NOVEL WEB Chapter 56
Chapter: 56
“This is a book I used to read when I was bored at the Academy, so I brought it along since it’s been a while.”
“…Yes.”
Rosalyn opened the book while lying next to me.
The book itself was just a regular novel.
However, the sight of Rosalyn beside me, having removed her gown from earlier, was something I had seen countless times at the villa.
Of course, she looked comfortable, but I was anything but.
“Although Camelia is more interested in other things than books, I think this book would be good to read at least once. It’s entertaining and not too difficult.”
Rosalyn was diligently talking about the book while lying next to me.
I had read it before, so I simply nodded along or gave short replies.
As we talked, my eyes kept drifting toward Rosalyn’s negligee…
“Want to read together?”
“…How about you read it to me?”
“Shall I? Well, since Camelia said she was tired, listening to it while dozing off might be nice.”
“Let’s do that.”
Since I already knew the story and the book was small, reading it together would mean getting very close to Rosalyn…
“In the year 627 of the Kingdom, there lived a princess.”
Rosalyn began reading, and I simply closed my eyes.
I definitely wasn’t feeling sleepy when I was sprawled on the sofa, but now I thought just falling asleep would be the best option.
It was better than glancing toward Rosalyn’s body…
Wearing a negligee in the room was the norm, and casually dressing in front of my daughter was not an issue at all.
But I still…
It was truly no different from before.
I felt as if everything had gone back to how it was when I first met Rosalyn.
“The princess lived in a castle with her beautiful mother and kind father.”
“……..”
The sound of Rosalyn reading in her uniquely ticklish voice made it even harder to concentrate on sleeping.
I thought I was lying still to sleep, but I never expected her voice would disrupt my focus.
“The princess, who was happily living in the castle since childhood, was exceptionally gifted and talented in various areas.”
She was just reading about things I had already encountered before.
There was nothing particularly special about it, yet my ears couldn’t help but feel tickled.
Simply because of Rosalyn’s voice.
Her soft yet captivating tone was preventing me from sleeping.
When I opened my eyes, I could see Rosalyn lying next to me, her voice would reach my ears, and I could smell the bedding and the fragrance of Rosalyn right beside me.
…I truly couldn’t fall asleep easily.
*
After somehow falling asleep, I woke up not knowing exactly how many hours had passed.
As soon as I opened my eyes, there was Rosalyn still lying beside me.
“Did you sleep well?”
“…Yes, I did.”
She was now reading a different book than the one I had been reading before I fell asleep.
Well, she said she had already read that book too.
So, there was no need to keep reading.
“How about now? Still tired?”
“I think I’m okay now.”
Probably.
By the way, how long was she going to keep wearing that negligee?
It was really troublesome to wake up to Rosalyn in her negligee right in front of me.
She probably wasn’t bothered, but… I found it really challenging to wake up to that situation.
“How long did I sleep…?”
“Um… about two hours? You were sleeping really quietly.”
“…I see.”
I hadn’t slept as long as I thought.
I figured it would be around four or five hours.
“Mother, have you had lunch?”
“I just waited here since Camelia was still sleeping.”
“…Then let’s go have lunch.”
I didn’t think Rosalyn would skip lunch.
After all, it was almost noon just before I fell asleep.
I figured she’d go out for a bite after I dozed off, but she just waited beside me instead.
“Were you not hungry?”
“Uh… not really? I mean, I don’t usually eat much, and I thought it’d be better to eat together after you woke up?”
“…Let’s hurry then. Sorry about that.”
“Hehe, what’s wrong with sleeping when you’re tired? If Camelia rested well, that’s all that matters.”
“………”
With that, I left the room with Rosalyn.
Of course, Rosalyn changed out of her negligee into different clothes.
Without me saying anything, she naturally changed on her own.
Even though we were in a villa with only women, walking around in something akin to underwear wasn’t really appropriate.
“Teacher, would you like to join us for lunch?”
“Uh…”
Although lunch was slightly late, there were still plenty of people eating.
Ella declined, saying she’d already gone out to the city for a snack, while Rize claimed she had her own light lunch.
