MLHRGD 62

#62. Growth (5)

Even now, seeing Sasha smiling beside Andrei made Pavel’s heart ache.

He knew they weren’t anything more than friends, yet it still hurt.

But if they became even closer, more affectionate, and loved each other more—

“Never!”

“…Young master?”

Andrei looked at Pavel with a confused expression after Pavel suddenly shouted while lost in thought.

But Pavel didn’t care.

He had no patience left to care for Andrei, who was already seen as half an enemy.

Turning away, Pavel began thinking hard.

His forehead felt hot and his temples throbbed.

But the matter was urgent.

He had to somehow break the promise between Sasha and Andrei.

His eyes shone with determination.

Thud!

Something flew with the wind and hit Andrei’s back of the head.

“Huh?”

Andrei blinked and rubbed his sore head.

It hurt, but no blood came, so no wound.

He quickly lost interest.

But Nikolai, who suddenly appeared behind him, was different.

“That’s strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve had a lot of these lately, right?”

“…?”

Andrei thought for a moment and answered bluntly.

“Have I?”

“Yes!”

Nikolai spoke quickly.

“Like things suddenly flying at you on the street, tripping over nothing, or food tasting strange.”

All things that happened to Andrei recently.

Andrei agreed.

“Tsk tsk.”

Nikolai clicked his tongue and glanced at the window above.

Black hair briefly appeared then disappeared.

‘How can he not notice, you dummy.’

Nikolai sighed, thinking Andrei had become a really slowpoke after all the nagging.

He asked seriously.

“Did you make a mistake with the young master?”

“With the young master?”

Andrei’s face hardened.

How dare someone doubt his loyalty.

“I would never be disloyal to the young master.”

“Then why…”

…Because the young master wants to kill you?

Nikolai stopped himself from saying more.

Andrei stared suspiciously at Nikolai’s hesitation.

“Why don’t you finish what you’re saying?”

“No, no.”

There was no point asking Andrei.

Nikolai gave up and thought to himself.

Why was the young master acting like this to Andrei?

He wasn’t the type to bother people without reason, and wasn’t on bad terms with Andrei.

But one thing caught his attention.

‘…The young lady.’

Pavel only looked fierce at Andrei when the young lady was involved.

Nikolai asked bluntly.

“Do you have something going on with the young lady?”

Andrei flinched.

Nikolai stared, poking him persistently.

“Really? What? What do you do together?”

Andrei stayed silent, not realizing that made him more suspicious.

“I think that’s why. The young master is upset with you because of it.”

Maybe it was more than just jealousy.

From what had happened, it seemed the young master wanted to hurt him.

But clueless Andrei just stared blankly.

“Tsk, forget it.”

Nikolai shrugged and gave up.

‘It’s not my problem anyway…’

Besides, the young master knew his limits and wouldn’t kill Andrei even if he hated him.

“But hey, you free? Want to go to the pub with me?”

“No.”

“Why? Now that we’re not going to the battlefield, we should enjoy what we can.”

Nikolai put his arm around Andrei and left.

Before leaving, Pavel peeked from the window and smiled slightly.

…No plan worked.

Of course, Pavel wasn’t happy about doing such things.

He had some conscience and didn’t cause serious harm to Andrei.

Only enough to keep Andrei from going out with Sasha.

He did small but hard to ignore sabotages.

Still, time passed without success and the day of the big event came.

Pavel closed his eyes tightly as he stared at the rising sun.

He had failed to stop Sasha and Andrei’s planned outing.

Despite all his sneaky efforts…

“Ha.”

Feeling twisted inside, Pavel sighed deeply.

“It can’t be helped.”

He finally decided to use the last move he had avoided.

“Ma, ma, ma’am!”

Olga burst into Sasha’s room while she was preparing to go out.

Sasha looked at Olga strangely.

‘She hasn’t acted like this since becoming head maid.’

Just as Sasha was about to ask what was wrong—

“The young master! The young master is very ill!”

“What?”

