EnglandxReader - CHAINED Ch15

CHAINED
—Magic is everywhere, you just don't realize it was there.

Chapter 15: The Sideways

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"Is it done?"

"Yes, Master." Bell nodded courteously, handing the man a bag of remedy. "I have added extra herbs; it should reduce the pain slightly."

"Thank you."

"It's my job, Sir Braginski."

There was a brief silence. The tall minister frowned and looked down. "Miss Verlinden... is there really nothing you can do?"

The young doctor looked away. "I'm sorry, Master... I have tried my best."

***

The sound of chirping birds woke you up as you slowly opened your eyes. The bright morning light blinded you a bit, and you stirred slightly in your bed... or what you thought was your bed.

You rolled off the couch and fell with a thud. Your head impacted with the table's leg. You groaned in pain. It was still so early in the morning and things were already irritating.

...Which you were suddenly aware of. Why were you sleeping on the couch again?

You sat up looked to the side, finding no other than your Master sleeping soundly on the couch. You made a face, half shocked, half amused. No, wait... did you actually fell asleep on the couch with him?!

You tried to calm down and racked your brain for any related memories. You faintly smiled when you recalled the scenes from last night. You looked up to study his face, which you found, dare say, quite cute when sleeping.

You crossed your arms on the couch and leaned on it, lightly pulling a few stray strands of his blonde hair. It was rare that you got to see him so vulnerable. It felt weird... foreign, you could hardly believe it, but it definitely wasn't a dream. His slightly swelled eyes were the proof.

You played with his hair a bit more. Now that you thought about it, he finally told you about himself last night. You couldn't help but sympathize with him, of course. Who knew a Magical Snark Knight like him could have such a horrible past?

You heard footsteps from upstairs. Probably Lili, or Vash, you thought. You turned your attention back to the Mage, and pulled a pinch of hair that was still in your hand... harder.

He woke up, jumping from his position; his hand flew to the spot where some of his hair almost lost a place on his head. He glared at you, but you only stared at him like nothing happened.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. It's morning."

He narrowed his glare on you. "I don't recall ever having a personal alarm."

"Oh, good morning, Master Arthur, Lady [Name]." You heard a voice coming down the stairs. Lili smiled nervously at you. "Ah, I found the both of you asleep on the couch when I came down to get some drink. I thought it'd be quite disturbing if I woke you up. You seemed tired, too."

Your face flushed with embarrassment, so did Arthur, and both of you looked away. You cursed in your mind; she should have woken you up.

"I-It's fine, thank you for your consideration, Lili," you said, forcing out a smile.

She smiled and walked to the kitchen. "I'll go make breakfast. You can go get ready for the day."

You stood up and stretched. Sleeping in a couch made your body feel cramped, and your back hurt from trying to fit in the small space. There were two people sleeping in that couch, anyway, which caused you to blush a bit.

Oh well, what's with it? You just fell asleep, anyway.

You walked to the bathroom. "I'm taking the bath first."

There was a small pause before you heard him call, halting you in your steps. "Hey."

You turned to look at him.

He looked away in embarrassment. You could see a tinge of pink dusting his cheeks, even though it was half hidden by his hair. "About last night... please keep that a secret."

You blinked. You weren't expecting him to be the type to worry about things like that, but you found it adorable and unconsciously let out a giggle. He glared at you.

You waved your hand in amusement and winked playfully at him. "No problem, Master. I'll make sure it stays our little secret."

His face flared again and he threw a cushion at you. Fortunately, you were quick enough to get inside the bathroom.

***

"Ah, no! Don't put it there! It's dangerous for the newborns!"

"Oh, sorry!"

You were helping Vash tending to the livestock. You never really noticed, but the Zwinglis had quite a large barn. There were all kind of animals and crops you could barely count each of them.

You decided to give a hand to Lili's brother in the farm since idly sitting around made you feel uncomfortable, but it was somehow the other way around. You never really had any experience with farming before, since living in a castle forbade you to actually participate in almost any physical activities.

You pushed the heavy hay stack to a safer spot on the corner as Vash instructed. You wiped your forehead and sighed in satisfaction when you finally found a perfect spot for it.

