“Sigh…”
“Haha…”
Kyle is lying on my bed alone.
Not that he’s lying down to sleep, but because he’s not feeling well.
Honestly, I didn’t expect it to come to this.
I mean, it’s Kyle.
After knowing him for about seven years, I had never seen him sick even once, so I really didn’t see this coming.
“I didn’t expect to faint from the heat either.”
“Did I know?”
“Haha.”
It’s ridiculous.
Suddenly, Kyle collapses, and I’m concerned.
He was always the healthiest kid around.
Sure, he had been sweating a lot lately, but I never imagined it would lead to him fainting like this.
“Are you… okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just lying here without doing anything. Back then, it was just because I was working in the fields and got too hot.”
“Sigh…”
Well, according to Kyle, he fainted while working in the fields.
As soon as I rushed to check on him, he was drenched in sweat and burning up.
Honestly, I knew he had been sweating a lot recently, but I never thought it would result in a fainting spell.
“I told you to let me know if you’re not feeling well…”
“Haha…”
Yeah, it must have been serious enough for him to faint.
He probably couldn’t think straight at the moment.
I had a rough idea of the reason behind Kyle collapsing.
He was used to living in a cold place and suddenly moved to a really warm one.
His body probably just couldn’t adapt.
That’s why he fainted.
“Oh dear.”
“Sophia.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“…”
But I couldn’t scold Kyle.
It wasn’t that he was reckless; he was just trying to impress his parents.
Only Kyle would do something like that.
I believe he’ll feel better by tomorrow.
Or maybe I’ll just keep him in bed and not let him go outside.
How can you send a child who just fainted outside?
The best choice was to let him rest quietly at home.
“It’s okay. I’m just worried, that’s all. I’m not angry or anything.”
I placed my hand on Kyle’s forehead.
His already warm body felt even hotter today.
I had already stripped him to his waist and wiped him down with a wet towel, but his temperature was still higher than usual.
“Just… rest for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“And if you start feeling bad again, make sure to call me.”
Actually, there was no reason for Kyle to feel unwell again.
I had already opened the window to keep the room temperature lower than normal, and I had placed a cold towel on his head, so his temperature had dropped quite a bit from the initial spike.
I figured… a full day of good sleep would do him good.
*
“Kyle, don’t work today. Got it?”
“Haha… I think I’m feeling better after a day of rest…”
“Shut up! If I say don’t, then don’t.”
“… Yes.”
He looked better, but I still stopped him.
After all, it was Kyle’s body that had just recovered—not that the weather magically cooled down for him.
If anything, the weather in Hydens was only going to get hotter.
After all, this wasn’t the northern region. It was obviously only going to get hotter as summer progressed.
“Hmm… Son-in-law?”
“Yes?”
“I feel like we’ve made you do too much work. I’m sorry.”
“No, really, it’s fine…”
“Kyle.”
“…”
I shot Kyle a glare, stopping him.
Why on earth is he saying he’s fine after collapsing yesterday?
Even if the days pass and he feels better, it’s still not the time to be active.
It was still too hot outside.
Of course, for Kyle.
“Dear, I guess you’ll be handling the field work alone for a while.”
“I was doing it alone to begin with.”
“Lately it seemed like you had too much energy at night, so it’s a bit disappointing.”
“…”
I suddenly lost track of whether my mom always said such strange things.
I don’t remember her saying much like this when I was younger.
It feels like she’s been saying even weirder things lately.
I have no idea what Dad and Mom do every night, but it was clear that Dad was working harder than ever.
*
“Sophia. But when are you guys going back?”
“Huh?”
“Not just anyone, but Kyle is a noble, right? Don’t you think he should go back?”
“Well, that’s true.”
That was a conversation I had talked about with Kyle.
After all, Kyle couldn’t keep leaving his place.
We were both thinking about when it would be best to return.
We hadn’t set an exact date yet, though.
“Well, I guess it won’t be before next week.”
“Hmm…”
“Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“No, since Kyle collapsed this time, I was just thinking maybe now’s a good time to go back.”
“Well…”
Honestly, I didn’t expect my parents to suggest going back first.
After all, things had become much easier for them since Kyle came.
I thought they would want us there for a while longer.
Not only did Kyle help out with work, but as Mom said, it also eased Dad’s load somewhat.
If anything, I thought we’d be the ones saying we wanted to leave.
