Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 23
The chapters are split like this so that the TL can update more consistently over time (✿ ＞◡❛)
But Iris was a kind girl.
“Lift the bucket again and toss it in upside down.”
“……”
Ezekiel did as she instructed. The bucket smacked the surface as if hitting the water, then slowly sank. Iris urged him,
“Now pull it up.”
Ezekiel followed her words and pulled the rope.
The bucket, now filled with water, wobbled as it rose.
Without realizing it, the boy let out a cheer.
“Got it!”
Then quickly grew embarrassed.
Iris looked at him and smiled, then brought over a basin from somewhere. She took the bucket Ezekiel had raised and poured its contents into the basin, submerging the bowls inside.
“These are greasy, so you need to scrub them with pidulum leaves.”
“Ahh…”
She broke a dry-looking leaf stem she had brought with the basin. Though it looked brittle, white sap seeped out. Iris dipped a leaf in the sap and began scrubbing the bowls. Soon, small bubbles formed.
Ezekiel cleaned the dishes just as Iris had shown him. The washing was done in no time. Iris took the bowls out and rinsed them once more in clean water.
“Now just leave them to dry in the kitchen and it’s done.”
In front of the bowls laid out in the kitchen, Iris clapped her damp hands and smiled brightly.
For some reason, Ezekiel’s ears burned. He’d expected her to scold him, but she hadn’t said a word. Whether she knew what was on his mind or not, Iris spoke.
“You have fine horses. And from the calluses on your hands, you do handle a sword, but I don’t think you’re a squire.”
“……”
“Missus Babbin thinks you two are attendants, but I can tell. My father was a knight.”
“I…”
Ezekiel began to speak, but Iris waved it off.
“You don’t have to explain. I’m sure there’s a reason you can’t say.”
“…You’re not suspicious?”
At that, Iris’s mouth parted slightly.
Seeing her reaction, Ezekiel realized how incredibly stupid his question had been.
“No, it’s just that—you never know, I could be a bandit…”
“…A bandit who crosses an overflowing river, risking his life?”
He scrambled to cover what he’d said, but it only made it worse.
Iris simply gave a small chuckle.
“What kind of bandit does the dishes? I just figured you were from some noble family.”
At that moment.
“Sister!”
Missus Babbin entered the kitchen with a young boy. It was immediately clear he was Iris’s younger brother. He had the same silvery hair and blue eyes. He looked no older than ten.
When the boy saw Ezekiel, his mouth dropped open.
“A prince?”
Ezekiel flinched.
Missus Babbin laughed heartily.
“Ahaha! Young Master Henri, he’s handsome, sure—but don’t go around calling people princes! That’ll get you in trouble!”
“Ah…”
The boy flushed but introduced himself confidently.
“I’m Henri! Henri Quilluxia!”
“Ah, I’m Ez,” Ezekiel replied with a belated smile.
The eight-year-old boy, frail and prone to fevers, usually stayed in his room on rainy, chilly days like this, but he had come out to greet the rare visitors and seemed happy to meet them.
After the introductions, Missus Babbin told Ezekiel that she had already shown Étienne to the guest room and gave him directions to his own.
“Oh, and Milady, I finished drying your clothes.”
“Already?”
At her words, Iris widened her eyes. Missus Babbin put her hands on her hips and wrinkled her nose.
“You have no idea how hard I worked to dry them! Why did you even go into the water in the first place?”
“I told you I had no choice.”
The woman and the girl bickered lightly. During that, Missus Babbin muttered as if to herself,
“Well, at least it wasn’t like when you were little, going in wearing just your underclothes!”
At those words, Iris stiffened and glanced at Ezekiel.
And that was when Ezekiel realized what the ‘secret’ she had been so hesitant to say was.
At the same time, the memory of the girl stepping out of the water in just a thin shift flashed back into his mind.
“E-Excuse me, I’ll head to my room now.”
Ezekiel left in a hurry, ears blazing red. When he entered the guest room, face flushed, Étienne looked up from inspecting the room and tilted his head to the side.
“What’s wrong?”
Ezekiel mumbled that it was nothing. Étienne, seemingly tired, soon fell fast asleep, but Ezekiel had trouble sleeping that night.
