Chapter 18

chapter 18

“Ray, are you asleep?”

I knocked and asked, but there was no answer. I wonder if he’s sleeping better than I guess. Yurina still stared at the unanswered door and frowned gently between her eyes.

Now that I confirmed that he was sleeping, I thought about going back to my room, but at the same time, I felt determined to check it properly.

‘I’m just checking to see if he’s sleeping.’

And as soon as I opened the door carefully so that it didn’t make any noise, I saw a giant cocoon, or, this cocoon twisting on the bed.

“Ahhhh.”

When the thunder shook the room, the blanket cocoon flinched loudly, and the sound of pain leaked out. Yurina hurried to the bedside, closing the door.

“Ray?”

“Ughh.”

“Ray? It’s me. Wake up.”

When Yurina put down the candlestick and comforted him, Raynald stopped talking and pushed his head out of the blanket. When he found Yurina, he slowly blinked his round eyes.

“Yu….. rina? Why are you here?”

I could not find him shouting, “What are you going to do to come to my room at this hour?” As he rolled around in the blanket, he raised himself by pressing down on his messy hair like a bird’s nest.

“Is that because you can’t sleep?”

“What?”

Yurina puffed her forehead as if dumbfounded. Maybe he didn’t see her look like that, but he snorted and continued.

“You must be scared of thunder. You’re a kid, too.”

That’s somebody’s point. Yurina sat on the bed, pressing her forehead hard.

“I’m here to see if you’re sleeping well. I think it’s a good thing I came here to see you.”

“You didn’t have to come to see me. I was sleeping well.”

“I saw you shivering in the blanket.”

“The reason I can’t sleep because it’s too loud.”

He did not have a mouthful of spit on his face. He do not seem to know that there are faint tear marks on the cheeks reflected by the candlelight.

“Then shall I go?”

Raynald hurriedly grabbed the hem of her skirt. The light flashed outside the window as if it were impossible for Yurina to turn around Raynald to make fun of him. A few seconds later the thunder rang out.

The light flashed out of the window, terribly, as Yurina looked around at Raynard in a way to tease him.

Raynald took off the hand that held Yurina’s skirt and covered himself again with the blanket.

“Ahhhh.”

“Ray?”

No matter how much Yurina shook his body, he just wriggled like a baby, making a sore sound. Somehow, normal thinking seemed impossible. She climbed up, looked down at him for a moment, then climbed onto the bed.

She opened one eye slightly as if she felt a sign when she lay a little far away from Raynald and covered herself with a blanket.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s better to have two than to be alone.”

“You’re also scared, aren’t you?”

That sound again. He’s the one who’s shaking. Why is he saying that with confidence? Yurina pressed the tip of his nose with her fingers.

“Go to sleep and don’t talk.”

Raynald, regardless of his flattening nose, came close to Yurina.

“You were scared to sleep alone, weren’t you? Now, don’t worry because I’m next to you.”

His warm breath, just in front of her nose, tickled her face. His voice was quite solemn at the time when he made a moaning noise. Yurina pressed harder on the tip of his nose.

“You have to say it right. I’m staying with you.”

“You came to my room because you were scared. Don’t you?”

“So you came to my room last time because you were scared?”

Raynald, who was good at making quick answers, closed his mouth for a moment and rolled his eyes to avoid her gaze.

While he remained silent, the light shone over a thin summer blanket, and a loud sound rang out. Raynald took a deep breath and grabbed Yurina’s arm as hard as he could. Even though his sore hand was still trembling, he pretended to be calm and opened his eyes.

“It’s all right, this isn’t scary.”

Looking at his grim face, he seemed to be able to protect Yurina without being daunted even if a monster broke into the room right now. The devotion was so great that Yurina decided to let him have it.

“Yes, it’s reassuring to have you. I think I can sleep.”

“As expected, you were scary too.”

“Oh, it’s scary, so you should go to bed too.”

“Yes.”

Since then, there has been constant thunderstorms. Raynald, who held Yurina’s hand tightly, closed his eyes with a slightly more comfortable face only after putting his forehead on her forehead.

“You know what?”

After a long silence, Raynald, who thought he was sleeping, murmured with his eyes closed.

“I hate rain.”

Yurina was a little curious about his choice of words. He wasn’t scared, but he hate it? Moreover, it was strange to say that ‘I hated rain’, not thunder and lightning.

“Why? Because it’s cloudy when it rains?”

“No, it’s not that…”

He buried his head on the pillow. Just like a sleepy baby rubbing his face on my mother’s shoulder for a long time, he whispered with a slightly smaller sound than just now.

“When it rains, it brings back unpleasant memories.”

“What kind of memory?”

“…..”

As he got his first chance, he shut his mouth like a clam to Yurina’s question. Yurina waited silently for an answer, touching his hair, which somehow seemed dispirited.

Raynald groan, making a painful noise, and barely opened his mouth again.

“Just, no.”

