Things to Do During the Day - Chapter 12

Side Story 3: A Story Arsion Doesn’t Know

“Ah, ahh, ahh, achoo!”

Ariel’s older sister sneezed loudly. Ariel’s mother then looked at her eldest daughter with worry-filled eyes.

“I heard the flu is going around in the capital these days. Did you catch it?”

“No! It’s because mom sprinkled too much pepper on top of the potato soup!”

Ariel’s sister grumbled and lifted a spoon. Then Ariel, who was sitting next to her, made an ‘Ahhh’ sound and opened her mouth wide. She was also asking for a bite, so Ariel’s older sister lifted a spoon full of soup and put it in Ariel’s mouth.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes! Delicious!”

Ariel’s mother struck Ariel on the back with her hand.

“You! I made this for your sister. How can you eat all of it!”

Ariel then grumbled as if it was unfair.

“You gave some to my sister! Why don’t you give some to me?”

“It’s because your sister works hard outside and can’t eat properly. Every time you go to the main house, you get to sit next to the young master and eat till you’re full, so why are you even aiming for your sister’s soup after coming home?!”

Ariel covered her ears with her hands as if she could not hear her mother’s nagging and opened her mouth toward her sister again. She was signaling that she wanted another bite.

“Don’t be fooled! Ariel had lunch an hour ago!”

The sound of Ariel’s back getting slapped rang once again in Ariel’s house.

* * *

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

Ariel rolled around on her sister’s bed while holding a cushion. Growing up, they had fought a lot, but Ariel only had her as an older sister. When Ariel was very young and was living in the countryside, before entering the dukedom, her sister was the only one who kicked the boys who bullied Ariel.

A few months ago, her sister left the house, announcing her departure.

Her sister opened a jewelry store with her friend at the end of the street, where all the boutiques were gathered. Due to her sister having dexterous hands, orders flooded in as soon as the store was opened, so as a result, her sister rarely returned home.

“How’s the store? You said you were busy.”

“I’m still busy, but as my mom said, the flu has gone around, and the number of customers has decreased. That’s why I can come home this time. Oh, this is a gift.”

Her sister rummaged through her bag and held out a book to Ariel. The cover, wrapped in a pink cloth, was engraved with a title with gold and silver foil that were so bright that it hurt her eyes. Ariel narrowed her eyes and read the title.

“Making Wishes Come True…… Magic Spells……?”

‘Oh, isn’t that a strange title?’

“Sister, I’m not a child, what kind of book…….”

“It contains spells that make your love come true, and spells that allow you to see the face of your future husband.”

“……Thank you very much for buying me this.”

Ariel knelt down and bowed politely. Seeing this, her sister clicked her tongue and continued her explanation.

“It’s the most popular book in the capital these days. I even had to pre-purchased it to get it.”

“Why? Does it really work?”

“Well …… they said it was true and real when they tried it. Of course I don’t believe it, but Ariel, you like this kind of thing.”

As her sister said, Ariel liked this kind of thing. Horoscopes, personality tests according to the birth month, birth flower, birthstone, etc. Their mother grumbled and didn’t believe in such superstitions, but where’s the fun in that!

Ariel clasped the book she received from her sister.

“Wow……”

When she opened the book, she saw many complex shapes. It was most commonly called a magic circle. A long time ago, when there were angels on this earth, it was said that such a magic circle had real power. However, now it’s just a picture. Still, people believed in these mystical powers and drew these things.

“Let’s see…… Magic spells to curse the people you hate…….”

Why was it starting with something so scary?

Thinking so, Ariel’s eyes read the book diligently.

“Keuk!”

Then her sister coughed again. Ariel closed the book and looked at her sister.

“Did you catch a cold too?”

“Really? But I’ve never caught a cold before. It’s not just me, but our family doesn’t catch colds very often.”

“Even so…….”

Ariel’s family, as her sister said, did not catch the cold. Not only the cold, but also the memories of the times had been sick in her life could be counted with her hands.

Even if it hurt a little, it would heal quickly, they didn’t get any illnesses, and bones would not break, and when they were scratched or cut somewhere, they healed much faster than others. Their mother said she was glad that the family’s medical bills were small thanks to their strong constitution.

Ariel crawled to the edge of the bed and placed her hand on her sister’s forehead, who was sitting on the chair.  Her warm forehead touched Ariel’s palm.  Then her sister closed her eyes as if she felt good.

“Ariel, your hands are cool.”