"Take notes when people talk!" he fussed. "Sheesh, you always seem to space out whenever I try to explain something."

"Sorry," you muttered apologetically, petting a little lamb's head. "It's not that I wasn't listening to your explanations. This is pretty much my first time ever doing something like this..."

He sighed and leaned back on the barn's wooden walls. "I get it. I bet you'd never thought that you'd be doing things like this one day, right? You are a princess, after all."

You stopped petting the lamb's head and frowned at him. "Hey, it's not like that."

He ignored your comment and kept his hard gaze at you. "It must feel great to be the daughter of a King, huh?"

You laughed lightly, hand still rubbing the small mammal's head. "It has its points, but it's not always like that." You paused. "I believe everyone agrees that it's fun being spoiled everyday, but it doesn't mean I enjoy being restricted to almost everything I do. You'll never understand what freedom means to me."

He didn't respond. You glanced sideways to peek at him. His expression softened a bit, but he still had that hard glare at you. You grinned in amusement. You wondered why you get to meet a lot of people like these lately.

"So, you mean, you enjoyed it now?"

You looked at him in confusion.

"His intention in taking you in his journey is to ensure that your country pays for their debt, right?" he asked. "But you're outside the castle's walls now. You're pretty much free to do what you want."

You bit your lip. It was true that you became free, but it didn't mean you enjoyed this. You were still a hostage nonetheless, how could you possibly enjoy it? Well, you didn't, did you?

Of course not. That was a foolish question.

...Or maybe you did, even just a little.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I guess I never really thought about it."

Vash raised a confused brow, but said nothing. You laughed at his expression.

"Either way, I'm trying to enjoy it. I've learned a lot of things since I got away from home. Things that you can't learn from books and teacher's speeches." You made a funny peace sign at him. "Farming included. That's why you should teach me more about it!"

You swore you saw him smile—if not smirk—at you for a brief moment, but the answer he gave you sent your jaw down to the ground.

"No."

Yes, he definitely hated strangers.

***

"Achoo!"

You groaned in irritation. It seemed that you had caught a cold.

You threw a rock to the water. It was dark, and the fireflies started coming out again to float around the lake's surface. Today was tiring, but you had fun. After somewhat helping Vash with the livestock, you went to help Lili with her flowers. You didn't know before, but Lili told you those flowers belonged to their mother. They were orphans now, their parents passed away in an accident where they fell off a cliff two years ago.

"Achoo!" you sneezed again. You groaned and rubbed you forehead. You must've caught the cold from exhaustion.

A blanket was thrown over your head from behind, and you noticed someone sitting beside you. You pulled the blanket off and grunted in annoyance. Of course, who else it would be if not the annoying Mage himself?

"What, now you're sick? You should take a better care of yourself."

You hit him with a pebble. "I had to sleep with a wet shirt last night. Whose fault is that?"

He flushed but ignored your comment. He looked away before throwing a pouch of medical herb to you. "I can't have a sick person tagging along in my business."

"At least you're responsible for that."

He grunted, but didn't respond. You silently wondered. Usually he would have something to come back with.

You threw another rock to the lake. "Something in your mind?"

"Why do you care?"

"You're quiet today."

"So?"

"That's weird."

"You're weird."

And another rock flew to him.

He sighed, his gaze still away from you. "Hey, there's... something I want to ask you..."

"What?"

Silence.

"...Nothing. Forget it."

Figures.

"Just spit it already!"

"I said forget it!" He glared at you. "It's nothing. Forget I said anything."

You sighed in defeat. "There you go again, always keeping things to yourself. Didn't I tell you to just say it when something is troubling your mind?"

"Some things are better left unsaid."

"You were about to say it just minutes ago."

"I changed my mind. Problem?"

"Oh." You grinned mischievously. "Is it something personal? What, you want to consult about your love life? Even though I'm pretty sure you don't have any."

"Wh-What?!"

"Oh, so it's true!"

"Ah, wha—GO TO BED! S-Sick people are not supposed to stay up so late!! Goodnight!!"

To be continued...