Chapter 76

Chapter 76

What else was he talking about…?

Can’t you develop your thoughts in an understandable way, please?

“Hey, don’t worry, madam. Everything will be resolved anyway.’

“Resolved? What can be resolved? That cold wind* like that would solve the problem?”

[ * When one person could be so friendly, but turned icy cold the day after ]

“It can be resolved through conversation.”

“Conversation…”

Amoide and I somehow felt like we were getting entangled the more we talked. If the two of us had a conversation, it would surely escalate into a fight. As It got deeper, I got more angry and I even went out drunk to talk and had a very big accident…

“Let’s stop thinking about it.”

I shook my head, trying to shake off all the frivolous thoughts that flooded in.

“Anyway, I don’t think a conversation is a very good way. The more we talk, the more we fight.”

Looking at me like that, Rona quietly bit her lip. She clearly was holding back the laughter.

“No, it’s not like that.”

She then covered her mouth, dying of happiness by herself.

“…Yes?”

What’s wrong with you, so ominous.

“Why are you laughing?”

Seeing Rona’s meaningful smile, I grew increasingly anxious.

“That… No conversation.”

“Then?”

“Body conversation,” Rona said quickly.

“What—”

I gasped like a carp with my mouth half-open. Meanwhile, she still continued her words.

“It’s said that reconciliation between husband and wife is done in bed.”

“Who?”

…Who said such a terrible thing to this rabbit? Who the hell, saying ‘reconciliation is done in bed’?!

“I know everything.”

“What do you know, what!”

How do you know what I don’t know!

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry. Because the master’s heart will eventually be freed in the end.”

Rona uttered confidently and asked again.

“By the way, what made you angry? You even shared a room…”

“Quiet, be quiet!”

I put my finger to her mouth and freaked out.

“Never!”

“What? Though obviously…”

“I decided not to.” Saying that, I tried to turn away from Rona’s gaze, who was trying to say something while staring at me with her wide eyes.

“Nothing happened.”

…Nothing, absolutely, nothing.

“Madam…”

“Anyway, it’s like that.”

At that, I decided to shut her mouth shut with that.

“So, you can’t tell anyone.”

Even though she seemed puzzled, Rona nodded her head.

5. After that day

From that day on, it seemed that Amoide had decided to draw a line on me thoroughly.

He didn’t ignore me or treat me particularly coldly, although he didn’t smile, joke, or make fun of me either. I couldn’t really define what it was, but I just felt like it was somewhere in the middle between someone I didn’t know and someone I knew.

To put it simply, people who live in the same house…

Nothing more and nothing less.

Nevertheless, I decided to take charge of his health so I had to do what I had to do, whether it was difficult to see his face or not.

“Whoo—”

I stood in front of his door and took a deep breath.

Knock, knock.

A brief permission was heard, and I just pushed the door and entered.

“Amoide.”

He was sitting on a long chair and reading a book. Seeing that, I approached him carefully. His face had a sly smile as the corners of his mouth was lifted as high as possible.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes.”

“Did it taste good? I ate it before…”

“It was edible.”

“Is there anything else you want to eat? I’ll tell Jean to prepare it.”

“They’ll figure it out.”

“Should I ask them to prepare fish dishes?”

“Whatever.”

All the words ended with a short answer. Although I tried to grab the words’ tail and drag it, it wasn’t easy.

“Do you have more to say?”

He looked up at me and asked.

“…No.”

“Then, go out.”

The chill was indescribable. Of course, it wasn’t like I was hoping for hospitality, but it wasn’t like there’s a need to blow a cold wind like this…

“A…Amoide?”

I called him quietly, and Amoide stared back at me with an annoyed look on his face as if what was going on.

“About us…It’s a little…”

Before I could say, “Should we talk?” he cut my words.

“I want to rest.”

Amoide spoke as he reclined on the long sofa. He was so tall that his legs came out even though it was a specially designed sofa.

Right on that sofa…

This and that happened. Yeah, this and that—

Whether it was drunkenness, moonlight magic or impulse, there was something I would never forget, even though I asked him to forget about it. Still, we agreed that way. Nonetheless, it certainly wasn’t something that didn’t happen.

“What are you doing?”

I woke up from my thoughts at the question that came back as though I was bothersome.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Rest, then.”

He raised his right hand and placed it over his face. It’s like he didn’t want to see me. I glanced at him for a while, just in case, though Amoide did not remove his hand from his face.

‘Okay, I got it.’

Bang.

At that, I deliberately shut the door tightly. I didn’t care if he woke up in surprise or not.

As I was walking with my feet stomping, a sudden thought came to my mind.

‘Why am I angry again?’

I couldn’t understand myself either.

…Why?

First of all, I was the one who suggested that we forget all of that and let it happen. Even so, such a cold attitude was unexpected. And, when it happened, I didn’t feel very happy.

When I remembered him stubbornly refusing to talk a while ago, I was filled with deep sadness.

‘It’s not something I should be sad about.’

First, forgetting about my record of refusing to talk and running away to avoid him was not something to blame only on Amoide. Now, he seemed to want to avoid me, too. I guess he doesn’t want to deal with me either because he didn’t even want to look…

My thoughts gradually became negative.

Just like water that accumulated and stayed still, emotions piled up and eventually rotted.

Why am I like this?

Wasn’t it good for each other to forget? It must be an unpleasant memory anyway, and it was just a mistake. If we decide that it didn’t exist, it didn’t exist, and if we decide to forget everything, we have to let go of even the bad feelings.

However, neither me nor Amoide seemed to be perfect.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Thinking of whether I should go take care of Noir’s food, I moved forward in a hurry.

***

As I walked across the Moonlight Garden to the Moonlight Pavilion, my head was filled with only one thought.

…Let’s forget, let’s forget.

After all, I was the one who told him to pretend that didn’t happen, so let’s not care about it.

After walking hard, I was in front of the Moonlight Pavilion. As I opened the door of the lonely towering building, a cold air different than usual enveloped my body.

“Noir?”

I carefully called out Noir, but there was no sound coming back. Only my voice was resounding in silence.

“It’s strange.”

Originally, when I called the name, Noir had to appear out of nowhere with immediate mourning and crying. But, today, let alone a cry, there was not even a rustling sound.

“Noir, where are you?”

I called out for Noir again, raising my voice again.

Still, the only thing that came back was still stillness. I decided to look around blankly while holding the food.

“Did you go into the room…?”

There were a total of seven rooms in this annex. I searched around the rooms on the first and second floors with the food bowl I brought down. However, all the furniture was covered with white cloth, and the whereabouts of the black cat were nowhere to be found.

“Noir…”

I muttered in vain.

“Where did you go?”

The Duke’s mansion was vast. If you make up your mind and hide, you won’t be able to find it. In addition, since cats were territorial animals, it was said that they become extremely anxious when they go outside of the designated space.

There was no way it would have left the Duke’s mansion alone.

I didn’t know where or how it came in, but the Duke’s mansion was better than the rough outside. At the very least, it wouldn’t get hungry.

My worry grew by the moment, but there was no clue where I could find the cat.

“Noir…”

Noir did not appear even at the last call.

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