Miss, It’s Just a Cold by akazatl

Author:akazatl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-03-06T04:18:18.576000+00:00

Chapter 36: Why?

Even though I had raised my voice earlier, it was uncomfortable staying in the same space as Aria. But I still didn’t want to return home, so I remained seated, continually drinking tea and eating snacks.

Noticing Aria’s slightly uneasy glances in my direction, I wet my lips with tea and spoke softly.

“I’m sorry for raising my voice earlier.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine.”

Aria awkwardly looked around, avoiding my gaze, then pursed her lips and hesitantly asked in a crawling voice.

“By the way, how much longer are you going to keep speaking formally?”

“I guess that’s up to me.”

I sipped my tea and answered with a slight smile.

“We’re not close enough for that yet, are we?”

“…Not yet, right?”

“Yes, not yet.”

Though I doubt the day will come when we grow closer.

Aria could speak casually to me if she wanted. After all, she’s much better than me in every way.

She ordered more food through a servant. Drinking tea with fragrant bread that seemed to have no sugar made me feel a renewed desire for life.

After some time passed, Ernst arrived as well.

The atmosphere didn’t change drastically with one more person joining.;

After all, the mood is always gloomy when I’m around.

Ernst observed us for a long while before speaking.

“Did you two have a fight?”

Aria and I answered simultaneously that we hadn’t.

I pulled my sleeves down as far as they would go, avoiding any chance that Ernst might see the bandages. If he did, it might lead to another heated argument like the one with Aria earlier.

“…Your head—did you hit it somewhere?”

“Oh, yes. I bumped into a wall while sketching in my notebook.”

Ernst didn’t seem entirely convinced but nodded nonetheless.

The three of us talked about various things—like balls and family. Of course, I didn’t contribute anything.

Time always passes quickly when eating snacks, bread, or drinking tea alongside idle chatter.

For someone else, this might be a dull and uneventful moment, but for me, it wasn’t painful.

Being around people who cared about me made it a somewhat happy time.

And I could eat as much as I wanted.

As the sun began to set, its light turned red.

The sunset hanging at the edge of the sky felt oddly ominous.

Perhaps it’s because, around this time, I used to be dragged into the punishment room instead of having dinner and locked inside.

While I reflected, the rest of my family enjoyed their meals as I “atoned for my sins.”

Ernst and I bid Aria farewell and left her house.

Seeing the red sunset from outside instead of from inside the house wasn’t so bad, surprisingly.

We took the usual path we walked to get home.

Naturally, this included the shortcut I often ran through when I was younger.

I felt slightly out of breath and figured I should rest for a moment here.

“…Should we take a short break? I’m a bit tired.”

Ernst nodded.

I stretched to shake off the stiffness, though I quickly regretted it.

“Maybe it’s because I sat for so long earlier, but my body feels stiff.”

“…What’s with your arm?”

“It’s just an injury. I wrapped it in a bandage, that’s all.

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