That was it. He closed his eyes again after a very short conversation. Yurina looked at his closed eyes without saying a word.

‘What happened?’

He looked a little embarrassed and sad at the same time.

I knew his life so far was not smooth. But since Mrs. Lauren’s case, he’s never shown such a weakness.

How painful was he to the point where he was so nervous that he couldn’t recover his senses and reassured by the warmth of nothing but Yurina.

But his life was full of hardships, so I never even imagined what was going on.

‘Is it like running away from home on a rainy day?’

Or were you kicked out of the house on a rainy day?

She couldn’t figure out what was going on, but Yurina seemed to have a glimpse of the truth in the mind that Raynald was hiding.

“Ray, are you asleep?”

“……Mm-hmm.”

He curled up in a voice full of sleep.

“I hope….. that the weather….. will clear up soon.”

After muttering in an unclear tone, he said no more whether he really fell asleep. Yurina closed her eyes, putting her hand on his hand, still clasping his arms.

“Yes, I hope so.”

It is dark and rainy now, but this quiet night will pass soon.

May the bright and warm summer sun shine over the child’s head, who is afraid of the dark.

He just lacked learning, but Raynald was born with an extraordinary brain.

Letters and numbers are basic, and Dave’s knowledge of magic quickly absorbed it like a writing paper and made it his own. The Crohn’s royal language was also learned little by little, and was at a level where a simple conversation was possible.

One day, he proudly spoke to Yurina in Crohn’s royal language, as if he was proud of it.

But as soon as she skillfully continued her conversation in the royal language, he drooped his shoulders with a sullen face. Since then, he has never spoken royal language in front of Yurina

The season has changed only by showing prominence in etiquette and dancing, but he has escaped the appearance of ‘Tom’, who was a commoner, and became a magic prospect ‘Raynald’ sponsored by the Marquis of Carthia.

It would be a lie if there was no awkwardness yet, but even if you eat with someone of another aristocrat right now, you won’t be embarrassed.

“Can I ask you for a dance?”

Raynald bowed his waist with a clean face that he could not find at all three months ago. The way he spoke was quite like a plausible number of aristocratic accents.

The tutor, who corrected his tone of speech, regularly offered thanks to Goddess, saying that he did not speak in dialect because he lived in a land close to the capital.

‘I’m glad to hear that.’

If he spoke in a dialect, he would have had to spend months just correcting his accent.

“With pleasure.”

Yurina carefully placed her hand on his hand. Her hands touched his fingertips were not rough anymore, thanks to the hard work of the maids.

“Then shall we go?”

Raynald escorted Yurina to the center of the hall in line with the dance teacher’s instructions. There was a smile all the time on his face as if he were wearing a mask. Yurina was amazed at the moderate pace, which was neither slow nor fast.

‘You’ve made a lot of progress.’

Even though it is common to not feel anything different every day, Yurina could always feel the change of Raynald. That would mean he is trying as hard as he can.

She was proud of Raynald for following her even though it would be hard to come here overnight and take classes every day.

This is how a mother bird sees a baby bird that has been flying for the first time.

The two people who came to the center of the hall, faced each other and bow down.

The eyes of the two people, which were similar at first sight, had changed in two months. Thanks to the good food, Raynald grew faster and higher than Yurina.

Her cheekbones stood out, and her pretty face stood out even more.

“How’s it going?” Am I a little cool?”

Raised his hand at Yurina’s waist, Raynald whispered in a small whisper. Yurina pressed his shoulder with her palm.

“By saying that, isn’t it embarrassing to say it yourself?”

“Well, what do you think? It’s true.”

That’s a pity. Yurina shook her head and waited in a standing position. The violin melody echoed through the hall. Unlike his confident smile a little while ago, Raynald led her with a rather stiff look.

Yurina smiled unknowingly at his nervous face.

“Don’t laugh.”

Even with his sharp voice, Yurina smiled and moved her feet as she looked. Unlike her, Raynald struggled to walk on the floor. It was because he didn’t learn the step perfectly.

Raynald had as good motor skills as his extraordinary brain, so he quickly learned and copied the steps taught by his teacher.

He was praised for his good posture for the first time, but he has only learned it for two months. It was excellent compared to the period he learned, but he still have a long way to catch up with Yurina.

‘I’m so glad I have a buff like this.’

Soon after watching Raynald’s troubles with his home teacher like nuts, she soon reconsidered the ‘aristocratic body’ buff that she thought was useless.

It’s a relief that I remember Yurina’s body, but if I didn’t have any memories of etiquette or dancing, life here would have been very tough. Maybe I had to act as a poor boy who lost his memory.

“Ray, when you dance, you have to look into your partner’s eyes.”

“I know.”

“If you know, why don’t you look at me?”

“…..”

Even at Yurina’s urging, he kept his mouth shut. Yurina stopped talking to him and danced silently.

After biting his lips tightly and concentrating under his feet, Raynald opened his mouth again only when the music slowed down.

“I have something I want for my birthday.”