Chapter 15. A Night of Thunder and Lightning

Shortly after, Rapellian entered his study emanating coldness.

The maid followed him with trembling legs, unable to do anything but nervously swallow.

Soon after, Irina Armen, the chief butler who had finished her conversation with Michaela, knocked on Rapellian’s study door.

“You called for me, Young Master?”

“Irina.”

“Yes.”

“We need to bring in a new person.”

Rapellian spoke without even looking at Irina.

“I-I was wrong. Please don’t throw me out.”

The maid was the first to understand the meaning of his words.

She quickly knelt on the floor, rubbing her palms together as she begged.

“Why should I do that?”

Rapellian faintly revealed his displeasure through his expressionless face, as if annoyed.

“That’s……”

The maid couldn’t readily find an answer to his question.

Irina quickly moved in front of the hesitating maid, blocking her from Rapellian’s line of sight.

“I will follow your orders.”

Irina bowed her head without asking any questions.

As the possibility of the chief butler taking her side diminished, the maid crawled forward on her knees and pleaded.

“I-I’d rather be b-beaten. I’ll take as many lashes as you want. Young Master, please hit me. So please……”

“I don’t see why I should dirty my hands because of someone like you.”

“What?”

The maid made a stupid sound, dumbfounded by his icy voice.

“How pathetic.”

There was no room for even a needle in his merciless, insensitive expression.

“I will handle it myself.”

Irina blocked the maid again and respectfully bowed her head.

“Don’t even think about giving her a letter of recommendation.”

“Of course not.”

Rapellian passed by Irina with an unchanged cold gaze and left the study.

As soon as the study door closed, the maid’s loud crying made his ears uncomfortable.

However, he didn’t even blink as he left the study to find the twins.

“Keep her well entertained so she doesn’t have any negative thoughts or feel any pain.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

The twins quickly gathered some things as they passed by Rapellian, then instantly ran down the stairs.

Rapellian slowly walked, watching his siblings disappear from his sight.

⁕⁕⁕

After sunset, El chose an appropriate time.

She gripped the blanket tightly and waited until all sounds from outside completely disappeared and the lights illuminating the garden went out.

“Is now a good time?”

El raised her body after pretending to sleep.

However, there was an unexpected variable.

The surroundings had become so dark without even moonlight that she couldn’t distinguish the interior.

“Even at night, it’s too dark. The moon… Ah!”

The room was so dark that even finding the door wasn’t easy.

El stamped her feet anxiously before approaching the faintly visible window to look up at the sky.

The pitch-black night sky was filled with thick clouds.

“It looks like it’s going to rain. I hope it stays fine until I leave… Eek!”

Before her small wish could fully leave her mouth, a dazzling light flashed in the sky, followed immediately by a rumbling boom! Thunder shook the heavens.

El sat down on the floor in shock as if having a seizure, covering her ears.

Her ears, which had been less painful, seemed to hurt again.

CRASH! BOOM! BOOM!

“Ah! What should I do.”

I hate this. I hate this so much.

The scream she couldn’t release tickled her throat.

CRASH! BOOM! RUMBLE! BOOM!

“Aaack!”

El instinctively screamed and then covered her mouth with her hand.

She finally managed to move with great difficulty and burrowed into the blanket, away from the thunder and lightning striking above her head.

It seemed unlikely that she would be able to leave the ducal mansion today.

⁕⁕⁕

At the same time, Rapellian was still awake, taking a night walk.

“It’s going to rain.”

He looked up at the sky and changed his direction.

The northern region at the approach of winter had a lot of rain every year.

Sometimes it would rain for days like the monsoon season. After that, cold winds bringing winter would suddenly envelop the entire north.

Rapellian’s silent footsteps quickly passed through the mansion’s entrance and reached the central staircase.

FLASH! CRASH!

Thunder and lightning struck as he stepped on the first stair to the right.

Tonight seemed like it would be quite a noisy night.

CRASH! BOOM! BOOM!

Rapellian sighed softly at the sound hitting his ears and moved his paused feet.

With each step he climbed, thunder loudly shook the world.

“Ah! What should I do.”

Through the thunderous sounds from the sky, a fragile voice was heard.

Rapellian, who had reached the bedroom door, turned his body toward the direction of the sound.

CRASH! BOOM! RUMBLE! BOOM!

“Aaack!”

El’s cry and trembling moan.

‘It’s too clear?’

Rapellian frowned with puzzlement.

Even though his senses were keenly developed, at this distance, without focusing on the subject, he shouldn’t hear so distinctly.

Yet amid all this noise, El’s voice alone came through in its complete form, very clearly.

Impossible to ignore.

He placed his hand on the doorknob and pondered for a moment.

“She probably won’t be able to fall asleep anyway.”

Though he deliberated, it wasn’t for long.

He retraced his steps to go to El.

When he entered the corridor where the guest room was located, he deliberately made noise as he walked.

“Hmm. Hmm.”

Unlike his usual self, not only did he make footsteps, but he also cleared his throat before knocking.

It was a gesture meant to avoid startling El.

