Chapter 206
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 206
After sleeping in, the afternoon arrived at the Young Lady’s estate.
From the quiet Young Lady’s room, a vigorous shout of spirit could be heard.
“Hiiiyah!”
A powerful shout, pouring out every ounce of strength in her body.
Perhaps because she had eaten lunch late, the Young Lady’s spirited shout seemed even more energetic than usual.
“Hiiiii… yah!”
As expected, people should exercise to live. Realizing this, I sat on the bed, smiling as I watched the Young Lady exercising.
“Come on! Let’s push just a little harder!”
“Eeeek!”
The Young Lady furrowed her brow, focusing on her exercise. I had never seen her work out so passionately before. Was it because she was excited about the upcoming trip? I couldn’t help but admire her effort.
“Eek… We said we’d decide where to travel after waking up, didn’t we?”
“We decided to decide while taking a bath.”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it…”
“It’s fine. It’s the first time I haven’t heard it either.”
“Eeeek…”
“Alright! Let’s ride this momentum and do one more set.”
It wasn’t a grand exercise.
It wasn’t anything like lifting weights or Pilates. It was simply an exercise where she planted her feet on the ground and tensed her body.
Should I call it a core-strengthening exercise? Hoping for rapid improvement in the Young Lady’s legs, I had her wake up unused muscles through this workout.
Even if her legs healed, it would be useless if her body couldn’t keep up.
Until now, the Young Lady had been someone who avoided exercise entirely.
She loved chocolate and enjoyed lying down more than anything else in the world. Honestly, she had been gaining weight lately… Her cheeks were plumper than usual.
The muscles necessary for “walking” must have already stiffened from disuse, and with her dislike of exercise, the Young Lady’s physical condition was heading toward the worst.
At this rate, even before her legs healed, her lack of exercise would lead to collapse. Hoping for a better future, I cheered her on.
“You can do it!”
“Eeeek! Hii… I can’t…”
“You can.”
If the Hand of Rehabilitation could instantly heal her body and legs, there would be no need for exercise. Unfortunately, the Hand of Rehabilitation wasn’t omnipotent, so the Young Lady’s effort was essential.
She needed to prepare supplementary elements like muscles and mental strength herself.
The Young Lady, exercising for the first time in a long while, furrowed her brow as she stared at her feet planted on the floor.
“Eeeek! Ricardo, didn’t I just move a little?! I think I stood up for 0.1 seconds.”
“Oh…! It certainly seems that way.”
I clapped my hands, exclaiming in admiration as I looked at the Young Lady’s legs, which hadn’t budged an inch. If all I did was push her, she’d tire quickly.
At my praise, the Young Lady lifted her head, beaming with a wide smile and letting out a bashful laugh.
“I’m doing well, right?”
“Yes~”
“I’m doing super, super well, right?”
“Of course. You’re doing extremely well.”
I wiped the beads of sweat forming on the Young Lady’s forehead with a handkerchief, adding more praise for her earnest effort.
Despite her lack of progress, which could have discouraged her, the Young Lady showed no signs of disappointment.
It was admirable. Both the Young Lady, who was exercising, and Gomtangi, who slept through the noise on the floor, were admirable.
The Young Lady’s shouts of spirit continued to echo.
*
After finishing her life-or-death exercise, the Young Lady lay on the bed, her chest heaving.
“Huff… Huff… Ricardo, I think I worked so hard today that the bearded old man you mentioned might give me a gift.”
Demanding a gift from Santa Grandpa for her hard work, the Young Lady made me chuckle softly as I busily prepared her bath, pulling clothes from the wardrobe.
“That old man doesn’t give gifts just for working hard.”
“Then…?”
“You have to do good deeds to receive gifts.”
“He’s so strict.”
“That old man can’t afford to run a losing business. Besides, he only works short-term during the winter.”
“Then I’ll only be good during the winter. Being good every day is hard.”
“If you live like that, the gifts will get smaller.”
If Santa Grandpa heard the Young Lady’s mercenary response about only being good in winter to maximize her gains, he’d surely clutch his neck and collapse.
As expected of a villainess, her knack for extracting benefits was impressive.
After hearing about Santa Grandpa’s profit and loss, the Young Lady cleanly gave up on the gift and sprawled out on the bed to relieve her fatigue.
“Hmph… Whatever!”
For some, exercise might be as natural as breathing, but for the Young Lady, it was like running a grueling marathon.
It was partly her fault for not exercising until now.
Seeing the Young Lady, who had given her all, looking admirable, I reached into my inner pocket to pull out a hidden chocolate to encourage her.
But my hand stopped as an unusual sound reached my ears.
-Crunch.
The sound of something being chewed was vividly clear in my ears.