However, Ashley, who had been sleeping in the villa lobby, and Karen, who had been wandering in the back hills, hadn’t eaten lunch yet.
So much for my idea of just having lunch alone with Rosalyn.
“Sister, did you enjoy your walk?”
“I had a great time…! There were so many cute birds and squirrels in the mountains… it was so much fun…!”
Karen rambled excitedly about the animals she saw during her walk, clearly thrilled.
Well, Karen really loved cute things.
It would make sense for her to appreciate the little creatures roaming around the hills.
“Oh! And there were rabbits too…!”
Karen, who usually didn’t talk much, became chatty when it came to topics she was interested in.
Anyway, while listening to Karen, we began our meal.
“Camelia… this place seems really nice… I could sleep so well here…”
“Should I put a sofa in your room?”
“That would be nice, but the room might feel a bit cramped… so maybe it’s better not to…”
I listened to Ashley’s thoughts on how comfortably she’d slept.
Honestly, I couldn’t help but be pleased that everyone loved the villa I had bought.
Was it because the weather here was cooler compared to the south?
I personally hadn’t been much around the capital, so I didn’t know, but it was surprisingly cool.
I hadn’t come to this villa much either except for the time I lived here before.
“Mother, have you ever been to the north?”
“Suddenly?”
“Just curious.”
I just felt a little curious out of the blue.
The capital, located at the center, wasn’t exactly sweltering in summer, but it was cooler than the south.
But what about the north?
Honestly, I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Um… I’ve been there. I haven’t gone often because it’s too cold, but I’ve been.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Um… it’s really cold, right?”
“…Even in summer?”
“Yup.”
“………”
Hmm.
Truthfully, winter in the south wasn’t that cold.
Well, it was the south after all.
Summer was hotter than in other regions, but there was no way winter wouldn’t be less cold.
So I was unsure but a bit worried.
Honestly, I had heard from Rosalyn, but I had no idea how cold it might truly get.
The Melnick area where the Roseaki Family resided was famous for the sea, and the south—specifically the area where the mansion was—was known for the heat, but the winter in the north was really famous.
There were even aristocrats who went hunting for fox or wolf fur only to return from the frigid cold.
“Why?”
“Um… I was thinking about visiting the north, but now I feel like I don’t want to go.”
“Oh?”
“Since you mentioned it like that… it just doesn’t seem appealing.”
Rosalyn seldom complained about the weather.
Of course, she would say when things were good, but even when we stayed at the mansion, she never complained about it being too hot; she actually said it was fine.
When it was hot… she would always just sit still and claims it was refreshing, or that using a fan helped…
Hmm.
Suddenly, I felt really sad that the ice dessert ban was still in effect.
“Hehe, I think it would be nice for us to travel to the north together next time. Of course, winter is a no-go; we should go in summer.”
“…Let’s just come to the capital like we did this time.”
Honestly, I didn’t like either the heat or the cold.
I really preferred just a warm sunny day, rather than something too chilly.
“In winter, let’s just stay at the mansion.”
“Hehe, should we do that?”
“Yes.”
“Camelia tends to complain a lot about the heat in summer and the cold in winter. It might actually be a good idea.”
…Hearing that from Rosalyn made me feel a bit bashful.
But it wasn’t wrong at all.
I really did dislike both extremes of weather.
It was especially rough during summer, but I didn’t like either of them.
“When should we go to Melnick again? It might be a bit hot in the summer, but there’s the sea, so it could be nice.”
“If you want to, then of course it’s great.”
“Hehe, then let’s plan to go again. Speaking of which, we haven’t gone to Melnick together since that one time, have we?”
“Well, we have been quite busy.”
I guess things had been a bit too hectic for me to travel for a while.
This time, the weather was unusually hot, which is why we came here to rest, but in the past, I hadn’t traveled much due to business commitments.
I was spending most of my time just handling documents related to the mansion and hadn’t really gone anywhere else.
So this vacation was truly a delight.
I felt like I could have simply lounged around like Ashley for forever.
Of course, I soon had to return to the mansion to deal with business paperwork too.