I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 8
“Then I’ll taste it first. Most poisons don’t affect me anyway.”
Theodore gave up trying to argue and nodded with a deflated expression. Claire promptly sat in the chair across from him and picked up her fork.
‘It actually does look delicious.’
While Claire deliberated on what to taste first—or rather, what to test—Theodore examined the back of her hand holding the fork.
Seeing her hand covered in scars stirred something unsettling in him.
He was carefully opening his mouth to speak to Claire when it happened.
“Mmm!”
Claire froze mid-chew after placing a piece of salmon in her mouth.
“What’s wrong?! Is it poisoned?!”
Theodore’s face went pale at her sudden reaction. He started to rise and approach her urgently, but Claire thrust her palm out to stop him.
“Claire?”
“It’s delicious.”
“······What?”
“It’s absolutely delicious.”
Claire’s eyes sparkled brilliantly as she savored the salmon.
Theodore stared at her with bewilderment. But Claire, intoxicated by the salmon’s flavor, had fallen into an almost transcendent state.
“Is this your first time eating salmon?”
“Yes. There were no rivers with fish like this near where I lived.”
It was a heavenly taste encoded in the genes of a bear—a taste imprinted in her very being.
Because she was a quarter-blood, full transformation was impossible, but she barely managed to suppress the round animal ears that threatened to sprout unbidden.
‘I can’t let them discover I’m a beastkin here.’
Intoxicated by the crispy, buttery fish, Claire displayed the most animated expression since arriving at the Mansion.
Seeing her raised lips curved in satisfaction and her relaxed gaze, Theodore barely managed to suppress a laugh that threatened to escape.
“Well, you can eat it all.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I don’t feel like eating fish today.”
A windfall.
Claire’s mood improved rapidly at this unexpected fortune.
‘All my diligent work as a maid has finally paid off.’
Once I quit being a maid, I’ll have to stock up on this salmon before I enter hibernation for winter.
Absorbed in the salmon, Claire didn’t notice that Theodore had called her by name for the first time.
Claire finished her meal contentedly, savoring the crispy salmon skin.
* * *
‘Salmon. It really was delicious.’
As Claire changed into her nightclothes, she reminisced about the salmon’s flavor.
The salty yet butter-rich flesh, the crispy skin concentrated with umami—she barely managed to contain her salivating mouth as she lay down on the bed.
A small room with nothing but an old wooden wardrobe, a bed, and a small side table.
It was far more modest than the quarters of ordinary servants, yet Claire found this isolated little room quite pleasant.
“It’s so clean because no one else is around.”
Claire was just burying her face in the pillow with a languid yawn when the thought struck her.
‘Are you my brother’s new attendant maid?’
In the haze of drowsiness, Isabella’s sharp question suddenly surfaced in her mind.
A small girl limping down the corridor in shoes that didn’t fit her feet—the image of her retreating figure jolted Claire upright in bed.
“Is she eating properly over there?”
The rational question consumed her thoughts entirely.
The House of Count was absurd enough to starve even Theodore, the family heir, as retaliation for a garden outing. Would such cold-hearted people bother to feed Isabella properly?
‘There’s no way they would.’
The image flashed through her mind—a baby raccoon with reddish fur, so hungry it could barely stand. Though their first meeting had been unpleasant, when she’d shown kindness by treating the injured paw, that young face had flushed with warmth.
“Hmm. This is unsettling.”
She had promised herself to leave this mansion when winter began. So she’d tried not to give her heart, thinking that showing concern she couldn’t take responsibility for was nothing but deception.
But those pale blue eyes, so like Theodore’s, kept haunting her mind.
‘First: always honor your contract. Trust is everything.’
Claire recalled the first rule of proper service that Angela had taught her. Her contract was ‘to attend to Theodore Voltier without causing him discomfort.’
‘Without discomfort. Then wouldn’t his sister starving be an uncomfortable situation?’
Would Theodore, whose heart seemed as soft as his body, truly want his tiny sister to go hungry?
‘For the sake of faithful service, I have no choice. Tomorrow I’ll just quietly check on the young lady and confirm she’s doing well.’
