Chapter 171

 

* * *

 

 

“…Did I buy something like this?”

Melody muttered unintentionally, and soon a nearby maid answered.

“Oh my, Miss. These were all bought by the young master during the Kristonson trip.”

“Ah.”

Right, that was it.

The servants knew that all of these were items Claude had chosen and purchased alone.

But the reality was different.

Melody had personally picked items she liked at every Briggs branch. And she was certain she didn’t buy snow-white  shoes like these.

But the shape of these  shoes was quite familiar.

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

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

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

When Melody jumped into the water to retrieve August’s shoes, she had lost one of the white shoes she was wearing in the water.

The shoes in front of her eyes now had a very similar shape to those.

But they weren’t the same.

Those must have been ruined after falling into the water, but these were brand new, never worn.

‘…This might be.’

Melody abruptly stood up while grasping the  shoes.

When nearby maids called out “Miss?” in surprise, she was already out in the hallway, running frantically.

She immediately went up the stairs. The thin dress fabric getting caught on her knees was annoying, but she didn’t want to delay now.

If her thoughts were correct, she had to relay this news quickly.

As soon as she arrived at Claude’s room, Melody pushed the door open without even knocking.

“Young Master!”

At her loud call, he turned to her in surprise, standing in the middle of the room.

“Me-Miss Melody?”

His eyes widened, perhaps startled by her sudden visit.

Melody rushed towards him with hurried steps.

“I have something to say. Right now in my room!”

“Wa-Wait a moment! Wait…!”

For some reason, he was backing away at a tremendous speed every time Melody approached. Extremely wary of her.

Could it be because of what happened in the hut a little while ago?

Of course, even Melody thought it wasn’t good to face Claude like this when thinking about that incident.

“I know too, but it can’t be helped!”

Melody shouted and stepped in front of him. He had his back firmly against the wall, his gaze completely turned to the left.

“Young Master, look here.”

Melody abruptly held out the  shoes she was holding with both hands.

“…”

But for some reason, he couldn’t properly look towards Melody.

Wondering why and blankly looking up at him, he answered with a trembling smile.

“Um… Could you…come back after getting dressed…?”

“What?”

Pondering his words, Melody soon looked down at her body.

She was wearing a thin chemise she had put on after bathing.

“Do-Don’t look!”

Melody crouched down on the spot and screamed.

“I didn’t see anything… No, anyway.”

He quickly moved away from the wall with brisk steps and covered her back with a blanket from the nearby bed.

Soon, Melody’s bewildered maids entered with a long coat.

Claude completely turned his body to pretend to look out the window, not wanting the maids to see his miserable face.

“…There’s a limit even to torture.”

He muttered that and leaned his forehead against the glass window.

 

* * *

 

Melody returned in front of Claude’s room after changing into proper clothes.

Honestly, because of the commotion earlier, she felt even more uncomfortable facing him than before.

‘…He must have seen everything.’

He said he didn’t see anything, but that couldn’t be true. Because when Melody opened the door, his eyes were momentarily fixed on her.

Well, he must have been so surprised that he couldn’t help it, but she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.

A maid who noticed her feelings suggested, “Miss, if you’re very embarrassed, should I accompany you to the young master’s room?” But Melody forced herself to shake her head.

When discussing what happened in Kristonson, she couldn’t allow anyone by her side.

Melody took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

As if waiting, the door opened right away. Melody bowed deeply with the white  shoes held to her chest.

“A little while ago, I was rude. I apologize. Young Master.”

“It’s alright, so lift your head.”

He answered smoothly and stepped aside so Melody could enter.

“Sit down. I had warm milk prepared, so you’ll feel much better after drinking it.”

At his invitation, Melody sat precariously on the edge of the sofa.

“Drink.”

He pushed a thick glass in front of her and urged again.

Melody placed the  shoes she brought on the table and took the glass he offered.

As she held the warm glass with both hands, her frozen hands from tension softly melted.

“It’s warm.”

It was an uncommon sentiment in the summer, so it felt awkward to say, but it was true.

Melody tilted the glass to her lips.

The richness of the milk and a soft sweetness were felt.

“This is…”

“Oh, you remember?”

“Yes, because it was delicious.”

“It’s been quite a while.”

This was what Claude had made for her when she couldn’t sleep as a child.

