Chapter 201

 

* * *

 

At his suggestion, Claude quickly shook his head.

“No, I’ll just meet the priest…”

“No, you should definitely meet Miss May too! If she finds out we have a benefactor who brought us medicine, she’ll be able to take a brief break from her busy work!”

“No, I-”

The man had already decided to do so, and grabbed Claude’s arm to drag him to the back of the temple against his will.

“Well, um… Do as you wish then.”

Claude resigned himself and let the man pull him along.

Behind the temple, there was a huge pot with white steam rising from it.

Next to it stood a small woman, who seemed to be the rumored “Teacher May”.

Claude speculated that she must be the subject of the portrait Mindy had drawn.

Just a moment ago at the inn, they seemed very worried about “Teacher May”.

‘Could she be someone from a convent, or…?’

With that question in mind, he stared blankly through the white steam.

Soon, Neal, who was beside him, waved his hand vigorously, shouting, “Miss May! A traveler has come to help us!” and she quickly raised her head.

Just then, a gust of wind blew, gently embracing the thick white steam in front of her and carrying it away.

Thanks to that, Claude could now clearly see her face, and at that moment-

His breath caught for a moment.

 

* * *

 

Claude was so surprised that he froze on the spot.

Well, when he heard someone threatening to hit others with a catalog, he did think ‘That sounds just like Miss Melody’.

But for that to actually be…

‘The teacher at the temple, Miss May, was Miss Melody?’

While he stood there stupidly blinking, she also stared at him with a very surprised face.

“…”

What should he do?

Claude recalled Melody’s request. She had asked him never to look for her.

He had faithfully followed that one earnest request until now, but…

Melody was the first to move from that subtle standoff.

She put down the stick she was using to stir the laundry and quickly approached Claude, shouting in an urgent voice,

“You mustn’t do this!”

Does she mean he shouldn’t have come looking for her?

Of course, he had thought he wouldn’t hear a single word of joy at their reunion, but being told upfront that he shouldn’t have come made his heart ache a little.

“…I thought so too, but still.”

As he swallowed his pain and responded, Melody nodded firmly.

“Do it right now, hurry.”

Do what?

As Claude blinked and stared at her, Melody suddenly rummaged through her belongings and handed him a neatly folded scarf.

“Patients frequently come in and out of the temple. You must completely cover your nose and mouth. Understood, traveler?”

Being called “traveler”, Claude recalled one fact he had momentarily forgotten due to the shock of reuniting with Melody.

“Alright, then there’s no other way. I don’t like it, but I’ll go to Belhold.”

“Uh, will you be okay?”

“It’s not like there’s no way at all.”

In his conversation with Isaiah, the “method” Claude mentioned was to use a potion that changes one’s appearance.

It was something Jeremiah had given him to use only in emergencies, which applied an illusion magic to the outward appearance, making one look like a completely different person.

Although it couldn’t change his physique, it altered not only his facial features but also the color of his hair, so it was only natural that Melody didn’t recognize him.

‘…It’s natural, but.’

There was a bond between them stronger than magic, so he had hoped she would sense some… inkling of who he was.

“Don’t worry, you can use it safely. It’s been thoroughly boiled.”

“…”

Of course, it seemed to have been a futile hope.

Claude had no choice but to accept what she handed him and cover his nose and mouth.

The slightly rough cloth had a clean soapy scent.

“Thank you.”

He slightly nodded his head and cautiously observed Melody’s appearance.

‘She seems a little… thinner.’

The line from her cheeks to her chin had become a bit sharper than before.

Moreover, her fingers and wrists peeking out from under her sleeves were all red and raw. Perhaps it was from enduring the heat while boiling laundry.

“Please, at least wear some leather gloves…”

‘While doing this,’ he inadvertently started nagging her. Just like he always did back at the ducal residence.

“You know, Miss May!”

At that moment, Neal abruptly intruded between them.

“This person here is Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde, this is Miss May, who I just told you about.”

Not only did he arbitrarily cut off Claude’s concern, but he also stuck close to Melody’s side and acted very intimate with her.

Claude felt his insides twisting uncomfortably, but he had no grounds to say anything about it.

Right now, he was just a traveler named “Clyde” who brought medicine, and Melody was just “May”, a teacher at the temple.

He forcibly put on a gentle smile.

It was so natural that no one could have imagined it was fabricated.

“Nice to meet you, Miss May. I’m Clyde. I was just passing by…”

“Oh, Miss May! Take a look at this. Mr. Clyde has donated so much medicine to us!”

Before Claude could even finish his self-introduction, Neal opened the bag with an excited voice to show her.

“…”

Anyway, Claude didn’t really want to give a fake self-introduction, so he decided not to make an issue of his rudeness.

“This…”

Moreover, Melody looked adorably surprised at the sight of the medicine, widening her eyes like a rabbit, so Claude was able to quickly regain his peace of mind.

