VIO Ch 7 – The Reason He Couldn’t Go Outside (IV)

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Translator: mii

Editors: sleepchaser, Katie_WanderingFujoshi

“Young Master, are you feeling alright?”

Jill’s call snapped Vio back to his senses. He blinked to reorient himself. Previously, he had been reading in the laboratory, but his mind started to wander as he flipped through the pages. The sunlight streaming through the window proved faint. Sunset seemed around the corner.

“I called for you several times just now… I also noticed that you’ve been sighing a lot today,” said Jill, tone thick with worry. “Are you really alright, Young Master?”

“Ah, don’t worry, Jill. I’m a little tired since I read until late last night and didn’t sleep properly,” said Vio nonchalantly. But then he realized he had slipped up. 

Jill stared at him in disapproval. “Young Master…”

Simply by hearing Jill call his name in that particular manner, Vio could already envision what the butler wanted to say. Jill was fine with him studying magic, but just now, Vio had revealed that he had broken a promise from a year ago: to sleep properly. He didn’t want to listen to Jill’s nagging.

So he rushed to stand and said in an evasive manner, “Oh, um, yes. I’ll rest in my room until dinner.”

“By all means, please do that.”

And he spared no time in leaving the room, running from Jill’s disapproving gaze.

⋆̩☂︎*̣̩ ✢ ⋆̩☂︎*̣̩

Woah, that was dangerous.

Vio walked down the hallway at a quick pace. Jill was usually soft on him, but when it came to his physical well-being, it was a totally different story. He would be as stern as a demon, his lectures taking forever. Every time Vio sensed danger from him, he would run away. As he wondered whether he should sleep early today, he stifled a yawn.

He made for the entrance hall to head to his room on the second floor. Although Leca town was a rural town, this mansion was magnificent and spacious. Naturally, moving around in this huge space was troublesome. Originally, this mansion was built as a summer residence for Vio’s frail and elderly grandmother. His grandfather was the prime minister, so he could afford to invest a lot of money into it. Thanks to that, the interior was elegant and luxurious. The only disharmonious factor was the fake mounted deer head displayed in the dining room. Hunting was a passion of his grandfather; the mounted deer head was there to satisfy his interests. 

Still, Vio found it creepy during the night.

“Lord Violant.”

“Hm?” said Vio, glancing around his surroundings.

He had definitely heard Legion’s voice, but the man was nowhere in sight.

“Here. Look at the garden.”

“…What are you doing?” asked Vio. Legion stood outside the window to the entrance hall, in his arms a bouquet of colorful wildflowers. Coupled with his bright grin, Vio could not find it in himself to ignore him. 

“Lord Violant was admiring the flowers this morning, right? I climbed the mountain and picked these up! Don’t worry; I asked permission from the gardener. If you’re alright with this, may you accept them?” asked Legion, drawing closer to the window. 

Astonishment filled Vio. Even though it’s so chilly outside… he actually climbed the mountain to pick those flowers. Why did he do this? I’m not a princess.

He opened the window. It was obvious how such an action caused Legion’s expression to brighten. To Vio, Legion looked like a dog with a wagging tail. It was rude to imagine him as one, but the resemblance remained.

Just to make his stance clear, Vio said, “I won’t hire you even if you do this.”

Confused for a moment, Legion asked, “Hire?”

Then he shook his head after he had understood what Vio meant. He said, “No, that was not my intention! I only wish to aid in your relaxation. I want to see a smile on your face—Ah, no! Anyway, that’s not it!”

“Please calm down. I can’t follow your words if you speak that quickly.”

“I just wanted you to be happy…”

Like before, it was easy to see the truth in Legion’s form, flashing in his eyes. Vio was dumbfounded.

This man is very different from the knights I’ve come across in Nada town. I still can’t understand the purpose of his actions.

Rupheus had trained every knight he had ever met. Each had a cold demeanor. Not to mention, everything they did was merely out of obligation, detailed by their job descriptions. This was Vio’s first experience to have someone charge at him full of genuine good will.

