Chapter 50

‘It’d be a big trouble if you dressed that thin with this fog.’

The weather today was very cold. Reina wouldn’t know if she had fuzzy fur like her, but if she wore such a thin dress, something big could happen. Unsurprisingly, her face had turned blue as her body temperature had dropped a lot.

‘Why are you alone in a place like this without a maid?’

Amelie lifted her front foot and placed it on Renia’s shoulder. There was a possibility that she would throw her out because she was dirty, but she had to warm Renia first. Renia suddenly hugged Amelie. She stopped trying to throw Amelie away. Unexpectedly, this pink rabbit was very soft and warm.

‘—The fur is clean and smells good. Who’s growing it out? It’ll be okay if I hold it, right?’

Renia carelessly stroked the rabbit’s body. As Amelie adjusted her body temperature with her magic, heat began to radiate through Renia’s body. After a while, Renia regained her stability and began to feel her hunger little by little.

“—I’m hungry.”

“Kyu kyu!”

You can’t eat me!

Amelie freaked out and struggled with her legs. Renia released Amelie and touched her forehead with one hand to see if she was dizzy.

‘What’s wrong with her? Is she okay?’

Amelie couldn’t leave and wandered around her for no reason.

‘It seems like you’ve lost more weight than before. Have you ever starved?’ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Amelie immediately recognized her condition. She felt dizzy because she went on a severe diet. There was no hypoglycemic shock* yet, but her body temperature dropped, so it was very dangerous.

‘Should I call someone? I don’t think there’s anyone around here. What should I do?’

If Renia had lost her mind or passed out, Amelie could transform into a human and take her back. However, Renia still had a clear mind.

‘Didn’t the vine I saw on the way here have fruits? Will she get better if she eats that?’

It was as small as pinkie nails, but it tasted great. It will be of some help to Renia, who lacks sugar because it is also very sweet. Amelie tapped Renia’s foot with her front feet and ran to get the fruit.

‘I’m dizzy. I have no strength in my body.’

When the rabbit disappeared, her body trembled. She was cold and hungry, and her mind became hazy.

‘Who should I call— my maid—?’

For a moment, Renia thought that her condition was very serious right now. But her body didn’t listen.

Every minute and every second felt very long. While slowly getting tired, something soft and warm touched Renia’s hand. It was the rabbit’s front paws. Renia slowly looked up. Earlier, the rabbit was biting a vine with red fruits. There were tooth marks on both sides of the stem, perhaps because it was bitten and brought directly.

The rabbit put it down on Renia’s palm.

“Do you want me to eat this?”

Renia looked at the rabbit as if it were ridiculous. As the Young Lady of Count Manvers, she could not eat such dirty food. But her hands were shaking. She had a foreboding feeling that if she didn’t eat anything right now, something bad would happen. And, above all, she couldn’t ignore the rabbit’s mint-colored eyes staring at her.

The unidentified fruit was red and shiny and looked quite appetizing. Renia hesitated, and then she carefully plucked one of the berries. Her hands were trembling violently, but she was glad she was able to move.

The moment she puts the fruit in her mouth and bite it with her teeth, it spreads the juice through her mouth with a popping sound. Sweetness drenched her tongue. How long has it been since she tasted this sweet taste? In the meantime, it was difficult to eat only salads without dressing. Her brain was pounding and ringing at the sweet taste she hadn’t tasted in a long time.

Like a freshly picked fruit, the scent was excellent. A sour scent similar to strawberries could not spread throughout the mouth, so it was delivered to the nose.

‘It’s good!’

Renia doubted her taste. It was just the fruit that the rabbit had picked up, and it tasted better than any fruit she had ever eaten.

Renia frantically ate the fruit. Sweet and sour. She liked even the freshness of the fruits from the fields. The berries all disappeared with a few gestures, but during that short time, Renia was very happy. How long has it been since she ate whatever she wanted without looking at others?

‘Ha— What the hell is Serwin—.’

Amelie was surprised when Renia’s face distorted as if she were about to burst into tears.

‘Uh— how should I comfort you? Do you want me to touch you even if it’s just fur?’

Amelie crawled under Renia’s hand at the moment. Then, Renia slowly began petting her fur.

“So you’re really smart?”

Renia looked at Amelie and smiled. That smile was surprisingly soft and sweet. It was different from the last time she saw it.

‘You’re supposed to smile like this.’

Amelie quietly blinked.

How long has it been? Seeing that she had calmed down, Renia got up and called the maids. A while later, when the maids came, Renia returned with them.

‘Um, I feel like I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have seen—’

Why did she stand alone in a cold place like this? Amelie, who was left feeling uneasy, stopped her walk and returned to her Palace.

*****

At the palace, Caroline waited eagerly for Amelie to return. Caroline was very determined to the point where she had gone crazy perfecting everything. One day, she brought dozens of fabrics and tried them on Amelie’s body, and the other day, she twisted and straightened Amelie’s hair and fiddled.

