Chapter 07
It seemed I had unexpectedly learned an incredibly huge secret, but the image of Mr. Veilt making a throat-slitting gesture came to mind, so I chose to scrub all of it out of my head.
Besides, even if I knew about it, there was nowhere for me to go around telling people about it, and I had no desire to do so anyway.
‘A servant of a demon.’
There had never been a servant in the novel.
‘I guess the reason Boss became a shut-in isn’t entirely because of the female lead.’
If Joshua had cried while saying all that, there had to be something more to it.
After that, Joshua seemed to want me to pretend that I didn’t know about him, so I acted as I normally did.
I myself had not the slightest desire to become deeply involved with them.
I would simply do what I had to do, then go to some quiet rural village and…
Could I actually live there?
Usually, after saving someone like this, their obsession tended to shift in a different direction.
‘But maybe not, since he likes the Saintess so much…’
If he were to fall for me…
I would gratefully keep my gloomy, depressed, handsome Boss tucked under my arm and take him everywhere with me. He was handsome and rich. What reason would I have to refuse?
After drinking a whole bowlful of wishful thinking, I happily knocked on Boss’s door and entered.
“I’m here. I’m here.”
“Go away.”
I lightly ignored him and went inside before closing the door.
“I brought some fruit…”
“…I don’t eat it.”
“I’ll eat some myself. I heard peaches came in today, so I brought them for myself. I get strangely sleepy whenever I’m here. I should eat something to wake myself up.”
I didn’t bring them for Boss. I brought them for myself.
Regardless of whether he gave me an incredulous look, I crouched down beside him. Just as I happily speared a suitably sized piece of peach with a fork and was about to put it into my mouth—
Thud.
A large hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
“Why?”
He lowered his eyes and muttered ominously.
“…Mine.”
So Boss liked peaches too.
“Should I bring you some? This is mine.”
I don’t know where his competitive spirit suddenly came from, but he firmly pressed those beautiful lips together before popping the peach I had speared with my fork directly into his mouth.
“Huh?!”
“Everything in this mansion belongs to me.”
It sounded childish, but it was also something I couldn’t exactly argue with.
“That is true.”
Then why not just ask me to bring you some? Did you really have to steal mine to feel satisfied?
Every piece of peach I speared went straight into his mouth. My feeble strength couldn’t resist him in the slightest.
How did he know that food stolen from someone else tasted better?
He was cute when he chewed with his mouth full of peaches, but I had no intention of letting him off.
“…I said I’d bring you some. Why do you keep stealing mine?”
“……”
He didn’t answer when he was at a disadvantage.
Holding my wrist, he continued transferring peaches into his mouth and didn’t stop until only one piece remained.
“Here. Eat it all. All of it.”
Half resigned, I tried to put the last piece of peach into his mouth, but he grabbed my wrist and turned it toward my face.
“Is this for me?”
“……”
Before he could change his mind, I hurriedly put it into my mouth.
“It’s delicious!”
“……”
“It’s such a shame I could only eat one. If I’d eaten about two, I might have realized how much better they were. Maybe because I only had one, it was so tantalizing…”
“Then eat more…”
“Yes.”
I immediately stood up to leave, but he suddenly grabbed my ankle. I stumbled for a moment.
A terrifying feeling washed over me as I nearly slammed my face into the floor against my will. Trembling, I glared at Boss.
“You really have to be careful with this. If you do it wrong, I’ll smash my nose into the floor. I’ll fall.”
“Got it. Go…”
“You have to let go for me to go.”
“…Goodbye.”
I have to go if you let me go.
Graaah.
Instead, he grabbed my ankle even tighter, so I obediently sat back down.
“Why aren’t you going?”
How could he ask me that?
In the end, I gave up.
“I don’t want to go anymore.”
I’m not eating peaches!
“Okay.”
Only then did he relax his grip on my ankle.
Did he really want to be with me that badly?
Since this was a good sign, I gladly decided to stay beside him.
“Boss, why do you keep sitting on the floor? There’s a sofa and a bed.”
“…I don’t like it because it’s cold.”
He’s actually answering me properly for once.
But why was he cold?
“What do you think about putting a heating spell on the bed?”
He looked at me as though wondering what on earth I was talking about, but I pressed down on the bed with my hand.
“Hmm, it’s not even that cold. The room itself isn’t cold either, so I think it would actually be colder on the floor.”
“…You don’t know anything.”
“I know the bed is luxurious. If you keep sitting like that, your butt is going to get really cold. Should I bring you a cushion?”
“It’s fi… Urgh.”
He suddenly groaned.
“Boss?”
“…Leave.”
After telling me not to leave just a moment ago, he had apparently changed his mind again and pushed me away.
Even during that brief contact, the heat radiating through his clothes was incredible.
He hadn’t been this hot when he was eating peaches.
This wasn’t simply him changing his mind and kicking me out.
‘Is he sick?’
I reached out to check his temperature, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
“When I tell you something once, understand it.”
“Yes.”
I obediently stood up. He looked at me with an expression that seemed almost dumbfounded, but he didn’t stop me.
‘I guess he did things he normally wouldn’t because he was sick.’
