NOVEL WEB Chapter 38
Chapter: 38
– Whoosh…
Maybe it’s because summer is slowly approaching.
The weather honestly felt so hot that it put me in a bad mood.
It wasn’t as humid as last summer in my previous life, but hot is still hot.
As someone who despises heat, I had no choice but to magically create a breeze every hour of every day.
Honestly…
“It’s so hot…”
“My lady, you look quite cool already.”
“Rize, aren’t you hot?”
“It seems your body has a lot of heat. I’m fine if I just stay still.”
“Ew…”
That’s something only grandpas would say…
While I was suffering through the heat, keeping the magic on until just before falling asleep, Rize somehow seemed totally fine.
To be honest, it was hard to understand!
Recently, if I wasn’t wearing a miniskirt or something equally short, it felt suffocating around my lower half, and when I was alone in my room, I tried to be as comfortable as possible.
Honestly, if it were possible, I’d want to be naked, but there were still a few people who came into my room.
“Whooo…”
“Is it really hot for you?”
“It’s Rize who’s weird for not feeling hot…”
It was already July.
That meant the academy Karen attended would soon be on break due to the heat!
Even though it had always felt hot in the summer, this summer felt particularly sweltering.
In fact, Rize was still wearing the same long maid dress.
“I can’t take it anymore… Rize, bring me some shaved ice.”
“Understood.”
Making a bit of ice with magic probably wouldn’t solve my discomfort.
But whatever would lift my spirits, that was shaved ice.
“Hehe…”
I felt joy just thinking about it.
Shaved ice would be sweet and delicious beyond compare…
It seemed like the best way to relieve this heat, even just a little.
– Whoosh…
– Whoosh…
Before I knew it, I was leisurely enjoying the breeze from the magic circles on either side.
Coolness really is the best.
As Rize said, just sitting still isn’t cool in the slightest, but still… it was better than moving around and getting blown by the wind.
*
“Mother, what are you doing?”
With the shaved ice in hand, I arrived at Rosalyn’s Room.
Rize was behind me too, though.
“Camelia? What’s going on?”
“It’s hot, so… how about having some shaved ice with mother?”
I had originally thought to eat it alone or just with Rize, but I decided to change my mind a bit.
Surely, I wasn’t the only one feeling the heat.
I thought Rosalyn might be bored too, so I came to ask if she’d like to join me for some.
“Shaved ice… how does that sound?”
“Uh… should I? I really don’t have anything to do anyway.”
“Yes, let’s eat together.”
So, I ended up having shaved ice with Rosalyn.
Since I had originally thought to eat it just with Rize, she joined us too.
Honestly, the amount of shaved ice in the glass was too much to finish alone…
And aside from that, I wanted to eat it with Rosalyn.
“It’s really hot outside, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s way too hot… Summer hasn’t even truly arrived yet…”
“Hehe, it can’t be helped. But Camelian, you’re usually kind of cool with your magic, right?”
“That’s true… but it’s still hot.”
As I ate the shaved ice, I chatted with Rosalyn.
Rize was quietly eating her shaved ice next to me.
It seemed a bit too difficult for her to join in on our conversation.
Even though I wouldn’t mind if she jumped in, since we weren’t just talking one-on-one.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind chatting away with Rize.
“Mother, aren’t you hot?”
“Hmm… when I stay still, I don’t feel that hot.”
“…But I still feel hot.”
Could it be that I really have a lot of internal heat?
No matter how much I thought about it, just sitting still didn’t relieve the heat for me.
I didn’t understand how Rize and Rosalyn could be so calm about it.
Did they have some kind of personal air cooler built into them or something…?
“Hmm… should I get you a fan?”
“No, it’s enough just to summon the wind with magic.”
“Really? But if it’s hot… maybe it’s because you don’t drink enough cool water or stuff like that?”
“Hmm…”
“Well, at least while we’re eating this shaved ice, it’s not so bad, right?”
“That’s true.”
Eating the shaved ice helped alleviate the heat a bit.
Recently, I had been eating ice cream or shaved ice quite often, probably because of the heat.
Of course, it only felt okay while eating or right after, but afterward… it didn’t seem to change much.
“Camelia?”
“Oh, yes?”
“What are you thinking so much about? You’re just leaving your shaved ice half-eaten.”
“Ah… I was just lost in thought for a moment…”
Had I unknowingly let my mind drift too much?
