YDPTB Chapter 57

As I walked forward, my body staggered from the recoil of my captured wrist. I opened my eyes wide and looked down to see Karhan’s thick hand gripping me tightly like a shackle, not letting go. When I looked up at him with curved eyebrows, I could see his mouth corners slightly lower than usual.

“Karhan?”

As I called his name carefully with my eyebrows strangely curved, he put more strength into the hand holding my wrist. His hot palm, which was moving nervously, crept up my wrist. His lips, which had been tightly pressed in a straight line, parted.

“…Cookies.”

“Cookies…? Ah.”

Right. I need to give Karhan cookies too. I brought one each for Doel and Karhan, but I forgot. I took out the cookies I had kept in my chest. I put the cookies that appeared with a rustling sound on Karhan’s hand.

“Here. Enjoy these.”

You can eat them with Doel too. Doel ate them very well.

I swallowed the last words with effort and finished with a smile. Even after receiving the cookies, Karhan didn’t let go of my wrist, as if he had more to say. What is it? I tilted my head and looked at Karhan’s face. His straight nose bridge caught my attention.

How long had we been looking into each other’s eyes like that? The large hand that had been like a Venus flytrap slowly loosened its grip, and then completely let go. There was no time to ask what was wrong. Karhan tore the package fiercely and started devouring it quickly like an angry bull. No, why is he acting like this again? I couldn’t hide my confusion at Karhan’s uncharacteristic behavior.

In less than a few seconds, the package that had been full of cookies was crumpled small in Karhan’s hand with a rustling sound. This guy was even worse than Doel.

“Uh…”

I couldn’t continue speaking and just stared blankly at it. Karhan, who had hidden his carelessly clenched fist behind his back, opened his mouth softly.

“It’s delicious.”

“Y-yes… it’s delicious…”

Was it so delicious that he forgot about eating with Doel…? I examined Karhan’s face with slightly tired eyes. And I could see cookie powder stuck to the corners of his mouth. Karhan, who always ate food neatly, had somehow gotten the remains of the gloriously fallen cookies all over his mouth.

They say lovers start to resemble each other, but they’ve picked up this habit. What a way to show off. Thinking that even Karhan couldn’t be stopped in the face of love, I smiled slightly and reached out my hand. I can’t let him wander the corridors in this state, being a duke and all.

“Was it that delicious?”

“Yes.”

“We should give an award to whoever made these.”

I raised my heels and gently brushed off the corners of Karhan’s mouth. Looking at his lips this closely was quite novel, as it was the first time since I learned how to become a bird from Lyras. His tightly closed lips were spread refreshingly. They looked somewhat pale but still lively.

Even looking at it up close, Karhan’s face didn’t have a single angular corner. Just like a novel protagonist. How can even his lips be so handsome? It would be perfect if only his slightly irritated brow would relax.

I raised my hand that had been brushing his lips and pressed my thumb firmly on Karhan’s brow. At that, his silver-gray eyes, which had been shining indifferently, blinked. I burst into giggles at the sight.

“They say if you frown too much, you’ll get wrinkles early. So keep it relaxed.”

I smiled contentedly and lowered my heels to the ground. I wasn’t sure exactly how old Karhan was, but judging by his appearance, he didn’t look that old. He shouldn’t get wrinkles at such a young age.

Having delivered cookies to both of them and finished my task, I really needed to return to my room now. I waved my hand gently again to say goodbye and turned around.

As I walked slowly, I heard no sound from behind. For some reason, I felt a twinge in a corner of my heart. Am I hungry…? Come to think of it, while Doel and Karhan each demolished a package of cookies, I had only eaten one. I should hurry back and finish the cookies I left on the bed.

Just in case, before completely leaving the training grounds, I looked back to see Karhan standing still in the same spot. Just as I had watched Doel go, Karhan had watched me.

At that sight, I smiled mischievously, squinting my eyes. I raised my hand high once more to wave goodbye.

🐤

The cookies that were delivered to me disappeared in the blink of an eye. As I often brought them to Doel and Karhan, I soon didn’t have enough left for myself. Although I felt quite regretful looking at the suddenly empty box, it was fine since they both enjoyed them.

With a satisfied smile, I lifted the blanket holding two packages of cookies. Then I quietly laid them down in the corner next to the pillow and covered them again with the thick blanket.

Those ghostly fellows. How do they know how many are left and keep asking for more? Tsk, I clicked my tongue softly.

After safely hiding the cookies, I changed my clothes. It seems Karhan wasn’t just making empty promises when he said he’d help me exercise, as he sent workout clothes through a servant, saying to meet at the training grounds. In my opinion, it seemed like he was trying to make up for the cookies he had eaten.

