章節 39: Chapter 39 : Slice of Life
Allen's daily routine at the Wolverlope house was to clean his own room, clean the training ground, sweep the floor, wipe the swords, and bring the soldiers' dirty clothes to the river so the maids could wash them.
Theobald told Allen to do that, not Isabelle. It was part of their deal for the duel.
Allen didn't do anything before or after training with Theobauld, even though he was learning to read and write in his room, so Theobauld told him to take care of the cleanliness of the training ground.
After finishing up, he usually practiced throwing his blade against the tree near the training ground until Theobauld arrived. Since he was now always first, he never had to listen to Felicia's babbling again.
After sword training, he was supposed to learn about "how amnis work" in Thurstan's chambers, but Thurstan could not be disturbed at the moment. Instead, he asked Allen to learn reading and writing first. It was supposed to be like that, but...
About two days ago, his daily routine changed. Isabelle always called him in the afternoon to her workroom.
Someone entering a nobleman's room was expected to knock three times on the door and extend a polite greeting inside. On the other hand, Allen merely smiled and just walked over to open the door. Everything he did, Isabelle's response was
"Oh, it's Allen, you've come," she said without looking at who was at the door. Isabelle knew that only Allen had no manners at her residence.
Isabelle was still very busy preparing for the whitmoon festival that year. Without a doubt, that was her busiest season of life. It was because that was also the day the 14th prince was baptized. Isabelle was so swamped with work that she came to the office dressed only in her pajamas.
"What should I do now?" asked Allen. He had been asking that question every day.
And Isabelle always answered him with the same answer.
"Just sit wherever you like."
Allen was just told to sit and not to do anything.
He had previously asked why he had to stay in the room, and Isabelle's answer was simply,
"Just accompany me here."
Because Allen had nothing to do, he usually just walked around the room and looked at the books.
But that happened back then.
Now he's not just sitting there.
*PUM
He put two books and ink on the table.
"Allen, what are you doing?" Isabelle asked.
Isabelle didn't realize that Allen was carrying books and ink.
"Instead of doing nothing here, I'd rather continue my studies."
Isabelle smiled and continued her work.
-knock knock knock
"Come in."
In the afternoon, a waiter delivered the food. Mostly bread and meat. Isabelle and Allen always ate together in that room. At the center table, without manners and all the noble things. They just sat and ate heartily.
"How does it taste?" Isabelle asked.
"Spicy." Allen replied briefly, with a full food in his mouth,
"Fufufu, of course it's spicy. I wanted to ask if it tastes good to you or not?"
Allen swallowed his food first and then answered.
"Yes, not bad." Then continued eating with gusto. There was a lot of food brought into Isabelle's room, but most of it was only eaten by Allen.
Allen would then sleep there until the night after he finished eating. When he awoke at night, he discovered Isabelle sleeping at her table and picked her up to take her to her room.
"She doesn't eat that much, but why is she so heavy,"
When he lifted it, Allen could feel Isabelle's body temperature seem abnormally high.
Two maids were ready and waiting at the room's entrance. He tells the maids about Isabelle's high temperature. The maid instructed Allen to bring Isabelle to the room while the others called the physician.
Iskaria was in the room. Allen and Iskaria laid her down on the bed.
Moments later, the physician and a large group of people entered the room. They were all slaves of Isabelle's who lived in the house. They were worried that Isabelle might have been hurt.
"Everyone, please go back. Lady is just a little feverish from being tired, and if you all stay here, this place will get too crowded, and she won't get better."
The crowd slowly dispersed; even Felicia and Rachel remained silent. If exhaustion were the issue, then Felicia's god's blessing couldn't help Isabelle.
The physician gave her a potion, and then he left. Before he left, he asked Iskaria to gradually change the cold cloth on Isabelle's head. Allen and Iskaria were the only ones left in the room.
" Hey, do you know why she asked me to stay in that room with her so late?" asked Allen, breaking the silence.
"Lady Isabelle used to have a husband."
"Husband?"
"Yes, this happened 12 years ago. Her husband has to leave her to join Prince Eldritch's dungeon raid. She was two months into her pregnancy with his child. Unfortunately, her husband died in the dungeon, and she had a miscarriage a month later due to emotional distress. Perhaps she saw you as her child. Because if her son is still alive, he must be at your age. That is also how she was able to get close to Felicia. And that's also the reason Lady Isabelle couldn't leave that child."
"What child?"
"Nothing."
Allen was silent, thinking about what Isabelle really wanted.
"So, basically, she needs me in the room to keep her warm?" said Allen.