Both my mouth and hands had stopped moving.
“Stop thinking for now, say ‘ah~’.”
Suddenly, Rosalyn picked up a spoonful of shaved ice and held it out to me.
…It felt a bit strange.
“…Mother?”
“I’m just saying eat it. You asked me to have shaved ice first, and if you don’t eat it, what’s that about?”
“I can eat it by myself…”
“I just wanted to do this. Isn’t it okay?”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
It was hard to reject Rosalyn when she expressed that she wanted to try it herself.
It felt a little embarrassing, but… it wasn’t necessarily weird.
Plus, I had been trying to get used to things like this with Rize’s help recently.
If I got embarrassed over something as simple as feeding me, I wouldn’t make any progress at all.
“Nom…”
I took a bite of the shaved ice that Rosalyn had offered.
It was a little embarrassing, but the taste didn’t change at all, and she was just handing it to me.
I ate without making a big deal out of it.
“Is it good?”
“…Yes, it’s delicious.”
The taste of the shaved ice was the same.
Yeah.
It wouldn’t change anything just because Rosalyn handed it to me like that.
I ate it casually.
After that, Rosalyn continued to feed me shaved ice, but I didn’t feel overly embarrassed or reject her.
To be honest, Rosalyn’s expression while she fed me was so bright and pretty that I couldn’t help but oblige. Plus, it didn’t feel awkward like before.
Isn’t that enough…?
*
“Rize, say ‘ah~’.”
“My lady… please don’t take out your frustrations on me because of your ladyship…”
“Frustrations? I just wanted to do it for you, like I did for Rize!”
Ever since Rosalyn first fed me shaved ice, I would sometimes treat Rize the same way, trying to mimic Rosalyn.
It looked like I was purposely trying to feed Rize shaved ice.
“We’ve had shaved ice together like this before, haven’t we?”
“That doesn’t mean you did it like this.”
“Well, I can do it like this, right?”
Of course, Rize’s defenses were stronger than I expected, so it didn’t exactly fit into my playful banter.
She was okay with holding hands and hugging, but why was this not allowed?
I couldn’t understand it either, but maybe she saw it as unhygienic or something.
I didn’t want to push it too hard.
“Rize used to be so cute…”
“What are you talking about…?”
“When I asked to hold hands, you’d get shy and go along, and you’d join in on my other antics. Now it seems you don’t do that anymore, which makes me sad.”
“…You’ve held my hand recently, haven’t you?”
“Still.”
But I had enough thoughts to act the same way with Rize as I did with Rosalyn.
There was no option of not behaving the same way with Rize now.
It wasn’t about feeling wronged because Rosalyn treated me like that or anything—it was simply that when Rosalyn fed me the shaved ice, it was embarrassing, so I wanted to get used to it.
Similarly to how I acted with Rize in general.
“So, will Rize feed me?”
“How could a servant do that…”
“Even if I permit it?”
“But…”
“Would you rather eat it yourself? Or would you feed me?”
I always thought this, but Rize might find me more intimidating than I realized.
Apparently, girls my age often act like this.
They hold hands sometimes and feed each other delicious desserts when they want to.
Why does Rize always get so shy about this?
“Hmm… Rize.”
“…Yes?”
“Hand.”
“…?”
“Give me your hand.”
I asked her to show me her hand.
To that, Rize immediately extended her hand, and I took both of hers with one of mine.
Honestly, my hand was smaller, so it probably didn’t fit that well.
“Rize? Now, say ‘ah~’.”
I held her hands so she couldn’t escape, and then I repeated the offer.
If I spoke to her normally, Rize would refuse outright, but this way, it seemed to change things.
After all, Rize…
“Rize?”
“My lady… this is…”
She was weak to this mild sort of persuasion.
She wasn’t showing any outright disgust at my request; she just felt a little shy.
Just like when I felt shy about the things Rosalyn did to me.
So it was both amusing and cute.
“Rize, okay?”
“…Fine.”
“Hehe… now, you must finish it all!”
“…Yes.”
So, Rize accepted the shaved ice I had offered to her.
The look on Rize’s face afterward was distinctly flushed compared to a moment ago.
She was truly shy.
“Hehe… Rize, one more bite?”
“…Yes.”
Really… Rize, who seems like she wouldn’t show much emotion normally, showed such a clear reaction—how cute is that?
In truth, Rize was pretty, but the fact that she was shy made her feel even cuter.