I Raised an Obsessive Servant - Chapter 141

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The next morning. Yurina waited for Reynard in her room, holding a gift box that Marchioness Carthia had packed for Aunt Marie.

Reynard, who arrived a little later than usual, was dressed in black from head to toe. His usually messy hair was neatly combed back with some oil.

Seeing him, Yurina, who was happy and smiling, erased her smile at his tense and even reverent appearance. But when Reynard smiled first, she didn’t show any signs and smiled back.

“You’re a bit late today.”

“I had some things to get ready. But what’s that?”

Yurina, about to hand over the box he pointed out with his eyes, hesitated when she saw the basket in his hand.

“It’s a gift my mother prepared to thank Aunt Marie. My mom you a lot, you know. Maybe she’s very grateful to Aunt Marie for looking after you so you wouldn’t go wrong when you were young. It seems like she’s also thankful for managing your house till now.”

“Ah, I didn’t manage to prepare anything.”

“That’s why I did. But what’s with the basket?”

As far as she could see, the basket Reynard was carrying was the kind you take on a picnic packed with lunch. They had always bought lunch from the village they visited, so it was a little odd that he suddenly brought a picnic basket.

Reynard, who would normally explain in detail, shrugged his shoulders and didn’t say much.

Yurina didn’t know why he didn’t answer, but she didn’t rush him as she sensed various emotions seeping from his face.

Instead, she neatly combed his hair back once more.

“Shall we go then?”

“Just a minute.”

After looking at Reynard’s black clothes, Yurina placed the box on the sofa.

“I’m going to change my clothes and come out.”

“Clothes? The ones you’re wearing now are pretty.”

The clothes Yurina was wearing now was a simple ivory-colored dress with no decorations. It was a dress that couldn’t be complimented as pretty, even as an empty compliment, but it seemed that Reynard was quite smitten with her.

The look in his eyes, watching Yurina’s face, was so sweet it was as if honey was about to drop.

“I have a different dress I should wear. Just wait a moment.”

She called Betsy, who had been lingering outside, into the dressing room. Betsy, following Yurina’s instruction, took a black dress from the wardrobe. It was a dress she had packed just in case something like this happened.

Yurina didn’t say a word, but Betsy, who had sensed the atmosphere, helped her change her clothes with a gloomy face.

As she walked into the living room attached to her room wearing an elegant but simple black dress and neatly braided hair, Reynard, who was about to smile, closed his mouth tight.

Yurina picked up the gift box again and approached him.

“Let’s hurry.”

“…”

“We’re going to be late. Right?”

Without a word, Reynard hugged Yurina’s waist and nodded his head. At the same time, the surrounding mana stirred, and the scenery around them changed.

A wide field with a warm summer breeze and a red-roofed house came into view. It was Tom’s house.

Thanks to finding out the exact location of the house yesterday, the two were able to instantly teleport to the front of ‘Tom’s’ house.

“Shall we go to Aunt Marie first?”

As he watched Yurina lift the box in her arms, Reynard shook his head.

“I have a place I want to go before that.”

He took the box from Yurina’s hand, went inside the house, left the box, and came back out. But he was still holding the picnic basket he brought.

Before Yurina could express her confusion, he grabbed her hand and started walking across the field.

The weather was so nice that it was hard to believe it had been rainy season just a while ago. There were fluffy clouds in the sky, and the sunlight was dazzling. As they walked a bit further, they even came across a babbling stream.

‘This must be the river Reynard was talking about.’

Yurina followed Reynard closely, focusing on the cool sound of the water that made her feel refreshed just by listening.

When they had walked for about twenty minutes, unfamiliar scenery began to appear. What seemed to be a village cemetery, numerous tombstones were laid under a large alder tree.

Raynard, who hadn’t visited in a long time and whose memory might be hazy, stood in front of a tombstone on the right edge without any hesitation.

It was a particularly shabby tombstone that stood out among the small and monotonous ones of the impoverished rural neighborhood. However, it was taken care of cleaner than anything else, presumably managed by Aunt Marie.

Raynard took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped three tombstones.

Two were similar in shape and one was slightly different. Seeing this, Yurina realized that the tombstone of the different shape belonged to his biological mother, who had passed away first.

Despite being able to clean it with magic, Raynard bit his lip and wiped and wiped again.

Seeing sweat dripping down his chin and onto his neck, Yurina spread out the black parasol she had brought and covered his head. He was so focused that he didn’t even notice the shade over his head.

Even after wiping the tombstones enough to dirty the handkerchief, he looked at the tombstones with a dissatisfied expression. Then he tapped the tombstone with his fingertips. As bright light burst out, a splendid pattern began to engrave itself on the plain tombstone.

The three tombstones quickly transformed into something eye-catching. Only then did Raynard pick up the basket he had placed on the ground and look back at Yurina.

“These are my parents.”

“Yes.”

“When I was young, the tombstones looked very big, but now they look very small. Isn’t it so?”

Feeling as if she might cry, she closed her mouth and nodded her head. Raynard, who lightly kissed her on the lips, opened the basket and placed its contents in front of the tombstones.

