CH 45

“I’m bewildered, Trixie.”

A strangely different woman, resembling a girl, approached and placed her horse on top. This time she was someone she had talked to several times.

“Trixie. Hey, I fell for Leone.”

“Bad woman!”

“Yes?”

Fall in love? To Leone, who walks on all fours? Unknowingly, her eyes widened and she looked at the girl.

The girl’s cheeks were flushed.

“I didn’t know he was scared until now, but I heard that he is so handsome even though he walks on all fours. He also said he wanted to walk together. Oh, sorry.”

“No. It’s not something to be sorry about.”

She looked closely at the girl who was about the same height as her. Incongruous with her shy face, her eyes were burning with desire.

Was that the ‘passion’ she had only heard about?

‘Her eyes are no joke.’

It wasn’t until she saw Leone up close that she realized his unreal appearance. Perhaps the truly fearless applicant she was looking for was that girl.

“It should be nice when new people are added.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I will discuss it with Mr. Adler.”

“Huh. Really? He said it was something to do and see. You’re right, Lou.”

The girl called Lou was just staring at Trixie with her eyes shining, as if she could hear her sister or not. How burdensome… 

“Sister Trixie!”

Was she suddenly a sister?

“What kind of sister is she suddenly? Do not be rude.”

The woman scolded Lou in a stern voice, but the girl took a step closer to Trixie as if she couldn’t hear.

“I have a story I want to share with her.”

“… hmm. Shall we have some dinner?”

“Sure! Ah. It would be better if we could talk while eating! It will taste very good.”

What the hell was that? She was giggling as if the servants were having fun.

“Miss Trixie. You’ve become popular.”

While she was serving food, words popped out here and there.

‘Help me.’

She turned to Jen. Jen opened her mouth expressionlessly.

“What. After becoming the strongest knight, Sir Adler has been handling the attention pouring in from all sorts of social circles. If we are the ones who work for him, we should imitate him.”

“Buttler. That and this…”

It’s different. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t help herself with the limbs heading towards Adler.

“My. See you, Miss Trixie.”

She thought she would die even when Gourden called her teacher, but now half of the mansion called her teacher, half jokingly and half seriously.

“Sister. What do you want to say?”

As soon as she placed her tray, Lou opened her mouth in a lively voice.

“Leone. When we cut his hair, I thought about what shape would be good. Even if you go to the capital, you can’t live with messy hair like that. Even if you don’t take care of it, it will be shiny, but if you take care of it, it’s really no joke. It will shine like a jewel!”

Lou seemed to be very interested in Leone’s beauty. Trixie smiled awkwardly and answered appropriately.

“Why don’t you cut his hair?”

Last evening, she listened casually, but at some point she agreed and admired Lou’s words.

Wasn’t each word correct? What kind of hair would look good, what kind of clothes would suit him, and what accessories… Oh, she couldn’t pick out any jewelry because she thought it would lose its luster in front of his eyes, and it wouldn’t function properly. It must have been all Lou saw from a distance. How did she figure it all out? This friend, she thought Lou could go that way.

And she realized it yesterday. Trixie was really frustrated. She needed someone to talk to about Leone’s beauty. How self-controlled he was, who wouldn’t lose their mind in that beauty, and how beautiful his face was, even if it’s because he had a menacing size. Those kinds of stories.

So they continued a heated discussion about Leone’s dress-up until the meal time was over.

* * *

“Head… cut?”

Leone looked at her. But his face… It was oddly pale. It was the same as being embarrassed, the same as being surprised, and a strange feeling of betrayal.

“Leone?”

“Trixie…”

It was also a face that looked like an unscrupulous person. She was confused. Why was Leone suddenly doing that?

“Let’s cut our hair… doing… ah.”

She figured it out after thinking for a while. Lately, Leone has been talking a lot, and since he deliberately used this and that, sometimes this happened. It must have sounded cruel to him, who didn’t know both ‘hair’ and the meaning of ‘cutting off’.

“Oh, no… hair. This thing is called hair. I’m going to cut this with scissors and trim it. Make it look neat like Benjamin or Adler.”

“…huh.”

When she hurriedly explained and made him understand, the embarrassment disappeared from Leone’s eyes. It was the usual nonchalant face.

“…A knight, a teacher, like.”

It’s a pity for him not to wear a shirt or shoes. Was beauty too much? But Trixie had never seen him go into the bathroom to wash herself, but beauty was a step too far ahead.

