Chapter 41
Are You Confident You Won't Regret It Later?
"You said that His Highness didn't offer his hand to Madam, but only showed his face, right? When Madam first came to this Mansion. That's probably because His Highness didn't want Madam to die in the Mansion. Even if it was outside the Iron fence, not inside. Usually, if he shows his face, they run away on their own, so he bothered to make the effort. If that's the case with people, how much more so with Oliver, whom he has ignored for so long..."
Henna held Yuan's hand tightly as her face looked troubled.
"I know Madam is very fond of Oliver. I am too, since we've spent a lot of time together. We can't inform His Highness or let him die in the Mansion, but we'll stay by your side."
Yuan nodded mechanically, but couldn't hide her gloomy feelings.
Oliver's pulse was slowing down with each passing day.
Yuan stopped cleaning the Annex, which was now about a third clean, and focused all her attention on caring for Oliver.
Fortunately, the Painkiller seemed to be working well, and Oliver's aimless groaning had decreased a lot even when Yuan wasn't there.
The problem was that no matter how much pain Yuan absorbed, Oliver couldn't eat any food or even drink water, let alone take medicine.
Meanwhile.
In stark contrast to the urgent and sad situation in the west Annex, the atmosphere between Yuan and Klaud was quite peaceful.
The reason why the Deposed Emperor and his wife were maintaining relative peace was simple.
Klaud's condition had improved to the point where he could sleep soundly at night and, with the aftereffects subsided during the day, he could gradually attend to the work he had been putting off for the past 10 years.
His once dark brown skin was now closer to caramel in color.
Since he rarely looked in the mirror, only the butler and Lancelot, who saw him every day, were surprised and couldn't hide their excitement.
'Is it okay to bring up Oliver's story when things are so peaceful?'
Henna said that she had heard rumors from the survivors of that night when this Mansion burned down that Oliver had been seriously injured trying to save Princess Apollyni.
Regardless of the truth, Oliver had never met his master since that day, so it was all the same to be pitied.
'His Highness has hated anyone dying in this Mansion ever since that day when he lost my grandmother, Margaret, Princess Apollyni, and the knights he had been close to since childhood.'
Whether it was a critically ill patient or a Sewer rat caught in a Mousetrap about to die, there were no exceptions.
Klaud Euphris sent them all out of the Mansion. He had lived like that for the past 10 years.
'Don't cross the line.'
Yuan's lips, which had been about to speak, closed tightly at the voice that flashed through her mind.
What did she say to his face, which was so calm and didn't even show anger?
...There was no need to think about it. She must have said, "Yes."
"Why are you acting like a puppy that needs to pee?"
"Pardon?"
"You keep picking at the hangnails on your fingers."
Yuan was startled and looked down at her thumb.
The wounds that had improved since coming to the Black Manor had reappeared.
'What am I so afraid of?'
When she was overwhelmed by the sight of the enormous number of patients gathered in the side room.
When Louise, whom her uncle had sent on an errand, didn't return until late.
When Louise left the Mansion with two large suitcases and didn't return for a year.
She remembered the past when she had said confidently that she didn't want to live or die in this place, but was trembling with anxiety in Marquis Kompani's carriage.
Then, Klaud's face, always with his eyelids drooping and his eyes indifferent.
Is there a place for me in that man's eyes, just like I have a place in this Mansion?
'Will he kick me out if I talk about Oliver again?'
For some reason, it seemed like he wouldn't kick her out, even if the wounds didn't lessen.
Whether it was out of necessity or something else.
At that moment.
Klaud's hand, which had unknowingly reached out to Yuan, who was picking at her hangnails, stopped.
"Oliver-!"
Henna's shrill scream cut through the sound of the rain that had been drumming against the windows and flowed into the bedroom.
Yuan held her breath and jumped up.
She pulled back the curtains that let in the dim sky light a little more and rubbed the white, steamy window with her hand, and Oliver came into view.
Oliver, noticeably thinner and weaker, was staggering through the rain, heading somewhere.
It was towards the Iron fence gate, the entrance to the Mansion.
"Your Highness."
Yuan held back the urge to wrinkle her nose and distort her lips and called out to Klaud.
"Your Highness. Oliver is very sick."
An embarrassingly heavy silence.
"He's an old dog, so it wouldn't be strange if he died right now."
"......"
"Do you know? Oliver always lies down looking towards Your Highness's bedroom."
Seeing Oliver trying to leave with slow steps, dragging one of his hind legs almost completely, made her nose ache.
"He whines, 'Wee-eee-. Wee-eee-.' No matter how delicious the treats are, it's only for a moment. Lately, he hasn't even eaten those and has been waiting endlessly for Your Highness."
