How To Save A Time-limited Young Master - Chapter 12

“He’s in his room.”

“What’s wrong? He’s not playing?”

“He said that he wanted to rest today.”

At his words, Heloise’s face distorted strangely.

Zenon Lionerik is resting?

‘Yeah, well, he is a patient…’

He should be resting because he’s a patient, but Heloise couldn’t help but find those words strange.

It sounded ridiculous that a tyrant-like kid, who controlled the other children as he pleased with rewards, would have to rest in his room quietly due to his poor condition.

“Please show me the way to his room.”

“Understood.”

Now, the master suite of this mansion was like her own courtyard, but she had to obey the rules of etiquette and decorum, and allow the butler to guide her.

The butler moved at a faster pace to knock on the door, perhaps wanting to announce Heloise’s arrival as soon as possible.

There wasn’t any response from the room.

“Young Master, Young Lady Lorca has arrived. May I open the door?”

“What?”

A brief silence in the room followed the soft voice.

Afterwards, crash! There was a sound of something falling, and the door suddenly opened.

Zenon, who opened the door personally, looked the same as usual.

With snow white skin and red lips, clear blue-gray eyes, a light and soft cardigan on his shoulders, and the slight shadow underneath his eyes.

If a difference had to be pointed out, unlike his usual neatly combed hair, the hair at the back of his head was sticking out like a person that had just woken up.

Heloise strode forward and combed the hair that was sticking out with her fingers.

It was annoying to her eyes, but it returned back to its original state as soon as she combed through it.

Zenon was startled and slapped her hand away, and took three steps back after finding out that she was combing his hair.

“Hello, Young Lord.”

When Heloise raised her hand with a sweet smile, Zenon’s eyes widened with a flustered face.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“…….”

Zenon’s stupefied expression was quite amusing, and his earlobe turned red when Heloise burst into laughter.

His snow white face remained the same, but with only his earlobe was red as if it was on fire.

The butler coughed dryly, and was about to close the door and leave after saying, “Have fun.”

“Ah, wait a minute.”

Heloise caught the butler.

“Yes?”

“My maid, Emma, has a request for you, so please serve it soon.”

“A request? I’m not sure, but I’ll get to it right away.”

“Thank you.”

After Heloise sent him off with a faint smile, Zenon approached immediately, seemingly curious about it.

She didn’t miss that moment and grabbed Zenon’s shoulder suddenly.

“Why did you turn me away on Wednesday?”

“……What?”

“You drove me out of the Langbert Mansion.”

“But you came.”

Was Heloise’s mistakened to say that the tone of Zenon’s quick response sounded a little awkward?

“I had a hard time coming here because of that. I didn’t know that you’d be in pain when you used magic. I didn’t know that, and just liked it without being sensible… I’m so sorry.”

“The pain is the same whether I use it or not.”

“What do you mean by the same? Didn’t you suffer a lot?”

“I can’t live long even if I don’t use magic, so what’s the point of cutting back on it?”

A deep emptiness could be felt from Zenon, who spoke cynically, at first glance.

“You’ve also heard about it, right? The fact that I won’t live for more than a few years.”

“……”

“Rather than holding back my power in order to live for a few more months, isn’t it better to use it as I please and live comfortably?”

Was that the reason behind Zenon Lionerlk’s self-destructive behaviour?

“I didn’t want you to come over as I didn’t want to show you an unsightly appearance. In the future, don’t come over for two days after I use magic.”

“I don’t want to.”

When Heloise, who was listening to Zenon’s words uncomfortably, replied defiantly, Zenon asked again like he was bewildered.

“What?”

It was time for Heloise to counter. A knock on the door came just in time.

“Young Master, Miss. Would you mind for a moment? The soup that you’d requested has arrived.”

“Soup?”

“Come on in.”

Zenon questioned her, but Heloise, who was the guest, allowed him to enter the room.

The maid brought by Heloise, Emma, dragged a trolley with a dome into the room.

“Fortunately, he lent me the kitchen.”

After making eye contact with Zenon, Emma smiled awkwardly and spoke to Heloise.

There was no way that such a spacious mansion couldn’t lend her a kitchen, so she was probably just saying it.

The fragrant scent of apples was already beginning to leak out from gaps in the silver dome.

Zenon frowned slightly as he didn’t know what she had brought.

“What’s this?”

“I brought this. It’s what I have always eaten whenever I was sick.”

Emma lifted the dome’s lid. The thin apple soup was contained within a white tea set, and a green mint decorated the middle.