Warm milk mixed with vanilla syrup, and she remembered magically falling asleep comfortably after drinking it.

‘Did he prepare it now so I could be comfortable too?’

Carefully raising her head to look, Claude was holding one of the  shoes she brought and observing it closely.

“It’s not unreasonable for Miss Melody to be surprised to…discover this.”

At his softly muttered words, Melody blushed slightly again.

At that reaction, Claude hurriedly apologized, saying “I’m sorry.”

“It means I was surprised that much too. I definitely had no intention of tormenting or teasing you. Anyway.”

He quickly changed the subject.

“It seems to have the same design as the one Miss Melody lost when trying to save August. Shall we check?”

“Check?”

Claude got up from his seat and took out a bundle of keys from inside his desk.

Then he brought back a thick book from the bookshelf.

“What’s that?”

“Well, I couldn’t just take it out and store it openly.”

He smiled awkwardly and inserted the key into the book. Surprisingly, with a clicking sound, the book, no, the box shaped like a book opened.

“…!”

Melody was surprised that the book was a box, but she was even more surprised when she saw what was inside.

One of the  shoes Melody had worn on the first day in Kristonson was neatly groomed inside.

“Wh-Why is this stored in here?”

“I can’t openly display the  shoes my favorite girl wore. You might find me suspicious, Miss Melody.”

No, even hiding it well using a secret box like this seemed suspicious somehow.

Moreover, he casually added the word “favorite”!

“I was keeping it because I wanted to give you the other one when the lost one returned.”

“Those words mean…”

Melody put down the glass and stared at him directly.

“There was a possibility that the other  shoe I lost would return?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

He placed the  shoe he took out from the box next to the newly arrived shoe.

Everything from the shape of the toe to the height and shape of the heel matched almost perfectly.

“I didn’t tell Miss Melody, but the reason August went into the water that day was because he found this shoe stuck between the water plants.”

“…Oh my.”

“The kind child wanted to repay the person who picked up his  shoes.”

Melody tightly grasped her dress fabric, feeling somewhat dizzy.

If the two of them hadn’t found August that day, the little boy might not have been able to endure the fast currents any longer.

If that happened, something really terrible would have occurred. To think the cause of that accident was Melody’s  shoe…

“I made an unthinkable mistake.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Of course.”

If she had known it would put August in danger, she wouldn’t have gone to retrieve the  shoe floating away in the water.

“But if it hadn’t turned out that way, we couldn’t have created a connection point with Prince Samuel.”

“Something horrible could have happened to August!”

“Anyway, that child is safe, and we now have room for negotiation with them like this. Isn’t it alright?”

“That’s…too results-oriented.”

He shrugged and nodded. He didn’t seem to have anything to refute.

“Let’s focus on the  shoes for now.”

“That would be better. So in the end, did August retrieve my  shoe?”

“Yes, and he went into Prince Samuel’s arms while holding that shoe.”

Prince Samuel most likely asked the child about the circumstances with a high probability.

August must have had no choice but to spill everything along with the  shoe.

“Then could that shoe be a kind of ‘gift in return’?”

Muttering like that, Melody shook her head.

“But we can’t rule out the possibility that it was simply sent from the company. Mr. Wendel Benton also knew I lost my shoe.”

In that case, there was no reason to attach great meaning to this shoe. Her worry deepened, but Claude concluded quite simply.

“No. This wasn’t sent from the company.”

“What? But…”

When Melody tried to refute, he answered again with conviction.

“It’s a bit loose to say the Briggs Company ordered it.”

“Loose?”

Melody closely observed the  shoes again. The perfectly finished  shoes had no corners that looked loose anywhere.

“I didn’t mean there was a problem with the  shoe itself.”

Claude approached around the table and placed one  shoe in front of Melody.

“Try it on.”

He knelt on one knee and urged.

Melody put on the shoe, wondering, and soon understood the word “loose.”

“…It really is loose.”

At her muttered answer, he smiled brightly as if he had expected it.

“Yes, the width is a bit wide, right?”

“That’s right. Although it’s very slight…”

“And the back seems to have a little room too. The Briggs Company doesn’t send  shoes they’re gifting to customers like this.”

In the first place, Melody had ordered several pairs of  shoes from the company, so they would have her exact size information.

‘But how did the young master know the size was different at once?’