Chapter 49 - Since When

I woke up with a faint headache. I lay on my back and blinked my eyes a few times.

“Ah!” I yelled and sat up in reflex before loosening the tension in my shoulders. “…Oh.”

‘Right, it’s Sunday.’ I scratched my head. I looked at the clock and saw that it was five whole minutes earlier than my usual waking time. I pressed the button and turned off my alarm before it rang. I sat blankly for a moment to wake myself up.

Exactly five minutes later, I got out of bed. Right away, I went into the bathroom that was connected to my bedroom and took out my meds from the cabinet. As always, my first task was to take my meds—needless to say, more than the recommended amount.

I took a quick shower and changed into my clothes. Since I wasn’t going to work today, I had much more time on my hands than usual. Even so, I always woke up at the same time. I glanced at the clock and smiled bitterly.

When I opened the door and walked out, I saw Charles walking this way.

“Hello, Charles.” Our eyes met as I greeted him.

He murmured, “Hello,” with an expressionless face no different than usual.

“You’re up early,” he said.

“Yes. My eyes just opened,” I smiled awkwardly.

Even if I hadn’t woken up out of habit, I would have opened my eyes when the alarm rang. Although it was the weekend, I was already imposing on them. I didn’t want to make them concern themselves over waking me up as well. My belief was that I should at least voluntarily do the things that I was able to.

Charles was staring at me with an unreadable expression as always. ‘He might just not be thinking anything at all,’ I thought.

Charles asked with an emotionless face, “Would you like some tea or coffee?”

I replied willingly, “Coffee would be great, thank you. Scrambled eggs, one pancake, and lightly grilled bacon, please.”

I took the initiative to add the answers to the questions that Charles asked me every morning. The butler seemed startled for a split second before returning to his usual face and replying, “Understood.” I stared at his back as he paced away. After taking a few steps, Charles glanced back. Our eyes met right away.

“Is there anything else you wanted to say?” he asked.

“Oh, no. Well,” I smiled awkwardly. “I was wondering if I could help with anything.”

Charles stared at me without saying anything. While I was stumped at his expressionless and unreadable face, he opened his mouth.

“Would you be able to wake Mr. Pittman up, then? It would be great if you could ask him how he would like his eggs and bacon.”

“Oh, yes.” I nodded on impulse, but I hadn’t expected this at all. Charles, however, wasn’t one to make nonsensical jokes. As if to prove this fact, he had already walked away into the far distance. I slowly blinked as I stared at his back.

Keith’s room.

My heart belatedly began to pound. Many days had passed since I started staying in this mansion, but I had never once entered his room. It was the same even before I moved in. Since I had never thought that the opportunity would come so suddenly, I wasn’t prepared for this at all.

However, there wasn’t much time given to me. If I hesitated, Charles could very well come back and just take away this unexpected chance saying that it was all right and that he’d do it himself. I hurriedly made my way without having the peace of mind to even think things through.

Knock kno-knock.

My hand trembled as I knocked on the door, making an embarrassing noise. I hastily clenched my hands together and took deep breaths. No answer could be heard. Keith must still be asleep. With that being said, it seemed like he had gone to bed quite late last night. While I was dozing off, I intermittently felt Charles’s present as he walked up and down the hallway. Keith was the only one in this household who could order Charles around that late at night.

I gulped and carefully opened the door.

‘Ah…’

A sweet scent permeated into my lungs. I slowly inhaled the pheromones that gently lingered in the air. The landscape of the room gradually came into my sight. When I finally opened the door fully, my consciousness became distant as the pheromones washed over my entire body.

The room was quite simple, other than the fact that the bed was particularly large.

Bouguereau’s oil painting hung on the wall on the opposite side of the bed. It was an elegant and alluring painting of a newly born Venus stretching. Other than the painting, there weren’t any other decorations that stood out in the bedroom. There were only a few pieces of simple furniture. I mustered up my courage and approached the bed.

Keith was still asleep. Watching him lying on the huge bed by himself gave me an unreasonable sense of relief. I knew that he had returned home alone last night, but there was an irrational fear in one corner of my heart. As I confirmed this with my own two eyes, I felt pathetic and smiled bitterly.

The thin sheet of fabric that was covering his body had slid down below the upper half of his torso. I gulped in reflex. I had never seen his bare body before. I had never imagined that I would one day be able to blatantly see Keith’s chest that I had so far only been able to brush past and steal a glance at between his open shirt.

His copper-toned body was built to the point where I wanted to touch it right at this moment. Shifting my gaze from his muscular neck, collarbones, and his pecs underneath; I could barely breathe. His wide shoulders and arms were loosened in his sleep, but his muscles were thick and alive.