CH 38

A hot aura that covers the cold skin. She should be comfortable, but she was so embarrassed that she became hardened like a stone.

“If so. It’s fine.”

Leone whispered in her ear. There was an illusion that a voice that was kind, yet somehow thick and sticky had dug into the ear and flowed inside.

“Uh, uh…”

The strong body of a man touching her back, his hot body temperature… A low vibrating voice.

‘Don’t put me to the test!’

It was a situation that reminded her of a prayer without a religion.

“Chaga, whoa. Trixie. Body.”

So that was a courtesy to warm her up.

“I see… thanks.”

Yes. It’s just a favor. A stiff voice came out as if the vocal cords were suppressed by tension.

“Yes. I like you.”

It was something Leone used to say to her. She was blown away by the expression of affection, “I like you.”

“I like you too, Leone. Thanks for warning me.”

Her cute pup was trying to help her, and it deserved praise. She smiled happily, grabbed Leone’s arm, hugged him lightly, and let go.

“… yes.”

After a while, Leone gave a small answer.

While waiting for the rain to stop, her heart raced. It was probably because they shared their body temperature. Because her body was getting hot.

Leone buried his face in her shoulder. Would the sound of her heart be heard? She was worried. She didn’t want Leone to find out about that unexplained tension. It was an eternity of slow-moving time.

The brief shower passed, and the sky cleared.

* * *

“Acch.”

Yesterday, she made a good save thanks to Leone’s temperature, but she had no choice but to catch a mild cold because it was raining. It was a Beatrice-like result. If she hadn’t caught a cold, she would have thought it was odd. Was her body getting stronger?

“Drunk?”

Leone looked at her with a puzzled face.

“Hi, Leone. Good morning.”

When she greeted him with a sniffle and a deep voice, Leone approached her with an even more puzzled expression.

God… Did she do something?

She guessed so. It was odd that he had never seen anyone with a cold. Adler and Gourden were so strong that they probably wouldn’t have caught a single cold in the past five years. Benjamin hasn’t had a cold since he’s been there either. Moreover, it seemed that the man would rather stay in his room without drinking water and hold on until he was better than coughing in public, talking about the dignity of an aristocrat.

“Are you curious about being sick?”

That healthy body didn’t even know that. Leone’s eyes widened when he said “It hurts.”

“It hurts.”

“Yes. It does this because it hurts sneezing, coughing and having a runny nose.”

“How should.”

“Sleep in a warm place, eat a lot and rest well. But I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt much.”

“Trixie.”

Leone tried to pick her up again. She stepped back. Just like yesterday, he kept picking her up without even asking.

Of course, Leone’s arms were really comfortable.

At a pace that she would never have experienced in her life with her small stride, she felt like she had a luxurious car when she was floating in the air on Leone’s arms with a sense of stability… not that.

‘What crazy thoughts are you thinking, Trixie?’

“Wait! Leone. I said no.”

“Then.”

Leone held out his hand. The hand held out in an extremely elegant and gentlemanly manner seemed to suggest a dance.

She smiled and raised her hand.

Benjamin did a good job. Leone was born with a good brain and good physical abilities, so if you teach him once, he would apply heat.

It did not seem like he couldn’t do it, it’s just because he didn’t want to do it. That’s the part she really agreed with. Judging by the way he picked his words and learned them, Leone seemed to be a gifted child with considerable stubbornness.

“Here.”

Leone pointed to the sofa on the other side of the room. The room where Benjamin, she, and Leone were teaching was initially conceived as a reception room for guests. So the sofa was generously sized and huge like a bed.

“Lie down?”

“With me. Warmly.”

Did he want to lie in bed with her and hug her? It’s like that position…! Of course, Leone wasn’t saying it with nefarious intentions, but she was very worried.

One day, he would end up hanging out with other people, but it’s a big deal if he did that to someone who wasn’t her with that face. Especially if the subject was a woman.

A Leone who would go to anyone and give them a hug as a favor… She was absolutely against it, that was the worst association. She had never raised her child like that! The child’s behavior determines the success of home education. So proper socialization education became more desperate.

“You can’t sleep during work hours. It’s class time for you too. I have to study.”, she said it emphatically.

Leone was staring at her while holding her hand.

“Leone. no.”

“…yes.”

His expression didn’t change, but somehow he felt apologetic.

She thought she kept drying that up. What she meant was that she was a very weak protector.

“This maid has work, so I’ll go.”

She dropped Leone and went straight to Adler’s study. She needed to talk about her walking plans right away.

“Come on in.”

When she opened the door, she saw Adler still buried in a pile of papers. Adler, seated in clap-clapping armor, seemed detached from this study.

“Is it Trixie?”

He had a pretty handsome face, but the dark circles were down to his chin, perhaps from exhaustion. It was a bit of a pain in the eyes. These days, Leone’s education was going well, so it seems that he has put aside this side altogether and was clinging to the work that did not work without him.

“Uh. Are you okay?”

“Yes, what…”

Adler tossed the papers on the desk and sighed.

“Get some sleep…”

“I am busy.”

“Yes.”