With her decision made, Claire lay back down and sought sleep.
* * *
“I’ll be going out.”
After finishing the garden walk with Theodore, Claire quietly slipped out of the bedroom once she confirmed he’d fallen into his afternoon rest.
Normally, she would have returned to her room and waited until Theodore woke, but today she had something to do, so she moved with purpose.
‘I wonder if the young lady had lunch.’
Isabella’s room was on the Third Floor of Annex, not in the Main Building where Theodore was.
If the Head Butler and Head Maid discovered that Theodore’s maid was entering the Annex, they would never let her off easily.
Of course, that was only if she got caught.
“Then I’ll just use the window.”
Approaching the Annex while avoiding the servants’ eyes, Claire carefully surveyed the terrain and structure of the building.
Unlike the Main Building, which had an open view centered around the Flower Bed, the Annex was a stately structure surrounded by magnificent old trees. The abundance of large trees to obscure the view made sneaking in and out seem quite feasible.
‘That tree. The height is just right.’
Claire looked up at one of the old trees surrounding the Annex, positioned relatively close to the building. The distance between the nearest tree and the Terrace was roughly six meters.
It was the perfect distance for her to leap across.
Scaling the tree with long strides, Claire concealed herself among the abundant fallen leaves and surveyed the interior.
The room with the Terrace she’d targeted appeared to be a Reception Room currently unused.
‘Lucky.’
Claire leaped from the tree and landed lightly on the Terrace. Her landing was silent, belying the distance.
Entering the interior, Claire moved soundlessly into the Corridor on the Third Floor of Annex.
Now all she needed to do was find Isabella and confirm her safety, and her unsettling feelings would be put to rest.
‘But which room is the young lady’s?’
Claire rested her hand on her chin, lost in thought.
While Theodore’s room was distinguishable by its unique door design and color—unmistakably the Young Master’s Room—the rooms on the Third Floor of the Annex all had identical doors.
‘I can’t possibly open each one to check….’
Just as I was considering stepping back onto the Terrace to assess the situation, I heard something.
“Do you understand?!”
A sharp, fierce voice erupted from one of the rooms. Heavy footsteps followed, suggesting someone might emerge at any moment, so I hastily retreated into the Reception Room and peered through the crack in the door to observe what was happening.
“A proper young lady should handle this much without difficulty. That’s how one avoids being treated as a concubine. This household has quite enough of those already!”
Bang—
The door swung open roughly, and a Middle-aged Woman stepped out. Making no effort to conceal her displeasure, she stomped loudly down the Staircase with hurried steps.
‘Who was that?’
I’d never seen her in the Main Building. As my eyes followed the woman, I became aware of another presence in the Corridor.
When I carefully cracked open the Reception Room door, I saw Isabella standing in the Corridor with a thoroughly contorted expression.
‘Young Miss.’
Her face, flushed like her hair color, was etched with sorrow.
With her eyes forced wide open to prevent tears from falling, Isabella stood rigid, her hands clenching her skirt.
The sight was so pitiful that I found myself impulsively opening the door and stepping into the Corridor.
“Young Miss, are you alright?”
“You, you you!”
Startled by my sudden appearance, Isabella quickly composed herself and wiped her eyes roughly with her sleeve.
The sorrowful expression from moments before vanished, replaced by Isabella’s eyes narrowing into slits as she scowled.
“What are you doing here?! You’re my brother’s maid!”
Her tone was somewhat fierce, but it carried all the menace of a young raccoon. Actually, having just witnessed her tears, she seemed even less threatening than that.
I exhaled softly and knelt on one knee before Isabella to meet her at eye level. She flinched and stepped back in surprise, but then thrust her chin forward again as if to show she wasn’t frightened.
I ignored the gesture lightly and spoke.
“Young Miss, have you eaten?”
“······What?”
“Lunch. Have you had it?”
A bear-human’s sense of smell is incomparably sharper than that of an ordinary human.
In that brief moment, I detected that despite it being shortly after lunchtime, Isabella’s body carried almost no scent of food.
Yet the servant who had just passed clearly reeked of it.
“That’s none of your concern.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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