The Villainess Is Shy In Receiving Affection

Chapter 31

***

Good heavens. Loretta had toddled down the hallway, hand in hand with her brother, to find Melody!

Melody quickly rose from her spot. She couldn’t just send Loretta away like this.

After all, the kind-hearted child had come looking for her out of concern. It wouldn’t be right to let her leave disappointed.

Moreover, Loretta had already seen Melody’s less flattering side numerous times.

Each time, Loretta would gently stroke Melody with her tiny hands and give her a comforting hug.

Melody missed that tenderness dearly, especially today of all days.

Almost running, she moved forward and pulled on the doorknob.

“Loretta!”

But there was nothing below where Loretta should have been.

Could she have already left? As Melody lifted her head, she saw Claude standing still in front of the door.

Holding the doorknob, Melody asked him,

“Wh-where is Loretta?”

Her voice, mixed with sobs, sounded a bit foolish.

Claude gave a slightly troubled smile and gently shook his head.

“…!”

Melody was shocked and embarrassed, realizing that he had deceived her, and slammed the door shut forcefully, with a loud bang!

Tears flowed even more, whether from the realization of the deception or the embarrassment of having her tearful face seen.

Leaning against the door, Melody broke down in tears.

There are acceptable pranks, and then there are those that should never be played.

Knowing how much Melody adored Loretta, to use her for a prank was downright cruel. She would never forgive such an act!

“Miss Melody, Miss Melody?”

From behind the door, where she leaned, came a continuous knocking.

But Melody pursed her lips in defiance. Did they really think she would open the door for them?

“Miss Melody, I’m sorry. I apologize.”

As if her feelings could be swayed by such an apology. He had been apologizing to Melody almost every day, after all.

“I’m sorry about that. But I can’t help it. I’m jealous.”

Like this.

So, there was no way his apologies held any sincerity.

“I’m sincere. I lied because if you don’t open the door, I can’t come in.”

A voice whispered pleadingly through the crack in the door.

Perhaps he was also sitting outside, crouched by the door, because the voice sounded very close, almost like a whisper in her ear.

“I was worried about you. You seemed to be pretending to be alright all day. Of course, Loretta was the first to notice that.”

Melody had resolved not to respond to whatever he said, but…

When he mentioned that Loretta had noticed her true feelings, she inadvertently asked a question.

“Loretta did?”

Normally, she should have addressed her as ‘Miss,’ but perhaps because she had cried so much and was dazed, she spoke as if it were just the two of them, like when Loretta was around.

“Yes, she said you looked sad and that she needed to give you a hug.”

“…But why?”

“Are you asking why I came?”

Exactly. What Melody really wanted right now was Loretta’s warm smile.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself.”

As he hesitated, Melody furrowed her brow. What was so embarrassing about it?

She reached up with her arm and slightly pulled open the firmly shut door, still sitting on the floor.

Since he had also been crouching in front of the door, their gazes met immediately.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? hic”

With tears streaming down her face, Melody yelled at Claude.

“You’re just jealous!”

It wasn’t particularly sad, but as she yelled, tears strangely started flowing more, accompanied by loud sobs.

“You know well.”

He calmly responded, offering her a handkerchief.

Melody, feeling quite resentful towards him at the moment, replied with a spiteful tone.

“I’m going to blow my nose!”

“Yes, blow it a lot.”

Despite her messy words, he willingly handed her the handkerchief again.

Hmph, thinking she couldn’t blow her nose properly?

Melody blew her nose loudly and thoroughly, almost feeling her heart clear as her nose cleared.

“So, sniff. Where is Miss Loretta?”

Still holding the handkerchief to her nose, Melody asked that question. He slightly laughed, perhaps finding the nasal sound of her voice amusing.

“It seems you’ve calmed down a bit. Calling her ‘Miss Loretta’ now.”

“It was a mistake.”

“But you don’t mistakenly call me Claude, do you?”

When Melody gave him a look that said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’, he just lightly played with his hair.

“It’s a joke. Obviously, Loretta is a special child to Melody.”

Melody vigorously nodded her head.

Loretta is special. She’s so special that the word ‘special’ feels ordinary in comparison!

He seemed to smile bitterly. Probably jealous again. Jealous of the sparkling relationship between Loretta and Melody.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“A little.”

The words ‘I feel better’ came out strangely because of her shaky breathing.

“…How cute.”

“What?”

“Um, cute Loretta is eager to see you. She’s been waiting for you.”

As he stood up and offered his hand, Melody looked at him suspiciously.

It sounded like he was offering to take her to Loretta now.

