Chapter 4
Benya, stepping back dramatically towards the opposite wall, suddenly gestured for me to join. I shook my head in fright.
"H-how can I... I don't know anything about dancing!"
"If you don't know, you can learn. We'll teach you."
"What am I going to learn and use it for..."
"Sasha, join us!"
"Yes, you have to do it with us, so we'll all be in sync."
Even with Estelle and Lethias enthusiastically encouraging me, I eventually found myself learning the social dance of the nobility—an unimaginable skill in my current life.
"Relax a little. Just surrender yourself to the music. Imagine the music playing here."
"That's hard for me to imagine..."
"When you first learn, it's like that for everyone. Relax your arms and look into my eyes. They say you have to look into each other’s eyes when dancing."
What good will that do? I can't believe I'm supposed to imagine the music playing and then gaze into your eyes!
Are you really Benya? You're a Ducal Prince, for heaven's sake. I'm sorry, I've been observing your simplistic (?) demeanor here for so long that I almost forgot that fact.
It was awkward at first, but since it wasn't a flamboyant dance with intense body movements, I managed to get the hang of it.
As I took turns practicing dancing with the siblings as instructed, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
Did the original Sasha, not the reincarnated me, learn to dance in this way?
Despite her status as a maid and the nanny's daughter, Sasha always attended balls with the Serpente brothers.
The other aristocrats were appalled by such a bold act that disrupted societal norms, but expelling Sasha from the party would mean confronting the Serpente family.
And aside from the status issue, Sasha used to draw people's attention wherever she went.
Like the irony of a king's mistress being subject to all sorts of criticism and, at the same time, being a trendsetter in society...
"The bell is ringing! It's lunchtime."
Mornings flew by as we focused on practicing sword fighting and dancing under the guise of training. Our appetites soared due to the exercise, which was fortunate.
After lunch, we took naps or rested for a while, then gathered in the library to read books together. I studied diligently on my own.
At first, we delved into account books we didn't understand, played with numbers, or explored old maps and history books we found in a corner of the bookshelf, guessing the locations of neighboring countries.
And when we got bored, we engaged in role-playing based on stories we found in the books.
"I borrowed 50,000 lari, how could the interest be 300,000!"
"At any rate, you don’t know how to thank us for helping you in your difficult times. Your lordship would have gone bankrupt long ago if we hadn't let you borrow our money."
... To be precise, they’re like playing rogue moneylenders? Haha. Well, they come from a family that originally started as loan sharks.
As we spent each day like that, we did everything together.
Not just the scenarios we played, but also periodic sweeping and mopping of the whole place, including the library, and washing blankets, sheets, and soiled clothes.
Winter arrived during this time. Every morning, we woke up with chills, and our daily routine began.
Due to the cold wind, we had to keep the windows of the library closed.
Even with all our clothes on, it was still cold. Whenever water was boiled on the stove, a rare sight unfolded as everyone gathered around it, trying to warm their cold hands and feet.
Taking a bath was a luxury in this cold, and our meals became even more monotonous when served cold. The apple juice we drank every morning turned ice-cold.
To combat the cold, we added some juice to boiled water, naming it Apple Tea, and drinking it. It was the only way to ease our bodies in the cold.
"My dearest brother."
"Why are you calling me, stupid Hyungnim?"
"Let's practice swordsmanship. I'm freezing to death."
The best way to survive in the cold without proper heating was to keep moving as much as possible.
We spent more time practicing or running around than sitting and reading a book. Cleaning was done almost every day. The laundry was put on hold as it would freeze instead of drying.
"Ah, achoo! Sasha, I-I'm cold."
What worried me most was Estelle. She was a sickly child, and catching a cold in here could be a big problem.
We couldn't call a doctor or take medicine. If things went wrong, it could be just like in the original...
I wrapped several sets of clothes around Estelle and gave her all the shawls I had. She also wore three layers of socks.
Then, we put a stove in our bedroom and kept it on all day. It didn't get very warm, but it was better than nothing. We had to turn it off when we were sleeping.
The bedding could have been thicker, but the carpet on the floor seemed warmer than the blanket we were using.
I really wanted to start a campfire using the books as firewood, but if I did, there was a strong chance that the fire would spread and endanger us all.
"So cold."
"I'm cold."
"It's cold."
The library was extremely cold, so we brought our books up and sat under blankets around the stove to read. It wasn't long before snow began to blow through the overhead windows.
In the past, everyone would have been excited about
the snowfall, but here we only felt more miserable.
We huddled close together, sharing boiled water, and chatting about various things to distract ourselves from the harsh reality.
We reminisced about fun childhood experiences, shared trivial memories about the deceased, and more. But no matter the topic, the conclusion was always the same.
"I'm cold."
Everything would have been so much better with hot cocoa and a cozy fireplace. Those two were the luxuries we longed for at that moment.
"Hyung. Get a little bit away from me…?”
"As if I'm someone who likes this scenario, achoo! Well, I guess I do... Achoo! Ah, I'm freezing to death."
"Ah, get off!"
Benya harshly refused, insisting that he would rather freeze to death than be hugged by his older brother. Hurt, Lethias backed away but then proceeded to hold on to Estelle instead.
"Oppa stinks."
"W-what do you mean I stink..."
We all felt like human stoves, hugging each other tightly to keep it warm. It would have been unimaginable in the past, but such things had become a common occurrence here.
"Benya, your hands are freezing."
"Your hand feels like a block of ice."
Before we knew it, we were always stuck together like a lump, spending most of our time in front of the stove with our bodies tightly wrapped, only separating when eating.
That day was just one of those typical days in our
chilly existence.
* * *
The cold air nipped at my nose, making me feel like it might fall off.
Though my body was warm enough, my face was freezing, reminding me of the sensation when I forget to wear a scarf in the dead of winter.
I blinked and tried to make sense of the situation, thinking I might still be dreaming.
But there he was, Viscount Hippolyte, whom I hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity, staring down at us with an indescribable expression.
It was a sight that must have been strange to witness - all of us huddled together on the carpeted floor, sleeping in a group.
With a gesture, he indicated for me to follow him silently so as not to wake the children.
Carefully untangling Estelle's head from my stomach and the entangled arms of the others, I gently moved away and got up.
However, to my dismay, this bastard clung to my arm, refusing to let go. Why now?
Quietly carrying the stove that had run out of kerosene and turned off on its own, I staggered down the stairs following Jerome.
As he reached the library, I wondered if he had explored the upper floor before coming down to where we were sleeping. Once the door closed behind me, he finally looked me directly in the eyes.
His gaze was unsettlingly familiar, reminiscent of the way he looked at me when I wore Estelle's dress.
It struck me then that I was in a similar situation now, wearing Estelle's robe and Benya's jacket over my clothes.
"You…."
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