HTPTMOTMM Chapter 18

"What? Why did you come here bothering me from early morning?"

"Minuel, I heard you were sick... but you look perfectly fine now."

Minuel looked excessively lively, as if his suffering yesterday was a lie.

As if he had never been bedridden, Minuel had combed his shoulder-length bob without a single hair out of place, down to his bangs, and was prettily dressed. He glared at Dian and me.

Dian looked slightly bewildered at Minuel's condition. He glanced at me with suspicious eyes, seemingly doubting whether I had gotten something wrong.

I patted Dian's back of the head affectionately and laughed.

"The prescription from last night must have worked well. You seem fine now, so I'm relieved, Minuel."

See, I told you that if you put the flower from the annex by your bedside and sleep, you'd be completely cured. I've cleared this episode 43 times, you know!

'Of course, it also means I couldn't see the ending after playing the game this much...'

Anyway, since the flower was effective, I wanted to triumphantly tell Cheswick, who had been lukewarm until last night, "See, I told you so." But unfortunately, he wasn't in Minuel's room.

"But what's this flower?"

"I brought get-well flowers since you were sick. Well... looking at you now, it seems unnecessary."

But for some reason, Minuel's eyes looking at the flower Dian offered weren't very kind. He even seemed to be grinding his teeth.

"This is... purple! I! Really hate! Purple flowers!"

There's only one purple flower in the bouquet though...

But Minuel's eyes seemed to see only that.

Come to think of it, anyone would think he had an allergy to purple flowers. Maybe he went to the purple room in the annex and ended up like this, so he reacts sensitively to situations or objects that remind him of it?

The problem was that Dian, who didn't know the circumstances, got angry at Minuel's words.

"We went to the trouble of bringing this and why are you being irritable again? If you don't want it, don't take it! I can keep this bouquet myself."

Oh dear, are they going to fight again?

I felt the need to mediate and intervened. But what should I say to change the subject?

"Minuel, but where's Cheswick?"

Cheswick, I choose you!

"When I saw him last night, he said he was going straight to you. Did he stay up late taking care of you and go to rest?"

I was actually curious about Cheswick's absence. Of course, caregivers and their charges didn't have to eat breakfast together, so it wasn't strange that he wasn't here now. But after seeing Cheswick caring for Minuel quite attentively until yesterday, his empty seat was particularly noticeable today.

But for some reason, Dian turned to look at me with wide eyes after hearing my words.

"Lynne, did you meet with Minuel's caregiver alone last night?"

"Ah, it was because of Minuel. We met briefly and parted right away."

"Why did you two meet because of Minuel?"

"Because I knew a way to cure Minuel quickly and wanted to tell him."

Dian's eyes returned to their normal size.

"I see... I thought you had already become that close with that caregiver."

Oh, is he jealous again?

Our sunfish cat in this 44th round seemed particularly prone to anxiety and jealousy, so it was possible. I told Dian before he could worry about something unnecessary again.

"Don't worry! No matter who I become close with in the future, you'll continue to be my first priority."

"What, I'm not a child, I don't care about such things. Who said I was curious about that?"

I must have hit the mark because Dian's ears turned red. But even so, he pretended not to care with a prim expression.

Ah, so cute! I don't know whose child is this cute.

Lamenting again that I couldn't save this video, I patted Dian's head vigorously with both hands instead. Dian could have pushed my hands away or told me to stop if he didn't like it, given his personality, but he just stayed still with flushed cheeks.

"What are you guys doing in my room right now? Do that kind of thing outside!"

Minuel, who had been watching our harmonious scene with disbelief, finally shouted irritably.

"And I don't know about Cheswick either! He's probably in his room. Why should I know?"

Minuel snorted dismissively, seeming upset about something since earlier. Dian also huffed and let out a breath following Minuel's example.

"Did your caregiver catch a cold from you, Minuel?"

"It's not like that! Ugh, bothering me from early morning. Both of you get out! I need to start my morning schedule now."

Finally, Minuel threw us out with irritation.

Bang!

"Oh my."

I clicked my tongue while looking at the door that closed with a loud sound behind us.

Really, what a personality that yellow kitten has.

"Honestly, what's he so irritated about again?"