I ran to the training grounds, barely making it in time for our appointment. Usually, I could feel the hot air of people on my skin even before arriving, but today, strangely, I couldn’t feel any energy. That’s odd. Doel was always here at this time too. Anyway, thinking it wasn’t my concern, I moved my legs quickly.

“Huff… hah…”

Having run without rest to avoid being late, I was completely out of breath. My heart was pounding fiercely. I worried that my heart might jump out of my mouth and say “Hello!” at this rate. I supported my trembling legs with my hands as I dragged them along.

When I peeked my face around the corner into the training grounds, I saw Karhan already waiting for me. It seemed I was late despite running my best. I walked towards Karhan, panting heavily. He looked down at me with a slightly furrowed brow and muttered softly.

“I was going to measure your physical strength… but that won’t be necessary.”

It was a miserable sound. I wanted to say something in response, but my rough breathing blocked my mouth, saying there was no energy to answer.

After catching my breath for a moment and feeling somewhat better, I straightened my back. I looked up at Karhan with my face dripping with sweat. Swallowing saliva down my parched throat with a gulp, I said:

“Did you wait long?”

“I just got here.”

“That’s a relief.”

I smiled and raised my hand to fan myself. Looking up at the open ceiling of the training grounds, I saw the blue sky busily moving white clouds. As I stared blankly, Karhan came in front of me holding a small dumbbell. He carefully placed it on the ground without making a thud and said:

“Try lifting this.”

“This?”

When I asked, Karhan nodded. Just by looking, it seemed to be a size that could be lifted with one hand. Thinking it would be light in weight too, I snorted slightly. This much should be easy. With confidence, I bent down to grab the dumbbell. Then I applied force to lift it, but it didn’t budge.

“Ungh.”

Although I was exerting force, nothing was changing, and a strange sound involuntarily escaped from my mouth. I tensed my waist and tried to lift my upper body… or rather, tried to lift it, but only my head trembled while everything else remained the same.

I’m sure Karhan had moved it with one hand. And very lightly at that. Imagining Karhan watching everything from the side right now, a feeling of despair and embarrassment came over me. I could feel my face gradually turning red.

Trying to act as if nothing was wrong, I closed my eyes and released the strength from my hands. When I raised my waist and looked at my palms, they were red.

As I stood still, just looking down at my palms, I heard a low voice above my head, hesitating slightly.

“There’s nothing lighter than this…”

He must be saying this for me to hear. My mouth corners trembled from embarrassment. I deliberately fiddled with my hands before looking up.

“Uh, um… Is there anything else?”

“We’ll need to build up your basic physical strength first.”

“How?”

“You’ll have to regularly run around the training grounds.”

I see. I nodded and looked around the wide training grounds. How many laps should I run? I think I ran about six laps during physical evaluations at school. While I was roughly estimating in my head, Karhan suddenly spoke.

“Twenty laps would be better.”

What? Startled, I looked up at Karhan. His expression wasn’t that of someone joking. It was the same expressionless face as usual, and infinitely serious. I asked back, my eyes trembling as if an earthquake had struck the world.

“Did I hear wrong… Twenty laps?”

I asked, trying hard to lift the corners of my mouth. But his face remained unchanged. Rather, he looked at me with a strange gaze as if I had asked something very odd.

“Is it difficult?”

“Of course it is. Even running here was hard for me.”

At my words, Karhan made an “Ah” sound and nodded. It seems he’s finally recalibrating my fitness level in his head. After pondering for a moment, he opened his mouth.

“Then ten laps should be appropriate.”

Honestly, I wasn’t confident about ten laps either. Even when I was human, I didn’t have the time to manage myself, so I had never gone to a gym or taken time to run around a track. But since he had cut it in half, I felt I couldn’t preserve my dignity if I asked for it to be lowered further, so I nodded half-forcedly.

“Then we’ll start now. I won’t time you separately, so go at your own pace.”

“Starting now? Alright…”

For some reason, Karhan’s gaze as he looked at me felt particularly sharp today. It seems he’s the type to give thorough training. His rigid expression, which looked like he absolutely wouldn’t go easy on me, made me feel a bit intimidated. I glanced at him and then started to slink around the training grounds.

Around the third lap, my physical limits gradually approached.

I was panting heavily, completely out of breath. Thinking I might rest a bit, I glanced sideways to where Karhan had been standing, and he was still there, fixed in place like a statue, not moving even a fingertip, his gaze locked on me. Seeing that, I scrunched my face and looked forward again, moving my legs.

“Huff… hah.”

I wondered if he was even human. Doesn’t he get itchy? How can he not even twitch a leg? Usually, when you’re restless, you want to move your body if you stay still, but Karhan didn’t budge at all.