CH 21

True Appearance

The next day, after finishing the treatment and rewrapping the bandages.

Lucrezia took her eyes off Ramilio for a moment and put the pills away. They were all strong drugs, so they needed to be properly controlled so that Ramilio didn’t touch them by mistake.

That was not a good idea.

“Lucrezia? Have you left already?”

Ramilio’s arm, which he extended without thinking, hit Lucrezia.

―!!

Ramilio’s palm fell on Lucrezia’s chest.

His palm just touched the upper part of her chest exposed by her low neckline, then Ramilio quickly withdrew his hand as if burned.

“S-sorry. I accidentally hit it….”

“N-no, it’s okay….”

Lucrezia was not embarrassed or anything, because Ramilio couldn’t see anything. He wouldn’t even know where he had touched her.

“I was putting away the medicine. I’m almost done, so please wait. When I’m done, I will read to you.”

She tried to remain calm and spoke gently to Ramilio, and when she suddenly felt a gaze on her and turned around, she saw Bosco, who had been helping her with the surgery by holding the candles beside her face, staring at her with an uninterested look on his face.

“….. When do you think the two of you will be engaged?”

Bosco’s question was refuted strongly by Ramilio.

“I have no plans to! I told you that yesterday!”

“So, why do you want to go down such a thorny road? If you don’t make a decision as soon as possible, we have our own arrangements to make.”

“You’re too persistent!”

Lucrezia’s lips twisted in a sullen mood, feeling left out.

‘I wish you could enjoy talking to me as much as you enjoy talking with Bosco.’

Lucrezia was in a bit of a bad mood that day.

***

Lucrezia had been visiting the chapel frequently.

That’s right, it was a priest who told Ramilio this.

The priest at the chapel in Pastore’s territory had been there since before Ramilio was born. To the very old man, Ramilio was still just a sniveling little boy.

The priest came to Ramilio’s bedside, where he was recuperating, and began to ramble.

“Well, she is an impressive young lady, isn’t she? She often comes to pray, but lately, she said she couldn’t help being jealous of someone. She didn’t say it outright, but she said that she wanted to get along with someone of high rank, but the man always seemed to be getting along with the men in his entourage and she couldn’t get in between them.”

Ramilio wished he hadn’t heard.

‘No more, isn’t she too cute?’

What was the point of being jealous of Bosco? They had a different type of relationship.

The priest continued his preaching in a serious tone, “Normally, you should not blurt out secrets that you have heard from others. However, if it is about a noble daughter and she is involved in a love affair, Ramilio should do everything in his power to stop her before she makes a terrible mistake. That is the responsibility that he should fulfill as the head of this family to the daughter entrusted to him by a stranger.”

In short, Ramilio guessed that the priest must have been moved by the pretty young lady who frequented the chapel. He must have come to warn him so that he wouldn’t have any imprudent​ thoughts about her.

Ramilio lightly raised his right hand as if swearing an oath to the heavens.

“I swear to you, I haven’t done anything wrong. Of course, I do harbor a few immoral thoughts. But, they are feelings that anyone would have reflexively when they see a beautiful girl, and I can control them completely.”

Ramilio’s impassioned speech successfully reached the priest, and he walked away looking satisfied.

‘That’s right. I’m a gentleman. I’m not going to give in to temptation.’

Despite this thought, Ramiro couldn’t sleep that night with the thought of the lovely Lucrezia flickering in his mind.

***

Lucrezia’s care for him was completely devoted to the point of tears.

Sometimes she walked ahead of him holding his hand in place of a cane, and sometimes she cleaned the tables and floors that he had soiled like a servant.

There was no ulterior motive. Gradually, Ramilio came to recognize that Lucrezia’s heart was filled with a kind and tender motherly love that touched his heart.

‘Such a good and admirable girl, I’m…..’

Every time their hands touched, he secretly got nervous.

Even though for her, it was just taking care of someone.

If she found out, he didn’t even care

He was sure that she would feel disdain for him.

He didn’t want to do anything so pathetic as to satisfy his own inferiority complex by taking advantage of her kindness, even if it killed him.

Ramiro avoided Lucrezia as much as possible, and he made sure that he had more servants by his side so that she herself wouldn’t have to care for him personally.

“…. Your Excellency is truly incompetent. Usually, that’s the part where you’d say something like, “If you want my fortune, you’ll do what I tell you to do,” or other attractive offers.”

“Doesn’t that sound like a villain?”

“If she’s expecting it inwardly, it’s not a bad thing. No matter how you look at it, she’s in love with Ramilio-sama. If she’s being told that by someone she loves, that’s the essence of enjoyable love.”

“What are you talking about….”

Ramilio retorted with disdain to Bosco, who speaks of his ridiculous fantasies.

“You must be sick and tired from taking care of me.”

“Do you understand? I’m sure this will all be resolved if Ramilio-sama takes Lucrezia-sama as his wife. Please release me from this torment.”

“Idiot!”

Ramilio kicked him out and drove Bosco’s fantasies out of his head. He was ridiculous.

***

Lucrezia took care of Ramilio, monitoring his progress every day.

“It’s getting better, Ramilio-sama.”

The treatment was having a remarkable effect, and the spots were visibly fading.

“If you just hold on a little longer, your treatment will be over. Let’s do our best.”

And so, the one-month treatment period passed in a blink of an eye.

A month later, Lucrezia unwrapped his bandages and assured him that his eyes were completely healed.

“Congratulations, Ramilio-sama! You’re looking much better! Go ahead and see for yourself!”

Lucrezia happily ran to the window of the room and pulled down the curtain.

A golden light poured into the room, illuminating the dusty interior.

Ramilio’s eyes fluttered.

He looked into the mirror in his hand.

He brought the mirror closer and saw a close-up reflection of his eyes―

The mirror reflected eyes that had lost their pigmentation due to medication and turned golden.

Ramilio was speechless and fascinated by the mirror.

As if he had forgotten Lucrezia’s presence, he peeled his eyelids, checked the whites of his eyes, and moved his gaze from right to left. There were no spots left anywhere.

“… How is it?”

When Lucrezia softly spoke to him, Ramilio raised his eyes.

“Oh…!”

During the treatment, Lucrezia was only looking into his eyes by relying on the light of a few candles.

This was the first time she had seen him face to face.

He was a man with sharp golden eyes. He had a glare that reminded her of a hungry eagle and a grim, tight-lipped mouth.

Even with these flaws, he was a handsome man.

Even Bosco, who was waiting by his side, let out an exclamation of admiration, “Oh…”

His complexion was pale and gaunt due to his long period of seclusion, but once the plumpness and blood color returned to his pale face, the too-sharp impression around his eyes would change again.

Lucrezia put her hand on his shoulder.

“You look very nice.”

A small but reassuring whisper congratulates him.

Tears were welling up in Ramilio’s eyes.

“…. This is no time to cry, Ramilio-sama. We must have a celebration party right away. Shall we give all of Pastore, who are bored with no entertainment, a pleasant topic to talk about with a front-page newspaper article?”

“Oh…. Oh, right…!”

As she watched him cry, Lucrezia wondered if she could ask him to apologize later.