CHAPTER 024
"Don't take it off."
"Pardon?"
"Keep your hand on my forehead."
"Oh, okay."
It wasn't a difficult request, so I complied.
It felt a bit awkward to keep my hand on his forehead for an extended period rather than just briefly checking his temperature. The silence between us was starting to feel uncomfortable and strange, so I tried to strike up a conversation.
"Do you feel anything?"
"Why? What should I feel?"
"Nothing! I was just asking."
He spoke in a weary voice, but despite his condition, he managed a crooked smile as he looked at me. Seeing him capable of smiling reassured me that he was definitely feeling better than before.
For some reason, I felt compelled to offer an explanation.
"I was asking if you could feel my energy. With my hand like this, your mind must be clearing up."
"I can't say I feel any energy."
"Then why do you want me to keep my hand here?"
"It's better than nothing."
Although he had passed the worst of his illness, he wasn't completely recovered. Lewis occasionally furrowed his brow, enduring the pain. I stayed by his side, keeping him company.
After some time, I wondered if it was enough. I slowly withdrew my hand from his forehead, noting that he didn't seem to mind this time.
I busied myself with tasks to ensure his comfort. One of these was playing a music box I found in the room, hoping it would help him relax.
"How about the music box? It might help you sleep."
"Do as you please..."
After turning on the music box, I suggested he try to sleep.
"Maybe a nap will help you feel better."
"You know, when you're really sick, it's hard to fall asleep."
"Really? Is it still that bad?"
I grabbed his hand with both of mine.
"If it were just noise, I would have stopped it long ago..."
Despite my worries, Lewis soon drifted off to sleep. Sleeping is the best remedy when you're sick. It was a relief.
"So, is my job done now?"
As I muttered to myself, something came to mind.
"Just one more thing to do."
I brought some fruit I had bought from the kitchen, along with a tray, a glass cup, and a knife provided by a maid. Before leaving, I wanted to prepare some fruit for him.
"Is Lewis asleep? What are you doing alone?"
So, she's awake now.
While filling a glass cup with the prepared fruit, Bella approached and asked.
"Are you going to eat some fruit? You could have asked a maid to do that."
"It's not for me, it's for the Marquis. I was just passing the time."
"When do you think he'll wake up?"
"He's been asleep for a while. He should wake up soon."
Done! I finished by topping the glass cup with kiwi. I left a brief note beside the tray.
[Eat this when you wake up!]
Leaving the note, I quietly left the room.
"By the way, Bella, did you contact Michael?"
"Of course. I told him Lewis was sick. The message should have reached the Magic Tower."
Bella tilted her head, puzzled.
"He never gets sick. It's unusual."
That's true.
As I got into the carriage with Bella, I looked back at the Bloomberg Mansion. It still seemed desolate.
Was it because I saw Lewis struggling earlier that I couldn't get him out of my mind? I kept my gaze on the mansion until it was out of sight, hoping for his speedy recovery.
* * *
Lewis woke up an hour after Selena left.
'When did I fall asleep?'
The pain had subsided considerably, and the gentle sound of the music box must have lulled him to sleep.
"She's gone?"
He glanced around the quiet room and sat up.
The first thing that caught his eye was the tray on the bedside table.
Was that from earlier?
The transparent glass cup was filled with oranges, figs, grapes, and kiwi, similar to the fruit basket he had seen earlier.
Lewis got out of bed and opened the door to find two attendants waiting.
They were hesitant to move him while he slept outside the bedroom, fearing they might wake him.
"Why are you standing there?"
Ignoring the attendants, he returned to the bedroom, but then he remembered something he had left in the room.
Lewis gathered the fruit, cup, and note from the room and went back to the bedroom.
The butler quickly entered and asked,
"Marquis, how are you feeling?"
"I think I'm feeling better."
It was true. After a nap, his heavy body felt much lighter. It wasn't due to the fever medicine, as he had taken that in the morning.
The irregular heartbeat had normalized, and his body temperature had returned. This improvement started after receiving Selena's care.
Specifically, it was during the time Selena touched his forehead.
