Chapter 66

Chapter 66

I couldn’t tell Mimi that, of course. She was so kind. She had managed the mansion with Angel for three months even without pay. I could feel Kaichen’s gaze on me. I felt anxious.

“Um, you didn’t have to do this… but thank you! I am very grateful,” I said. “I received Angel’s letter. I would like to know more about that. Mimi, were you the one who asked him to send a letter?”

“I am very sorry if it wasn’t something I should have done,” said Mini, bowing low. “I didn’t have the authority to do it and yet…”

“No, no,” I said, hurriedly, “You did the right thing. If there is a major problem ailing the land, then I do need to be notified. Thank you for doing it.” Mimi looked at me with surprise, then bowed once again.

“Oh, this is my teacher. He teaches me magic. I will explain everything later. Let’s head inside for now.” Mimi and Angel both looked at Kaichen for the first time. They led the way to the mansion and held onto their questions because I had promised an explanation later. It was a long story and frankly, it wasn’t a story to be told at the gates of the mansion.

Despite it being a bright day, the street was quiet. Even if people had avoided these streets because of the ‘drunkard countess’, it was unusual for everything to be this quiet and empty.

When I entered the mansion, the living room was clean and smelled of citrus and wood. My favorite fragrance. It makes me feel like being in the woods at the crack of dawn. Especially when I was trapped in the time magic, it had helped calm my mind at times, so I had made a lot of candles with the scent. It seems Mimi and Angel had discovered my stack.

It smelled different from the scent I used to make at Kaichen’s house with yellow rose petals. This one had a light scent that calmed my mind since coming here.

“Do we have tea?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Mimi and left us in the living room. I wasn’t able to offer Kaichen when he came to the mansion before…twice. I was glad that this time I was making a good impression and doing things the right way.

I don’t know why but I felt shy and nervous that he was here, in my house. It felt strange since I had already spent three months at his house. He knows everything about me. He already knows all of my miserable side. So why am I so nervous?

I glanced at Kaichen while pretending to cough. He had mysophobia so I was worried. But my mind was put at ease when I saw him sitting on the sofa casually. The house didn’t seem to bother him. I congratulated myself on making the right decision of leaving the management of the mansion to Angel. He had done a terrific job of it.

“My Lady, where have you been?”

“I was learning magic from my teacher all this time.”

“Wow! Are you a magician now?”

“Of course.” I winked at Angel and jutted my chin out. I didn’t want to brag to a little boy of just ten years old, but I was so happy. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I wanted to say: Yes! I am Kaichen’s one and only disciple! I never wanted to come back to Acrab but thinking about being Kaichen’s disciple put a smile on my face and made it a bit better.

“Oh? Your hands are not shaking anymore!” exclaimed Angel happily. Maybe the image of my trembling hands had been engraved into his mind. He seemed to be more surprised that my hands had stopped trembling than the fact that I had become a magician.

“I told you I stopped drinking.”

“Really? It’s true? I can’t smell alcohol on you!”

Was he that surprised that I had stopped drinking? “Yeah, Angel. But more importantly, look at this. The kind of magic I can now do is—”

“My Lady! Does that mean you stopped gambling as well?!” Angel was ecstatic. “I want to tell Uncle Las right away! He was so sure that you went to gamble somewhere and might be in trouble. He will be shocked to see this!”

Las, that bastard! I glanced at Kaichen. Angel’s reaction to all this was understandable. The ‘Dalia’ he knew was different from who he saw in front of him. A changed woman. But it was too much for me. I felt like I was being blamed for something I didn’t do. Something I wouldn’t have ever done. Dalia, you wretch! It’s your fault I suffered so much!

“My Lady! I am so happy for you,” said Angel, his eyes welling up. “I am so proud of you. People talked about you and said all sort of things. You proved them wrong.” I was really embarrassed now. Everyone had such low expectations from me. Stop talking now, Angel. Please! I prayed.

“I am so relived you are here. I am so glad you are healthy and have stopped with drinking and gambling,” said Angel, sobbing. “Uncle Las was also worried about you and about Acrab. He thinks the epidemic might spread throughout whole Acrab…”

I felt so sad looking at Angel crying. But what he said was true. Rumors of an epidemic spreading throughout Acrab had worried everyone. Even those outside of Acrab. People might have been panicking already. The scary thing about epidemic is that no one knows who might be infected so they would avoid each other as much as possible. The panic had a tendency to turn into fear and resentment, with people fighting among themselves. The disease needed to be contained if Acrab was to be kept together. It was hard in a place where medical technology wasn’t very developed.

“It’s okay, Angel,” I said, trying to console him. “I am here now.”

“My Lady,” sniffled and sobbed Angel. “They say everyone is going to die! Is that true? Is there no cure for this? Are we really going to die?”