房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"S-sir Zoemi!?"

"Whoa – there!"

Teo gasped in shock and took a sept back so suddenly that she stumbled upon her own feet and fell down – almost – The black-haired boy reached out and caught her hand and pulled her back on her feet instantly.

"Hey – you gotta be careful, you know?"

"!!!!"

Zoemi smirked but Teo could only cover her mouth with one and, staring at the black-haired boy with trembling eyes full of disbelief.

"Teo...?"

"!!!"

The boy asked and the girl shook her head as if someone dumped a bucket of cold water on her.

"Sir Z-Zoemi?! B-but...! Mistress is holding herself back from visiting you so you won\'t catch her cold! You can\'t just visit her! I\'ve heard that you shouldn\'t even move around yet!"

She called out and once the initial shock passed the words just keep flooding out of her mouth as if she was worried that if she didn\'t say everything on her mind at once she wouldn\'t be able to say it otherwise.

"It\'s fine, as you can see, I got healed – completely! Besides, I\'m already returning anyway...!"

Zoemi let go of the girl and just waved his hand dismissively.

"Thank you for caring for my master while I\'m unable to..."

"!!!"

He added with a grateful smile that was so dazzling that Teo\'s heart almost burst out of her chest.

"A-ah! It\'s nothing – really...!"

The girl in the butler\'s uniform fidgeted at the praise - but Zoemi wasn\'t done talking to her...

"...I am thankful to you for helping my master - but as a fellow attendant, I am very disappointed by your behavior. Is it true that you willingly left your master to help me recover even though you knew that there\'s no need to?"

"...!"

The boy\'s voice grew cold and strict.

"I-I wanted to help mistress, too...!"

Teo flinched and looked away ashamed.

"I kn-knew that mistress would need help since you were hurt and all..."

She fidgetted and muttered under her breath.

"But you are the personal attendant of the first prince and I\'ve heard that you demanded to leave your duties."

The black-haired boy gave her a scornful glare under which she cowered.

"I did but... In the end, mistress got sick, right? I was right!"

She complained while sulking.

"No – not right. You were lucky."

Zoemi scoffed, shaking his head from left to right.

"The first prince would want to help his fiance, of course, but in case you were unsure about that, you could have - and should have - suggested to him what to do. An attendant can suggest, an attendant can even ask, plead, and beg, but no matter what, an attendant cannot demand anything from their master. That\'s not in our job description as an attendant is always someone of lower social standing than the master. Veo understands that, but apparently, you still have problems with grasping the essentials."

"..."

Teo shrunk under Zoemi\'s strict gaze even more.

"I\'m still extremely grateful to you because, in the end, you\'ve helped my master. That\'s why I won\'t scold you anymore or get into more details about the dos and don\'ts of an attendant – but the lack of punishment will have to do as your praise."

The black-haired boy declared, crossing his arms to hold back the urge to pat the head of the short girl.

"I... I understand..."

Teo signed and nodded dispiritedly.

"Well then, see you around."

|...I\'m such a hypocrite...!|

Zoemi nodded ?t the slouched Teo and went back to the Miriette\'s room.

------

After Zoemi left Teo sniffled a few times but after a couple of minutes, she composed herself and entered the room.

"Mistress, in the end, I wasn\'t able to find out who leaves those potions..."

She said and bowed her head apologetically.

Teo heard weird rustling noises and she raised her head with suspicion.

"Mistress...?"

"Shush! Don\'t talk to me! I have to engrave this moment into my memory forever!"

Teo was staring at Miriette – the dark-haired girl\'s upper half was covered with the blanket but her legs were uncovered since they were kicking around excitedly.

"Engrave in your memory...?"

Teo tilted her head in confusion and asked in a baffled voice.

"I told you to shut up!"

------

It was high time for Zoemi to return to the room he was supposed to be staying in as his father should return any minute.

And in fact, he did...

"Son!"

Mizoe spotted Zoemi in the hallway – while he was running out of the room undoubtedly to search for the missing boy.

"H-hello, dad..."

The black-haired boy raised his hand and waved it timidly at the pale-blue-haired knight.

"You foolish boy, do you know how worried I was?!"

Completely opposite to everyone else, Mizoe didn\'t even flinch at seeing Zoemi\'s healed-up face and instead locked the boy in a fatherly hug.

"Where did you even go?!"

Mizoe complained, although he certainly sounded relieved that his son was back so soon.

"I... Do you know that there is a girl with a healing attribute in my class? Her healing is really good – we are friends too, so I asked her to heal me and – here I am!"

Zoemi laughed awkwardly and tilted his head to the side while explaining.

"Ah! I just met Lord Kros and he mentioned that girl too – I was actually going to talk to you about asking her for help!"

Mizoe gasped stepping away from his son at his arms-length.

"Zoemi, your face! She healed it too?!"

The knight gasped smiling widely at the black-haired boy.

"Y-yeah... I asked her to do something about it too... does it look weird?"

Zoemi fidgetted and finally managed to ask someone about his scarless appearance.

"Very handsome! But, more importantly, how is your back? I\'ve seen the medics changing your bandages and the wounds looked extremely serious!"

Yet, Mizoe wasn\'t as much concerned about the boy\'s appearance as he was about his overall health – but maybe because of that the black-haired boy calmed down and could relax...

"It\'s all good! That girl\'s magic is really good!"

Zoemi smiled happily, showing his teeth in a full smile that he never allowed himself to show since it would twist his scars horribly - but with all the burns gone - that was no longer the case.