of Claude’s arm and took a few steps forward first.

“There, it’s fine now, right?”

As Melody turned around while saying that, her white ankles were fully exposed under her slightly lifted dress.

“That’s not…okay…”

Claude answered stumbling while striving to lift his gaze upwards, but it didn’t seem to reach Melody’s ears.

She turned her body again and started vigorously advancing towards the white fence.

Claude picked up Melody’s  shoes left on the ground, thoroughly shook off the sand, and neatly placed them inside the carriage.

Looking back again, Melody was already skillfully opening the fence.

“These were all planted by Young Master Jeremiah?!”

At the question asked in a slightly loud voice, Claude answered while walking towards her.

“Of course, as the guardian, I helped too.”

“You directly did this kind of work, Young Master? Farm work?!”

For some reason, Melody laughed out loud. It somehow reminded him of when she was young.

When she hadn’t been at the ducal residence for long.

“Why, do I seem incapable of it?”

“Yes. It feels like you don’t work anywhere except at a desk.”

“I think your perception of me is somewhat biased. I’m not that much of a desk worker.”

He answered boasting to the point of being a bit childish.

“When I was at the academy, I received the highest score in swordsmanship exams.”

But that didn’t seem to have much effect. Melody shook her head.

“How many years ago are you talking about?”

“It’s not that long ago. Roughly…”

As he counted the period, he put his hand down and sighed.

“Who in the world made time flow by so quickly?”

Melody shrugged and laughed.

“At least it wasn’t me, so don’t resent me. Heh heh.”

Melody entered through the fence and closely examined the medicinal herb closest to her.

“The leaves have a scent.”

It was different from a simple grass smell. There was a refreshingly sharp feeling.

“If you pluck the leaves and rub them together, it becomes even stronger. I learned it from Jeremiah too.”

He plucked a fresh leaf, rubbed it, and brought it to the tip of Melody’s nose. Surprised by the abruptly strong scent, Melody lifted her head.

“It’s true.”

“Since the scent differs by type, it’s quite fun to try them one by one.”

Melody also plucked a long-shaped grass like he did and sniffed it.

It was fascinating how a refreshing citrus scent flowed from the green leaves.

“These are gathered to make medicine?”

“Yes, I’ve also been coming often recently to observe Jeremiah’s research.”

Melody thought he must be inspecting Jeremiah’s garden for business purposes.

Perhaps planning to mass-produce medicinal herbs in the ducal territory in the future.

Of course, that would be after Jeremiah resolved the issue of the herbs’ performance.

“Are you thinking of becoming even richer here, Young Master?”

At Melody’s question asked with a smirk, he nodded.

“Yes. Because then I’ll be able to do anything for my beloved family.”

“Young Master. ‘Anything for family’ doesn’t include shopping for strange items.”

“No, it does.”

He solemnly declared and quickly found an error in her words.

“And I never buy strange items.”

“…Let’s talk about that again when items are delivered from the Briggs Company. Together with Loretta.”

“That’s a good idea. And to add, I’m not observing this work simply for money-making.”

“…Then?”

At Melody’s question, he fiddled with his chin for a moment before giving an answer.

“I hope medicine and medicinal herbs become more common than now.”

The amount of medicinal herbs that had to be collected from nature was extremely small. On top of that, the amount of medicine produced after being processed through excellent mages was even less.

So good medicine always became a rare commodity, and there were quite a few cases of fake medicine with no efficacy being circulated.

“As a result, if anyone can easily obtain medicine in the far future, that would be great.”

He gently stroked the leaves blooming next to him and quietly smiled.

“Any medicine, to the extent that even the girl who treasured her only pair of shoes…can easily get her hands on it. Of course, I only started thinking this way very recently.”

He immediately added an apology, saying “I’m sorry.”

“I sometimes thought arbitrarily. Wondering if Melody’s feet that lost her shoes as a child…might have gotten injured. Now it’s a problem I can’t do anything about.”

“…Thank you.”

Melody quietly answered while fiddling with the leaf she was holding several more times.

Actually, she wanted to say a few more things.

That she really hoped a day would come when anyone could easily obtain medicine in the future.

That Melody would cooperate with that as much as possible.

But for now, she didn’t say anything.

Because she was somehow happy to see him at a loss for what to do while talking about Melody’s childhood.

“But when I heard from Sir Mullern later, he said his mother took good care of Miss Melody. I was relieved to know I had worried unnecessarily.”

“Ah, that’s right… There were village elders who worried about me.”

Of course, not all adults were favorable towards her.

There were many people who disliked the slave trader and her daughter roaming around the village in the first place.

When she was young, such people were simply scary, but now she could understand their reasons to some extent.

And amidst such an atmosphere, Melody felt deeply grateful to the adults who sincerely worried and cared for her. It must not have been easy.

“It’s fortunate that good people were close by.”

“But even so… I couldn’t always use medicine on my wounds.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded slightly.

“Because medicine was even more precious back then. The doctor also studied and picked medicinal herbs or made medicine in her own way, but…”

“It wasn’t enough to care for the entire village. Right?”

“Yes. But still, when I left for the capital, she packed some of that precious medicine for me.”

She must have been worried that Melody might not be able to tell anyone she was sick in the cold capital. Because she was a kind person.

“Actually, I felt sorry for always receiving treatment from that doctor for free, so there were times I hid my wounds.”

“…”

He moved his lips as if to answer something, but ended up staying silent.

Disliking the somehow gloomy atmosphere, Melody slowly started walking next to the medicinal herbs that grew side by side.

About half a step behind, Claude followed her.

Each time she walked along the soft soil, the shape and scent of the medicinal herbs in her sight changed.

Among them, there were some that grew excessively to the point where leaves were entangled with each other, and some that drooped powerlessly with a yellowish color.

Melody blankly looked down at a small plant sprawled on the ground and carefully brushed its leaves.

“You’ll…need to look for new land too. It might be an environmental issue.”

“Yes, Jeremiah said he’s already looking into it.”

“Young Master Jeremiah is having a hard time.”

“He’s having a very hard time, while I leisurely sit at a desk and just sign the documents that child prepares.”

He seemed to still have some lingering feelings about the conversation they had a little while ago.

Melody rose from her spot while laughing.

“Even though you received the best score in swordsmanship exams back in your prime.”

“Wow, what do you mean prime! I said it’s not that long ago.”

Seeing him make a sad face was amusing, so Melody laughed out loud again.

Somehow, she felt like she now understood why Claude used to bully her.

It was fun to see such a lively reaction to a single word.

“I should prove that I’m not a desk worker and go back.”