206 – ow I Take Care of Her -4-

The young lady’s mansion in the afternoon after oversleeping.

In the young lady’s quiet room, someone’s energetic shouts could be heard.

“Hwee-eeyik!”

A powerful shout, giving it her all.

Perhaps because she had a late lunch, the young lady’s shouts seemed more powerful than usual.

“Hwee-eee… eeyik!”

Working out really does the body good. Realizing this, I sat on the bed and smiled, watching the young lady work out.

“Come on! Just a little more!”

“Ee-yik!”

The young lady was frowning and concentrating on her workout. I had never seen her work out so passionately. Was she like this because she was looking forward to the trip? I was impressed by the young lady’s hard work.

“Eek… I thought we agreed to decide where to go after we woke up!”

“I decided to decide while taking a bath.”

“That’s the first I’m hearing of it…”

“It’s okay. I didn’t hear it the first time.”

“Hee-eup…”

“Let’s do one more set with this momentum.”

It wasn’t an intense workout.

It wasn’t like weightlifting or Pilates, but rather an exercise where you simply plant your feet on the ground and apply force to your body.

I would have to say it’s an exercise that focuses on your core. I had her do this exercise to awaken her unused muscles, expecting rapid progress in her legs that were gradually improving.

Even if her legs get better, it’ll be useless if her body can’t keep up.

Up until now, she was someone who had built a wall against exercise.

She was someone who loved chocolate and lying down more than anything in the world. Honestly speaking, she had gained a little weight recently… and her cheeks were puffier than usual.

Even without that, the muscles necessary for ‘walking’ must have stiffened from disuse, and her physical condition was headed towards the worst since she also hated exercising.

I was cheering her on with the hope of a better future, as I could clearly see that her current physical condition would lead to her collapsing from lack of exercise even before her legs got better.

“Fighting!”

“Hee-eup! Huff… I can’t…”

“You can do it.”

If the power of rehabilitation could heal both her body and legs at once, there would be no need to exercise, but unfortunately, rehabilitation isn’t all-purpose, so her effort was necessary.

She needed to prepare additional elements such as muscles and her mind.

Doing exercise for the first time in a while, she frowned as she looked at the soles of her feet planted on the floor.

“Hee-eup! How about it, Ricardo! Didn’t I move a little just now?! I think I stood up for 0.1 seconds.”

“Oh…! It certainly seems that way.”

I clapped my hands and exclaimed in admiration at her legs that hadn’t moved even a bit. People tend to get tired quickly if they’re just pushed around.

The girl who raised her head at my compliment burst into laughter, smiling brightly.

“Am I doing well?”

“Yes~”

“Really, really well!”

“Of course. You’re doing incredibly well.”

I wiped the beads of sweat that had gathered prettily on the girl’s forehead with a handkerchief and complimented her even more for her dedicated efforts.

Even though she hadn’t improved, she didn’t show any sign of discouragement.

I was impressed. I was impressed by the girl working out as well as the bear who slept on the floor despite the loud noise.

The girl’s enthusiasm continued to be heard.

*

After finishing the exercise where she had to cross her legs, the girl lay on the bed and panted.

“Whew… whew… Ricardo, I think I worked really hard today. Doesn’t Ricardo say that the grandpa with the beard will give me a present?”

The girl asked Santa for a present because she had worked hard. I prepared her bath while I chuckled to myself as I took out a change of clothes from the closet.

“That grandpa doesn’t give presents just because you worked hard.”

“Then…?”

“He only gives presents if you do good deeds.”

“That’s so strict.”

“Because that grandpa can’t run a business at a loss. Plus, that grandpa only works part-time in the winter.”

“Then I’ll only be good in the winter. It’s hard to be good every day.”

“If you do that, your present will be smaller.”

If Santa Claus heard the answer of the materialistic lady who only acts kindly in winter to receive a present, he would surely collapse clutching his nape.

As expected of a villainess, her maliciousness was top-notch as she tried to take advantage of the situation.

After hearing Santa Claus’s calculations, the lady abandoned the present neatly and lay down on the bed to relieve her fatigue.

“Ugh… I don’t know!”

Exercise that was as easy as breathing for some people was like an intense marathon for the lady.

She had also been at fault for not exercising for so long.

As I, who saw the lady who had done her best, was about to take out the chocolate I had hidden in my pocket to cheer her up…

My hand, which was reaching for my pocket, stopped at the foreign sound that reached my ears.