Her sorrowful voice shattered Klaud's bedroom into pieces.
"Oliver is trying to leave the Mansion now."
At the accusatory words, Klaud finally got up from the rocking chair and stood beside her.
The sunlight, soaked in dark clouds, faintly illuminated him.
His low, sunken purple eyes resembled the waves of the night that were beginning to gather in this Mansion.
Klaud, who had been staring at Oliver until he reached the Iron fence, opened his mouth very slowly.
"That guy doesn't want to show me his death."
A dry, subdued voice.
It was the complete opposite of Yuan's somewhat agitated reaction.
"The other one I brought with him was the same. I was always worried about him being sick and took care of him, but one day he disappeared. He was later found in my mother's dressing room. He was buried in the hem of the dress that my mother often wore, and he died."
Unlike his eyes, which shone beautifully even on a cloudy day. All that was in his eyes was a desolate desert.
He had the face of the dawn sun, but inside, it seemed to be empty, dry, and full of thorny bushes.
Yuan felt like it was stinging even her.
"There are deaths like that too."
Klaud replied to her in a low voice.
A voice that was so sweet it soaked into her ears.
A voice that was the complete opposite of his frozen expression.
Surprisingly, it was a word that seemed to comfort Yuan, even though he was the master.
The roles were reversed.
Klaud should have been the one grieving, and she should have been the one comforting him with those words.
Yuan wanted to retort with a surge of defiance.
Couldn't he at least hug him once?
He doesn't keep them around if he doesn't like them, so if he likes them, can't he hug them and be nice to them?
Even at the last moment. No matter how deep and painful the wound is. She wanted to shout and ask if he was confident that he wouldn't regret it later.
When Oliver finally left the Iron fence, and Klaud didn't go out after all.
Yuan finally prepared to leave this Mansion and go find Oliver.
She didn't need Klaud's permission.
The road to the Chapel was too far and cold today.
Oliver was panting in Henna's arms.
Henna hugged Oliver tightly and cried all the way to the Chapel.
"I made a special meal, a special meal-."
Ralph, who always wanted to feed Yuan the best food with his meager resources, was the one who had adamantly refused to make a special meal for Oliver, saying that there was no food to feed a dog, until just a few days ago.
While Yuan was busy cleaning, Ralph, the chef, brought her food as a snack, and as soon as this kind dog wagged its tail at him, he spared his own food and made a special meal for him.
The snack soon increased to include not only Yuan and Oliver, but also Henna, who was always around, and Hille, who came to study Potions.
At best, it was just meat that had been dried all last year, and fruit that Marquis Lev sent regularly.
It was just a thin porridge made from grain offered as a small amount of tax.
"I made a special meal, but why can't he eat it..."
Ralph said sadly and sniffled. Mr. Mazarin, who had driven the carriage, patted the bear-like Ralph on the shoulder.
Yuan said to those who had followed her in a worried voice.
"I think it's too much. Actually, I came out without His Highness's permission, so everyone might get an earful from the butler."
"Sniffle. It doesn't matter! I saw the butler pretending not to know and turning a blind eye!"
Mr. Mazarin turned away from Chef Ralph, who was sniffling and shouting, and turned to Yuan.
"More than that, what are you going to do, Madam?"
"I don't care if I get scolded because I think I'm right."
Yuan answered firmly, touching her reddened eyes.
Chef Ralph was sniffling, but he was pleased as if he was looking at the daughter he had raised.
"But why did this guy, who had never crossed the Iron fence of the west Annex, come out now?"
"Sniffle. He's gone to find a place to die."
As the kind-looking Mr. Mazarin narrowed his eyes, Chef Ralph widened his eyes as if he didn't know.
"My family used to raise a lot of dogs. Among them, there were two or three dogs who didn't want to show their owners their dying appearance and hid to die. It was amazing."
"I'll listen to the chef's old stories. We'll go draw some water from the well in case the butler has a problem with it."
Yuan wanted to hear more of Chef Ralph's story, but quietly nodded at Mr. Mazarin's calm words.
"I hope you have a farewell without regrets, Madam."
While Mr. Mazarin and Chef Ralph were busy carrying water, Henna began to dig a small pit next to Yuan.
The ground was still frozen, so Henna placed Oliver, whom she had been hugging tightly, on her lap for a moment and dug the ground with the trowel she had brought.
This place was the Cemetery right next to the Chapel.
Louise Pellieresse, Yuan's sister, was buried next to Oliver's grave.
Yuan willingly gave Oliver a place on one side of Louise's grave.