“Are you really giving this to us? It’s made by the Magic Tower, so it’s very effective and really hard to get. How did you…?”

“I got it by chance…”

Just as Claude was about to offer some humble words-

“Oh my! Miss May, you shouldn’t ask about the source of donated goods!”

Once again, his words were interrupted by that nosy man.

Claude was about to turn his head and glare at him with scary eyes… but he responded with a smile again this time as well.

“Yes, thank you for not asking.”

“See, that’s what I said.”

The nosy Neal grinned and slightly lifted his chin.

“But Miss May, what about the priest?”

“He went out to distribute tea leaves to the patients and pray at each house. Considering the priest’s personality, I think he’ll probably be back in the evening.”

“Oh… What should we do? Mr. Clyde is in a hurry to get back on the road, but I forcibly brought him here.”

“You did well, Neal.”

Melody patted his shoulder and then bowed deeply to Claude.

“Mr. Clyde. I cannot ask which family you are from, but we will not forget the help you have given us.”

“…We.”

Claude inadvertently muttered that part to himself.

Soon, Neal, who had been standing dumbly beside Melody, also quickly bowed.

As if claiming that he was included in Melody’s “we”.

“If you are in a hurry to leave, I will convey the story about Mr. Clyde to the priest. Although I cannot bless you directly, he will surely remember you in his prayers.”

“No…”

When Claude tried to say it was fine, Neal intervened again without fail.

“Ohhh! There was such a way! I’m sorry for forcibly bringing you here.”

Neal smiled brightly at Claude. It was a pure smile without any malice.

“We will always pray for you, Mr. Clyde. And if you have a chance, please stop by here again. We will always be waiting for you.”

Claude stared intently at Neal’s face. He was nodding repeatedly with a look that seemed to say, ‘You can go now.’

Claude clenched the hem of his clothes for no reason.

Various thoughts began to pop in and out of his messed up mind without any order.

He wanted to ask what right Neal had to be grouped together with Melody as “we”.

Whether he was just a temple colleague, a friend, or something else…

“Mr. Clyde?”

When he remained still, Neal stepped closer with a worried look.

“Are you alright?”

“…will.”

“Pardon?”

Claude clenched his teeth to prevent his rash anger from leaking out and answered.

“That laundry, I will.”

“Aw, no!”

As Neal waved his hands in refusal, Claude took a step closer to him, blinking his eyes.

“Eek.”

Neal was startled and quickly shut his mouth.

Seeing that, Claude smiled with satisfaction and finished his words.

“I will boil it.”

“…Heuk! P-please boil it.”

Neal wiped the sweat on his forehead and let out a small sigh.

The look in Claude’s eyes just now was as terrifying as a demon glaring at him.

 

* * *

 

Despite Claude taking a transformation potion, the rumor that “a handsome young man is doing laundry at the temple” quickly spread throughout the entire village.

Some villagers even deliberately came to see him vigorously boiling and rinsing laundry, expressing their admiration before leaving.

Anyway, with the addition of a sturdy worker, Melody’s heavy labor was reduced to some extent.

Even so, by the time the work was moderately finished, the sun had nearly set.

Holding a large laundry basket, Claude followed behind Melody.

Actually, he could have walked side by side with her, but for some reason, he wanted to do it this way right now.

‘Miss Melody, Miss Melody.’

He tried calling out to her using only the shape of his mouth, but just then, Melody turned to look at him, startling him and making him freeze on the spot.

He wondered if she had heard him.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Ah, no. That’s, I.”

He stammered incoherently, not knowing what to do, and ended up just coughing awkwardly for no reason.

“Hehe.”

She seemed to find it amusing to see him blushing and flustered. Judging by how she was laughing comfortably, letting her guard down around a stranger.

It made Claude very happy to see Melody smiling at him like that, but on the other hand, he was a bit worried too.

‘…It would be okay to be a little more cautious.’

A young man who suddenly visited a rural village one day, clearly a noble.

What if there were some rotten ones among them? How could she so easily let her guard down like this?

‘But then again, if Miss Melody actually kept her distance from me, that would probably hurt in its own way.’

With mixed feelings, he needlessly adjusted the scarf she had given him.

“Come to think of it, it’s already evening. It was a lot of work, right? Thank you for helping all day.”

Is she telling him to go back now that the work at the temple is finished?

After all, Melody was a well-mannered young lady, so she would know well that keeping a strange man within her living space until late hours wasn’t a very good idea.

“No… problem.”

Claude bowed his head deeply, feeling reluctant.

‘How should I… say goodbye?’

Unable to directly convey that he didn’t want to part, he kept fiddling with the end of the scarf.

At that moment, Melody smiled brightly and made a suggestion to him.

“Um, excuse me, would you like to have dinner at my house before you leave?”