Caspian looked up at Catherine with an incredulous expression and let out a scornful laugh.

“Of all things, a girl who can’t even speak… Send her away as soon as the day breaks tomorrow.”

“Young master.”

“That’s enough. Leave now.”

Caspian closed his eyes wearily and waved his hand dismissively.

Catherine whispered in Cordelia’s ear.

“Help the young master wash up and go to bed.”

She repeated the gestures she had shown Cordelia earlier during training. Cordelia nodded.

Catherine cleared the table and left the room. Caspian, who had been pressing his forehead due to a mild headache, rose from his chair when he heard the door close.

“…Why aren’t you leaving?”

Cordelia placed the washbasin on the table. Then she mimicked exactly what Catherine had demonstrated to her.

Seeing her pantomime washing up and sleeping, Caspian understood her meaning and said in a subdued voice.

“I can manage on my own, so please leave.”

His expressionless face, pointing toward the door, showed a glimpse of fatigue. Though his demeanor clearly indicated she was an annoyance, Cordelia stood her ground.

If the young master was tired, she needed to help him get to bed quickly. That was Cordelia’s job.

After dampening a clean towel with water, Cordelia stepped boldly toward Caspian.

“I said that’s enough…!”

Caspian stumbled backward. His face, flushed with embarrassment, had been reddish since earlier.

Cordelia wanted to help the sick young master into bed as soon as possible. So she insistently grabbed his arm and brought the wet towel to his face.

Despite being held by a child much smaller than himself, Caspian couldn’t move. After pulling his head back and resisting, he finally let out a sigh.

“Haa… where did they find such a child…”

Caspian straightened his posture, seemingly resigned. Cordelia gently wiped the face of the young master, who had obediently closed his eyes.

She meticulously wiped from his smooth forehead to his long eyelashes and red lips, then her hand moved down to his neck.

Caspian caught that tiny hand.

“That’s enough.”

He took the towel, carelessly dabbed his neck, and returned it to Cordelia.

Walking to the bedside, Caspian began unbuttoning his shirt. Cordelia followed closely behind him.

Intending to help him change, she approached, but Caspian, unaware of her presence, accidentally hit her nose with his arm as he removed his clothes.

Caspian turned around in surprise.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were behind…”

Though it didn’t seem like a hard impact, Caspian was at a loss for words seeing Cordelia collapse weakly.

He couldn’t understand why Catherine would assign such a young and fragile child as his maid.

Caspian barely swallowed a sigh that was trying to escape his lips and extended his hand to Cordelia. Or rather, he was about to.

One moment she was covering her nose with both hands, the next she had sprung to her feet.

The child brought over the nightclothes draped on the bed and held them open, ready for him to put on. With her arms stretched out, looking up at him, Caspian thought she resembled a puppy waiting for praise.

“Ha…”

Despite his efforts to hold it back, another sigh escaped Caspian’s lips.

‘It seems she compensates for not speaking by being extremely proactive in her actions.’

When Caspian turned his back, Cordelia helped him slip his arms into the sleeves of his shirt.

Looking down at the small head diligently buttoning up his shirt in front of him, Caspian’s only thought was that he wanted to fall asleep quickly.

After changing, Caspian lay down on the bed. As he placed his arm over his eyelids, Cordelia pulled up the blanket to cover him.

The light filtering through his closed eyelids disappeared. The child must have turned off the lights and left.

Caspian exhaled deeply. He hadn’t noticed until he lay down, but his body felt incredibly heavy.

‘I drank lavender tea, so I hope I can sleep well tonight…’

He pressed his temples firmly with one hand. He could feel a slight fever on his forehead. Perhaps because of the fever, his throat felt parched.

He painfully lifted his eyelids to get some water. And he nearly screamed.

Cordelia, whom he thought had already left, was still standing by the bedside.

“What, why…”

Caspian stopped mid-sentence. Come to think of it, he didn’t recall telling the child to leave before he got into bed.

