“Where would you like me to touch? Your face, left hand, or right hand?”

“……”

“Then I’ll decide. How about the blister on your right hand?”

Without a word, Melissa placed her hand on Nate’s outstretched right hand.

“?! Are you going to touch it?”

Surprised, Nate quickly withdrew his hand.

Although it’s possible to use light magic without direct contact, touching it yields a much higher effect. Had it been improper to place her hand without warning?

“Heh, it’s blue, isn’t it? Your ears are so red.”

At Josh’s words, Melissa noticed Nate’s ears, sticking out from his long black hair, had turned bright red, despite there being no burn marks.

“I’m not embarrassed! I hate nobles!”

“Yes, yes.”

Even though Nate was shouting, Josh calmly responded with a smile.

“Touching it directly would have more effect, but if you’re embarrassed, I’ll let go.”

“I’m not embarrassed!”

With those words, Nate once again extended his right hand. Cautiously touching it, Melissa found that he didn’t pull away, but his ears remained as red as before.

Thus, they continued the repetitive task of collecting magic and applying light magic until the magic drained, and though Nate’s blister had shrunk, it was only a small change. However, Melissa silently resolved to continue working hard every day starting tomorrow, thinking that it was better than doing nothing.

“Josh, should I wait for Nate to tell me why he hates nobles?”

After finishing Nate’s treatment under the guise of magic training, Melissa asked Josh during the free time before lunch. Nate was not in the room at the moment.

When Melissa was in the Johnston family mansion, she would spend any free time playing the piano, so she didn’t interact much with her family. There was also distance between her and the strict butlers, so she spoke very little to anyone. When it came to daily conversation, she wasn’t good at it and would sometimes belittle herself as being introverted. However, since arriving in Lawton, she had more free time, got closer to the servants, and naturally began speaking more, though she didn’t realize how her social skills had improved.

“I don’t know the details either. Last year, when Nate was bedridden with burns during an orphanage inspection, the director told me that he had been left unconscious in front of the orphanage after suffering severe burns. It was difficult for the director to care for him while managing the other orphans, so they decided to take him in here at the lord’s mansion, where there were adults to help.”

“Being abandoned at Lawton’s orphanage was, in a way, a blessing.”

If it had been any other orphanage, he might have been neglected.

“After his burns settled to the point where he could move, we had him work here under observation. Since water-related work, gardening, and working with horses would have aggravated the burns, being a pageboy apprentice seemed to be the best fit. From his behavior, it seems he wants to avoid direct involvement with nobles, but he probably feels he must work due to the care he received.”

It had seemed strange that Nate, as a pageboy apprentice, would say he hated nobles, but given that he had been cared for without charge for the extensive burns, he probably couldn’t refuse when asked to help.

“Nate also has magic power, so he might be a noble’s illegitimate child. He won’t tell us directly, though. I guess at twelve, it’s a difficult age, even without complicated circumstances. But it’s a sign of trust that he’s not overly cautious and listens well.”

Josh smiled gently, as usual. Melissa felt a bit envious, realizing that Nate must have subconsciously relied on Josh and responded with defiance in return.

The lake at Lawton, said to have been so beautiful that the king was moved to depict it on currency…

“Living by a beautiful lake makes your heart beautiful too.”

“Could it be that you’re complimenting me? Hehe, thank you. But even in Lawton, crime happens. There are deceitful and cruel people, and they are particularly good at pretending to be virtuous.”

At Melissa’s involuntary words, Josh reprimanded her with a laugh. It was a painful piece of advice for her, especially since she had recently suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of an angel in disguise, leading to her fall from the capital.

After that, the routine continued—treating Nate’s burns in the morning, playing the piano in the afternoon, and studying after dinner. Nate became Melissa’s pageboy apprentice, and they began spending more time together outside of treatment.

The burns on Nate’s hands gradually faded as he continued to receive light magic treatment. Though the changes were minor and only visible after several days, Melissa’s resolve grew stronger when she realized that, with enough time, the scars would disappear.