When she first placed her hand on his forehead, he didn't feel much. But when she applied a temporary measure and placed her hand on his forehead again, he felt significantly better.
Was it an illusion?
He had maintained that position for a while to test the sensation, but it wasn't an illusion.
The pain gradually subsided, and the throbbing in his head eased.
Was it because it was her?
Selena was definitely a special presence concerning his symptoms. The medicine he had taken to stop the noise had caused the problem, so it might have been effective.
Although the pain occasionally resurfaced, talking and holding hands with her made it fade away.
He could sleep peacefully because of her.
"She was so flustered."
Lewis thought of Selena, who moved around frantically, trying to help him.
Anyone would think Selena, not Bella, was his blood relative.
"She even prepared fruit for me?"
He looked at the glass cup.
The note indicated she had prepared it herself.
The lower part of the note had a small message.
[I can also peel an apple into a rabbit shape, but I didn't do it because it would brown. I'll show you next time!]
Did she prepare it herself to show off her skills? She was diligent in small matters.
"Rabbit-shaped apple?"
What's that?
A faint smile appeared on Lewis's usually indifferent face as he thought of Selena.
She always flinched when she saw him but smiled brightly.
He chuckled.
He wasn't sure what it was, but it was probably something cute. Rabbits usually were.
* * *
I wondered if I needed to visit Lewis again, but he was fully recovered the next day.
He got better in just one day! As expected of Croft, his recovery was incredible.
Still, I couldn't stop worrying about him because I knew how he had fallen ill.
"He tested potentially faulty medicine on himself. It's too dangerous!"
There's a safer way.
A much more viable method that doesn't involve such risky self-experimentation.
"But I can't tell him that."
Ugh!
I flopped onto my desk in frustration.
I was still the only one in this world who knew how to stop the noise in Lewis's head. I had read it in a book.
This made me feel like I had really been reincarnated into a novel.
But Charlotte probably didn't know she had divine power yet. And she lacked a strong enough motivation to use her power for Lewis.
"They're just casual acquaintances. Lewis doesn't even speak to Charlotte..."
I couldn't dwell on this any longer. There was a knock on the door.
"Selena, Lewis is looking for you!"
Today was the day Lewis was coming to the mansion.
As I went down to the parlor with Bella, I saw Lewis and Michael there.
Even though I had been pondering ways to help him, Lewis, who looked perfectly healthy, immediately spoke up.
"Show me."
"Sorry?"
"The rabbit shape. You promised to show me."
"Oh, the rabbit-shaped apple? Are you acknowledging my fruit-cutting skills, Marquis?"
"It's not acknowledgment; it's verification."
Tch.
Well, it wasn't hard to show him.
I asked a maid to bring an apple and picked up a knife. I found myself demonstrating my apple-peeling skills to everyone.
Lewis seemed indifferent, but he was subtly interested.
"How do you know how to do this?"
That question revealed his curiosity.
Michael chimed in.
"Yeah. It looks like you've peeled a lot of fruit somewhere."
As a noble, I shouldn't have had many opportunities to peel fruit. Usually, maids do that, and you just enjoy the taste.
If you ask if I did it at the Elsner estate, that's not the case either.
"I just learned it somehow. It just happened."
It wasn't a complete lie.
After recalling memories of my previous life, I realized I could peel fruit.
In my previous life, I had learned to peel fruit beautifully to impress my parents. My brother, who always got my parents' attention, couldn't even wash dishes, let alone peel fruit.
I wished I had a more impressive and useful skill, but unfortunately, peeling fruit nicely was rarely useful.
If I had become a maid, it might have come in handy. While feeling a bit bitter, I continued to peel the apple diligently.
Then, proudly, I showed off the rabbit-shaped apple.
"Done! Isn't it cute?"
"It's cute!"
Michael was the first to compliment me. Bella admired it too, and I looked at Lewis.
Lewis stared at the apple for a moment before nodding.
"You're good."
Right? This is my skill!
I enjoyed a rare moment of pride, not knowing that Lewis was about to offer a reward.
"I'll give you a reward for showing me something interesting."
"A reward?"
Lewis reached into his pocket.
Hopefully, it wasn't something strange again.
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