“…I see. Then it can’t be helped. I’ll accept these since the flowers are innocent. But I’ll only take half. I can’t carry that many.”

“It’s too great of an honor!” Legion divided the flowers in half and presented them to Vio. Surprise painted his face. The bouquet was heavy even when split in half. Did Legion not realize he had picked too many?

As he stared at the flowers, he realized that he had never laid eyes on some of them before.

“These flowers bloom in the mountains?”

“Yeah! During spring, the mountains are beautiful. Lord Violant is unwell, but the sun isn’t shining that strong right now. How about walking around the garden? If it’s alright with you, would you like me to escort you there?”

After Legion wiped the palm of his left hand on his coat, he extended it to Vio. Vio froze as he stared at his extended hand. It seemed Legion believed the rumor that had been spread in public. That he didn’t leave the mansion because of his frail body. 

“No, I…”

“If that’s still not okay, shall I bring a parasol?”

“That’s not it… Fine, I’ll go.”

Vio took a deep breath to prepare himself. It was a good opportunity to practice going out. Timidly, he placed his right hand onto Legion’s left, the latter lightly pulling him forward.

Finally, after such a long time, he stepped onto the soil.

At that moment, the memory of that day flashed in his mind.

“Lord Vio, the snow has piled up so prettily. Would you like to go out? I’ll accompany you.”

Yeah. On that winter day, Erik presented his hand to me like this too.

Immediately, Vio shoved Legion away with all of his strength. Surprise filled Legion’s features. The colorful flowers in his hands fluttered in the air as they fell down to the ground.

And then, Vio knelt at that spot. The flowers he had held were scattered on the ground around him.

He found it hard to breathe. The sound of his heartbeat rang in his ears. Sweat ran down his back in sticky trails.

“Lord Violant!” shouted Legion, so startled that he had raised his voice. Vio lifted his right hand to show he was fine, but because he couldn’t breathe properly, he ended up wobbling in place instead.

“Young Master!”

As soon as Vio had heard those words, someone pulled him back into the mansion in one swift movement. It was Jill. He tapped Vio’s back at regular intervals. “Please breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in… It’s fine. You are fine now.” 

With Jill’s helpful instructions, Vio finally managed to breathe properly. Exhausted, he sank to the floor. 

Then Jill turned to Legion, tone menacing as he said, “Sir Legion, what is the meaning of this?”

“…Hah. Don’t be angry, Jill. It’s my fault,” said Vio.

“Eh?”

“I wanted to go out. I thought that I could do it since a long time has passed since then, but… It was no good. This is terrible.” Vio covered his face with his shaking hands. His eyes burned. His tears willfully flowed down his cheeks. “How can I escape from his shadow? I want to forget, but I can’t.” 

“It’s okay, Young Master. It’s wonderful that you summoned your courage to try. But please don’t think about it anymore.”

With Jill’s tender voice and his patting of his back, Vio’s trembling finally subsided.

Yes, that’s all in the past. It’s okay now.

The moment he was convinced of that, his vision went dark.

“Young Master?!”

“Lord Violant?!”

Jill and Legion’s voices of panic overlapped, but they all sounded faint to Vio.

Translator’s ramblings:

Oh no, Vio! I don’t really blame Legi since I’m sure he means well… I hope this won’t decrease Rille’s cookie points on Legi, though! You can do this, ML!!

Also, I assumed that Legi didn’t actually fall down (how can a normal guy push a knight?) but he’s definitely surprised, so maybe it’s like he… moved back? Got pushed a little? And the flowers in his hands also moved back, so they kind of flutter and fell down! Author-sama please stop being vague pspspsps

And we decided to change ‘young master’ to ‘Young Master’! I’ve fixed all of the previous chapters but if any readers saw us using ‘young master’, please kindly point it out so I can fix it… QAQ

I feel like these ramblings are basically mii and her team overthinking things ww, the number of braincells and research we had done for this novel are insane…