Chapter 170

 

* * *

 

Feeling embarrassed by the thought that unintentionally occurred to her, Melody somehow couldn’t look straight at him.

She couldn’t even hear the sound of rain that had been filling her ears anymore. Because of the pounding sound of her heart.

“…Here.”

Then suddenly, he firmly pressed a certain spot on her wrist with the tip of his lips.

The rapid pulsation that started from her heart continued to that spot, panting embarrassingly.

“So cute, really.”

He carefully kissed on top of it. With a faint smile.

“…Is it okay?”

At his question, Melody hurriedly nodded.

“It’s…okay.”

Actually, no other words came to mind. Moreover, she didn’t want this ticklish moment to disappear because of needless words.

“…Everything is okay.”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say.”

At the slightly low-voiced answer, Melody looked at him again in surprise.

His lips that had been lingering on her wrist were changing positions little by little, kissing her back of hand and fingers several times.

“When taming a beast, you shouldn’t give ‘everything’ at once, Miss Melody.”

A beast. That was a word that absolutely didn’t suit him.

He was upright at any moment, not a single strand of hair out of place. He would align with the word gentleman more than anyone.

To the point where he maintained his usual neatness even now.

“…Just a little bit.”

He carefully bit the tip of Melody’s finger. Like a beast, as he had said a moment ago.

“Young Mas…”

Unable to finish calling him, he whispered with a slight smiling eyes.

“…I want to.”

Melody was too busy looking at his nose bridge and lips resting on her hand to hear what he wanted.

When she didn’t say anything, Claude asked. ‘Are you scared?’ he said.

Melody shook her head. Although she didn’t know what he wanted, it didn’t seem like it would give her fear.

“How brave. I’m a little scared.”

“…Why?”

“Forgive me, this rude man will probably.”

He kissed the tip of Melody’s finger.

“Desire…more, actually it seems I’ve already become like that.”

His words about wanting more evoked strange imaginations. Things she had only encountered through romance novels.

Naturally, Melody realized that what he had desired a moment ago was something that could happen between a man and a woman, and the emotions involved.

“…Ah, we can’t.”

A soft remark flowed out.

It was a miserable voice that anyone could tell wasn’t her true feelings.

“Why?”

He was still pressing his lips against the back of Melody’s hand as he said that. As if asking if it wasn’t strange to say it can’t be done while allowing this.

“…I, I’m a Higgins.”

“And I’m a Baldwin? It somehow reminds me of a classic novel.”

He seemed to be referring to a novel about a young lover who was told not to swear love to the fickle moon.

Although the situation was different from theirs…

“What we should exchange is faith… Not something like this…”

“Something like this?”

He purposely pointed out that part. Even though he knew Melody would find it difficult to talk about.

“Has Miss Melody been giving me something other than faith?”

He finally slowly raised his head and faced Melody directly.

“I’ve been giving you my one and only sincerity all along. What about you?”

“…I was.”

My heart was pounding so much.

I was realizing for the first time that another person’s lips and breath could feel this good.

I couldn’t say anything because I was afraid of returning to being ordinary Baldwin and Higgins after all this ended.

Melody went through various thoughts that came to her mind and finally recalled the ‘daily life’ she valued most.

Living as Melody Ainz Higgins.

When she was adopted by her foster parents, she had promised them.

That she would become a proud daughter. That she would take responsibility for the name they passed down to her.

In return, they perfectly protected her from the other retainers of the ducal household.

If she knew that grace, Melody shouldn’t feel joy in a moment like this.

“Attaching other feelings to that beautiful master-servant relationship is nothing short of an insult to both families!”

She turned her head.

“You…shouldn’t think of me that way.”

Struggling to bring up words of rejection that weren’t in her heart, she didn’t realize she was making a very hurt expression.

“I was really loved a lot.”

“Miss Melody, that’s.”

When he tried to say something persuasive, Melody hurriedly brought up the next words.

She was afraid of being drawn to him even more like this.

“There are so many things I have to do to repay that grace, and…!”

Melody staggered and took a step back.

Claude, who was startled, reached out his hand, but she firmly pushed it away.

Feeling like she had escaped from his territory, her breath somehow became heavy.

When hot breaths burst out between her parted lips, she tightly closed her eyes and shouted.

“Things I absolutely must not do…!”

When that cry ended, the sound of rain was finally heard.

Was it a signal that the momentary rapture that had been like a dream was over?

Melody took another step back. Suddenly, her bare feet felt very cold.

The temperature seemed to have dropped at some point. Or maybe it was an illusion felt as her overheated body cooled down.

“…”

“…”

The two of them stood in silence at a distance that was neither far nor close.

But somewhere in that old hut, the ticklish sensation the two had felt a moment ago still remained.

Melody hoped this rain would last even a little longer.

 

* * *

 

The sky seemed to have little interest in the wishes of a bad child.

The rain stopped annoyingly quickly.

Even the clouds that had been thick enough to not see the sun began to recede at a fast pace.

When returning from the hut to the carriage, Melody was embarrassed, but she moved while being lifted up by Claude.

