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Chapter 67 Part 1 – A minuet to be remembered. In the memories of happiness, Rona blames herself and wails.

「…… Nooooo!! Don’t look!! Please don’t look!!」

The scream of the half-naked Rona resounded.

The stunned Wendell stood frozen.
There was a bouquet of red roses in his hand with nowhere to go.

Rona’s white skin and brunette hair caught his eye.
Her arms, legs, and shoulders were too thin to be called a woman. It looked like branches.
Her protruding ribs and spine were painful to look at.

It was an unfortunate accident that happened due to rushing too much.

「…… Young master, please wait. Right now, Rona is taking a bath ……」

Rushing to catch up with Wendell, the brown-bearded Bill realized that it was already too late. He covered his face with one hand and looked up to the ceiling.

When Wendell returned from the morning market, he was pleased to hear from Bill that Rona had woken up.
He hurried to Rona’s side and didn’t pay attention to what Bill was shouting behind him.

Wendell had stayed beside Rona, who had been in a coma all night long.
In the end, he got admonished by Marielle and was told to take a short nap and was kicked out.
But he was so worried that he couldn’t sleep.
So he decided to at least make Rona’s bedside gorgeous and went to the market and bought some roses.

He then entered the room as if he were visiting a patient who had woken up in the hospital room and fell into this situation.

This is Marielle’s bedroom.
A small bathtub was brought in here and Marielle helped wash Rona’s hair and body.
It is a common practice in this kingdom to take a bath in the private bedroom as part of one’s personal grooming.
However, the secondary residence in Wilhelm’s domain where Wendell lives has a separate bathroom, which is rare in this kingdom.
Having grown up there, Wendell was bewildered and surprised at this situation where she is taking a bath inside the bedroom.

On top of that, Rona, who was wrapped in a towel, had jumped out of the bathtub for some reason.
While screaming, 「Don’t look!」
Then she tried to cover the bathtub.
The towel fell to the floor, exposing her buttocks, but Rona was so frantic that she didn’t even notice that.

Wendell was so confused and shocked with the whole situation.
He even forgot to have the decency of averting his eyes.

Unable to just watch without doing anything, Marielle took her bathrobe and tried to hide Rona’s naked body.
Even so, Rona still tried to use that bathrobe to cover the bathtub.

In the end, Rona plopped down on the floor and began to sob.
Wendell realized that he had hurt her heart badly and was dismayed.

「…… I’m sorry. I’ll apologize properly later. I’m really sorry. Here, if you don’t mind.」

He placed the bouquet of roses on the side table next to him and rushed out of the room.
His mannerisms lacked splendor and his monotonous phrases were no different from the boys at his age.
He bumped his little finger against the corner of the door.
It was a clumsy sight that the calm Wendell rarely showed. It was noticeable how shaken he was.

「Sorry. It’s my fault for not telling him clearly. Please don’t think badly of the young master. He stayed by your side throughout the night. He was just too happy to hear that you had woken up.」

The brown-bearded Bill sighed and then followed after Wendell.
He closed the door behind him.

「…… What a bunch of careless guys. I can’t believe they suddenly barged into my bedroom. Well, the fault lies with them, but it was the young master who saved Rona-chan. I hope you can somehow forgive him. I understand that it’s a shock to have your naked body seen …… The young master looked very sorry about that.」

Marielle stroked Rona’s trembling shoulders as she spoke.
Rona suddenly looked like she was about to cry.

「…… That’s not it!! I …… I feel ashamed to let him see this dirty water!! I just didn’t want him to think that I’m a filthy woman ……!! What should I do …… I didn’t mean to do that.」

Rona looked as heartbroken as if it were the end of the world.

Marielle immediately understood her thoughts.

Marielle had Rona sit in an empty bathtub.
She washed Rona carefully while pouring warm water from a water jug ​​she held with one hand.

Rona had no lice or fleas despite living in poverty.
It could be seen that she likes to be clean.
Nonetheless, in a life where it’s hard for her to even take a bath, her skin and hair were covered in blood and dirt. The warm water mixed with soap quickly turned a color that was a mix of rust and dirt.
Rona didn’t want Wendell to see the dirty water that had accumulated up to her knees in the bathtub.

