Chapter 57

“…”

I woke up in the morning.

I had been slightly drunk and roughly said goodbye to Kyle before falling asleep, but now I was awake in the morning.

Fortunately, I remembered my conversation with Kyle.

And also the hug we shared before parting.

“He was firm…”

It was my first time hugging Kyle.

Maybe that’s why.

I felt like the sensation from that time still remained.

He hugged me with his firm arm and chest muscles.

Unlike a woman’s body, it was a body that could only be described as firm.

My body was really soft now.

Whether chest, stomach, thighs, or wherever you touch, it’s a body that can’t easily be described as firm.

It was nothing short of a reason to start exercising.

“Haah…”

By the way, I don’t know what to do while Kyle is away.

As Kyle’s tutor and servant, I don’t do anything unrelated to Kyle.

For years, everything I’ve done has been related to Kyle.

Waking Kyle up in the morning, helping him change clothes, doing some cleaning, guiding his schedule, and so on – all things that required Kyle to be present.

And it’s been 8 years now.

That’s why I couldn’t choose what to do even more.

“Sigh…”

I got up from the bed for now.

Rather than sprawling on the bed, it seemed better to get up and do something at least.

It’s cold outside, so for now, inside the castle.

I didn’t wear my formal attire…

That was the clothing I wore when working as Kyle’s servant.

In the castle without Kyle, I was essentially in the position of a guest from outside.

That was the original position of a tutor after all.

“Haah…”

By the way, even though I was walking around the castle, there was really nothing to do.

I didn’t regularly clean like other maids, I really just followed Kyle around.

I took a coat from my room and went outside the castle.

Walking around inside the castle was really boring.

I had worked at the castle for 8 years.

I had already explored the interior of the castle enough.

It seemed like I could walk around the castle with my eyes closed.

“Phew…”

So I went outside for now.

Though the weather was harsh, it seemed better than being inside the castle.

I went down to the domain below the castle.

A place I had come down to with Kyle several times already.

If it had been several years ago, it wouldn’t have been familiar, but since I had come down with Kyle many times at some point, it was now familiar.

“Boss, one meat stew please.”

“Yes~”

I entered the restaurant we always visited when coming down with Kyle.

There were better restaurants, but Kyle liked this restaurant more than expected, perhaps because of the quiet atmosphere and moderate taste.

And since it was a place I had recommended first, I was happy too.

But even with such a restaurant, somehow it felt empty.

Is it because Kyle was always sitting across from me whenever I came to this restaurant?

“…”

I don’t know.

This was the first time I came here without Kyle.

I had never even come down to the domain alone in the first place.

Anyway, I put such thoughts aside and ate the food that came out.

Although it was definitely delicious food, it wasn’t particularly tasty today.

-Crunch… crunch…

It was weather with heavy snowfall.

Snow had been falling continuously from Kyle’s coming-of-age ceremony until now.

Because of such weather, snow had accumulated on the streets.

Of course, people had removed the snow to prevent it from interfering with traffic, but since snow kept piling up, there was a sound every time I stepped on it.

As I walked, I found myself walking in the place where I usually walked with Kyle.

“….”

Walking alone on the street like this, I wondered how Kyle was doing now.

Is he doing well?

Is he okay in the cold weather?

Though he told me many times not to worry, I couldn’t help but worry.

I wandered around the village until before sunset like that.

It felt somewhat empty, but less empty than being in the castle.

“Louise, do you have a moment?”

“What is it?”

After returning to the castle, I headed straight to Louise’s room.

“I have a few things to ask.”

Louise has more experience in this area than me.

I hadn’t properly had fun before.

I didn’t have much expertise in having fun since I didn’t take vacations and continuously helped Kyle at the castle.

“Sure? Come in for now.”

Following Louise’s guidance, I entered her room.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as dirty as before.

If it had been, I would have had to clean it as soon as I entered.

“So? What are you curious about that made you come?”

“Well… Kyle won’t be in the castle for a while, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So could you recommend what to do for a while? I don’t know what to do.”

I had wandered all day, but it was too boring.

