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Letitia Caught a Cold

” Cough, Cough…!”

Letitia lay on the bed, coughing painfully.

I snuggled right up next to her.

“L-Letitia, are you okay…? I’ll change the towel right now…”

I removed the wet towel placed on her forehead and dunked it into the bucket filled with water.

The towel had become completely lukewarm, but the moment I dipped it in the water, it rapidly turned cold.

Then, I squeezed the chilled towel tight and placed it back on Letitia’s forehead.

“Th-Thank you, Alban… I’m sorry for causing you trouble…”

“Trouble? Not a chance. If anything, I’m honored to nurse my beloved wife.”

I answered jokingly to Letitia, who apologized weakly.

—It was just this morning that Letitia started running a fever and coughing.

It seems she caught a cold.

Fortunately, today is a school holiday. So there was no need to submit an absence report, but our healthy and happy day as a couple vanished into mist.

…But I never expected Letitia to catch a cold…

She’s supposed to be very careful about leading a healthy lifestyle.

Dammit… If a cold had a physical form, I’d hack it to pieces right now.

I’d kill it thoroughly and exterminate it from this world clean and simple.

…Well, saying stuff like that doesn’t help…

Actually, I don’t really know how to nurse someone in a time like this…

I’ve never caught a cold before…

I wonder why? Is Alban Odrant’s body just sturdy?

Or is it that thing? Idiots don’t catch colds?

Hahaha, who’re you calling an idiot.

—Ah, jeez, no, no! It doesn’t matter about me!

Anyway, I can’t stand seeing my beloved wife breathing so painfully.

I don’t know much, but I have to do what I can…!

“Letitia, is there anything I can do? Anything you want…?”

“I-I’m fine… You don’t need to worry about me…”

“No, I will worry. I’ll care and I’ll worry. That’s what a husband does, right?”

“……Fufu, it was useless to say anything, wasn’t it? Thank you, Alban.”

“You’re welcome.”

We smiled slightly at each other.

Letitia continued.

“In that case… could I ask you to run an errand…?”

“Yeah, of course. Where do I go and what do I buy?”

“Umm… cold medicine… and tea leaves from Shanoa’s tearoom…”

—Tea leaves?

Medicine aside, tea leaves?

Hearing the content of the errand, I tilted my head.

“Hey now, wanting to drink tea even at a time like this, you’re hardcore, Letitia.”

“No, I don’t just want to drink it… I read in a book… that black tea is apparently effective against colds… But I don’t know which tea leaves work…”

“! So, ask Shanoa to procure tea leaves that work for a cold… is that it?”

“Exactly… Can I ask you…?”

“Naturally. That’s a piece of cake.”

If that’s decided, then haste makes waste—no, strike while the iron is hot.

I immediately started preparing to go out.

Honestly, asking the housekeeper is an option, but then I’d have to explain the location of Shanoa’s tearoom and what to buy one by one.

That’s a pain in the ass, and more than anything, sitting still while my wife is suffering doesn’t suit my nature.

So I’ll move myself. That feels better, and Letitia will praise me.

However—unfortunately, the weather outside is rainy.

Even as we speak, countless droplets are dripping pitter-patter on the other side of the transparent window.

Good grief, why does the weather have to be bad at a time like this?

I can’t come back soaking wet, so I have to take an umbrella.

Changing into my usual clothes and grabbing my wallet and umbrella, I said,

“Alright then, Letitia. I’m off.”

“Yes… Take care…”

I left the room as Letitia waved me off.

▲ ▲ ▲

Having acquired cold medicine at the pharmacy, I quickly headed to Shanoa’s tearoom.

Inside the castle town, naturally, I walked briskly with my umbrella up, but… because the rain was coming down pretty hard, my feet were already soaking wet.

Even the inside of my shoes was squishy, feeling totally gross.

If anything, it was getting to the point of being irritating.

—But, this is all for my Letitia.

If it’s for my beloved wife, I’ll gladly endure this level of discomfort.

In fact, if Letitia gets better, I’d rather take the cold in her place.

I don’t think a cold could take me down anyway.

…Come to think of it, I heard a long time ago that passing a cold to someone else cures it…

When I get back to the individual dorm, should I have her pass it to me with a smooch?

That way Letitia gets better and I get happy… No, I better not.

If I started saying crap like that, Letitia would definitely hate it.

I can see the future where she scolds me saying, “What are you thinking? If you say that again, I won’t speak to you until your cold is cured,” as clearly as if I were holding it in my hand…

Yeah, let’s just obediently buy the recommended tea leaves from Shanoa.

That would be best.

—Thinking that, I advanced through the castle town streets and finally arrived at Shanoa’s tearoom.

Closing my umbrella, I entered the shop.

“Yo, Shanoa, you in~?”

“—Ah, w-welcome, Baron Odrant!”

When I entered the store, Shanoa was managing the counter.

That said, because the weather was bad, the number of customers was quite sparse.

Shanoa also looked like she had a bit of free time.

“…H-Huh? Baron Odrant, are you alone…? Lady Letitia is…”

Shanoa, who apparently thought Letitia was right behind me, made a blank, dumbfounded face.

Well, it is rare for me to come here alone.

I guess it’s not unreasonable for her to think that.

“What, is it bad if I come alone? I came on an errand for Letitia today.”

“An… an errand, is it…?”

“Yeah, Letitia’s cold got worse. She said there are apparently tea leaves that are effective for colds, so she wanted me to buy them from you, Shanoa—”

“C-Cold!? Lady Letitia!?”

The moment she heard the story from me, Shanoa leaned over the counter in surprise.

“I-I-I-Is she okay!? How is Lady Letitia’s condition…!?”