But it was hard to trust Claude Baldwin’s words, especially when it concerned Loretta.

“You seem to be looking at me as if you can’t trust me.”

“You once complimented me, sir.”

“About being a good learner?”

Melody nodded, determined not to be fooled a second time.

“You know me too well, Miss Melody. Get up quickly, I’ll help you.”

He extended his hand again.

“Hurry up. Promises must be kept.”

A promise? Melody wondered if there had been some promise between him and Loretta, as she took his hand.

Led by his pulling, she stood up.

He let go of Melody’s hand and started walking a few steps ahead.

“Come this way.”

At his beckoning glance, Melody moved her steps, albeit slowly.

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“What was the promise?”

“Oh, have you forgotten?”

“Forgotten what?”

“Miss Melody, you made a promise with me at dawn.”

Melody naturally recalled the conversation they had had early that morning.

The mission of offloading the laundry under the guise of consideration was completed.

She didn’t forget to ask the maid in charge to clean not only the beverage stains he pointed out but also the filth from her ribbon.

And another promise they had made.

“Then come to my room tomorrow without being late. There are still many records that Miss Melody needs to transcribe.”

Melody stared at him with her mouth slightly open.

Could this person really be human?

To call her to work on such a day? And at such a late hour?

Melody regretted her past life for having favored the eldest brother the most. She had not known he was such an exasperating person.

“It’s okay. There isn’t much work for today. If you finish the work well, I’ll send you back to Loretta.”

“I kind of hate you, sir.”

In truth, she hated him a lot, but she toned it down a bit, feeling it wasn’t right for someone living and eating for free in this house to say so.

Unbothered by her dislike, he simply acknowledged with a smile, “I know.”

He took Melody to the large library at the end of the first floor. Usually, they would transcribe records in his personal bookcase.

Melody wanted to ask, ‘Why here today?’ but stopped herself.

She was too tired from crying too much. The tears had stopped, but she felt sleepy and exhausted.

She wasn’t sure how much work he would give her, but her only thought was to finish quickly and go back to sleep.

“Well, then.”

He pointed to a nearby desk where Melody’s notebook, in which she had been transcribing records, lay.

He flipped a few pages and pointed to a spot.

“Write your name here, Miss Melody.”

“My name?”

“Hurry. Write the date here too.”

Melody did as he instructed, writing her name and the date. He waited for the ink to dry before folding the notebook.

Then, he handed it to Melody with both hands.

“You’ve worked hard transcribing the records, Miss Melody.”

It felt like she was receiving an award.

“Is this for me to keep?”

“Of course not. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have cast a preservation spell on it.”

“Magic?”

Intrigued by the unfamiliar term, Melody’s eyes sparkled as she examined the notebook.

It looked no different from an ordinary notebook on the outside.

“The Ducal family values records highly, Miss Melody.”

He said this as he moved through the rows of bookcases, with Melody naturally following behind him.

“Even records that seem meaningless can be valuable research material for an exceptional intellect who may change the era.”

“Even things like the weather?”

Melody recalled that many of the records she had transcribed mentioned the weather.

She had thought it a bit trivial.

“The weather is particularly important. It determines a lot.”

He stopped at a certain bookshelf. It was filled with notebooks similar to Melody’s, meticulously organized by region and period.

“I may not be an intellect who will change the era, but in some generation, such a person will surely emerge.”

The Ducal family has been preserving a variety of records according to certain rules for the sake of such future individuals.

“Neatly organized records of the past will definitely be helpful.”

He spoke with a somewhat resolute expression on his face.

“Well, then…”

He pointed to a section of the bookshelf. It seemed he meant for Melody to place the records she had diligently transcribed there.

Melody slid her notebook, filled with her time and effort, among the thick stack of other records.

A sense of pride welled up in her, feeling like she had accomplished something significant.

She would be truly happy if her records could assist some genius in the future.

“Do you know?”

“…?”

He leaned slightly on the bookshelf, bending forward a bit, bringing his face closer.

“If someone conducts research using the records you’ve left now, do you know what will be written at the end of their research paper?”

Melody shook her head, and he, as if he had been hoping for that, smiled gleefully.

“This research paper references records organized by Melody of the Baldwin Ducal Family…”

“What?”

“Of course, that’s assuming these records prove useful to someone.”

“But, I’m not Melody of the Baldwin Ducal Family?”

“Hmm, can’t help it. Once stored here, it’s recorded that way. If that bothers you so much…”

For some reason, he looked at Melody with a face like a white devil.

“You could always get married.”