Is it because I only wandered around places I had visited many times?

Everywhere I went were places I had been with Kyle.

“Hmm… What to do… gambling?”

“That’s a bit…”

No matter how bored I am, gambling is not an option.

If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have stopped Louise from gambling in the first place.

Rather, I would have enticed her to do it together.

“Hmm… Even if you ask me, there doesn’t seem to be much to do in Eristirol…”

“Really?”

Then inevitably, there was nothing to do except continuously wandering around the castle or sleeping all day.

“Ah, you could read books. There are many books in the study, you could read interesting ones among them. There’s plenty of time left, so you can read slowly.”

“Should I?”

It didn’t seem bad.

Compared to walking around all day and sleeping, it seemed much more beneficial and fun.

It at least felt like doing something.

Rather than doing nothing, this seemed better.

“Thanks. I was so bored wandering around all day.”

“Sigh… Let’s go eat dinner. You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Hmm. This isn’t bad.”

I entered the small tent I would endure in for two weeks.

I didn’t make it as big as before since I made it previously.

It’s not like I would live here for months, I just needed to endure for two weeks.

It was enough to sleep around the fire I had lit in the center.

No matter how resistant to cold I am, it could be dangerous when sleeping.

I needed to create a warm environment during sleep.

And I also needed to grill the game I caught.

“This tastes bad.”

I caught a rabbit, skinned it, and grilled it to eat.

I didn’t expect it to taste good.

And as I thought, it actually didn’t taste good.

It wasn’t just because I usually eat gourmet food, but it just didn’t have any flavor at all.

I thought it might be more delicious to pick and eat berries instead.

Actually, a few wild strawberries I picked from the mountain tasted better.

“Tomorrow… should I go to the river?”

It would be frozen, but I could just make a hole with a knife and go ice fishing.

Fish might be better than this tasteless meat.

The tent I had been building since arriving at the snow field yesterday was completed, and essentially I just needed to stay here for two weeks.

I don’t think it’s difficult.

Even if beasts or monsters appear, I’ve already caught them several times during lessons with Father.

So there won’t be any problems.

To prepare for avalanches, I chose a spot a bit away from the mountain.

Because of that, I had to walk towards the mountain to hunt beasts or gather, but it wasn’t that far.

It’s better to be a bit inconvenient than to be in a dangerous place.

“Ha.”

Survival was the biggest goal.

But for me, survival wasn’t a problem.

The hardest thing was being bored.

Yesterday and today, I spent a lot of time building the tent and exploring the surroundings.

But from tomorrow?

Essentially, there was no necessary work left besides hunting and securing drinking water.

“If only Miss Sofia were here beside me…”

At least it would have been good to have someone to talk to.

It was a place without even a conversation partner.

It was originally too barren a place for people to live.

Even residents of the north wouldn’t stay in such a place.

“Ah, I miss Miss Sofia.”

Only two days had passed, but I missed Miss Sofia so much.

I don’t know if Miss Sofia misses me, but.

I missed her.

It must be about 7 o’clock now.

Around this time, Miss Sofia would guide me to the dining room.

I knew it well because we had repeated it for years.

I remembered all aspects of daily life with Miss Sofia.

From the time she came to wake me up in the morning and the sight of Miss Sofia waking me with a bright smile from the morning, to the sight of Miss Sofia looking up to meet my eyes even though her neck must have hurt, and Miss Sofia looking more radiant in the morning sunlight when I lifted the curtains.

Miss Sofia whom I met from the morning.

But for about two weeks, I won’t be able to greet such mornings.

When I wake up in the morning, only cold wind and snow will be greeting me.

“Haah…”

Is it because we’re apart?

I seemed to think more about wanting to see Miss Sofia.

I was lying down on a makeshift sleeping area on the ground.

A very uncomfortable bed compared to the one I used.

I once thought it might be good to go camping with Miss Sofia.

But it seemed better not to.

Miss Sofia would surely catch a cold with such a temporary tent.

“Haah…”

I wanted to finish quickly and go meet Miss Sofia.

There were still 13 more days left.