“No. Forget it. It seems too soon for that.”

But when she thought about it, it was bizarre. Leone had never been attended to in a bath, and he never seemed to wash himself, but he was always dry and clean. He didn’t even smell.

“It’s rare. Why does Leone always look clean? You don’t even go to the bathroom. You have never been taught to take a bath, and you must have no idea of cleanliness or hygiene.”

“I don’t know, Trixie.”

When she used a word she didn’t usually use, Leone would sometimes give her that answer.

“Sister Trixie!”

A familiar voice came. Today was Jen’s busy day, so Leone and she were taking a walk around the annex.

She turned her head in the direction of the sound. Through the iron bars of the window about five paces behind. A white hand sticks out.

“Oh, mom.”

She thought she was a ghost. It was an unnatural scene, as if someone had brought props there. The hand was moving up and down eagerly, as if it wanted to greet her. As it got closer,she saw a sun tower inside the iron bars.

“Oh. Lou.”

“When Jane did the laundry the other day, she said something came out of Trixie’s clothes, but she forgot to give it to you.”

“Okay? Did Lou come to pick it up for me?”

“yes. It’s nice to have an excuse to see Sir Leone up close, so I quickly accepted it and offered to bring it.”

She really had no fear.

Trixie looked at Leone. Was the training with Jen paying off? Even when a stranger appeared, Leone didn’t set a guard.

Hmm… But was that already changing? She thought it would take a little longer. She wanted for him to get close to someone else, but it seems too fast.

“Sister, please have dinner with me today. I still have something to say.”

“Is that so? Yesterday was really fun.”

“Trixie.”

But Leone called her as if something was unpleasant.

This time… Did he hate Lou? Yeah, it seems it was just a coincidence. No matter how different Leone had become, he couldn’t help but be wary of people he saw for the first time.

‘Thank God.’ She stroked Leone’s hair.

“Why, Leone?”

“Really… He is so handsome.”

Like that or not, Lou muttered in a trembling voice as if moved.

“Lou, can you get the one from your pocket?”

Lou held out her hand.

“Ah, this. It is paper.”

Paper? What Lou handed over the iron bars was a piece of paper folded to a size familiar to the eye.

“Jane wants you to check your pockets next time and put out the laundry.”

“Uh, yes…”

No, that was a map. She was sure to have hidden it but did she put it in the laundry tub? It was the night she came home after wrestling with Jen to the fullest, so she was distracted, but she wondered how she would escape with such laxity. She felt sorry for herself.

Since the map had already been copied and drawn, she did not open the book or think of the map again. Besides, taking Jen and Leone out for a walk together and being bombarded with questions every evening made her exhausted, so she completely forgot about it.

She unknowingly glanced at Leone, but hurriedly averted her eyes from him. Leone was quick-witted, so he would notice if she looked at him differently than usual and feel awkward.

That map was the one she didn’t want to show Leone the most.

“Is it something important?”

“Yes. No big deal.”

Leone wouldn’t notice if he was looking at the map, but her conscience stung a little. Above all, there was Lou in front. It was a map with suspicious marks. She just didn’t want to get caught.

“Let’s go, Leone. I need to go for a walk again.”

Feeling a bit impatient, she stuffed the map into her pocket and pulled Leone’s leash.

“Trixie.”

“Yes, Leone. Did you take too long a walk? Shall we go in now?”

“Just, that.”

Leone seemed very curious about what she put in her pocket.

“This? It’s not a big deal.”

She calmly passed it over and tugged on his leash, but Leone didn’t move.

“Paper.”

“This is just my doodle.”

She stroked Leone’s head and pulled his leash again. No, she tried to get out of Lou’s field of view by pulling it. Leone then pulled the end of her skirt all the way. He couldn’t use his mouth because of his muzzle, so he caught her with his hand.

“Leone. My older sister said you shouldn’t pull on her skirt, ugh!”

Leone stood up. Standing on his feet, he hugged her around the waist and moved closer. Ever since he found out that he could use his hands, he did that very often… 

He really was not a person, not a dog.

“Oh…!”

Lou’s admiration could also be heard from afar. She was very embarrassed, but she couldn’t move. 

It’s been a long time since the last time she saw his eyes so close. Well polished crystal ball pupils. The color that seems to still attract people…

“Hidden.”

Leone, who met her eyes, whispered softly, whether or not he knew her feelings. It was a very sweet voice.