Thedy had a troubled body.
She couldn’t walk on her own, and without someone’s assistance, she couldn’t go to the bathroom by herself.
In a world where people flew through the sky with magic and built abnormal physical strength through training, thedy’s body was now constrained, her movements restricted.
This world was not kind to those with physical disabilities.
Everyone here was healthy and strong.
Even in old age, those who had trained sufficiently rarely experienced the physical limitations thate with aging.
Of course,pared to their youth, their stamina and external appearance might not have been quite as robust, but it didn’t hinder them enough to cause major mobility issues.
This was one of the things that surprised me the most about this world. At the same time, I was shocked by the treatment people with physical disabilities received here.
The world I came from was a ce where concepts like “consideration” existed. It was full of people who faced physical limitations due to aging, illness, or idents.It wasn’t that people here were devoid ofpassion. Many would lend a hand to a middle-aged man who lost a leg during an adventure.
But this worldcked the concept of social welfare for people with disabilities. There was no system for them, no development efforts for things like wheelchairs—which thedy used—or rehabilitation systems. Society made no secret of its intention to abandon them.
They have prosthetic arms, sure. But perhaps because they could be turned into weapons through modification, the rest was hard to understand.
This world was harsh to those who had physical difficulties. In my youth, I thought such things didn’t concern me, observing them from a distance, but as I grew older, I began to feel that unfairness directly.
When thedy became disabled, I experienced a bitter realization of the forgotten discrimination.
Even acquiring trivial things became challenging.
Beds, which weremonce in hospitals where I was from, were almost impossible to find here.
In a world where healing magic existed as a grand alternative, the concept of rest as treatment seemed present, but there was a severeck of amodations for those who couldn’t use magic. On top of that, the prices for such amodations were outrageously high.
I still vaguely remember the time I left a shop with a bitter smile after seeing how absurdly expensive items designed to care for the sick were sold.
So, I began caring for thedy on my own.
I utilized the experience I had gained from nursing an elderlydy I was close to in a nursing home in my past life. It wasn’t my job. I wasn’t smart enough to go into healthcare, nor did I have the financial means.
Instead, I had picked up some crude techniques by watching over the shoulder of the nurses while caring for that elderlydy who visited our orphanage often.
Back then, I thought the experience would be worthless. But taking care of thedy made me realize it had been a valuable experience in many ways.
Life is unpredictable like that.
Thedy was stubborn, especially after her illness. She had always been strong-willed, but after bing disabled, she refused to listen to anyone.
-…
She grew depressed.
Disappointed.
And lost her drive.
I almost wished she would get angry instead of disying her stubborn silence.
-Mydy, you shouldn’t stay lying on one side for too long.
-Don’t worry about it.
-…
When I tried to reposition her to prevent bedsores from developing, she would snap at me with a “Don’t touch me.”
When I tried to help her up after she had fallen out of bed, she would push my hands away, saying, “Don’t pity me. Do you think I’m a joke too?” coldly rejecting my help.
I couldn’t understand her.
I never thought I could grasp the depth of her sadness, so I didn’t presumptuously try to understand her.
Instead, I stayed by her side as someone who silently helped.
Through this one-sided kindness, thedy gradually improved. Compared to the early days when she first lost the use of her legs, she spoke more and even had days where she smiled. She was steadily getting better.
Thankfully, I thought.
*
“Yaaawn…”
After helping thedy to the bathroom, I leaned against the wall and rubbed my sleepy eyes.
I had just used the Hand of Rehabilitation, so the fatigue seemed to umte far more than it should.
I felt like I could fall asleep the moment I closed my eyes, but then I heard thedy’s shy voice from inside the bathroom.
“Ricardo… Are you outside?”
Her voice trembled, afraid of the night.
I paused, thinking I’d tease her a bit.
“Ricardo…?”
“Eeek… You better not be gone. You know I’m scared of those toilet paper ghost stories…”
“Ugh…”
Hearing her murmuring in an almost tearful voice, her scared tone made me chuckle softly before I finally decided to respond.