So that’s what was going on.
I left his room and immediately went looking for Joshua.
Joshua usually rolled around and played in the garden or loitered near Jessica and Lynette.
Fortunately, today he was rolling around and playing in the garden.
“Joshua!”
“It’s Titia.”
“Boss seems to have a fever.”
The reason I had specifically come to find Joshua was because, judging from our previous conversation, he seemed to be the only one who knew about Boss’s condition.
If Mr. Veilt had known, he would have at least warned me that Boss might get sick, but he hadn’t said a word.
As expected, Joshua jumped to his feet.
“He has a fever?”
“Yeah. He’s so hot that I can feel the heat myself.”
“…You left him alone?”
Why was he looking at me like I was trash?
I wished he would at least understand that I hadn’t casually abandoned a sick Boss like some piece of garbage.
“What else could I do there? Rather than just sitting beside him, I thought it would be better to find the cause and bring him something useful. What should I do? Should I call a doctor? Or do you want to go?”
“Absolutely not a doctor. Even if you bring one, they can’t do anything. I can’t go either… I just saw him recently, so I can’t go again…”
He sniffled gloomily.
“What about Jessica and Lynette?”
“Those two aren’t delicate enough to handle it.”
“Then I’ll do it. Is there anything I need to prepare? Something that might lower his fever even a little?”
“Not really… But it’s good to keep wiping his body with a cold, wet cloth. The problem is that Jervant hates that. And if you brew willow bark into a tea and give it to him, it can lower his fever a little. We always have tea, so if you tell the kitchen, they’ll give it to you right away.”
“Who normally brings it to him?”
“I do… If I leave it in the room, he drinks it himself.”
So that meant I was the only one who could do it.
I had already seen Boss was sick, after all.
Following Joshua’s advice, I told the head chef, who immediately prepared the tea for me.
I carried the steaming tea to his room and knocked.
“Your willow tea is here.”
“…Leave it inside and go.”
“Yes.”
“……”
There was a displeased groan from inside, but I opened the door, placed the tea inside, and closed it again.
Then I went downstairs, filled a basin with cold water, grabbed some clean cloths, and returned to Boss’s room.
Knock, knock.
“I’m here.”
“Leave it and go… No, go.”
He must have been so out of it that he couldn’t even decide what he wanted to say.
I opened the door and went inside.
Until just moments ago, there had been a slightly chilly feeling in the room, but now the entire large room was filled with enough heat to feel stifling.
In the middle of it, I saw Boss curled up like a shrimp, groaning in pain.
Even now, he was lying on the floor rather than the bed and suffering through it. He seemed to be trying to cool himself down, even if only a little.
His long bangs, which normally covered his eyes, were damp with sweat and stuck messily to his face.
Even his glasses had slipped crookedly.
Boss gritted his teeth and glared at me.
“Why did you come in… Go…!”
“Yes, I’m coming to Boss.”
“What the hell are you talking abou—”
I pulled the tray inside, soaked a cloth in the cold water, wrung it out thoroughly, and first removed his glasses before placing the cloth on his forehead.
“You…!”
“Joshua said this would make you feel a little better. Don’t be stubborn. It’s my principle not to argue with someone who’s sick.”
So please be quiet and obediently let me take care of you.
Through the loose ties of his poet shirt, I could see his impressive, well-defined muscles, but I was a person with a strong conscience.
I put my ulterior motives aside and used another cloth to wipe his neck when I noticed a snake-shaped tattoo extending from his chest toward his shoulder.
‘A snake tattoo?’
Snakes symbolized demons, so people normally didn’t carelessly get them tattooed on their bodies.
‘Then again, he used to be a reckless young man who didn’t care about such things, so maybe he got it in a fit of youthful bravado.’
I resumed my movements and carefully wiped his sweat-soaked neck, arms, and legs.
When I wiped his legs, his body flinched.
He looked utterly disgusted as he struggled to pull his legs away.
“Don’t do my legs…!”
Instead, I firmly held him in place and comforted him.
“You have pretty legs, Boss.”
“…Ha.”
His breathing trembled with irritation, as though my response had left him speechless, but he didn’t say anything else.
It was fortunate that he was too sick to have the energy to get angry.
I diligently wiped his body with a cloth soaked in cold water to bring down his fever. Whenever the water became warm, I replaced it with fresh cold water and continued taking care of him.
How many times did I repeat this?
Eventually, I heard Boss’s breathing as he fell asleep.
His breathing had become peaceful, but there was always a chance his fever could rise again, so I continued wiping his body to help him sleep comfortably.
‘Come to think of it, he’s really big.’
I had already realized it when he picked me up and threw me with one hand.
“Urgh…”
I must have stopped my hand because I was briefly lost in thought, because Boss let out a painful groan.
I gently pressed down on his furrowed brow before continuing to wipe his body.
Carefully between each finger.
Rub, rub.
The scorching heat coming from his body filled the room and then some.
I was sweating buckets in the middle of it.
Ah, it’s hot.
I undid a few buttons and tied my hair up high before diligently continuing to nurse him.
“I’ve been working so hard like this. I wish Boss would praise me a little.”