But coincidentally, at that moment, thunder shook the earth again.

“Ugh.”

A duller moan than before was heard, perhaps because she had covered herself with a blanket.

Rapellian quickly knocked and called for El.

“El.”

His voice, heavier than usual, crossed the door.

From inside came the sound of crashing and bustling, along with something that seemed painful.

‘Did she fall? Did she trip?’

Though he wanted to check inside, Rapellian couldn’t readily open the door.

While it was unavoidable when she was unconscious, he was cautious about entering a seventeen-year-old girl’s room carelessly.

He waited patiently for the door to open.

Soon, the cream-colored door, engulfed by darkness and lamplight, opened slightly.

“Hello……”

RUMBLE BOOM!

“Ugh!”

Even in this situation, El discovered Rapellian standing at the door and diligently tried to greet him, but she jumped at the thunder striking again.

However, she couldn’t even properly let out the physiologically induced scream.

El covered her mouth with her hand and tensed her entire body as if she had a compulsion not to make any screams or moans.

“The sky is being too much, isn’t it?”

Rapellian threw out a joke-like comment to help her relax.

El, completely distracted, nodded her head without properly hearing what he said.

‘She must be dizzy.’

Sure enough, as soon as he thought this, El staggered.

He unconsciously smiled slightly and grabbed her swaying shoulders.

“May I come in for a moment?”

Again, El tried to nod instead of answering verbally.

When Rapellian stopped her, El stepped back a few steps with her hand still covering her mouth.

Rapellian stepped into the room, which was flashing brightly due to the lightning.

“I-I was too noisy. I’m sor- Ah! ry.”

El was terrified not only by the thunder but also by the sharp lightning illuminating the sky.

This time, unable to cover her mouth, El cautiously glanced at Rapellian.

“My siblings were scared too.”

“Really?”

El, who had been trembling, looked up at him with round eyes as if she had heard good news.

“It’s okay to be scared. What can you do about something scary?”

Rapellian spoke lightly as if it wasn’t a big deal and gently stroked El’s head.

‘It’s okay to be scared…… ah.’

El had lived being scolded and mocked by people just for being afraid of thunder and lightning on rainy days.

Having lived only among such people, her eyes grew warm upon hearing such affectionate words.

“Thank you.”

El bowed her head deeply to him, carrying a great sense of comfort.

Rapellian wondered if this was something to be thankful for, but he didn’t add anything more.

“You should sleep.”

“Yes. I should.”

Rapellian muttered to himself while looking at the bed.

Though it was a small sound, El, who heard his words, responded with a voice mixed with embarrassment and awkwardness.

‘What should I do.’

Rapellian had come to fulfill his duty as the person responsible for bringing her here, seeing that El seemed scared, but he became a bit perplexed.

He was quite troubled about how to get through this night.

‘Briel and Riello would sleep together in the same bed, but……’

Though he was thinking of living together in the same house, it was different from blood relatives.

If she were much younger, around six or seven years old, the situation might have been different, but this wasn’t such a case.

Even though El’s appearance still looked very young, she was actually a lady, so Rapellian was cautious in his actions.

“Shall we lie down on the bed first?”

“Yes.”

Rapellian asked with the kindest face he could manage.

El readily agreed but couldn’t move right away.

The deep night, the enormous sound, and the dazzling light had made El too frightened.

Rapellian lowered his posture toward the hesitating El.

“May I hold you?”

“What?”

“I’ll carry you there.”

“Ah……”

At times like this, the most essential thing would be someone’s warmth.

However, El didn’t even know that such a thing was needed and would be helpful in moments like this.

Because of this, such consideration instead made her hesitate to answer.

“If you don’t like that, I can hold your hand.”

Rapellian extended his hand toward El.

The beautiful hand, beautiful whenever seen, was placed before the frightened girl’s eyes.

Once again, flash, lightning drove away the darkness and heralded thunder.

El, who terribly hated thunder and lightning, ran not to his hand but into his arms.

Rapellian lightly held El in his arms and headed toward the bed.

He patted the back of El, who had buried her head on his shoulder, and carefully laid her down on the cozy bed.

El’s eyes, lying on the bed, trembled anxiously with fear.

Instead of lying down on the same bed, he brought a chair, sat by the bedside, and extended his hand.

“Holding hands would be better.”

The hand that had been tightly gripping the blanket hesitantly grabbed his.

Her hand, cold with fear, made him feel sorry for her.

“What kind of story should I tell you?”

“What?”

“My siblings would fall asleep when they heard old tales.”

“Will you…… stay?”

“I brought you here, so I should also be responsible for you.”

“……”

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

As if saying he wouldn’t let go of her hand, Rapellian slightly tightened his grip on El’s hand.

“If Y-Young Master can’t sleep……”

“It’s not time for me to sleep yet. Don’t worry and be comfortable.”

FLASH! RUMBLE. CRASH! RUMBLE.

New thunder and lightning rolled over their heads.

El hesitated to answer but quickly nodded.

Rapellian, with a faint smile on his lips, recalled stories he had told to Briel and Riello one by one from his memory and placed them on his lips.