Thinking it strange that she had been so forward in touching him earlier yet was now being so formal, Caspian sat up.

“You can go rest now. I’m going to sleep.”

Despite his words, Cordelia showed no particular reaction, merely blinking twice.

Thinking she might not have understood, Caspian waved his hand to indicate she should leave, then reached toward the nightstand.

The room was dark with the lights off. As Caspian’s hand was about to miss the water bottle, Cordelia picked it up, poured water into a cup, and handed it to him.

The sequence was so swift and natural that for a moment, Caspian wondered if he had actually ordered her to bring him water.

Caspian exhaled hot breath as he sipped the water slowly.

“…Do you have something to tell me?”

Caspian asked Cordelia, who still hadn’t left the room after he handed back the empty cup.

After staring at her languidly for a while, Caspian opened the drawer of the nightstand. He took out a palm-sized notebook and a fountain pen and placed them in the child’s hands.

Cordelia looked at them, tilting her head in confusion.

Catherine had instructed her to help the young master wash up and go to bed, so she had planned to wait quietly until he fell asleep, but he didn’t seem sleepy.

Her mother used to sing lullabies when Cordelia couldn’t sleep, but Cordelia couldn’t sing.

Caspian turned on the small lamp on the nightstand. Cordelia opened the notebook and scribbled something.

When Caspian received the notebook, he was so dumbfounded that he lost his words.

The notebook showed a person with widely curved lips, smiling. It was something that could barely be called a person—a combination of wobbly lines and shapes—but the intention was probably to depict a human.

Caspian practically threw the notebook onto the nightstand and lay down carelessly.

After seeing that silly drawing, his desire to converse had completely vanished. Not understanding what she was thinking, and not caring whether she left or stayed, Caspian turned to the opposite side, just wanting to sleep.

However, not long after, he sat up abruptly.

No one had ever stayed in his bedroom for this long. Just having someone behind his back was distracting, and the stupid drawing he had seen earlier kept floating through his mind, making it impossible to fall asleep.

“Get out.”

Caspian’s voice was tinged with irritation as he pointed toward the door.

Startled by his sharp tone, Cordelia put her hands together and placed them against her cheeks. She had intended to convey that she would leave once he fell asleep, but he had no interest in her intentions.

“You’re keeping me awake, so leave.”

Caspian’s green eyes reflected the moonlight, gleaming coldly.

Though she didn’t understand why he was suddenly angry, Cordelia didn’t want to upset her master. The child bowed and hurriedly left the room.

Despite her haste, she felt proud for remembering to take the washbasin and towel with her. But that feeling was short-lived as Cordelia belatedly noticed the weight in her apron pocket and stood there dejectedly.

She had forgotten the most important thing. She should have introduced herself to the young master in the Imperial language she had practiced so hard.

Cordelia walked down the corridor glumly.

Lying with his back to the door through which the child had left, Caspian squeezed his eyes shut. The image of her eyes, wide with surprise at his sharp command, lingered in his mind.

“Strange child…”

Caspian muttered quietly as he tossed and turned.

* * *

Standing in front of Caspian’s door early in the morning, Cordelia found herself in a dilemma.

How was she supposed to knock while holding the washbasin with both hands?

After pondering for a while whether it was appropriate to set the young master’s washbasin on the floor, Cordelia suddenly realized she had another means to knock besides using her hands.

Thump!

The head she rammed against the door hurt more than expected. The sound was quite loud, but there was no answer from inside.

Cordelia bumped her head against the door once more. Again, there was no response.

After hesitating, she finally set the basin carefully on the floor. The child quietly opened the door and quickly picked up the basin again.

Closing the door with her shoulder, Cordelia first placed the washbasin on the table.

Caspian was still asleep. Though she had arrived at the time Catherine had instructed, he seemed to be sleeping later than usual.

Cordelia approached the bed, wondering if she should wake the young master.

“Ugh…”

Caspian moaned in pain. His face, drenched in cold sweat, was pale.