Heloise spoke proudly as if she was the one that made the dish.

“Give it a try. It’s really good. Our head chef’s skills are amazing.”

“This…Why did you bring this?”

“Isn’t the Young Lord ill? When I ate this when I’m sick, I would get better really quickly, so I brought it over.”

This was originally her nanny’s recipe. When her nanny was young and weak, her nanny’s grandmother would always make her apple soup.

Over time, the recipe was passed down to the nanny and to Heloise’s head chef, and became the soup that Heloise would eat whenever she’s ill.

She would always feel full when she eats it, and she liked it because of the fragrant scent and the mint that gives a refreshing taste.

In addition, this soup was distinct in that it wasn’t eaten hotly, but lukewarmly with a slight coolness.

Heloise placed a spoon in Zenon’s hand excitedly.

“Please have some.”

“You eat this?”

“Yes, I brought it especially for the Young Lord.”

Zenon’s expression became suspicious when she emphasised the word ‘especially’.

For some reason, he seemed a little flattered.

He pretended that he couldn’t win, and scooped up a mouthful, before suddenly pretending to throw it up.

“Gross.”

“What’s wrong? Does it taste bad?

“It tastes like toothpaste.”

“It’s the scent of mint. Isn’t it fragrant?”

“It’s weird.”

Sullen at the way he criticised her favourite apple soup, Heloise snatched the spoon away from Zenon.

“Don’t eat it if you don’t like it.”

“When did I say I didn’t like it?”

But Heloise, who did not give in to him, asked one question after another.

“When did your illness start? Ever since you were young?

“I don’t remember.”

“I don’t think you have been sickly since you were young.”

“I’m not sick right now.”

Zenon was furious, but Heloise only snorted.

Would a kid that would fall ill for two whole days after a little usage of magic, not be considered sickly?

Even so, feelings of pity rose in her heart.

It was because she couldn’t begin to guess the feelings of a kid that kicks out his only playmate in order to hide his condition, as if having to suffer alone without his parents wasn’t enough.

“What exactly is wrong with you?”

“Why? Would you fix it if you knew?”

Returning back to his original pace, Zenon snorted and spoke jokingly.

At that, Heloise nodded.

“If it’s something that I can fix, then there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.”

“You’re such a good speaker.”

“So, what’s wrong with you? I saw you grabbing your chest then, does your chest hurt?”

“……”

He didn’t answer, but Heloise realised that she was, to a certain extent, close to the correct answer.

“In any case, there’s no point in hiding right? The Young Lord hides it so well that it has become a mask.”

But the response from Zenon was out of nowhere.

“Don’t be like that and call me Zenon.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s because I call you Heloise, too. You don’t have to use honorifics.”

“…….”

Perplexed by his sudden remark, Heloise nodded her head in a momentary daze.

At that, Zenon stood up with a satisfied face, like he was going to finish the conversation like that.

Heloise grabbed the hem of his shirt hurriedly.

“I, no, I know everything about you.”

[T/N: the first ‘I’ was spoken formally, whereas the second ‘I’ was spoken informally.]

“What do you know?”

Zenon was about to stand up, but he found this more interesting and asked.

“I know that you’re good at drawing, that you read a lot so you know a lot of stories, that it hurts when you use magic, and that you don’t like mint flavour.”

“You do know a lot.”

“Do you know this much about me?”

“…….”

Zenon was unable to answer. Heloise grinned at him.

“From now on, let’s meet and chat like this on the days when you’re sick. In that case, we can meet even if you aren’t feeling energetic.”

“And listen to your boring bean story again?”

[T/N: ‘bean story’ referring to Korean Cinderella. It was mentioned before in chapter 5.]

“That’s not it, don’t you want to know more about me? Shouldn’t you know as much about me as I do you? Let’s exchange stories. It means to share stories with each other.”

Zenon’s eyes widened slightly, as it seems to be the first time he’s hearing such words.

“I like apple soup. As you’ve witnessed previously, I’m not that good at drawing. And also, my body is very healthy.”

“What is it that you want to hear from me?”

“Where does it hurt when you use mana? Until now, I still regret leaving you to fall asleep foolishly that day.”

At that, Zenon’s eyes shook out of confusion.

Zenon’s reply came after a long period of silence.

“……Heart.”

He was unwilling to answer till the end, but under Heloise’s persistence and stubbornness, he finally gave an answer.

“My heart hurts, like it’s being squeezed.”