Since her younger days, the youngdy was prone to catching colds.


    -Why are you in theke, youngdy?


    -Sniff….


    -Looking at how you’re not upset, it seems you entered of your own ord rather than being forced.


    -Snort…!


    -I hope it’s not because a butterfly was fluttering annoyingly in front of you….


    -Eek…!


    -I see, that’s the reason.


    During her runny nose days, the youngdy caught colds for the most bizarre reasons.-No! I’m a flower, and yet they avoid me!


    Getting irritated by a butterfly and falling into theke.


    -That carp won’t eat just any food I give!


    -It’s a rightful noble discrimination.


    -I’m going to feed it!


    -Oh…. Youngdy!


    Throwing herself into theke due to the carp’s picky eating habits and ending up like Sim Cheong.


    -Ricardo. I’m going to make a nket out of snow.


    -That’s quite the novel nonsense.


    -It’s not nonsense.


    Somehts, catching cold as a result of her antics.


    As she aged, these entricities faded, but the youngdy remained susceptible to colds, being somewhat frail in various ways.


    *


    Today, too, the Desmond mansion was peaceful.


    The approaching tickle in her nostrils made the youngdy’s nose twitch unpleasantly, and she frowned.


    “Eek… Eeeek”


    The youngdy was trying to suppress a sneeze.


    For some reason, dissatisfied with something, the youngdy clenched her fists and furrowed her brows, determined to ovee the sneeze.


    “Eeeek!”


    I sat quietly, observing the youngdy. To see how long she could hold it in.


    a good butler, so I clenched my fists, rooting for her to triumph.


    “Eek… Sniff.”


    “Oh…!”


    “Heeek… Hoo-ah.”


    “Ooh…”


    “Uuugh!”


    The youngdy kept bobbing her head like a Weeble without any substantial resolution.


    Foreseeing more fever due to stress if this continued, I stopped cheering and suggested she give up.


    Sometimes, giving up is a wise choice.


    “Just let it outfortably, youngdy.”


    “No.”


    “Why not?”


    “It’s a hassle to wipe my nose.”


    Of course, there was always a reasonable exnation for the youngdy’s actions. Having a face smeared with nasal discharge is definitely unpleasant.


    To solve the youngdy’s problem, I quietly offered an innovative solution.


    “I’ll take care of it, so it’s okay.”


    “Oh…”


    The youngdy nodded at my words.


    Reflecting on it, she realized there was no need to handle the hassle herself. The youngdy let the wind carry her and opened her nostrils.


    “Hee… Heeetchoo…”


    When the lost sneeze vanished, she looked at me with a world-lost expression.


    “It won’te out.”


    “It seems like you missed the timing. Sneezes tend to be shy; if rejected once, they rarelye back.”


    With a disappointed expression, the youngdy puckered her lips as she stared at the tissue in her hand.


    “Feels empty. It’s like all the sugar in my body is gone.”


    “It can’t be helped.”


    “Eeek…”


    I wiped the running snot from the youngdy’s nose with a handkerchief and checked her forehead with the back of my hand.


    The warm temperature from the youngdy.


    It seemed she certainly had a fever.


    Her face was red.


    Nasal discharge flowing like water.


    If this continued, it seemed I could fry an egg on her forehead, so I carefully ced my hand on her shoulder and said.


    “Let’s lie down.”


    The youngdy shook her head stubbornly.


    The youngdy, unwilling to listen when unwell, stared at me obstinately, asserting her will.


    “I don’t want to lie down.”


    Though she’s usually fond of lying down, hearing this made me cast a bitter smile as I looked at her.


    “Why not? You seem to have a fever; lying down and taking a good rest will help you recover quickly, won’t it?”


    “We have ns to go out today with Ricardo. I’ll take medicine and then go out with Ricardo.”


    “We can go the next time.”


    “I want to go today….”


    The youngdy looked at me with forlorn eyes. Appearing as if disappointment outweighed her cold and threatened to knock her down, she expressed her sadness.


    cing my hand on her forehead, I answered gently.


    “We can go another time. Today isn’t the only day.”


    “Today is the day.”


    “What day is that?”


    “The day I’m not bored.”


    “Puhaha. What kind of thing is that?”


    “Ricardo’s been busy. He hasn’t yed with metely…. What if he’s busy again tomorrow?”


    “He said he has plenty of time starting today.”


    “Really?”


    “Yes.”


    The youngdy, with a serious expression, asked again.


    “Really?”


    “Yes.”


    “Then okay.”


    Peering ah at her idle gesture and gently supported her weight as I ced my hand on her shoulder.


    “We’re going down.”


    “Mhm.”


    “Third floor.”


