“Ah.”
I got up early in the morning, just like usual, without a care in the world.
As always, I washed my body in the bath.
I washed my hair first, then my arms, chest, stomach, thighs, groin, legs, back, and butt.
After that, I dried off and put on a suit.
Underneath, I wore a thin garment, over it a shirt, and on top, a blazer.
The pants were, of course, snug-fitting suit trousers.
And then I walked down the hallway.
The destination was right in front of Kyle’s door.
Then it hit me.
“Kyle isn’t back yet.”
It would still be a week before Kyle returned.
Why did I do this even though I knew that?
Had eight years really impacted me this much?
Well, it makes sense—after doing this every day for eight years.
Naturally, my body reacted instinctively like this this time too.
I’ve spent every day like that.
From weekdays to weekends, from the day I first met Kyle to the day before he left.
I could change if I wanted to, but it didn’t seem easy.
Just looking at today, I was automatically doing this from the morning.
During it all, I had no doubts or thoughts of any problems.
It felt almost like a command set in my brain.
Having done it every single day, did my brain recognize it as such?
I really don’t know.
I’m no expert on the brain.
I mean, I was in the humanities stream in my past life, so how would I know?
The only time I’ve come across related content was when it popped up in non-fiction excerpts.
“Sigh…”
For now, I stepped into Kyle’s room.
Kyle wasn’t here, but it’s still Kyle’s room.
Kyle’s room was quiet.
After all, there was no one here but me, so it couldn’t possibly be noisy.
Of course, even when Kyle was here, it wasn’t loud.
“Should I do some cleaning…?”
Since Kyle had been gone for a while, the maids must have come in to clean a few times, but they hadn’t today.
Even if they had, it wouldn’t have mattered.
I had nothing else to do since I was already here.
So, I began cleaning Kyle’s room.
I borrowed a duster and a rag from a passing maid and started cleaning.
Kyle wasn’t the type to appreciate messiness, so there wasn’t trash lying on the floor.
Unlike my friend the magician.
“Ahhh… Hmm… Oof… Ugh…”
After finishing cleaning, stretching felt incredibly refreshing.
So now, what should I do?
Somehow, I ended up sitting on Kyle’s bed without thinking.
And without moving…
*Thud.*
I tilted my body and lay down on the bed.
Lying down, all I felt was comfort—nothing more.
No smell or pleasant feeling, nor did I feel like I wanted to keep lying down.
Really, the only thing I felt was the comfort of the bed.
Last time I lay down, it felt so good that I wished I could stay in that position forever.
“Ah, was I just tired then?”
If that was the case, I could understand.
I was really exhausted back then.
To ask me to do such a thing again? Honestly, I wouldn’t want to.
I just pretended to be tough in front of Kyle, but it was a nightmare.
A total nightmare.
“Sigh…”
I really didn’t know what to do today.
I tried reading a book as Louise recommended, but reading all day for a week was getting boring.
It was pretty much inevitable that I’d get sick of it.
Seriously, how could one find it fun just reading all day?
I needed to read a bit and mix in some other activities.
“Ha…”
Suddenly, I realized something.
The word I’ve repeated the most lately is ‘sigh.’
It felt odd to say that breathing is a word, but it was the truth.
I kept saying ‘Ha,’ ‘Sigh,’ and ‘Hoo.’
Even I thought I was doing it too much.
In my previous life, there was a saying that sighing makes luck vanish.
I didn’t believe it back then, and now I believe it even less.
If sighing made luck disappear, I would have been dead by now, right?
No matter how many sighs I let out, I’m still alive, so it was just nonsense.
“Only a week left now.”
Until Kyle returns.
Eight days out of fifteen days have passed.
It meant I just had to hold out for fifteen days.
Once January 16th comes, he’ll be back.
It would be nice if he could come on the fifteenth, but it couldn’t be helped.
“I still have a week of vacation left…”
Even though it was vacation, I had nothing to do.
With only seven days of vacation, traveling to another region would be impossible.
At this rate, the vacation would end just as I arrived at another place.
If the vacation had been a whole month, I might have returned home.
Since being sent off to boarding school, I’ve only exchanged letters with my parents, and lately, I don’t even do that.
Ah, I could visit after finishing my tasks in Eristirol.
It’s something I could wrap up within a few months anyway.
No need to rush, so I could take my time.