「…… I see. That’s why you hid the bathtub, instead of your body. In the end, Rona-chan is a girl. I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention to that.」

Marielle looked fondly at Rona.
She liked her girlish shyness.
A truly impoverished girl wouldn’t think that way.
Maybe this girl was not poor from the start.
The elegance of the girl shows up here and there.

「…… I have to apologize to that person ……!!」

Rona made up her mind, bit her lip, and was about to run out while just wearing a bathrobe.

「Wait a minute. You’re a bit impetuous, aren’t you? Why don’t you go apologize later after you’ve become a lot prettier.」

Marielle grabbed Rona’s hand and stopped her.
She felt herself becoming more and more attached to Rona.

「…… Am I …… still dirty ……」

Rona stopped and looked down with a tearful look on her face.
Her rapidly changing facial expressions were just like a kaleidoscope and looked captivating.
Rona was earnest, yet fragile. Making Marielle want to help her.

‘…… It really can’t be helped. This child is a natural woman killer.’

Marielle smiled wryly inside her heart and tightly hugged Rona, not minding getting wet.

「I-I’m wet, so ……」

The thin, struggling body seemed to be prone to breaking. It seems that Rona hasn’t been eating properly.
Marielle felt a surge of pity for her.

「I wouldn’t do this to a dirty child. I’m a complete stranger, but will you trust me and let me take care of you? I won’t do anything bad.」

Marielle decided to force her way through.
Sensitive girls like Rona are often too reserved to other people.
She knew from experience that sometimes it is better to be straightforward when showing kindness so that it’s hard for her to refuse it.

Marielle rolled up her sleeves enthusiastically and continued to wash Rona’s body.
Marielle, who came from the〈Lawless Crew〉, was frighteningly strong, despite her graceful appearance. She easily supported a jug full of warm water with one hand and thoroughly cleaned Rona’s body.

For Rona, who lives in poverty, it was an incredible luxury to use such an abundance of warm water to clean herself. There was even a fragrant soap.
Moreover, she was bathing in front of a fireplace with brightly lit flames.

Marielle’s bed in the back has a canopy.
Lace hangs softly from it like a bride’s veil.
The sheer brilliance of the furnishings in this bedroom is dazzling.
Rona felt like she was floating inside a dream and she couldn’t settle down.

「U-Um ……」

Seeing Rona’s hesitation, Marielle smiled and pushed through her opposition.

Rona finally gives up her resistance and surrenders her body to Marielle.
They are so close together that Marielle’s soft breasts were in contact with Rona’s body. Rona could smell the fragrance coming from Marielle.
Rona became very conscious of her chicken-bones-like body.
Even though it was too late, she realized that she had exposed her thin body to Wendell.
Rather than feeling embarrassed, she felt shameful and sad.

「…… Such an unsightly body …… that person saw it …… I’m sure he thought it was disgusting.」

Marielle encouraged the depressed Rona.

「Don’t worry. Rona-chan is beautiful. You just don’t know how to polish yourself yet. Look, you have beautiful brunette hair. It will shine even brighter after I comb it later. Now, let’s finish you up with the final touch.」

The spot touched by Marielle became warm and fuzzy.
Rona stopped feeling nervous and tense.
The effect was remarkable.
She could feel her pale cheeks turning pink.

「Are you surprised? It’s called blood control. Without it, your degree of recovery would be extremely different. But if I went public with it, I’d be treated as a heretic. Please keep it a secret.」

Marielle winked.

Rona doesn’t know much about medical treatment.
But she was well aware that she was so seriously wounded that she was about to die.
Which is why she decided to die so that she would not be a burden to her younger brothers.
But now, the pain is all gone, as if it never happened.
Her body feels light as if the heavy mud had been removed.
It was as if her body was back to the state it was before she sold her body.
She was told that only one day had passed since then.
Even a court physician would not be able to perform such a miracle.
Rona became increasingly frightened at the thought of how valuable Marielle’s medical skills were.

「…… Um, Marielle-san …… Why are you so nice to someone like me? I don’t have the money to pay for this amazing treatment.」

Rona timidly said. While apologizing inside her heart.
She hated herself for lying to a nice person like Marielle.
But still, she wants to leave the money she got from selling her body to her younger brothers.
She couldn’t give it to Marielle.