Dian also grumbled while picking up the bouquet he had dropped when we were kicked out.

"We went to the trouble of caring and coming, but he doesn't even know to be grateful!"

"Oh, are you worried about me now? Thinking I might be hurt?"

When I said this with emotion, Dian, who had been carelessly grumbling, suddenly stopped talking.

"...Anyway! We thought about it and brought flowers, but he just gets angry."

He cutely changed the subject obviously.

"Even though we're fellow ■■ candidates, I don't want to think badly of him, but I really can't understand Minuel's personality."

Huh?

But while listening to Dian's continuing words, I felt a strange discomfort. It seemed like I heard some strange word in the middle?

"Young master, what did you just say?"

"What?"

"You just said something about candidates."

"■■ candidates? Why?"

Dian looked at me and tilted his head. His face was innocent, but definitely something in his words sounded strange to my ears again. It had a weird feeling, like there was noise or the pronunciation was muffled.

At first I thought I just misheard, but it really wasn't.

Then the sound of ding-dong rang from outside.

"Ah, I need to start my morning schedule too. Let's hurry to my room."

I took Dian to his room first and then headed back to my own room. And with a serious feeling, I reopened the manual book I had been reading earlier.

"Look over there. Dian, what's he doing, lost in thought all by himself again?"

"Leave him be. From that expression, he's probably thinking about that pretty caretaker again."

"Ah, I'm so jealous. I want to be paired with a beautiful lady too. Honestly, Raven feels too much like some middle-aged man."

The warm afternoon sunlight.

The children's whispered giggles briefly called Dian's mind, which had wandered far away, back to reality.

Dian suddenly realized the situation and hurriedly composed his expression. Then he put strength in his eyes and glared at the children around him for no reason.

"Noisy. I was just looking out the window because I like the sunlight."

"Hmm, sure. That's why you've been asking for our opinions and even agonizing over what gift to give your caretaker."

But the other children just looked at Dian with knowing faces and snickered. Dian realized they were teasing him and glared.

"Everyone quiet down. The teacher will be here any moment."

The children of Redford Manor basically had private tutors, but there were rare occasions like this when they attended classes together with children from other rooms.

His ankle, which he had injured not long ago, healed faster than expected after Lynn treated it directly. So he could already walk around like this without any problems.

That's why he was able to come out to attend this class outside his room.

Even when Doctor Conrad, the physician at Redford Manor, treated him, he had never seen such quick results...

'Lynn must be a genius.'

Dian had somewhat doting thoughts and quietly curled his lips by himself.

But then he suddenly came to his senses and cleared his throat unnecessarily, managing his expression even though no one was watching.

It was troublesome because whenever he thought of Lynn, he kept grinning foolishly.

It hadn't even been a full week since Lynn came to the manor, but strangely, sometimes it felt like he had known her for a very long time. It might be because Lynn treated him so intimately.

After his not-so-short solitary life at the manor, Lynn was his first caretaker.

Dian was almost afraid that he had seized too great a fortune.

In fact, Dian was the only one in Redford Manor who had never had a proper caretaker even at twelve years old. At first, he waited with patience, but as time passed, only his feelings of frustration grew. If he couldn't find a caretaker before his birthday this year, Dian would have to leave Redford Manor as someone deemed unsuitable, without even properly trying anything.

Lynn appeared when Dian was secretly giving up on everything.

"Young Master Dian. A caretaker is scheduled to be assigned to Room 7."

When he first heard those words, he thought he was dreaming.

Was it really true that there was someone among the prospective caretakers who wanted him? He was so excited and nervous that he couldn't remember at all how he spent the time until Lynn arrived.

"You've never had a caretaker, so you wouldn't know, right? With caretakers, you see, it's important to come on strong from the beginning."

When news spread that Dian was getting a caretaker, even other children who hadn't shown much interest in him before seemed curious.

"If you act obedient and show them you're a good kid from the start, you know what happens? They think you're weak and quickly turn their attention to someone else. So you absolutely have to show them you're strong."

Minuel, who was among the most popular with prospective caretakers among Redford's children, even came to find Dian and spouted such advice while showing off. Dian didn't believe it completely, but he was slightly tempted.