Because the ground was muddy and not suitable for walking barefoot.

He carried Melody very lightly. Even when she politely said, “Am I heavy?” he just laughed.

After returning to the carriage, he put on the  shoes she had taken off arbitrarily. Melody couldn’t even dare to refuse that polite kindness.

Somehow thinking it was the last time.

She could have refused the sincerity he offered in a more elegant and polite way, but she just threw it away and ran like that.

‘I wonder if it…hurt the young master.’

Melody hoped he would resent her.

Thinking it might be better than being in pain.

After returning to the mansion, they politely exchanged greetings and returned to their respective rooms.

In the meantime, several maids kept trying to talk to her, but Melody somehow couldn’t hear them, so she just nodded.

However, she was quite tempted by the mention of taking a bath, so she answered that she would. Thinking that washing her body might help sort out her thoughts in many ways.

But even entering the pleasantly warm water, her mood didn’t improve.

“…”

Melody, who had been lying limply in the bathtub, gently turned her eyes to look at her wrist.

Melody overlapped her lips on top of it.

The trembling of her frantically running heart instantly reached her wrist.

The secret joy she felt was probably because she was reliving the sensation he had given her.

Carefully closing her eyes, tears flowed out belatedly.

‘…For the time being.’

She prayed while stretching out her whole body.

‘I hope I don’t run into the young master.’

If she definitely met him again, she wouldn’t know what expression to make, and…she felt like she would act as if she had lingering attachments.

‘It’ll be okay once time passes.’

Because that would easily erase today’s heated desires as well.

‘The young master…won’t look for me anymore either.’

Of course, there would be times when they would inevitably be together since they lived in the same mansion.

But Loretta would be with them then, so she could probably smile.

Coming to that conclusion, finishing her bath and returning to her room, she found it filled with unfamiliar gift boxes.

“…?”

Melody blankly stared at the scene that was like the morning of her birthday, wearing only a thin chemise dress.

Fortunately, she could easily grasp the situation.

Thanks to quickly recalling the fact that the color and design of the boxes were from the Briggs Company.

“The items must have arrived.”

When returning to her room, the maids had kept asking questions, which were probably about whether to bring these boxes into the room.

She untied the ribbon on the box placed nearby.

Opening it, she found riding gloves carefully wrapped in thin paper.

It was one of the many things Claude had gifted her on the way back.

“…Pretty.”

Melody placed the gloves on the bed and opened a large box.

On the card placed at the top, the villa manager Wendel Benton had written a short message, “Hoping you cherish the memories for a long time.”

Below it were the mask she had worn in Kristonson and the white dress she had worn on the first day.

Come to think of it, she had been worried back then about whether her shoulders might be exposed.

Recalling that foolish worry, Melody somehow found herself laughing.

‘I even thought it would be nice if only one shoulder was exposed.’

Saying it now, but exposing shoulders, whether one side or both, wasn’t very neat.

At that time, she probably couldn’t think rationally because she was excited by the new environment and unfamiliar situation.

‘But it was fun…’

The unfamiliar streets, unknown people, and the liveliness of the festival were all good.

Even Claude treating her like a lady.

Not that recalling such things now could change anything.

Anyway, Melody had decided to subtract him from her life for the time being.

‘It would be…better to stop thinking about the young master as much as possible, right?’

She nodded as if forcibly agreeing with her own thoughts. Thinking that would indeed be better.

Then somehow, opening the gift boxes started to feel a bit uncomfortable. Because any item inside the box would remind her of him.

But she couldn’t just leave the boxes like this either.

‘I have no choice but to open them and organize quickly!’

She repeated the process of opening all the boxes and taking out the items with an expressionless face.

Soon, the maids came in and helped organize by finding places for the items.

“Miss, what should we do with the empty boxes?”

“Please throw them away.”

“What?!”

“It’s okay to completely burn them too.”

At Melody’s answer, all the maids were surprised and stopped working for a moment to look at her.

That was because Melody was very thrifty and never just threw away such pretty boxes.

She used them for organizing her dressing room or storing stationery and used-up notebooks.

“B-But these are good boxes made of very sturdy paper. Miss.”

“The height of the small boxes is just the right size for your ink bottles to fit in!”

At their words, Melody just shrugged and smiled slightly.

“Hmm… This time, I’ll just throw them all away. Please do that.”

Fortunately, the maids willingly listened to Melody’s request. The empty boxes soon disappeared one by one from her room.

Melody suddenly thought it would be nice if people’s emotions could be erased as easily as this.

If that were possible, she could put all the ambiguous emotions she was feeling now in this box and freely let them go somewhere.

‘It’s a nonsensical thought though.’

Thinking that and opening the next box,  shoes came out from inside.

“For now, let’s consider what  shoes we’ll buy on the return trip. It’s sure to be enjoyable.”

“Categorized by type, material and color.”

Melody had no choice but to shake off the moment that came to mind and took out the shoes.

They were high-heeled white shoes.

 

TL Note: I edited Melody’s maternal family name Ines/Aines in previous chapters to “Ainz”.