“Quitting my job at Eristirol, huh…”
It felt bizarre.
Was it because I’ve been working here for eight years?
I didn’t feel this way when I graduated from boarding school.
From the time I was in elementary school to sixteen, I attended boarding school, yet I never felt like this.
Back then, I rejoiced at not having to see annoying brats.
“But I wonder what they’re up to these days.”
Even though I had a high ranking, they weren’t exactly flunks either.
I vaguely remember they were in the middle-upper tier.
Yet, since leaving boarding school, I hadn’t seen any of them.
Not a single time.
Not even once.
It was strange that I hadn’t run into anyone at least once during my life.
Last time, the servants around the nobles in the capital weren’t anyone I recognized.
Did I, among all that year’s graduates, really end up as the only one joining a noble family?
“Ha…”
If that were true, it would be funny.
To think that those jerks who harassed me for the most trivial reasons were now getting left behind on job applications made me chuckle.
They complained I’d be slow cleaning because I had big breasts, and they said the employer would uselessly ogle at my chest—what nonsense!
To think they had missed out on jobs when they gave me hell was just hilarious.
“Ha… Haha…”
I laughed for a few seconds before bringing my expression back to normal.
Honestly, thinking about those jerks didn’t exactly brighten my mood.
I once told Kyle that it was best to let it all slide.
I think it was when I got hurt?
It must have been around then.
Back then, Kyle was so worried that he almost cried, so I said that to reassure him.
It wasn’t completely wrong.
It could happen; living life means facing all kinds of crazy things.
But I’m also not totally perfect or naïve.
In Kyle’s case, it genuinely wasn’t his fault.
It was an understandable thought.
But with those jerks, it was different.
“If I tell Kyle this, would my likeability go down?”
I had been trying hard to maintain a good adult image in front of Kyle.
I wanted Kyle to grow up kind, cool, and to be a good person.
But if I told him the thoughts I just entertained, I’d ruin that image.
I was certain of it.
Even I would be shocked if a supposedly great person suddenly blurted out such thoughts.
“Ha…”
I’m already an adult, yet there’s still some childish side of me.
Today, useless thoughts kept circling in my head.
*
“Ahhh!!! I miss Sophia!”
I shouted toward the opposite direction of the territory.
Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen Sophia for over a week that I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Of course, it was better than usual.
“Ah… I have nothing to do.”
After hunting, my top was already tossed carelessly on the floor due to blood splatters.
There was nothing to do.
Nothing to eat.
Well, there was food, but it wasn’t tasty.
Unlike other regions, this place was lacking in spices found naturally.
But in our territory or castle, we could get enough from other regions.
Our family had plenty of money.
We regularly hunted the monsters that came down and sold the goods, and there was also some support from the imperial family.
“The imperial family…”
Suddenly, a memory from a few years back came to mind.
It was the day I arrived in the capital and made my debut.
I recalled how worried Sophia was on that day.
It was fascinating how a person’s eye color could be purple.
Her hair was just ordinary blonde, but her purple eyes were striking.
Sophia once told me that purple was the color symbolizing the imperial family.
Perhaps it was because their eyes are quite rare that they adopted it as their symbol.
Our family wasn’t that different in this respect.
“Our family’s symbol is the white wolf… Sounds cool.”
There were bears and snow leopards as symbols too, but wolf was the chosen one.
Thinking about why the ancestor chose the wolf doesn’t seem like much.
They hunt in packs, are intelligent, and value their leader; that’s probably the reason.
“Wolves…”
When I visited the zoo in the capital, I remembered the day Sophia mentioned wolves.
Honestly, I had many strange thoughts at that time.
Just hearing the family’s symbol, the wolf, come out of someone I liked was a lot to take in.
Of course, Sophia was just explaining as always.
“Haha… A week… More than half is gone now.”
Yeah, more than half.
Already.
It felt like time passed faster than I thought.
“Ha…”
But I was worried.
Given my father’s personality, once this was over, he would probably give me a lot of work to do.
He’d definitely say he was going on vacation again.
But I also had things to do for a while.
There was much to do regarding Sophia.
I needed to get closer to Sophia and change the way she perceived me as a potential partner.
There were several stages ahead.
“As soon as I return, I should have a chat with Sophia before heading to Dad.”
I just couldn’t help but admit I wanted to see Sophia above all else.
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