“Calm down. Her coughing won’t stop, and it looks like she has a bit of a fever. Do you have tea leaves that work for those symptoms?”

“! C-Cough and fever! Please wait a moment…!”

Shanoa ran clattering to the shelves in the back.

With a rather restless demeanor, she began rummaging through the lined-up glass storage jars.

“Umm… Licorice, Ginger, Chamomile… Peppermint should also work for throat pain… F-For fever…”

“Hey, please keep it to an amount I can carry back alone. I also bought proper cold medicine, just so you know.”

I’m grateful she’s worried about Letitia, but I can’t carry back a massive amount of tea leaves.

I mean, she can’t drink all that, no matter how you look at it.

Do you think Letitia is a bottomless bucket or something?

After that, I somehow calmed down the panicking Shanoa—and had her select an amount and variety that I could carry back by myself.

Then, paying for the tea leaves and accepting the paper bag,

“Right then, I just need to brew tea with these leaves and have Letitia drink it, right?”

“Y-Yes. But before drinking, please have her gargle with the black tea. And when drinking, adding thinly sliced lemon is more effective.”

“Lemon~? Tch, I gotta stop by the fruit stand too?”

What a pain… I thought, but this too is for Letitia.

And as expected, Shanoa’s knowledge of tea is impressive.

Letitia thought that if she asked Shanoa, she’d know which tea leaves work for a cold, and that was true.

Being able to select them immediately like this would be impossible without proper knowledge.

Honestly, I re-evaluated Shanoa a bit.

Since such a tea expert says so, stopping by a fruit stand isn’t a big deal.

“See ya, Shanoa. Thanks.”

“U-Um, Baron Odrant…!”

“Hm?”

“U-Um… P-Please tell Lady Letitia to take care of herself…!”

Shanoa said with a worried—anxious expression.

Hearing that, I laughed lightly.

“—Yeah, I’ll tell her.”

Leaving those words, I waved my hand casually and left Shanoa’s tearoom.

▲ ▲ ▲

Stopping by the fruit stand as Shanoa said, I purchased a lemon.

After getting my toes thoroughly wet, I finally returned to the individual dorm where Letitia waited.

“Letitia, I’m back~.”

“Cough… Welcome back, Alban…”

When I went into the room, Letitia sat up on the bed to welcome me.

I immediately approached her.

“Hey now, you gotta stay sleeping, right? Here, lie down.”

I laid my beloved wife back on the bed, and while I was at it, I wrung out the towel in cold water and placed it on her forehead.

Her feeling of wanting to welcome me makes me happier than anything.

But I want her to rest right now.

“Just like you said, Letitia, when I consulted Shanoa about tea leaves for a cold, she immediately recommended various things. Incidentally, she taught me that adding lemon to the tea is good.”

“Ufufu, as expected of Shanoa… I’ll have to thank her properly later…”

“Yeah, do that. When she heard you caught a cold, that girl was in a huge panic.”

We chuckled together.

—I immediately started preparing the tea exactly as Shanoa told me.

First, I steeped the tea leaves in hot water that wasn’t quite boiling to brew gargling tea.

Unlike Letitia, I don’t know much about tea leaves, so I used the ones Shanoa had separated into small bags in order.

Then, while Letitia gargled with the tea and took the cold medicine, I prepared the drinking tea.

Putting the next set of leaves into slightly hotter water, and while the tea was extracting, I sliced the bought lemon thinly on the cutting board.

I don’t usually cook, so frankly, my hand gripping the knife was a bit shaky.

Still, if it was for Letitia, I made up my mind and brought the blade down—chop, chop.

Well, kitchen knives and swords are basically the same bladed tools.

Once you make the cut, the rest is the same.

Thinking such things, I finished cutting the lemon and poured the prepared tea into a teacup.

To finish, I placed a slice of lemon on top of the steaming tea.

All right, excellent work if I do say so myself.

Even so, why does a thin slice of lemon floating on tea poured into a white teacup look so stylish?

Now then… will Letitia be pleased?

I placed the teacup on a saucer and carried it to Letitia.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I hope it suits my wife’s palate.”

“Fufu, that’s not like you to say… Thank you, I’ll have some then…”

Grabbing the teacup with her fingers, Letitia slowly brought the tea to her mouth.

Then, making a small sound in her throat as she swallowed,

“…Delicious. This scent and sweetness… is it Licorice leaf…?”

“Is it? I just brewed it exactly how Shanoa taught me, so I don’t really know.”

I smiled wryly and shrugged—then sat on Letitia’s bed and leaned in close to her.

Letitia then leaned her body against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“…Do you feel a little better?”

“Yeah… I feel like it’s calmed down a lot… Thank you, Alban…”

“Hmm~? For what?”

“For going on an errand in the rain, and brewing such delicious tea… I’m really happy…”

“I’m your husband. So, I just did what’s natural.”

—The sound of raindrops hitting the windowpane echoed through the room zaa-zaa.

But strangely, I didn’t feel it was an unpleasant sound.

If anything, it felt like a comfortable silence.

As if the rain sound was separating the inside of this room from the outside.

…A quiet time for just me and Letitia.

Leaning against each other like this, just sharing the same time.

To me, it felt like the greatest happiness possible.

“…Hey, Letitia.”

“What is it, Alban…?”

“I think I’m totally happy right now.”

“What a coincidence… I was thinking the same thing…”

Letitia, who should be feeling unwell, answered me like that.

Thinking back, ever since coming to the academy, I feel like somehow, we hadn’t been able to spend this kind of relaxed time together.

Spending quiet time like this once in a while is necessary for a married couple.

It might have been a happier time if Letitia was feeling well, though.

And so, for this one day, Letitia and I spent a quiet time nestled close together