“We don’t have any red or blue toilet paper ghosts in our estate, mydy.”
“Don’t joke like that! I almost thought you left me.”
“I see. Next time, I’ll answer eventer.”
“Ugh…! You’re dead when Ie out.”
“Then I’ll run away now?”
“I’m sorry.”
Thedy, her voice trembling, almost sounded like she was whining as she whispered, asking me not to go anywhere.
“Don’t leave.”
“…”
“I’ll give you an allowance, okay?”
I could feel the corners of my lips twitching. She was adorably trying to bribe me to stay. I found her request so endearing that I couldn’t help but hum a little tune, imagining her grumbling inside the bathroom.
“Three bears living in one house.”
“…”
“The viiness bear. The butler bear. Just the bear.”
“Our bear never listens to me.”
“…”
“I might just eat him.”
“Gomtangi would cry if he heard you.”
“Let him cry.”
Thedy seemed to have a lot of pent-up thoughts.
With a small smile, I spoke to her gently.
“In any case, there’s no need to worry. I need to use the bathroom too.”
“Is it urgent…?”
“I promise I won’t run off to hide in the first-floor bathroom, so don’t worry.”
“Sigh… But after Ie out, don’t go in immediately.”
“Understood.”
As a skilled butler, ensuring thefort of mydy was my duty, so I responded with a warm smile. Despite knowing her for over ten years, I was still touched by her consideration toward me.
Thedy always took her time in the bathroom.
She had to fix her dress and take care of everything with her ufortable body, so it took her a bit longer than it did for others.
In a way, I was thankful for that.
If she had refused to do anything by herself, that would’ve been more troublesome. For her rehabilitation and mental health, I appreciated her stubbornness at times like these.
Normally, thedy didn’t ask to go to the bathroom often.
Having lost the sensation in her lower body, she tended to notice signals from her dderter than others. And when she finally asked to go, it meant I needed to prepare her clothes in advance.
-Ricardo…
-I think pink would suit you today.
-…
-I’ve decided. That sky-blue dress doesn’t seem right to me.
-You’re right.
In the beginning, handling things like this had been quite challenging for me.
I had to figure out how to change her clothes without causing her stress while also finding ways to prevent mishaps.
Although I had developed a rough sense of timing for when she might need to go to the bathroom, those early days had been truly tough.
But she was making progress.
Both in my techniques for caring for her and her brighter attitude.
Things were much better than they had been in the past.
I believed that tomorrow would be brighter than today. Thedy’s stubbornness didn’t allow her to remain stagnant.
A brief moment of time passed, and soon the familiar sound of flushing from the bathroom echoed through the night.
I carefully prepared the clothes I had set aside for her and ran through various phrases in my head.
‘What’s the best way to offer her these?’
It would be rude as a butler to force her to ask for a change of clothes herself. I had toe up with something more refined.
“Ahem.”
But at thiste hour, my brain wasn’ting up with anything clever.
Finding a reason for her to change clothes in the middle of the night was proving to be quite the challenge.
If it were summer, I could have excused it by ming the weather, but it was only spring, so that wasn’t an option. Still lost in thought, I carefully clutched the clothes I had brought for her.
‘Maybe I should just hand them to her without saying anything.’
I decided to simply give her the clothes without making any fuss, and just as I was about to knock on the bathroom door—
With a sudden ‘ck,’ the door burst open, and thedy emerged with a bright, beaming smile.
Thedy was openly grinning.
“Heheh…”
Her lips were pressed tight as if she was about to burst intoughter, her cheeks puffed out like a balloon.
Startled, I looked at her, unable to form words, but upon realizing she was already fully dressed, arge question mark hung above my head.
“Huh?”
Thedy, stillughing, spoke brightly.
“I don’t need to change my clothes today!”
A sign of hope appeared.
A very small sign of hope was telling me it might be time to let go of my little sense of worry.
End of Chapter.