Yurina touched her curly hair and smiled disappointedly.
“What should I do?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it with magic.”
“Can you do that too?”
“What can’t I do? In fact, purification magic is the most popular in the academy.”
“Isn’t it easier for you to wash yourself?”
“When you’re bombarded with exercises from head to toe or a thesis on your nose, washing and eating is a waste of time. Don’t look at me like that. I do wash sometimes though. Aiden used only magic.”
Yurina frowned as she spoke in more detail.
“I think I heard a story I didn’t want to know.”
“Anyway, don’t worry about the sand. Let’s keep looking at the stars.”
Raynard kissed Yurina on the forehead again and pointed to the sky with his hand.
“Do you see that constellation over there? A jar-shaped constellation.”
“Where?”
“Here, here it is.”
However, when Yurina couldn’t find it, he drew a pitcher in the air. Yurina followed his fingers with her eyes and found the constellation he was talking about.
“Oh yes, I see.”
“Next to it is the constellation of a girl who went to fetch water.”
Yurina asked in a bit of surprise, trying to hold back a yawn.
“How do you know everything so well?”
“I learned this at the academy. Ancient magic related to astronomy.”
After that, Reynard continued to tell stories about the constellations and the academy. His voice sounded like a lullaby, and although Yurina tried to resist the drowsiness, at some point she gave up and fell asleep.
* * *
The next morning, as soon as Yurina woke up, what she saw wasn’t a blue sea and sky, but a white canopy.
‘Was it a dream?’
Lying on the sandy beach with Reynard and looking up at the stars. Now Yurina couldn’t understand if it was real.
But at that moment, Yurina found a sink next to the pillow. Yesterday, before going to bed, she definitely didn’t lie there.
‘It wasn’t a dream.’
If so, it looks like Raynard took it to the room and left it as a gift. As he said, the sand from the head was cleaned by magic. Therefore, her hair was dry and without a single grain of sand, as if she had just taken a bath.
Yurina took the shell left by Reynard and brought it to her ear. There was a sound in her ears that sounded like the sound of waves. Hearing this, she clearly remembered what happened last night.
Hard hands supporting her head, warmth from touch, a soft voice that whispered rubbish to her until she fell asleep, and lips that kissed her all over. It was a landscape that warmed her heart even at the mere thought of it.
Yurina turned around and looked out the window, then stood up. However, then she immediately fell back.
‘It hurts.’
Her whole body throbbed as if she had been beaten. Moreover, her head ached, as if a woodpecker was pecking at her temple, and her throat was hot. She muttered a small ‘Ah, ah’ and the pain got worse.
Yurina sighed as she placed the back of her hand on her forehead, which seemed a little warmer than usual. She seems to be getting her cold from the sea breeze last night without her clothes on.
‘I caught a cold in the wind.’
She knew her physical strength was weak, but she didn’t expect it to be this weak. Yurina, lying down raised her body to wash face.
Even with slight movement, a throbbing pain could be felt. She wished she could lie in bed all day, but she couldn’t. After all, if Reynard would have found out about the cold, he would definitely reproach himself.
‘I shouldn’t have.’
Raynard invited her to go, but he didn’t drag her by force. Yurina went on her will. It’s nobody’s responsibility, but Reynard wouldn’t see it that way. Although he seemed quite reasonable, he couldn’t think rationally when it came to Yurina.
Yurina wrapped herself in a blanket to protect herself from the wind a little, and she remembered what happened yesterday again.
“Milady, wake up… Uh? Do you feel bad?”
Betsy, who entered the room with a bright smile, was surprised to see Yurina’s red face and ran towards her. She placed her hands on Yurina’s forehead and neck and widened her eyes.
“Looks like you have a fever. Were you cold last night?”
“I’m not cold, but I’m tired.”
She couldn’t reveal that she went out with Reynard, so Yurina answered noncommittally. Fortunately, Betsy didn’t doubt those words.
“Well, of course, you’re tired. As soon as we arrived, you went for a walk to the sea. I’ll ask to call the doctor.”
Yurina hurriedly grabbed Betsy’s hand as she was about to leave the room.
“For that, you have to go to the mansion.”
Unlike the mansion, there were no healers in the villa. Therefore, the servants who lived in the villa went to the village to visit the doctor.
However, if a member of the Carthia family fell ill, they would have to call the family doctor from the Carthia mansion, and it would take about an hour to travel from the villa to the mansion. It wasn’t that bad, but she didn’t want to disturb the doctor.
But the main reason was that she didn’t want to let Reynard know.
“It’s not that serious, but I don’t want to call the doctor for nothing and make my mother worry.”
“But still.”
“I’ll just lie down in the morning and everything will be all right. But if it gets worse, we can call the doctor at any time.”
Betsy touched Yurina’s head and neck as if worried, and eventually gave up.
“If it gets worse, tell me immediately. There must be some medicine that the servants kept in the villa. I’ll bring you tea. Would you like to have breakfast in your room?”
“Hm. Tell my mother and Ray I’m tired, so I’ll get some more sleep.”
Bets hurried out of the room. Yurina watched as the door closed and lay down on the bed. Her body was trembling and the dry cough continued.
‘I should get well soon.’
Soon, Betsy brought a light breakfast and medicine, but she had no appetite, so Yurina barely touched her food and closed her eyes. Thanks to the medicine, she fell asleep quickly.