Amelie just looked up and down as she was told, but it was very hard to keep sitting still.

‘What else are you going to do today—’

When she thought of meeting Caroline, Amelie was already exhausted.

“Good morning, Miss Amelie? Did you have a good breakfast?”

Caroline came in with great momentum. Her condition has been the best these days. It was because she was obsessed with the feeling that she would soon create the masterpiece of her lifetime.

‘This job, you did a good job.’

Aristocratic Young Ladies the same age as Amelie decorate themselves from an early age. As a result, they were certain of their own ‘good’ taste, and were obsessed with stereotypes, such as ‘I don’t like this kind of thing’ and ‘I have to wear something like this’. It was unfortunate that Caroline knew her craft well, but always had her goal spoiled because most of them were strangely stubborn.

But Amelie had no such stubbornness, and she followed Caroline’s instructions. There was no other person who was this comfortable to work with.

‘Even if you’re not the beauty of the century, this ordinary face is comfortable to work with.’

Because it is a face with no distinct characteristics, the image changed rapidly depending on how Caroline decorated it. It was all the more rewarding for her to create beauty.

Above all, it was the budget that pleased her. She was able to try various things because she had enough of a budget. She couldn’t help but be motivated because she could use materials that she couldn’t use because her hands were less shaking. Caroline was desperately realizing her teacher’s words that art comes from capital.

“As I said last time, I’ve brought a lace sample.”

Amelie couldn’t remember what Caroline said last time, but nodded like a machine. It was because she wanted the work to be completed as soon as possible.

For some reason, every time Caroline came to see her, she was very uplifted and spoke non-stop. Fortunately, Mrs Enard was writing down her words next to her, so Amelie was listening to Caroline in one ear and shedding it in one ear every time.

“Did you say that you’re going to dye the lace and overlap it?”

“Yes. The color will be slightly different depending on the lace design, so we have to decide on the design first.”

Mrs Enard looked at the lace sample with a grim look. It was a huge booklet the size of an album, and each book seemed to be about an inch thick.

‘When are we going to be done with all of that?’

Amelie looked at the sample books with a little boredom.

*****

After Caroline swept through, Amelie stretched out exhausted. Her eyes ached because she had to strain just to see the subtle differences in the lace.

‘I think my head is blank, too.’

After suffering between Mrs Enard and Caroline, she was exhausted. Fortunately, Mrs Enard looked at her and allowed her a special break, so Amelie could sit in a chair and rest for a while.

‘—Come to think of it, what was it?’

Amelie recalled the day she met Renia.

‘I think I saw something black before I hit Renia’s leg—’

Her memory was not accurate. Because she was being chased by a dog, she couldn’t see properly, so she may have mistakenly thought it was Renia’s shadow.

‘Because of my worry about the disaster. Did I become too sensitive?’

Amelie was sighing with a sound, and Chad approached her. There seemed to be something to ask of herself.

“Miss Amelie, are you available now?”

“Yes, it’s break time. What happened?”

“I actually have a favor to ask of you.”

When Amelie asked, Chad made a difficult look and spoke quietly.

“Can you go to the Imperial Palace now? It’s about His Majesty.”

“What happened to His Majesty?”

At that moment, Amelie remembered the black shadow she saw a few days ago. It just happened that she was thinking about it.

‘By the way, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Serwin— I had an ominous feeling, so I’ll have to go and check the condition now.’

Amelie jumped up from her seat.

“No, I shouldn’t be like this here, let’s go!”

As Amelie moved quickly, Chad looked at her with a puzzled look behind her.

‘It’s not something to have to leave in such a hurry—.’

Serwin was very fine. The only problem is that his temper is getting worse and worse, and he is driving the people around him away in fright.

In fact, what Chad tried to ask Amelie for was something else.

‘I was going to ask you to practice dancing with His Majesty if possible—’

Mrs Enard wanted to make Amelie, who was poor at dancing, perfect. So she wanted Amelie to have enough dance practice with a man of similar physique to Serwin before attending the party. This was because subtle differences caused big mistakes in practice.

Chad rejected the offer, but there were many other men. Mrs Enard asked imperial knights to find a knight of similar physique to Serwin. All of the imperial knights were from aristocrats and had excellent dance skills. Therefore, all of them were of great help to Amelie, and Amelie’s dance skills were gradually improving.

The problem was that Chad had to report that fact to Serwin. Every time Chad reported to Serwin, he had to look at the red eyes that looked as if they were bursting.

‘This is how you die, you’ll definitely die.’

Serwin himself was unaware of his own change, so Chad decided to move to begging Amelie. But when Amelie didn’t listen to everything and she headed to the palace, he began to worry about whether he should resolve this misunderstanding. However, when it came to clearing up the misunderstanding, the reason was too lame.

‘—Let’s just follow.’

Isn’t it the duty of a knight to protect his master’s honor? Chad hurriedly followed Amelie.