Chapter 34: Chapter 34

“Young master, Lady Aide has arrived.”

Kirsec, whose head had risen at the butler’s report, turned to stare at me.

I had been expecting him to show his anger by shouting or scowling fiercely at me, but strangely he didn’t do either. In any case, since our eyes had already met, I bowed at the waist.

“Greetings, sir.”

“My father told me to spend some time with you until dinner is ready. Take a seat.”

His blunt attitude told me that he was only spending this time with me because his father had told him to.

I sat down opposite Kirsec. But Kirsec’s gaze kept slyly darting over to me. Could it be that while he was pretending disinterest on the outside, on the inside he had something that he wanted to ask, but he felt like he shouldn’t? Or else it appeared like he had something that he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure how to frame it.

It didn’t feel like he was about to sarcastically ask me something like, ‘Aren’t you quite good at running?’, but I could still feel my anxiety growing. Just what on earth was he holding back from saying?

Children usually don’t have much in the way of patience. This goes especially for children who are used to getting their own way. Eventually, Kirsec couldn’t bear it any longer and spoke first.

“Oi.”

“Yes?”

Kirsec was rather startled by my immediate response. However he soon pretended that nothing had happened and spat out a question.

“Is commander Hertman recovering well at your home?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if he’s fully recovered now,” he almost shouted, while seemingly choking on annoyed embarrassment.

Was he really showing concern for my father? That Kirsec?

When his eyes began to darken at seeing my expression, I quickly wiped away my surprise.

“Yes. He’s fine. He says that he has fully recovered. There is no need for concern.”

Was Kirsec friendly with my father?

“Concern? What concern? I’m only showing a little care because he was injured while saving my father.”

If his ears hadn’t been burning as he said these words, I might have believed him. Besides, that was definitely concern concealed behind his grumbling exterior.

Seeing him like this, speaking in such a curt and stubborn tone because he didn’t know how to express himself, it might even make you think Kersic maybe wasn’t such a bad kid.

“Yep. You sure are showing how little you care.”

“It’s really only a little. Just thiiiis much,” he bluffed, while holding his thumb and index finger slightly apart.

Should I play along? As I silently stared at the gap between his fingers, Kirsec’s face gradually flushed.

Even though I had been keeping my mouth shut, Kirsec suddenly shouted, appearing embarrassed, “I’m telling the truth! Darn it, why isn’t the tea here yet!”

Who said anything about him lying?

Right at that moment, the maid who had been coming in with the tea was startled by the sudden noise.

Upon seeing her, Kirsec shouted even louder, “Why are you so late! Can’t you be any quicker?”

He really is an unlikeable brat. Although he might simply be venting his annoyance at things not going his way, it didn’t appear that way to the person forced to bear the brunt of his outburst. Especially when his behavior strayed so close to true anger.

From the way she was trembling as she approached us, the maid appeared to feel the same way.

“M-my apologies.”

The maid was trembling so much that I could hear the faint sound of rattling coming from the cups that were placed on the tray.

Naturally, this caused a frown to form on Kirsec’s face, and this led the air of fear and tension coming from the maid to grow even thicker.

Being in the middle of this left me feeling so uncomfortable that I felt like I was about to go crazy. I could clearly see where things were going, and my heart began to pound as my nerves grew tense.

My uneasy forebodings soon proved correct, as any hope that things would work out smoothly was betrayed.

The maid managed to pour the tea into the teacups. However at the final moment, just as she was spooning some honey into Kirsec’s teacup, her nerves got the best of her. Her hand bumped into the teacup, spilling some tea onto Kirsec’s hand.

“Darn it, it’s hot! Are you crazy? Don’t you even know how to do your job?”

My heart skipped as Kirsec’s voice hit me like a burst of thunder. How much worse must it be for the maid who caused the accident. While apologizing with a face that looked like she was on the verge of bursting into tears, she took out a cloth to try and clean up the spill.

“M-my apologies!”

“Don’t touch me!”

It wasn’t like the cup had actually been knocked over, so he hadn’t been splashed with all that much tea. That being the case, Kirsec’s reaction was far too extreme.