Surprised, Sasha jumped up holding her comb and ran to Pavel’s room.

“Pavel!”

Without knocking, she flung open the door and saw Pavel lying in bed groaning.

‘It’s true.’

Olga often exaggerated, but this was no lie.

Pavel looked very bad even from far away.

He hadn’t been sick since Olga took care of him.

He grew strong and healthy without catching a cold.

So why was he so sick now?

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

Sasha’s worried face drew close as she brought a chair by the bed.

Though Sasha spoke loudly, Pavel was still unconscious.

Seeing him like that, Sasha’s eyes filled with worry.

She quickly touched Pavel’s sweaty forehead, her palm hot.

“Oh no…”

The more she examined, the paler her lips became.

His condition was bad. How had he gotten so sick?

‘Did he get splashed with cold water outside in this weather?’

That was a close guess.

But Sasha didn’t guess that Pavel had done something crazy like breaking the frozen lake surface and swimming in it.

Nor did she realize she was nursing him indoors to keep him from going out.

“What happened?”

Sasha whispered sadly.

She didn’t leave Pavel’s side and cared for him diligently.

She gave him medicine on time, changed his wet towels, and quickly responded to fever or rough breathing.

Only changing his sweat-soaked clothes Pavel resisted strongly, leaving it to the servants.

Though weak, Pavel fought and struggled when Sasha tried to undress him.

Otherwise, he accepted her care quietly.

At one point, Sasha looked toward the window.

“Oh, it’s already time…”

It was long past the time Sasha had planned to meet Andrei.

She felt sorry for Andrei, who must have waited outside in the cold.

But she couldn’t leave Pavel.

He was much better than before, but she couldn’t risk leaving him alone.

If his condition got worse, she needed to be ready to help.

Sasha called a maid with a rope and told her to apologize to Andrei for her absence.

‘I’ll have to apologize later.’

Sasha sighed deeply and turned her head.

She saw Pavel lying on the bed breathing quietly.

He looked much better than in the morning: lower fever, less sweat, and a calm face.

Seeing this, a small smile appeared on Sasha’s lips.

“Thank goodness.”

Sasha finally got up from the chair she had been sitting on all day.

But—

She flinched.

“…Pavel?”

Pavel, still not fully awake, tightened his grip on Sasha’s hand.

It felt like he was holding on to keep her from leaving.

Sasha sat back down immediately.

Though her hand was sweaty and uncomfortable, she didn’t want to move it and wake Pavel.

“Oh dear.”

She thought she should wait until Pavel woke up or loosened his grip naturally.

But not needing to check his condition all the time relaxed Sasha’s shoulders.

She soon grew tired.

After a long day, fatigue took over.

She nodded off, head bobbing up and down.

Her eyelids slowly closed and her body sank lower.

Soft breathing filled the room.

The two slept holding hands.

After a while—

“…”

Pavel opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at the air but felt warmth in his hand.

He turned his head.

Sasha was sleeping, still holding his hand.

“Hmm…”

Then Sasha shifted in her sleep.

Pavel saw her frown, probably uncomfortable lying face down.

He got out of bed.

Though weak from illness, Pavel was still strong enough to lift sleeping Sasha and lay her properly on the bed.

Thankfully, Sasha didn’t wake when Pavel gently moved her.

He quietly lay down next to her.

It had been a long time since they lay facing each other like this.

He had avoided her so much that this close contact was new.

Looking at her peaceful face, Pavel felt conflicted.

‘Looks like they didn’t go out after all.’

That was the plan, but seeing it done made Pavel feel both satisfied and embarrassed.

Was it because he did something wrong, against his common sense and conscience?

Was it because he hurt others, lied, and acted cowardly?

Still—

‘I won’t tell anyone.’

Pavel promised silently, gazing down at Sasha.

But something felt strange.

Looking at Sasha made his stomach twist again.

He felt a strange urge.

He wanted to kiss her soft cheeks and lips.

“…”

Pavel’s head slowly lowered.