I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 45

“Ha, it’s hard to play with a kid.”

 

Shane said ruefully and shook his head, the snow that had accumulated on top of his hair falling in a huff.

 

I brushed the remaining snow off his shoulders. But Shane’s clothes were already soaking wet.

 

I muttered worriedly.

 

“He’s going to catch a cold.”

 

Unlike me, he wore only a thin jacket and looked like he was in a different season, alone.

 

Shane smirked at my concern. His large hand gently cupped my cheek, his palm warm despite the contact with my eyes.

 

“Vanessa. Your cheeks are frozen.”

 

“Maybe it’s from running around, I don’t know if it’s that cold.”

 

“Make sure you take a warm bath when you get back inside, and you don’t have to worry about me.”

 

Just then, Estella, who had picked up two pairs of soaked gloves from the snow, stepped between Shane and me. Naturally, Shane’s hand, which had been cupping my cheek, fell away.

 

“Sis, look, both my gloves and yours are wet.”

 

Estella, who had taken off her gloves, showed me her soaked gloves and said in frustration.

 

I sighed as I looked at my gloves, which didn’t seem to be able to function.

 

“Ugh, you’re going to get yelled at by the maid. Your hands are frozen.”

 

I was just putting her hat on the back of her furry cloak. Shane held out his hand to Estella.

 

“Give me your gloves.”

 

“These? Why?”

 

Estella shook her head and handed the gloves to Shane.

 

Shane drew a magic circle and placed the gloves on top of it, just as he had done earlier. He muttered an incantation under his breath, and the circle glowed once more.

 

And when the glow faded, the glove was dry as a bone.

 

“Voila!”

 

Shane made another mischievous sound as he picked up the two pairs of immaculate gloves.

 

Estella stared at the instantly dried gloves with wide-eyed wonder, then spoke up.

 

“So, isn’t magic kind of hard to do around here?”

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

“Then why are you working as a gardener if you know how to do it? Out there, wizards are a premium talent.”

 

Knowing his identity, I broke out in a cold sweat at Estella’s pointed question.

 

But Shane didn’t seem surprised, and he deftly crafted a response.

 

“Well, I’m not a full-fledged wizard. In fact, I can do very little magic, and I don’t like to reveal that I know how to do it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, miss. Oh, and you’ll have to keep the fact that I can do magic a secret for the time being.”

 

“A secret, I will.”

 

Estella nodded obediently at Shane’s deft handling of the situation. Shane smirked at me.

 

I smiled back at him, but that wasn’t the end of their conversation.

 

This time, Shane turned to Estella with a gleam in his eye and asked her a question.

 

“So, when you said “here”, does that mean there’s a “there”?”

 

“What?”

 

“No, it’s the nuance of your words. It sounds like you’re saying there’s a place other than here.”

 

“…….”

 

“Come to think of it, where did you learn how to build a snowman? I don’t think the Duke taught you that.”

 

It turns out that building and playing with snowmen isn’t very common in this world. Shane didn’t know how to build a snowman.

 

“I didn’t grow up building snowmen either.”

 

“And magic doesn’t exist in my original world,” Estella said, and it came through in her tone. Shane caught it.

 

“You’re pointing out things I never thought of before.”

 

It’s scary talking to an informant… They never miss a clue.

 

It was impossible for Estella to respond as casually as Shane had.

 

She stumbled over her words and looked to me for help.

 

When Estella asked for help, I cleared my throat and answered as nonchalantly as I could.

 

“Well, it’s in the book.”

 

“A book?”

 

“Yep. In a faraway country, that’s what they do when it snows… It looked like fun, so I wanted to try it with Estella.”

 

“Hmmm. I see.”

 

Shane still looked a little skeptical, but he didn’t probe further and just smiled.

 

“Because even Shane wouldn’t have read every book in the Duke’s castle.”

 

I glanced at him a little nervously, then let out a small sigh.

 

I had a feeling he’d been looking out for me ever since last time… but it was hard to think of anything else to say anyway.

 

“Vanessa seems to want to do anything with you. I’m a little jealous of her.”

 

Shane said softly, holding out a pair of gloves to me.

 

“Hands.”

 

“I can do that…”

 

I muttered, sneaking a glance at him, but Shane was still holding out his hand.

 

I reluctantly offered him my hand, and he slipped a pair of immaculate gloves onto it. That alone seemed to melt my frozen fingertips.

 

Shane gestured for me to take his other hand. Then.

 

“I’ll do it!”

 

Estella, who had been standing still, swiftly snatched the glove from Shane’s hand, grabbed my other hand, and slipped the remaining glove on.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

I blinked, stunned by her lightning-fast gesture. Shane, too, seemed bewildered by Estella’s sudden interruption.

 

“Miss, what are you doing?”

 

“We’re going in!”

 

Estella exclaimed, ignoring Shane’s nervous question, and threw her gloved hand into my arm, pulling me toward her as she did so.

 

“Mr. Shane is struggling outside!”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Because I’m the princess of this castle, and Mr. Shane is the gardener!”

 

“Well, if you put it that way, I’m in the same position…”

 

Unperturbed by my puzzled expression, Estella dragged me into the castle.

 

I waved to Shane, who was still shaking, and quickly matched Estella’s stride.

 

I glanced to the side of her face and saw that she had a pinched, pouty look on her face. What’s wrong?

 

“Estella…, did something happen to you?”

 

“No, sis, you don’t need to worry about anything. Okay?”

 

Apparently, she was very upset that Shane had done this to me twice. I couldn’t even answer her properly this time, which hurt her pride.

 

I smirked at Estella’s open-mouthed expression and stroked her hair.

 

“…Mr. Shane is a wizard, so he must have a good sense of touch.”

 

Estella, heading for her room, spoke up in a sour tone.

 

“He’s not a wizard, it’s just for information…”

 

I nodded, ‘Well, she doesn’t know about Shane.’

 

Estella was silent for a long time after that, until she was right in front of the door.

 

“You know, if I told my brother again that I was possessed… what would my brother say?”

 

“…….”

 

“He’d probably think you’re crazy again, because that’s an unbelievable story…”

 

This time, I couldn’t shut up easily. Estella shook her head, obviously not expecting an answer, and pushed me back into the room.

 

As I stared in bewilderment, she said.

 

“I suddenly remembered something I have to do, I’m changing my clothes!”

 

“Huh? Wait…”

 

Before I could call out to Estella, she was already scurrying off somewhere.

 

* * *

 

Knock, knock, knock!

 

Before he could answer the knock on the door, it swung open.

 

Jeremiah frowned and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again when he realized the identity of the sudden intruder in his office.

 

“Brother, there is an urgent matter.”

 

Estella burst into the room, her furry cloak still wet with snow from her time outside.

 

Jeremiah quickly put down the pen he was clutching.

 

“Esti, sit down, take a breath, and we’ll talk.”

 

Jeremiah put the paperwork aside and gestured to the couch.

 

Estella walked over to the couch, sat down, and sighed heavily.

 

The sight of it made him smile. ‘The last time she came to the office, she didn’t even sit on the couch, she just stood there, said what she had to say, and then left…’

 

‘At least she’s sitting down now.’

 

That’s probably a sign that she’s gotten more comfortable with him. And Vanessa, of course, is the one who made her this way.