Chapter 35: 35

Melody looked at Isaiah who knelt down in front of Claude.

Like magic, a time flashed in her mind. That time she was saying goodbye to the doctor at their house, she wished Melody happiness and asked her for one thing.

「And if you ever meet my son in the capital, don’t forget to give him a slap in the back of his head. Because he’s a naughty punk having no contact with his mother.」

「Hehe, I will.」

Goodness, I was so happy that I almost forgot about my promise.

Melody quickly looked around. Just then, she saw a thick catalog that someone had rolled up. As soon as she felt the rolled catalog with her hand, she thought that it was just right.

Melody walked towards Isaiah. In fact, she didn’t even hear what he said to Claude. None of what Isaiah had said from the beginning was even right – because he is a person who will show it with actions rather than words.

Melody took one deep breath, then swung the catalog towards the back of his head.

 

* * *

 

“No, I was talking about taking care of Mel for a short period of time. It only seems polite to say thank you.”

Claude looked at the boy in disbelief who dared to say ‘thank you’ to the Duke’s decision. By what qualification are you saying thank you?

“That.”

Claude was trying to tell him that ‘It wasn’t something worthy of Isaiah saying thank you’. He was really trying to say that.

However, he was speechless when he saw Melody swinging the catalog with sparkling eyes like the devil behind Isaiah. It was a bit exaggerated to say, but she was swinging the catalog with all her might that it seemed like she surpassed even the limits of a human being.

‘Paang!’

The sound of being hit on the back of his head resounded pleasantly inside the reception room. It means that she had hit him straight on.

Claude felt a little scared of Melody. Is it possible to attack people like that with a single catalog?

Meanwhile, Melody was proud of herself. She slightly raised her head and remembered the doctor at home. It would be nice if that pleasant sound from Isaiah’s head could reach their hometown.

“Urgh!”

Isaiah clasped his head with both hands in agony, then looked back at Melody and screamed.

“Why did you hit me!”

Melody took a boost of energy when she saw the expression of resentment on Isaiah’s face. With a stern look, her hands were on her waist.

“Isaiah. Did you write a letter to the doctor?”

“Are you crazy? How can I write a letter!”

“Why not! Write one now!”

Isaiah was about to reply ‘Don’t wanna!’ but he quietly shut his mouth when he saw the catalog in Melody’s hand. Melody with a weapon was terrifying. Another reason was that she was an opponent he could never fight back against.

As he slightly softened, Melody also explained the situation in a rather soft tone.

“Don’t you know how frustrated the doctor is that she even asked me for a favor? That if I meet Isaiah, hit him on the back of his head.”

“Is that why you hit me out of the blue?”

“I don’t have a choice. I promised the doctor.”

Melody felt slightly sorry that she had hit him when she said that. She squatted down in front of him who had collapsed on the floor.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it’s clear that my ability to think has gotten worse.”

“Don’t worry. Nothing would change much even if it got worse.”

Isaiah soon muttered like a puppy with drooping ears, “… It really hurts.”

Melody’s conscience was somewhat pricked, but she decided to never say sorry to him. She knows that the doctor was very anxious to hear from Isaiah everyday. Still, it bothered her a little that he was hurt, so she gently patted the area on his head she hit earlier (well she smashed against it to be precise).

“So, you must write a letter today, understand?”

With gentle words of encouragement.

“But, that’s.”

But he blinked his sad eyes slowly as if something was still bothering him.

“You know, Mel. You know I left the house to become a knight, right?”

“Hmm, I know.”

“But if I write a letter saying that I’m still serving as a squire, wouldn’t my mother be disappointed?”

Why …? Melody mouthed at him. She had no idea what part of him would be disappointing. Becoming a squire means that he is gradually moving towards his dreams. The doctor may feel at ease when she hears the news.

But Isaiah scratched his head with a strange blush, and slightly looked away. He seemed to be feeling extremely shy.

“I mean, my mother will think that I am not going to be a part of the Imperial Knights Order now!”

Melody was so embarrassed that she couldn’t answer anything.

Of course, she couldn’t expect that Isaiah would become a part of the Imperial Knights Order immediately! No matter how much the villagers were ignorant about the situation in the capital, they knew that a position within the ‘Imperial’ knightage was tremendously great.

No, few would even believe that he had safely landed on the road of becoming a ‘Knight’ in the first place. Normally, he would use his outgoing personality to tell her that he would be following the top, but he can’t even write a simple letter just because he isn’t a member of the Imperial Knights Order?!

“Isaiah.”

“So, I can’t contact my mother until I officially become an Imperial Knight. She will be disappointed to see me like this.”