‘Crunch,’ a sound that shouldn’t be happening now—why was it?
I turned my head to look at the Young Lady lying on the bed and was met with a bewildered expression as I saw her pulling chocolate out of her treasure pouch.
The Young Lady, with a blank expression, continued to pull chocolate from her treasure pouch. Watching the seemingly endless supply of chocolate emerge, I let out an empty laugh.
“Munch, if I don’t eat, my blood sugar will drop, and I’ll die.”
Truly, she was a fascinating villainess.
I carefully placed the chocolate on the table beside the Young Lady’s bed and took her hand to help her wash her sweat-soaked body.
“Let’s go for a bath.”
“Ughhh…”
The Young Lady, offering no resistance, was dragged along.
She clung to the bed sheets, clearly showing her reluctance to leave the bed, but the will of a busy butler couldn’t be swayed.
I had to move quickly to prepare dinner. It was absolutely not because I was excited about the bath for any perverted reason.
The Young Lady, being dragged along, shook her head and whined.
“I can’t move. If I move now, I’ll die.”
“It’s fine. After all, I’m the one moving.”
“…Oh.”
At my wise response, the Young Lady nodded and relaxed her grip, spreading her arms toward me with a spirited “Heave-ho!” as if entrusting me with a peaceful journey.
“Then carry me.”
“I will serve you with care.”
“You can serve me passionately too.”
“Then let’s walk briskly today.”
“Okay.”
-Plod.
-Plod.
“Hehe… Mint Chocolate Bath Bomb.”
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yes.”
Holding the bath bomb in her hands, the Young Lady smiled brightly. As I watched her, I fell into a brief moment of thought.
It wasn’t a heavy thought.
Just a reflection on the things I had done for the Young Lady so far. For one minute, I smiled faintly, wondering if I was doing well.
Nursing was harder than I had thought.
Taking care of my own body was difficult enough, but taking care of someone else’s health was even harder. If it were my body, I might have endured minor discomfort, but the Young Lady’s body seemed to hurt no matter where it was touched.
There was much to protect.
I had to safeguard her pride as a woman.
I had to work for her health as a patient. If I prioritized my convenience, it would only make things harder for the Young Lady.
Using diapers might have been easier for me, but I believed it would deeply wound the Young Lady’s self-esteem.
While the Young Lady’s effort was the biggest factor in her progress, there were times when my nursing might have been wrong, so every day felt cautious. In those moments, I was grateful that the Young Lady overlooked my mistakes.
-Eeeek…! I don’t want to move!
-It’s okay. Today, it hurt less than yesterday when you lifted me. I’ll forgive you.
Even if it’s troublesome and exhausting.
Even if it’s tedious and there’s a lot to do.
As long as the Young Lady could smile, I was willing to endure that much effort.
Well, it’s not like my job is in healthcare, so there wasn’t much extraordinary I could do anyway.
Before I knew it, I arrived in front of the bathroom, snapping out of my thoughts as I heard the Young Lady’s excited cheers.
“Hooo…! A bath!”
“You also had one yesterday. Is it really that enjoyable?”
“Yeah. Taking a bath makes me feel younger, you know? My body feels all… ughhh… and relaxed.”
The Young Lady, brimming with excitement, showed me the bath bomb in her hand with a delighted expression, saying, “Look at this.”
It’s fortunate that her hobby is bathing. Smiling, I opened the bathroom door and carefully seated the Young Lady on the floor.
Swoooosh. As the sound of water filling the bathtub echoed, the Young Lady leaned her chin against the edge of the tub, watching the bath bomb dissolve while still wearing her shower gown.
Sniffing the air, she seemed enchanted by the fresh yet sweet scent of the bath bomb. I couldn’t quite understand what was so appealing about it, but seeing her smile as she watched the fluffy bubbles rise made me smile as well.
It would’ve been perfect if it weren’t mint chocolate, though.
After dressing herself completely, the Young Lady tightly tied the belt of her shower gown and asked me to put her into the tub. In the softly echoing bathroom, her quiet voice made me smile faintly as I lifted her up.
“Ricardo, you’re so strong!”
“I know.”
“Your arms are so firm, too.”
“Mm-hmm~.”
“And you’ve got veins showing.”
“Mm-hmm~!”
As expected, the saying that praise makes even a whale dance seems to be true.
*
Darkness enveloped Darbav’s office.
“…”
After finishing a meeting, Olivia’s father, Darbav, sat in his office, immersed in the darkness.
With a serious expression, Darbav looked at his eldest son, Kyle, who had also just finished the meeting, and asked,
“It’s been a while. Would you like to take a bath together?”
Kyle replied with a serious expression,
“No.”
Once again, Darbav longed to see his daughter today.