“Really?

Ariel touched her sister’s forehead with her own hands. A long time later, her sister, as if puzzled,  said.

“I stopped coughing.”

“Oh, you really did.”

Her sister’s breath, which had been coughing several times, became smooth. And the heat on her forehead disappeared. Perplexed by why it disappeared, Ariel’s sister touched her own forehead. Then, she got up from her seat.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“My friend is watching the store alone. She seems to have caught the cold too, so I have to tell her to go home. I’ll quietly leave out the back door so keep it a secret from mom. As soon as she arrives, she’ll be sure to say something…?”

At that, Ariel jumped up and went downstairs and told her mother.

“Mom, she’s going back early! She’s already dressed!”

“Stop talking nonsense and tell her to eat her dinner!”

“Hey Ariel, you can’t just tell our mother! If you’re going to do this, give me back the book I just gave you!”

The cry of the betrayed older sister and the sound of Ariel’s footsteps running away with a giggling laugh echoed through the house for a long time.

* * *

Thanks to Ariel’s snitch, her sister could not go back until she finished eating her dinner and snacks. When her older sister was on the carriage, she told Ariel to just wait and see, but Ariel shamelessly waved her hand and asked her sister to buy a romance novel next time.

The next day, Ariel headed to the main house. Today was the day Arsion returned from a land inspection with the duke. So, she was thinking of drawing the most mysterious magic circle out of the book with him.

Just as she arrived at the main building, she saw the duke’s carriage reach the doorstep just in time. Ariel stood in front of the mansion with the servants who came to greet him.

The carriage stopped, and the butler approached and opened the door, and Duke Hastings got off from inside the carriage.

“Your Grace!”

Ariel waved out of joy. She thought he would greet her as happily as always, but when he saw Ariel, the Duke shook his hand as if he wanted her to stay away.

“Duke?”

“Ariel, stay away from us. Oh, and the same goes for you guys.”

Everyone looked at the duke in surprise.

“Me and Arsion too…… No, most of the people I’ve been with have a cold. I heard that the flu is going around these days, and I think I’ve caught it as well.”

Everyone took a step back at his words.

“Ariel, I’m sorry, but please go back home today. I don’t think Arsion can say hello, because he fell asleep after taking medicine.”

“Yes…”

Meanwhile, the butler carried Arsion from the carriage. Ariel’s heart sank when she saw Arsion’s red, sleeping face. It was probably due to the fever.

‘You must be very sick.’

It was the first time she had seen him suffer so much ever since she knew him. She wondered how dire it is outside for Arsion to become like this. Seeing the back of Arsion entering the main house, Ariel powerlessly turned back.

“It’s snowing again…….”

When she looked up, the darkened sky began to drop snowflakes one by one. Judging from the momentum of the downpour, it was clear that the world would turn white once again.

Back home, Ariel lay on her bed and opened the book her sister gave her. Ariel, who had been turning pages for a long time, suddenly jumped to her feet.

“A magic spell that can heal the sick?”

No, there must be something that could help in moments like this. Ariel concentrated on reading the page.

And 10 hours later.

“Ugh… It’s cold.”

Ariel was standing in the snowy backyard with a long branch in her hand. Even with her scarf, earplugs, and gloves and all her preparation, the midnight wind still pierced her clothes like a blade.

Ariel sniffed and pulled out the piece of paper from her pocket.

“The bigger you draw, the greater the effect…….”

What was drawn on the paper was the “magic circle that can heal the sick”, which was seen during the day. Ariel recalled the contents of the book. Think about the person who you want to get better in your mind and draw the circle all over the house and they would be healed. And draw it as big as possible. There was an explanation that it was more effective if you drew it around the house.

Ariel drew a magic circle along the piled up snow with the branch in her hand. Fortunately, the sky stopped snowing, and the clouds receded, and there was a bright moon. Thanks to the moonlight, the midnight sun glowed white.

“One of them for now.”

Even though she drew it quite big, it looked quite small from afar.

“Will this help Sion get better…?”

After drawing about three, Ariel muttered helplessly. It didn’t seem like Arsion would get better faster with just a few circles like this.

Ariel looked up and looked at the main house. It was a dreadfully wide mansion. It was almost impossible to draw a magic circle around the house exactly as stated in the book.

Ariel’s face was clouded as she looked at the main building. Arsion’s room was brightly lit. It seemed the caregivers came and went because he was sick.

