"What is the meaning of this?!" Violet looked at the puppy with a pouting expression. She thought he would prefer to go home quickly because the Cassiel she knew always liked to be clean. Even if he goes to war in the future, he will always make sure to wash the blood off. Her room above the restaurant was tidy but still far from the shabbiest place in the duke's estate.
Her engagement in the story got deeper against her will.
"Forget it… Just for a few days, right? Since he is here already… should I try and fix his character a bit?"
But what could she do? She never raised any children, and due to her busy work hours, she hasn't considered adopting a pet either.
However, if she could put some sense of compassion into the little tyrant, maybe the future wouldn't be so grim. Not only Ophelia, but many people will suffer once he becomes the new duke. But most importantly, even Cassiel won't be able to be completely happy, which was one of the biggest reasons, why the story was going to be abandoned.
Violet stopped the running water and couldn't help but admire her hard work. She missed the chance to go to the public bathhouse yesterday and with the puppy by her side, it doesn't look like she will have another opportunity anytime soon. Settling with her own arrangement, she found the old barrel in the yard and heated some water in the kitchen.
She used some flowers and herbs gathered in the wilderness around the city and created her little home spa. But the most wonderous found was the plant with light-green, wavy-edged leaves that people regarded as a weed. However, she identified it as the "soap plant". Once its leaves get broken, it will exclude the milk-like green juice that could be used as a natural soap, shampoo or detergent.
"We are set up, let's take a bath!"
"Woof!" The puppy that was following her around suddenly barked and tried to hide in the trash in the yard showing his reluctance to get into water.
"Why?! You had no remorse in showing your face onto my chest, but now you are unwilling to wash up together?" Violet has stripped down to the thin underdress and chased after the dog. She wasn't an exhibitionist, but the restaurant was closed right now, so walking around almost naked was no big deal.
But Cassiel had other thoughts as he was fighting to not get into the water with her.
"You rolled in dust today, you need to be cleaned!" Violet held the puppy close to her chest and stepped into the wooden barrel. The dog was struggling with all his might, splashing the warm water around. She took out some soap leaves and made a lot of bubbles as she was shampooing him.
Cassiel was making all kinds of disapproval sounds but she was determined to clean him properly.
"What are you two doing? This looks fun…"
The voice startled Violet who loosened her grip, giving the Cassiel a chance to escape. He jumped out from the barrel and hid behind the boxes while leaving behind the wet traces.
"Is this your puppy?" Someone asked again.
Violet turned around nervously, only to find the top of the pink-haired head behind the bricked fence. The child was standing on the tips of her feet as she was trying to find out what was going on in the yard.
"W-who are you?!"
"Me? Ah, my name is Oph… ph… Phil…!" The child blurted out but couldn't fool Violet. That pink hair and crystal blue eyes were the distinctive traits of the original heroine, Ophelia Elligton.
Shocked Violet opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. The child ran away from her nanny and disguised herself in a commoner's clothes to play outside with other children. Lured by the barking of the dog, Ophelia tried to climb over the fences to find the source of the commotion.
"Haaaah…" Violet sighed tiredly. Did the heroine and male lead meet as the children? No matter how many changes were made to the story, the two were bound by fate and would follow one another.
The transforming ability strained the body of twelve years old child, so Cassiel won't remember most of the things he experienced as a puppy, but Ophelia was different. Violet's image was already forever imprinted in the heroine's memory.
"What about your name?"
"Violet… Just call me big sister, since I'm older…"
"Okay… And that dog?"
"I don't know… it's not mine…"
Violet shoots the blaming gaze towards the hiding puppy. If he wasn't so afraid of water, Ophelia wouldn't come to them, and she would have been able to keep her presence in the story to the minimum. Now, her presence just become stronger, and she wondered whether her role was still a bystander.
"Mmm," Ophelia nodded in understanding but soon lost interest towards the supposed fated love. Her eyes curiously tracked the bunch of leaves and flowers in the bath that made the bubbles like the expensive perfumed soaps. She loved to play in the water but hated the strong smell.
The child found a bigger box to step in, so now her whole head was visible behind the fences. Ophelia liked to mingle with the children on the street, and sometimes even ended up laying on the ground. Her face now was stained with black marks as the dried-up mud was hard to wash up. If she went home looking like this, the nanny would probably be so frightened that she would tighten the surveillance on the girl.
Violet just wished to fall into the hole right now. Somehow, she's got the feeling that the two children will become her headache soon.
"Uhm, this is the plant growing outside the city. It's called a soap plant and can be used for washing… Want to take a bath with me?"
In the end, she succumbed to her role as the caregiver.
How the two ended up was partly her fault as she allowed the story to go that way. If this was like her chance to correct her mistakes, she should gladly take on the challenge.