Yurina quietly observed his actions.

What he brought was a beautiful bouquet of flowers and round bread that didn’t fit in with the cemetery at all. The rough yet solid bread looked similar to the bread that Raynard first ate when he came to the Carthia mansion.

“I’m here. I thought I wouldn’t be able to come again, but here I am.”

He muttered quietly to the tombstone and then gave a sheepish smile at Yurina.

“It feels really weird.”

“Say everything you wanted to say. I’ll listen here.”

“Um… I thought I had a lot to say, but now I can’t remember any of it. Ah…”

He gave a small sigh and looked down at the bread placed in front of the tombstone.

“Do you know? This is also bread. I didn’t even know this was bread. I thought bread was hard and chewy, but this one is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It’s delicious if you spread a lot of butter on it.”

His face, chewing on the bread like a hamster and spilling crumbs, came to mind. It was a long time ago, but it was still a vivid memory as it was their first shared meal.

Back then, he insisted that it wasn’t bread and screamed, but soon he ate the bread without even listening to Yurina’s words.

Just a piece of bread. He ate a lot of fine food in the Carthia mansion, but it was so precious to him that it was the first thing he remembered.

“As you can see, I’m doing well. I’ve tried everything I wanted to do, learned magic, and no longer get scolded for my eyes. I’ll soon receive a noble title. I’ve also met someone special.”

At the phrase ‘someone special’, he squeezed Yurina’s hand tightly. His voice was calm, but his cold hand that was in contact with hers was trembling.

“So if you were worried, please don’t be. I’ll continue to do well in the future.”

Feeling Yurina’s warmth, Raynard took a deep breath through his nose to control his emotions. He thought he had been holding up well, but strangely, his emotions surged and the face of his forgotten father appeared in his mind.

However, he wouldn’t say he loves him. It couldn’t be said that there was a strong bond or love between him and his father, even as an empty word.

He wouldn’t say thank you either. His father had cared for him enough that he didn’t starve, but he was a father who had also hurt him.

But there was something he really wanted to say.

“I miss you, Father.”

The faint smell of earth from your black hands after farm work seems to brush against my nose.

Your gruff admonition that people would look down on me if I laughed too much is unusually missed today.

I just miss everything about you.

Raynard, who had been staring at the tombstone for a while, let go of all his emotions and smiled sincerely.

“I’ll visit from time to time.”

Then he started to walk back the way he had come with Yurina. Yurina looked back at the tombstone over her shoulder. Under the brilliant golden sunlight, the bread and bouquet of flowers were shining like precious treasures.

* * *

Raynard, who returned to the red-roofed house, completely shook off his melancholy mood and regained his energy.

Even though Aunt Marie occasionally comes to clean, the house was in disarray and covered in dust as no one lived there. However, he cleaned the house with the magic.

The house became clean as if it was new. There were also the furniture, bedding, and utensils he used before he left. Although they looked too worn out to be used, they looked like new after he cast a spell. It seemed there would be no problem using them right now.

“We can use it as our cottage. If we put preservation magic, it will stay clean without dust even if we visit occasionally.”

Raynard, who smiled satisfied, sat Yurina on the brown sofa that had returned to its original color.

“Wait here for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Before Yurina could say anything, he swiftly went outside.

A moment later, he returned with a basket full of large potatoes. Upon closer inspection, there was also a piece of cheese the size of a fist on top of the potatoes that were covered with dirt as they were not washed.

Yurina got up from her place and followed him into the kitchen.

“What’s that?”

“Potatoes.”

“No, I know they’re potatoes, but why potatoes all of a sudden?”

He pushed the basket towards her puzzled face. The unique smell of soil wafted from the basket.

The potatoes were mostly bigger than Yurina’s fist, some were even larger than Raynard’s fist. Even though they were raw and uncooked, they strangely looked delicious.

Was it because she was hungry?

“I’ll cook lunch today.”

“Lunch? Here?”

With nothing?

Did he notice her unspoken words, but Raynard laughed while shaking the basket. The soil that fell on Yurina’s skirt was cleanly handled with magic.

“Here it is. I got some from Aunt Marie. Although it’s not as tasty as our homegrown potatoes, Aunt Marie’s potatoes are also delicious. I feel a bit sorry that I can’t show you the potatoes I grew myself.”

“Do you know how to cook?”

“Of course.”

He spoke confidently, but Yurina was somewhat skeptical of his words. While Raynard had lived alone after losing his family, that was all a long time ago.

When he came to the Carthia mansion, he was twelve years old, and since then, he lived as luxuriously as any noble. He only ate meals cooked by others, he had never cooked himself.

He would’ve had meals in the cafeteria or restaurant at the academy, so there’s no way he could cook.

Yurina frowned slightly imagining what kind of strange dish would come out of these potatoes, doubting whether she could trust Raynard.

Seeing her disbelief, Raynard teased her by lightly flicking her furrowed nose with his finger.

“Don’t worry. I can boil potatoes incredibly well.”

His excessive confidence was a bit baffling.

“That’s something anyone can do. Can you call that cooking?”