Ariel, who had been looking at Arsion’s room for a long time, tightened the hands that were holding the branch as if she had made up her mind. Then she started walking with the branches on the snowy ground.

Walk, walk, walk. When Ariel passed the main building, she changed direction and walked again. And again. And again.

“Hah, hah…”

Sweat dripped down her forehead even though it was a cold winter night. Ariel looked back at the path she had walked. One couldn’t see it in detail from where she stood, but if someone were to climb on top of the roof of the main building, one would see that a huge magic circle had now been drawn around the main building.

Ariel looked up at the sky. She could see the bright full moon and the floating stars. They said it would come true if you pray to the goddess with all your heart at night. Then…

Ariel politely put her hands together and closed her eyes.

“Please don’t let Sion get sick.”

Words full of sincerity flowed out. Ariel stood like that for a long time and prayed to the sky.

After praying for a long time, Ariel went home. When she quietly entered the back door and went up to her room, she suddenly felt so tired that she couldn’t stand.

“Yawn……”

The moment she fell onto the bed, her eyes quickly closed. It felt like all the strength from her body was being drained away, so Ariel quickly fell asleep on the bed.

At the same time, a golden light revolved around the duke’s garden. The golden light stretched rapidly along the line drawn on the snow. As soon as the light returned to the place where it had started, the entire mansion was covered in gold.

It happened very quickly and happened so deep into the night, so only the owl in the forest who couldn’t sleep witnessed it.

* * *

The next day, Arsion woke up feeling fine, as if he had never been ill. Arsion was not the only one. People who went on the inspection together and caught a cold had completely healed overnight.

Everyone said it was all strange, and while they were chatting that it went well, the stable keeper came into the mansion, shaking his head as if he could not understand what had happened.

“What’s the matter with your expression?”

“That’s amazing. Isn’t there a horse that broke his leg a while ago?”

“Oh, you mean the guy who fell into a mole hole and broke it?”

Yes, his leg is healed, hasn’t it? Obviously he was severely limp until last night, so I thought he would never be able to run again. I couldn’t believe it when I went to the stable this morning, he stomped his feet and asked for food, so I looked at his leg, and it’s as strong as when it was before it broke.”

Then a maid who was managing the chicken house came in. She spoke out with a surprised face.

“Oh my God, do you remember those chicks that were born a few days ago? It was so cold that I thought they were dead. However, when I went to the chicken house this morning, they were running around with the mother hen. That’s great.”

“It’s amazing. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping lately because of back and neck pain, but when I woke up today, everything was gone.”

“My eyes have been dim lately, but I can see everything clearly this morning. I guess I don’t have to wear my glasses anymore.”

“Me too….”

“And me….”

Ariel was fast asleep when everyone in the mansion was so amazed.

“What did she do last night that made her sleep so soundly?”

Ariel’s mother sighed and left the room at the sight of her daughter who wouldn’t wake up even if she was shaken. There was nothing urgent anyway, so it was okay to sleep in like this from time to time.

Bright sunlight poured into the quiet room. With the sound of flapping wings from afar, white feathers fluttered and disappeared in Ariel’s room with a golden light.

It was the first time in a long time that God’s power was granted on human land.

《Things to Do During the Day, END of Side Stories》

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Well, that’s all! Here are some love notes from the team who worked on it!

Hope you enjoyed this novel as much as we did. When I discovered there was a sequel for Arsion and Ariel I couldn’t wait to share it with others! Thanks so much for joining and reading along with their adorable love stories.

—Anonymous Translator

Thank you very much for reading and supporting us. I hope this sequel didn’t let you down too much. There are some parts of the sequel that let me down, and I am sure they let you down too. However, overall, I hope you enjoyed the series.

—Soru, Proofreader

Hope everyone enjoyed the ride in this novel series! I enjoyed it a lot and felt so happy and satisfied to share it with everyone! Thank you so much for reading along with us and supporting all the members who worked hard on this novel! Shout out to our Anonymous Translator, our Proofreader Soru, and our Proofreader/Quality checker AME, who have been working super hard in making sure to get the chapters out for everyone to read!

—Selene, Quality Checker

I think Anon, Soru and Selene said everything I wanted to say! Glad that we are able to get both <Things to Do at Night> and <Things to Do During the Day> done in less than a year. Please do support the author for writing these cute stories! We’ll be picking up another short cute snu novel soon, do keep a look out!

—Ame, Proofreader/Quality Checker