Chapter 15
Even though he had no idea what had happened on the battlefield, Ronald judged that the current situation was serious.
This was an emergency.
Forgive him for saying this, and it might truly be a horrible conclusion, but…!
‘Could it be that the young master has finally gone mad because of the curse?’
Ronald squeezed his eyes shut and tried desperately to shake away the dreadful thoughts swirling through his head.
Finally managing to move his hand, Ronald knocked on the door again.
“Young Master Blake. It’s Ronald. Are you inside?”
“……”
The other side of the door remained silent. Ronald tilted his head.
He couldn’t sleep, so he had always been sensitive even to the smallest sounds.
“Maybe he isn’t here? Haah, of course not. I must really be losing my mind. Young Master in the greenhouse?”
There was no way.
Thinking he had made the trip for nothing, Ronald turned to leave.
“…Don’t want to?”
A man’s voice came from the quiet greenhouse. Ronald, who had been halfway turned around, froze in place.
‘That was definitely Young Master’s voice…’
“Young Master, I am very worried that something may have happened. May I perhaps come in?”
Again, no reply came from inside.
After hesitating, Ronald finally made up his mind and grabbed the doorknob. The door swung open.
“…What in the world?!”
And Ronald ended up witnessing the most shocking scene in his forty years of working here.
A brown teddy bear standing proudly atop a soft garden chair, and Blake glaring at that bear with obvious displeasure.
Watching the fierce standoff between a person and a stuffed toy, Ronald slowly scooted backward while still sitting down.
But his suffering didn’t end there.
Crash!
Failing to notice the flowerpot behind him, Ronald fell flat onto the ground, landing hard on his backside.
And what entered his eyes was—
Blake, frowning at the sudden presence, slightly sitting up and lifting the struggling teddy bear with one hand before setting it down on his lap—
And—
“Wah, Blake?”
A teddy bear that was calling Blake’s name and talking.
“U-Urgh!”
Unable to suppress the sound that burst out from his shock, Ronald let out a strangled cry, causing Blake and Vivian to simultaneously turn toward the doorway.
Meeting Ronald’s eyes, Vivian cheerfully waved her hand.
“Oh? Hi, white-mustache butler!”
This is troublesome.
I quietly observed Ronald sitting in a chair, his face as pale as his white mustache.
“Blake. Do you think White-Mustache Butler fainted while sitting down?”
Seeing him immediately shake his head slightly at my words, it didn’t seem like he’d fainted.
Whew, that’s a relief.
If an elderly butler had fainted, then it would all have been Blake’s fault.
Crossing my arms, I clicked my tongue at Blake.
Geez, why insist on leaving a witch pretending perfectly well to be a doll alone?
Noticing my stare, Blake pressed his large palm firmly against my face.
“Uwaah!”
“Ronald.”
“…Y-Yes.”
Ronald, who had not spoken for an entire hour, replied in a weak voice.
“Do you feel like talking now?”
“I apologize. This old man dared to lose his senses in a place like this… Yes, of course.”
“It makes sense that you’d be surprised.”
“No, I was the one who behaved rudely. Not a single servant saw Young Master today, so I became worried and…”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Pwah!
Finally escaping Blake’s palm, I kicked his thigh with my tiny foot.
I almost suffocated!
This ungrateful brat really seemed to think of me as nothing more than a teddy bear.
Then suddenly, I felt an intensely hot gaze and awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
If you stare like that, even I get a little embarrassed…
“Maybe I should’ve at least been wearing clothes. That wasn’t very polite. Sorry, White-Mustache Aide. I’m Vivian.”
“Huh…”
Still unable to hide his shock, Ronald blankly asked,
“Y-Young Master, just what exactly is that doll? It talks and has intelligence.”
Aha. Questions about my identity were always enjoyable.
Even though I was trapped in the body of a mere teddy bear, it was still an opportunity to remind everyone that I was actually Vivian Holloway, the Great Witch of the West.
And this was basically the same as having my identity exposed already.
So it wouldn’t count as breaking the contract!
Puffing out my chest proudly, I was about to speak.
“I’m a wi— Mmph!”
“A very old teddy bear.”
“Pardon?”
Hey!
My mouth was covered again, and I struggled in protest, but Blake calmly continued speaking.
“It was a teddy bear I happened to acquire recently. Strangely enough, when I have this doll, I can sleep.”
“Y-You can sleep…? My goodness! Young Master, that’s wonderful news! Such joyous news!”
Ronald’s eyes sparkled endlessly as they darted back and forth between me and Blake.
He immediately stood up saying he had to tell the family head at once, but Blake stopped him.
“Wait a moment. I’ll tell Father myself. There are still things I need to investigate.”
“Hoho, yes. Of course. Naturally. I was just…”
Before long, Ronald’s surprise had vanished, replaced entirely by emotion, and tears welled up in his gray eyes.
Then he turned his head toward me, where I had escaped Blake and was standing in a corner of the flower bed looking at flowers.
I was rubbing my face with the back of my hand to fix the shape that had been squashed by that human fast charger.
Suddenly, Ronald bowed his head deeply to me.
“Thank you, Mr. Teddy Bear. Thank you, truly thank you!”
“M-Me…?”
When I pointed at myself and asked, tears rolled down Ronald’s wrinkled eyes.
“Yes. For helping our Young Master sleep, I don’t know how I could ever repay this kindness…”
He hadn’t even asked how Blake was sleeping or what exactly I was, yet Ronald continued bowing his head in gratitude.
He didn’t even try to find out my true identity.
I froze awkwardly and looked back and forth between Blake and Ronald.
Apparently I wasn’t the only surprised one.
Blake also seemed frozen by Ronald’s tears.
His expression remained blank, but he had gone stiff, staring at Ronald with sharp eyes.
“If Young Master can sleep peacefully, if he can become happy because of it, then I don’t care what methods or means are involved. Though a cute teddy bear like this… I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“Um, White-Mustache Butler. Thanks for trusting me, but now I’m starting to get worried. What if I were actually an evil teddy bear with bad intentions?”
Aren’t the people here way too innocent?
They looked like a den of villains on the outside, but inside they were all soft-hearted people like melted cheese, making me feel strangely guilty.
“Is that so? Hoho, but this old man’s eyes don’t see it that way. I’ve lived through quite a turbulent life, so I have a pretty good eye for people—or rather, teddy bears.”
Going even further and joking around, Ronald truly carried the seasoned wisdom gained through experience.
“And since Young Master has already looked into things carefully and made his decision, I will simply trust him completely.”
His eyes warmly looked at my face, which had somehow become all round and dough-like again, before he extended his hand.
Unlike Blake’s, it was a hand that carried traces of time.
I stared at it silently before carefully taking it.
With a light shake of hands, he smiled kindly.
“Until Young Master permits it, I shall carry this secret with me to the grave. I look forward to working with you, Lady Vivian.”
I smiled brightly back at Ronald.
“Mm, I look forward to it too.”
After Ronald, who promised to keep everything secret, left—
I climbed onto Blake’s lap and sat down.
The lap I sat on naturally wasn’t as hard as I had expected.
Just like his heart.
I muttered softly.
You said you were all alone in this mansion without anyone close to you, but look at this, Blake.
Besides my Max, this is the first time I’ve seen such a loyal and dependable aide.
“You’ve got quite an impressive assistant, don’t you?”
Blake’s violet-like eyes trembled slightly as he stared for a long time at the place where Ronald had been sitting.
The expression of someone realizing that during all the years he’d felt alone, there had still been someone silently staying by his side—
It was so beautiful that before I knew it, a joyful smile escaped me.