“Hmm…”
“I’m not saying go immediately. I’m just pointing out that since we eventually have to go back, we should talk about it.”
“That’s true, but…”
I really didn’t expect this to come up out of the blue.
“Kyle, what do you want to do?”
“Then let’s stay a few more days before heading back.”
“Really?”
“After all, if we’re leaving, we need to call for a carriage. We’re not in a situation where we can do that right now.”
“Oh.”
That made sense.
Thinking about it, we couldn’t leave right away.
Taking a carriage isn’t something that takes just a day or two; it takes a few weeks.
We definitely needed to organize that.
“But Mom… you’re not telling me to leave for the reason I’m thinking, right?”
“…”
I had a sudden thought pass through my mind.
Considering Mom had been throwing out strange comments lately, it made me wonder.
Why would she suddenly want us to leave?
To be alone together.
And if they want to be alone, what could it possibly be for?
The reason was simple.
“…”
“…”
“Hehe.”
“…”
Yeah, it’s still hot, huh…
I suppose I should understand what’s going on.
I have no idea how long things will stay heated, but it’s probably going to be a few more years.
Really.
Though this conversation came up during lunch, it’s something that needed to happen eventually.
After all, Kyle’s home was in Eristirol, and I was living at Eristirol Castle.
Naturally, we had to address it.
“Kyle, be honest. You’d rather go back soon, right?”
“Haha… I’m just a bit sad.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve been suffering from the heat since you went outside.”
Though I didn’t notice it in our conversations, when we walked around, I occasionally saw Kyle’s face looking slightly bothered.
It must have been because of the heat.
Having gone from a place fluctuating around freezing to suddenly being in the south… well, that’s just how it is.
If it weren’t for me, Kyle probably would have rushed back to Eristirol because of the heat.
The reason he endured the heat was likely because I was here.
If I hadn’t been around, or if we weren’t visiting our parents, he would have definitely returned.
“Ugh… but aren’t you way too hot? Just holding you like this feels really warm.”
“Is it?”
“Seriously.”
Maybe it was because I was nestled in Kyle’s arms, but it really felt hotter.
Honestly.
Of course, it was better than yesterday, but it still felt warm compared to usual.
“Maybe it’s better to go back soon, like my parents said.”
“…”
“Don’t you think so?”
“Haha.”
Kyle didn’t say anything to me, but it was obvious he was exhausted from the heat.
I understand.
If I were in Kyle’s position, I would have been cursing about how hot it was and insisting that we leave.
To me, living here in the south and lounging around Eristirol without proper clothing felt about the same.
That probably would have been the case.
“When we get back… I feel like there will be a lot to do.”
“Yeah, we’ve been away longer than expected, so there will definitely be things to take care of.”
“No, not just that.”
“Huh?”
It seemed I was getting a bit forgetful due to the heat.
I was unusually excited about something, yet I ended up overlooking this lightly comical topic.
“You said you wanted to get married, right?”
“…”
Obviously, my forgetfulness was slipping through because of the heat.
I found it amusing that I was getting so excited while forgetting such a big detail.
“Don’t you think it’s about time to plan for it?”
“…”
Kyle was left speechless.
He usually brought up topics like this, not me.
It was probably a bit of a surprise for him to hear me say something like this all of a sudden, yet it must have felt good.
If I were in Kyle’s position, I would’ve been astonished too.
Whenever such topics came up, Kyle would often be the surprised and shy one, not expecting me to bring up marriage directly.
“Kyle, don’t be shy! Just give me an answer!”
“Ah… yes.”
“…”
“…”
I suddenly felt shy.
I had pretty much said what I wanted to say, and now I was feeling shy.
Why do I only feel shy after saying something?
“How do you bring up such topics normally? It’s really embarrassing.”
“That’s because I like you that much, Sophia.”
“You sure know how to say nice things.”
Usually, he seemed a bit stern, yet he’d answer so well at moments like these.
“Kyle.”
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
Now that I felt shy, I thought maybe I should just embrace the awkwardness fully.
Having kissed Kyle several times already, it didn’t feel embarrassing.
In fact, I had started to enjoy kissing him recently.
“Chu… Mmm… Mmm…”
At first, the feeling of our tongues mingling was incredibly awkward.
After all, combining soft and warm tongues was bound to be uncomfortable.
But after doing it several times… I got extremely used to it.
And…
“Good… do more.”
“Okay.”
Looking into Kyle’s warm eyes while we kissed felt wonderful.
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