– Munch.

The sound of something being chewed was clearly audible near my ear.

‘Munch’, it was a sound that shouldn’t be made now, so why was it being made?

I turned my head and looked at the lady lying on the bed, and I made a bewildered expression as I watched her taking out chocolates from her treasure pouch with a blank expression.

The lady continued to take out chocolates from her treasure pouch with a dazed expression. Just how limitless was that treasure pouch? I let out a hollow laugh as I watched the chocolates that kept coming out.

“Hmm, if you don’t eat, you’ll die from low blood sugar.”

She was a strange villainess, after all.

I carefully placed the chocolate on the bedside table and took the lady’s hand to wash her sweat-soaked body.

“Let’s go take a bath.”

“Eww…”

The lady was dragged along without any resistance.

The lady clearly showed her unwillingness to get out of bed and was holding onto the bed sheet, but she couldn’t break the will of a busy butler.

I had to move quickly to prepare dinner. It was definitely not because I was a pervert who was turned on by giving baths.

The young lady being dragged along protested, shaking her head stubbornly.

“I can’t move. I’ll die if I move now.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be the one moving anyway.”

“…Oh.”

The young lady nodded at my clever answer, relaxed her grip, and spread her arms towards me as if asking for a smooth ride, saying, “Carry me then.”

“I will carry you safely.”

“You can carry me roughly.”

“Then I’ll try to walk faster today.”

“Un.”

-Thud

-Thud

“Hehehe… Mint chocolate bath salts.”

“Do you like them that much?”

“Yup.”

I watched the young lady, who was holding the bath salts she would put in the bathtub and smiling brightly, and thought for a moment.

It wasn’t a heavy thought.

It was just a reflection on the things I had done for the young lady so far. I thought about whether I was doing a good job, with a small smile on my face for a whole minute.

Nursing was a more difficult job than I thought.

It’s hard enough to take care of myself, so it was even harder to take care of someone else’s health. If it were my own body, I could have lived with a little discomfort, but it seemed like every part of her body would hurt if I touched it.

There was a lot I had to protect.

I had to protect her pride as a woman.

I had to work hard to improve her health as a patient. If I tried to make things easier for myself, it would often make her uncomfortable.

It would be easier for me if she wore diapers, but I thought it would greatly hurt her self-esteem.

Most of the effort came from her, who followed my instructions well, but I was careful every day because there might be times when my care was wrong. Whenever that happened, I was glad that she overlooked my mistakes.

– eeek…! I don’t want to move!

– It’s okay. It hurt less than yesterday. I’ll forgive you.

Even if it was annoying and difficult.

Even if it was bothersome and there was a lot to do.

As long as she could smile, I could endure that much hardship.

Well, I’m not a medical professional, so I can’t do anything great.

Before I knew it, I arrived in front of the bathroom and came to my senses from the thoughts I had in my mind, hearing her excited cheers.

“Wooo…! Bath!”

“You took one yesterday, do you like it that much?”

“Yup. I feel like I get younger when I take a bath. My body goes all soft and relaxed.”

Her voice was full of excitement as she showed me the bath salts in her hand, her expression saying, ‘Look at this.’

I’m glad her hobby is bathing. I smiled and opened the bathroom door, carefully sitting her down on the floor.

Swoosh. As the bathtub filled with water, she leaned her chin on the edge of the tub and watched the bath salts dissolve as she put on her shower gown by herself.

Sniffing, I couldn’t figure out what was so great about the bath salts that gave off a refreshing yet sweet scent, but I smiled along with her humming as I watched the bubbles rise.

If only it wasn’t mint chocolate.

The young lady, fully dressed, said to me after tying the strings of her bathrobe tightly. “Please put it in the bathtub.” In the softly echoing bathroom, I smiled slightly at the young lady’s quiet voice and lifted her up without a word.

“Ricardo, you’re so strong!”

“I know.”

“And your biceps are so firm.”

“Ahem~”

“And you’re well-built.”

“Ahem~!”

It seems to be true that compliments make even whales dance.

*

Darbab’s office, visited by darkness.

“…”

After finishing the meeting, Olivia’s father, Darbab, sat in his office and accepted the darkness.

Darbab looked at his eldest son, Kyle, who had just finished the meeting, with a serious expression and asked.

“I want to take a bath with you for the first time in a while.”

Kyle replied with a serious expression.

“No, I don’t want to.”

Darbab missed his daughter even today.