A Mad Lady’s Confession - Chapter 33

Even after finishing a bath in water hot enough to make steam rise, the unpleasant feeling still wouldn’t leave him. As a throbbing headache began to pound at his temples, he ordered the butler of the second house to bring him medicine.

He had work piled up as high as the conical roof of the grand theater, so he couldn’t afford to waste time. Just as he noticed his reflection in the mirror looked somewhat pale, a wave of dizziness struck him hard again, and he collapsed on the spot.

When he opened his eyes not long after collapsing, he saw a familiar ceiling and simply closed them again. It wasn’t because he lacked strength, but because sleep was overtaking him.

Matthias didn’t think his collapse was anything surprising or significant.

In reality, he was so robust he had never even suffered a minor illness, but because of that, he was indifferent to his own physical condition.

He thought it was simply because he had lacked sleep, that his body was demanding rest. Showing weakness or acting sick didn’t suit his nature, so he figured he could just sleep and then see his physician afterward.

At times, something cool touched his forehead, but he paid it no mind. It was probably a maid, or perhaps Mrs. Nella had come. The same went for the soft sensation brushing against his cheek.

Eleanor Brynhill, what’s that woman doing right now? As he tried to imagine the expression on her face upon hearing that he had collapsed, he drifted back into sleep.

His mind slowly surfaced from sleep.

Judging by the fact that the splitting pain in his head was gone, the headache seemed to have subsided, though his body still felt heavy, as if it remained half-asleep.

He buried his face deeper into the pillow in his arms. Whether warmed by his own body heat, the pillow felt warm, fragrant, and slightly ticklish. More than anything, the snug, embracing softness that seemed tailored perfectly to his body felt quite pleasant.

Whatever it was filled with, the pillow was both soft and pliant, calming his once-noisy thoughts into stillness.

The pillow he gripped filled his hand completely, even slightly more than his palm could hold. The sensation was so pleasant that he kneaded it freely.

“…Hng… mm….”

“….”

Did that sound just come from me? He paused for a moment. Am I really that unwell? Enough to let out a groan without even realizing it?

But his head didn’t hurt. His body felt fine. Thinking it odd, he tried the same action again. Rubbing his face into the pillow and squeezing the soft thing in his hand to his heart’s content—

“!”

The moment he sensed something off, his eyes snapped open. This soft, pliant, maddeningly pleasant sensation… his instinct told him it couldn’t be a pillow.

The first thing that registered was what he saw. A woman was lying beside him.

Her soft pink hair was spread out, her flushed cheeks rising and falling with steady breaths as she slept on her side.

Unaware that a man’s hand had shamelessly slipped inside the top of her thin summer two-piece, decorated with small, fresh floral patterns said to be the latest fashion in the capital, she slept deeply.

Perhaps his mind still wasn’t entirely clear, because his body committed an uncharacteristic impulse. Looking down at the woman, he unconsciously tightened his grip once more, still holding that soft flesh in his hand.

At that, Eleanor Brynhill frowned slightly and murmured in her sleep.

Like someone caught doing something wrong, he quickly pulled his hand away. At that movement, the woman shifted slightly before blinking her eyes open.

Eleanor, who had been lying on her side, turned her body and lifted her head, immediately meeting Matthias’s gaze. One sitting, the other lying down, they held each other’s gaze for a moment.

Does this woman’s mind work slowly? he thought, when the woman, still blinking with unfocused eyes, hurriedly pushed herself up.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling?”

“…What are you doing here?”

His voice came out low, his throat rough.

“Just a moment,” the woman said, then poured water from the glass bottle on the bedside table. As she picked up the cup, he held out his hand, thinking she meant to give it to him, but the woman tilted her head back and gulped the water down.

“….”

“Oh, would you like some water?”

After finishing it herself, she poured more into the same cup.

He considered saying something as he looked at the glass being held out to him, the water sloshing inside, but his thirst was more urgent, so he took it. As the lukewarm water slid down his throat, he finally felt fully awake.

“Why are you here?”

The woman answered matter-of-factly, “I heard you collapsed, so of course I came. It’s the duty of a wife.”

“…You seemed to be sleeping more deeply than I was.”

“I dozed off for a moment while taking care of you….”

So she had crawled into the bed and fallen asleep. Taking up half the bed, no less. When he woke up, he had been pushed nearly to the edge.

Holding her body must have been an instinctive action to keep himself from falling off the bed. Then, because what his hand touched felt good, he must have ended up touching it without realizing it.

As the soft sensation that had filled his palm came back to him, heat rose again, and he quickly continued speaking.

“It seems Mrs. Nella made a fuss. There was no need to go so far as to nurse me. You did something unnecessary.”

Outside the window, darkness had settled thickly. He must have slept for about four or five hours at most.

“It’s late, so you’d better take a carriage back.”

“…Can’t I just stay here?”

“There isn’t really space to accommodate you, so it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

The second house wasn’t some communal lodging for commoners. It was a modern three-story building with eight rooms. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t a room Eleanor could use, yet he cut her off.

It was the result of the irritation that lingered from earlier in the day and the impulse he’d briefly felt to extend their time together.

He had never been the type to hold onto emotions, yet whenever he was with Eleanor Brynhill, he kept becoming that way, and he found it thoroughly displeasing.

The woman nodded as if she were used to being refused. “Alright. Then I’ll be going.”

“….”

She’s really leaving just like that?

At the very least, he was someone who had collapsed earlier today. Shouldn’t she insist a few times that she stay by his side, that she take care of him?

Eleanor Brynhill was impossible to predict. Everything she said and everything she did.

As he became aware of his sour mood, his head began to throb again. Feeling the tension pulling at the back of his head, he pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a low groan.

“Ha….”

“Are you alright?”

Startled, the woman stepped closer and touched his forehead.

“…I’m fine—”

“That won’t do. Let’s try this.”

Before he could even continue speaking, Eleanor climbed onto the bed. Positioning herself behind him, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled.

Before he could even question what on earth she was doing or what it meant, Matthias’s body was helplessly dragged along by the woman’s lead.

The fabric of her skirt brushed the back of his head, and beneath it, a slender yet firm sensation pressed against him. Only then did he realize he was lying with his head resting on the woman’s thigh.

“What is this….”

While Matthias sat stunned in a position and situation he had never experienced before, Eleanor raised her hand and gently massaged his temples.

“For headaches, this works well.”

Eleanor softly kneaded the man’s head. The man who had seemed ready to push her away immediately was, for some reason, quietly letting her do as she pleased.

Pressing his temples a little more gently, Eleanor spoke in a low voice, “The physician said it’s a temporary condition caused by overwork and heightened nerves. Do you often get headaches?”

“…A little.”

He didn’t. He never got headaches like this.

“They’re really painful, aren’t they? It must’ve been hard. It hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

“…A bit.”

It wasn’t exactly painful or unbearable, but it had been somewhat inconvenient. He relaxed the tension in his stiff neck and let himself rest in the woman’s soft hands.

When he lifted his gaze, he could see the ends of her pink hair, her slender wrist, and her light green eyes looking down at him. He deliberately tried not to let his eyes linger anywhere on her and fixed his gaze beyond the window instead.

“You must not have been sleeping well? I get irritable when I don’t get enough sleep too.”

“…The head of the Nielsen family has a lot to do.”

“I understand. I’ll just massage your head and leave soon. I’ll call the physician again on my way out.”

It seemed the woman had taken his words as a dismissal.

That’s not it. Matthias’s lips moved before he could think.

“A little longer.”

He grabbed the woman’s hand.

“It seems to be helping, so please, just a little longer.”