    “Oh…”


    “Second floor.”


    “Ooooh…”


    “First floor. We’ve arrived.”


    “Aren’t we going down to the basement?”


    “The basement is still under construction.”


    “Hehe…”


    Lying snugly on the bed, the youngdy let out a contented sigh in a pleasant smile.


    “See? It’sfortable.”


    “Mhm. It is.”


    “How nice it would have been to lie down earlier and feel sofortable.”


    “Yeah. I should have lied down earlier.”


    With her eyes twinkling brightly, the youngdy stared at me.


    Seeing her mischievous eyes hinting at a desire, I quietly smiled while soaking a towel in cold water.


    “Why are you staring like that?”


    “Because Ricardo is ugly.”


    “…”


    “From below, he looks super ugly.”


    Wahed slightly and retrieved the towel from the basin, cing it over her face.


    Naturally, unfurling it all the way.


    -Thud.


    “Eeeek! Cold!”


    “It can’t be helped. Life is inherently cold.”


    “My life is warm!”


    “Let’s live coldly today.”


    “No way…!”


    How much had Iughed at her struggling reaction before I removed the towel, cing a calm, cool one on her forehead?


    Now, the youngdy wore a rxed expression.


    Sitting carefully by her bedside, I focused on the errands she would ask of me.


    Of course, not intending to fetch chocte.


    Perhaps staring at the ceiling absentmindedly for a while.


    The youngdy, previously sulking with a pout, carefully turned to me and spoke.


    “You know, Ricardo.”


    “Yes.”


    The youngdy faced me.


    Her bright eyes kept fixed on me, and it felt somewhat overwhelming.


    In a cheerful tone, the youngdy told me.


    “Tell me an interesting story.”


    “Shall I read you a fairy tale? I’ve written a new one recently, and I think you’d like it.”


    “What genre?”


    “It’s a love-betrayal-romance story where it turns out my dad isn’t wealthy but a homeless man.”


    “Puhaha… What is that?”


    The youngdy chuckled softly and shook her head.


    “Not that one, something else.”


    “I don’t think there’s anything else that’s interesting.”


    “I’d like to hear something else today.”


    “Hmm. What’s there?”


    “Just tell me anything interesting that Ricardo experienced. Like what happened outside.”


    I quietly brushed the youngdy’s hair aside and smiled.


    “Shall I?”


    An interesting story, indeed.


    Honestly, I wasn’t confident.


    As my life wasn’ht feel somewhat gloomy.


    Even if I discussed interesting tales, they’d all be about experiences rted to the youngdy, and bringing up Yuria or Michail might dampen her mood.


    I especially didn’t want to boast of myself anymore.


    Seeing me pondering for a while, the youngdy smiled lightly and said.


    “Why does it feel burdensome?”


    “I’m wondering what kind of story would make youugh, youngdy. Bringingughter to a patient is part of a butler’s duty, after all.”


    “Hehe. Just tell me anything. Any experience Ricardo had.”


    “Um…. I don’t think it would be interesting.”


    “It’s okay. Ricardo’s face is interesting, so don’t feel pressured.”


    “…Is that apliment?”


    “Mhm.”


    Motivated by the youngdy’s enthusiastic encouragement, I hesitantly opened my mouth.


    “When I was wandering around the slums, I had a friend.”


    “Ricardo had a friend?”


    “I had many. I even yed the role of a leader.”


    “How interesting. I thought you had no friends.”


    “That hurts.”


    “It’s okay. I don’t have friends either.”


    “That hurts even more.”


    A story from the slums.


    Perhaps a tale only I knew.


    I told the youngdy only the funny parts, excluding the depressing aspects.


    -I wasn’t bad at begging.


    -Right. I even gave Ricardo money.


    -Yes. Back then, you were one of my VIP clients, youngdy.


    -Right.


    -I thought I caught a decent sucker….


    -Eeeek!


    -I kid.


    The youngdyughed.


    And Iughed too.


    -So there was a time I made my friend beg.


    -Yeah.


    -He cried. Said he didn’t want to because it was embarrassing. Do you know what I told him?


    -What did you say?


    -To snag a sucker.


    -Was that me?


    -Yes.


    -Oh…!


    “Ricardo is smart.”


    “I know.”


    Listening to tales that would amuse a viiness brought her joy.


    Stimting.


    Realistic.


    Humanistic stories.


    Because the youngdy liked those things.


    Of course.


    Purely from a standpoint of interesting tales.


    An old story.


    The story of when I first met the youngdy.


    Stories rted to Michail, really….


    A very….


    Old story.


    End of Chapter


    Note: Sim Cheong is a Character in Korean folklore story