“Does it look that serious?”

Adler, who had been listening to her concerns, suddenly asked anxiously.

“Your face was damaged, similar to when you were very busy. It’s not that serious…”

“Really?”

It seemed like he didn’t even care about his appearance. Adler hurriedly raised the hand mirror on the other side of his desk and examined his face.

He had a mirror… Was there one originally there?

“Ha ha… this.”

Adler dropped the mirror in a desperate voice. She didn’t think he’s that desperate.

“Do you care about your appearance?”

“Because I have to go to the capital… When it comes to this… It’s not possible to manage… A little… I have to.”

“Does appearance matter when you go to the capital?”

“It’s important.”, he replied sternly.

She didn’t think he had ever cared about his appearance before… There seemed to be some kind of change of heart.

“I just realized that I only have a month and a half left… I forgot again while working. It should be back to normal in a month and a half.”

“Yes, it is… But why all of a sudden?”

“When I return to the capital, I will meet Jeongin. It’s been 5 years, but it can’t be shabby. Thank you for waiting.”

“Aha…”

In a word, it’s because he was in a relationship.

She waited for Adler, who was obsessively examining his face with a hand mirror, before bringing up the main topic. She thought she would only watch Adler’s appearance management one-man show day and night if she didn’t talk.

“I have something to suggest about Leone’s education.”

“Yes, please.”

Adler still couldn’t take his eyes off the mirror.

“I want to take a walk.”

“Aren’t you still doing it?”

“No forest. I think it would be good to practice face-to-face with people while turning toward the annex where there are many people.”

“Annex… side?”

“Yes. It is an essential step for face-to-face training.”

Adler finally put down the mirror and looked at her with a puzzled face.

“Do not worry. At first, I will only go around the annex. I won’t run into people, I just make him used to unfamiliar smells and sounds. It’s dangerous, so wear a muzzle and a leash-“

“A leash-muzzle?!”

This time Adler crumpled his face grotesquely.

“Yes.”

She nodded.

“It is because it is difficult for me to accept. Put a muzzle and leash on Sir Leone and take a walk around the annex. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

Adler’s infinitely complex eyes wandered in the air for a moment.

“… Please explain slowly.”

He strongly opposed it and seemed like he wanted to say something, but he asked the reason in a voice that suppressed her embarrassment, perhaps because of the trust she had built up until now.

“We have to make it adaptable to people. You’re going to the capital soon.”

“The annex workers are afraid of Leone. They won’t come out.”

“He doesn’t have to meet them yet. Sir Leone has more sensitive senses than we do, so if you leave the windows of the mansion open, the unfamiliar noises and the smells of other people will be sufficient stimulation.”

“Then what about later?”

“If this method works, then I will think about it.”

Adler looked at her with puzzled eyes. But he seemed tolike it.

“I don’t know if that will help,” he seemed to think. “By the way, if Sir Leone smells the annex, hears the sounds, and doesn’t like it, isn’t it over? In the end, it seems like a matter of like or dislike.”

“It has nothing to do with likes or dislikes. It reassures him by showing him that even when strangers come, his guardians are by his side and that nothing happens in the world.”

“Relief…”

Adler believed in her education. However, it seemed that he was cautious because they were talking about involving Leone with people. Adler was most worried about hurting Leone.

“Sir Adler. Are you going to go to the capital and keep Leone in his room? Even if that is the case, if you go to the capital, there will be more people coming and going than here.”

“…”

“And if you were really going to keep Sir Leone inside in the first place, you wouldn’t need this kind of training. Benjamin or me too. In fact, Sir Adler, you are also doing it because you see hope in this training.”

Adler raised his hand and pressed it gently around his eye.

“…All right.”

It didn’t take long for his answer to come back.

* * *

After talking with Adler, she went to see Benjamin. If she talked to Benjamin about training, she was sure to get a backlash like Adler’s, so she had prepared all sorts of speeches. But when she said, ‘I need to do face-to-face training.’, as soon as she said, ‘Now,’ Benjamin nodded his head.

‘If you think you need to do it, Trixie, then do it. As for Sir Leone only.’

She truly… She believed it. However, she couldn’t tell if the addition of ‘Leone only’ was an insult or a compliment.

Anyway, with that in mind, she decided to go around the annex for now. The servants always locked the annex, so they never encountered Leone. Everyone here knew how heavy the front door of the annex was. Even Leone couldn’t break through that door. In fact, the annex building was better prepared for danger than the main building. It was easy to tell just by looking at the iron bars on most of the windows in the annex. Well, they haven’t even gotten close to the annex yet, so it’s okay. All she asked was to open all the small windows that Leone couldn’t fit in.

“It seems that the people in the annex have kept my request exactly.”

Even standing in the woods a short distance away, she could still hear people’s voices from time to time. It seemed to her that this would sound better to Leone. She went back to the main building after checking the walking route and the situation in the annex.

She didn’t start the walk right away because she wasn’t ready yet.

“Trixie. The things you asked for, production is over.”

As soon as they returned to the main building, Adler held out his leash and muzzle with a confused face.