Melody’s hand holding the catalog was itching, but she stopped herself. The doctor asked her to ‘hit him once’, but she never told her to beat him.

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“She’s already disappointed! Her disappointment can’t fall lower than the ground anymore. She asked me to keep an eye out for you because she was desperate. How can you not contact her even once?”

“But I can’t tell her that I could only get a position like this… ah, that’s right! I can just write that I am a Knight!”

Hearing that he would be sending a fake letter, Melody unconsciously swung the catalog again one more time.

Paang!

“Don’t say nonsense!”

You didn’t even have any idea how much the doctor was worried about you, and here you are plotting something and lying. You’re being mean.

“Ugh.”

He gently rubbed his forehead after being hit by the catalog and looked at Melody.

“… You’re really mad, Mel.”

“Of course!”

“Ugh, okay.”

He lowered his head deeply. It means that he was giving in to Melody.

“Then I don’t have a choice. I will write a letter.”

“Honestly, do you actually understand?”

“Hmm.”

“And you have to write a lot.”

“Fine.”

Melody nodded in satisfaction. She was now done with the problems she needed to solve after she had come to the capital.

… is what she thought, but there was still another problem.

“But, Mel, how do you write a letter?”

“… Huh?”

Melody couldn’t answer his question.

On second thought, Melody had never written a letter to send news to someone about herself either. It was only after she arrived at the Duke’s mansion that she began to use pens and ink freely in the first place.

“Can’t you just write down everything about how you are doing?”

“Um, then, is it alright to write ‘I have become a squire?”

“It’s too short!”

Melody was disgusted as she counted the words of the sentence he had just said. I didn’t hit a precious friend on the back of his head just so he could send the doctor such a short letter.

“Can’t you say a little bit more? It should be longer than that.”

“But even if something like that comes to mind, there’s nothing in particular… uhm, then, ‘I have become an excellent squire’.”

Even so, he said nothing other than adding the word ‘excellent’, it was a poor attempt to increase the words. Though it did technically increase the number of words for the letter.

Putting their heads together for a long time, Melody and Isaiah turned to Claude as if desperately wishing for something – because he was the only person in the room who seemed to have written a letter. Claude awkwardly smiled with a face as if asking them, ‘Yes, me?’

 

* * *

 

The schedule was messed up in a number of ways.

The office hours of the Central Prison were over once Melody was done arguing over a letter with Isaiah. Sure she still had two weeks to spare so she can come back again after, but… Melody felt sorry for causing trouble for Claude, who was forced to accompany her for a long time.

Then the next day, Melody caused more trouble for Claude.

The clueless Isaiah brazenly went to the Duke’s mansion saying, ‘I came to meet Mel’ – quite early in the morning! It is only polite to not visit an ordinary friend’s house at such a time of the day, so it was even more alarming since he carelessly approached a noble’s house, which even other nobles wouldn’t do out of caution.

“I thought Isaiah would be more adept in the capital’s etiquette than me.”

Melody gave him a drink as soon as she arrived at the reception room where he was waiting.

“Of course, I’ve mastered the capital’s etiquette perfectly. My teacher values a knight’s etiquette.”

He was pouring sugar into the tea set in front of him as he answered her proudly – a whole pile of sugar went in the cup! Melody was a little suspicious of what Isaiah’s master was teaching him.

“Just what manners did you learn?”

“That’s of course something like this.”

He rose from his seat with a clatter as he stirred the cup. He then suddenly approached Melody and held out his hand from behind his back. In his unusually wounded hand, he was holding a fluffy foxtail.

(T/N: Foxtail is a grass-like weed and mostly found in the Western half of the U.S. It blooms every spring and releases barbed seed heads. If you want to know more, Mr. Google is always open for your queries ^^)

“It was said from ancient times that it is only polite to bring what the other person likes.”

He grinned at her as if anticipating a praise from her. Melody liked the foxtail with no questions. It is also cute that it was swaying as he carried it.

Thinking of it, there was a time back in their hometown when she wandered all day in search of a large and pretty foxtail. Isaiah usually played along with the game.

“Thank… you.”

Melody felt a little embarrassed with herself that she had scolded Isaiah. She appreciated the fact that her friend came to play with her, rather than caring about his knowledge of the etiquette of the capital.

“I’m sorry that I was mean to you when you came to see me.”

“It’s alright. Little Mel also needs to learn to be a little meaner.”

He randomly patted Melody’s head. Her hair that the maids had worked so hard on in the morning was now messed up, but Melody liked it nevertheless.

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