Nate remained silent, but Melissa grew more talkative each day. Especially when applying light magic to his burns, she would endlessly talk about the difficult parts of the piece she was working on, her favorite songs, and songs she’d like to play once her hands got bigger, even though Nate didn’t respond.

“Is that all you talk about, the piano?”

Two months passed since arriving at Lawton, and by the time Nate’s burn marks on the palms of his right hand disappeared and he began treatment on his left palm, he finally spoke to Melissa when she only talked about the piano.

“Nate! You should speak properly to the young lady.”

Rose scolded Nate, who grimaced. Though his mouth was pulled tight from the burns, Melissa had come to recognize these subtle changes in his expression.

“Is there nothing else to talk about besides the piano?”

“It’s rude to question what the young lady talks about!”

Rose scolded Nate again, though her tone was gentle. Rose, who was ten years older than Melissa, had become much brighter since coming to Lawton. The more tolerant environment at the Lord’s mansion suited her better than the strict atmosphere of the Johnston family mansion, and Melissa was happy to see her so cheerful. In reality, it was Rose who was happy to see Melissa growing brighter each day.

“Even if you say there’s nothing else, I don’t know what else to talk about. What kind of conversation would you like to have, Nate?”

“……”

For some reason, Nate’s ears turned bright red, and he fell silent, but after a while, he opened his mouth.

“I want to know the name of that song.”

“That song?”

“The one with ‘fuh-fuh-fuh♪ fuh-fuh-fuh♪’?”

Melissa realized that Nate must have been embarrassed to hum, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

How cute.

It was the first time Melissa consciously thought of Nate as the opposite sex.

“That’s ‘The Time of Parting.’ It’s an old song, and the composer is unknown. Even the origin of the title is unclear.”

As she almost commented on how Nate was asking about a piano song when he had just said he didn’t want to talk about the piano, Melissa stopped herself. She remembered that this song was one she had played when Nate secretly wiped his tears after hearing her play it.

“My mother used to hum it often…”

“My mother also liked this song. We have something in common.”

That afternoon, Melissa played “The Time of Parting.”

The next day, she began talking to Nate more. They discussed the fish they saw in the lake, rumors of wild boars in the mountains, Josh’s heroic deeds from when he was young, the butler and his wife’s love story, and how Rose was becoming popular with the men in Lawton.

Both of them avoided discussing their past in the capital. Melissa intentionally avoided dark topics, but soon, she no longer remembered her family members, except for her mother, and found that all their conversations were cheerful.

The time spent talking with Nate in the mornings became just as precious to Melissa as her time playing the piano.

As the burns on his left palm, the back of his right hand, and the back of his left hand slowly disappeared, and as Nate’s burns finally healed, he graduated from being a pageboy apprentice to a full page. By the end of autumn, eight months after coming to Lawton, Melissa had perfected her magic control and could naturally suppress her magic power.

“Here.”

After dinner, while resting in her room, Melissa received a bag with a beautiful teal ribbon, resembling the color of Lawton Lake, from Nate. Though he had learned proper manners, when it was just the two of them, he reverted to his more casual speech, which Melissa secretly forgave him for.

“Wow, they’re so cute! I don’t want to eat them, but how long can I keep them?”

Inside the bag were cookies shaped like a piano keyboard, decorated with chocolate.

“If you want more, I’ll make some more. Eat them right away.”

“Eh? Did you make these, Nate?”

Nate, his ears bright red, hid his mouth with the back of his right hand. Even though she couldn’t see his face, Melissa could tell he was embarrassed.

“I used to help out at a nearby bakery. They only let me make cookies, but I guarantee the taste.”

As if in response to Nate’s bashfulness, Melissa became embarrassed and looked down at the cookies, where she noticed one cookie with “thank you” written on it instead of a piano keyboard. Nate had probably been too embarrassed to give it to her.

Melissa purposefully took that cookie out so that Nate could see it and ate it.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten… Better than the cookies served at the duke’s house!”

Nate’s mouth curled up at the corners.

“Your hands are healed, so do you want to try cooking? I’m sure you can even learn to make cakes with the chef.”

“I’m fine as a pageboy… I want to be your pageboy, Melissa.”

In that moment, Melissa realized that she had started to fall in love with him.