Iskaria didn't understand Allen's point, but she was too lazy to bother. It was also late, and she was tired from the day's work. She wanted to take a shower and relax, so she just answered him briefly.
"Probably."
Allen then looked at Isabella's face, which was red from the heat. She breathed heavily, and sweat was constantly pouring out of her skin.
"Allen, I'm tired. I want to take a bath. You know what to do, so I'll go first."
"HEY! WAIT-"
Iskaria left immediately, leaving Isabelle alone with Allen.
Allen looked at Isabelle's weak face again.
If that maid is true, she's using me to replace her son, right? Is that why she made me become her slave?"
Allen took the wet towel off Isabelle's head and wrung it out. He then put a new towel on her head. Isabelle opened her eyes as he started to put it on her head.
"Oh, you're awake. That must mean you're feeling better now, right? The weird old man told me that you don't get enough rest."
Allen wiped the towel on Isabelle's face, wrung it out, and changed it for a new one.
"Then, I'll go," said Allen as he stood up.
"Wait." Isabelle raised her body, pulling Allen's hand.
"Wh-what?"
"Ple-please..." Isabelle was silent for a while, not finishing her sentence.
"I... I order you to stay here, waiting for me to fall asleep," Isabelle continued.
"Haaah... What a troublesome order," Allen replied as he sat back down.
"Don't get up yet; your voice is still hoarse and sounds strange."
Isabelle remained silent, slowly lowering her body to the bed.
"Allen, don't go. Stay here."
When Allen saw Isabelle's face, he somehow remembered himself.
Aaah, maybe my face looked like that when I asked mom to sleep with me, he thought.
She was so fragile and weak, a pitiful face.
"I've been ordered to stay here anyway; there's no way I can leave," Allen said.
He knew how it felt to be left behind when going to sleep, so when Allen saw Isabelle's face, he didn't want to leave her. Because surely, when she woke up later, she would be very lonely.
Allen didn't want to leave Isabelle because he remembered how it felt to be abandoned before going to bed. He was sure she would feel so lonely when she woke up later.
Slowly, Allen also started to get sleepy and fell asleep.
.
.
.
"SHIT! I HAVE TO CLEAN THE TRAINING GROUND TODAY!"
Allen woke up. That time, he woke up in an unusual place. It was Isabelle's room. He woke up on a big, soft bed. Isabelle was no longer there.
"It looks like she has recovered,"
Allen immediately left the room and ran towards the training ground.
"YOU'RE LATE!"
When he got to the training ground, Allen was in a bad mood because suddenly he saw Felicia yelling right in front of him.
"What the hell with your expression! Don't blatantly show your displeasure when you see my face!"
Now he didn't really care about Felicia. He should only care about himself since he had arrived late and hadn't even done the morning work that Theobauld had told him to do.
"MASTER!" Allen immediately approached Theobauld, who was sharpening his sword.
"Master Theo, being late this time has a reason. It's because Lady Isabelle asked me to sleep in her room last night!"
"Sleep in her room?!" Felicia was somehow surprised to hear that. She remembered that Allen had stayed in Isabelle's room with Iskaria yesterday but didn't know that Allen had slept in it.
"I don't need your excuses, Allen. Today, as promised..."
"CIH!" As Allen was about to retreat backward, Theo immediately caught his left hand and then slammed Allen's body. He pulled two short chains from his pocket .
"Hey! What are you doing?" asked Felicia.
"No! No! I don't want to do it again!" Allen shouted with desperation.
"Ah, Lady, just sit there."
"I asked, what are you trying to do?!"
Allen continued to yell.
"STOP! I SAID I DON'T WANT TO! I DON'T WANT TO!"
Theobauld sat on Allen's body so that Allen could not move anywhere, and then he chained Allen's hands and feet.
"This is a kind of punishment for this boy if he doesn't help out in the morning. He will be released naked while tied up in chains, and then I will smear his body with this animal oil. The small insects will crawl all over him when he is in the forest."
"WHAT?! Why does the punishment have to be like that?! There are also many venomous insects in the forest, you know?!"
"YEAH, SHE IS RIGHT! LET GO! ARE YOU WANT TO KILL ME?! LET ME GO!"
Theobauld tied a cloth to Allen's mouth to make him stop screaming.
"Take it easy, lady, this child's body is very strong. So, trust me, no matter how many small insects or snakes poison him, he will still be alive. Anyway, this will be his second experience, so I know he will be okay.
Usually, the punishment is to hang naked, but it looks like this child doesn't have pudency, so that kind of punishment probably wouldn't affect him."
"How cruel... Theo... I didn't expect you to be this cruel," Felicia was now starting to get scared. Fortunately, she hadn't made any promises or duels with Theo.
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