Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 79

It was about two days later when, in the middle of the night, there was a knock on the door, and soon the downstairs became noisy.

Eir, worried that something had happened, wrapped herself in the blanket Aunt Jane had lent her and went downstairs. Rubel, who had followed belatedly, draped his robe over her, saying, “You’ll catch a cold.”

Thanks to that, Eir had no choice but to drag the long robe behind her as she went downstairs.

“What’s going on?”

When Eir and Rubel came down, Aunt Jane, who had been busily packing, stopped in surprise and spoke in a breathless voice.

“Did I tell you my daughter-in-law is pregnant? Well, she suddenly went into labor. It’s a good thing I came down. I was just about to go upstairs and tell you.”

“Is the situation bad?”

“She’s bleeding a lot, apparently. What are we going to do? Did you pack everything?”

As she spoke, she tossed the clothes she was holding onto the sofa and hurried back to the kitchen. At that moment, Grandpa Fromm also came out of his room. Unlike Aunt Jane, he was already fully dressed and had his medical bag neatly packed.

He headed toward the door, urging them to hurry.

“We’ll be late if we don’t leave now. Let’s get going. We’ll find what we need there, and even if we don’t, we’ll manage.”

“But if we go now, I’ll be there for a while! And it’s not exactly close.”

“I’ll bring it to you. Let’s just go. Claire might be in danger.”

Under the repeated urging, Aunt Jane finally gave up.

Aunt Jane, who had a habit of hoarding as much stuff as she did words, tended to cling to her belongings whenever she was startled or flustered.

When she heard that the basement of the house next door had flooded, she had carried things up and down from her perfectly fine basement three times, checking to make sure everything was okay.

“Alright.”

She hurried to the kitchen to pack some food she had prepared for her son and daughter-in-law, then grabbed the clothes she had laid out on the sofa and rushed to the door.

The coachman, wearing a deeply tilted hat, carried Aunt Jane’s luggage outside, and Grandpa Fromm was about to follow when he noticed Eir and Rubel still standing on the stairs. He quickly explained the situation.

“I’ll be back in two or three days, but Jane will stay with Claire a bit longer. You should prepare accordingly. Food and such.”

At the time, Eir thought, ‘What’s so important about food?’ and waved him off, urging him to hurry.

After they left, she went back inside and had a brief conversation with Rubel.

“Will they be okay?”

“They’ll be fine. Even if they’re not, what can we do?”

After exchanging such trivial words, they went back to sleep.

But when it was time to wake up and wash, Eir realized that food wasn’t the only problem.

‘How am I supposed to wash now?’

Until now, Aunt Jane had helped her wash with one hand, but now she had to do it all by herself.

After lightly wetting her hands and washing her face, Rubel, who seemed to have realized her predicament, frowned and grabbed her wrist.

“What’s this? Did you wash yourself?”

“Just my face.”

“Did you forget what Grandpa said about not letting water touch your hand? Did you forget everything?”

“I didn’t let it touch.”

He was really laying it on thick, acting as if he had paid for her surgery himself.

He pressed her cheeks with his thumb and forefinger, shaking her lightly as a warning.

“Don’t even think about washing yourself. If water gets on your hand, it’s over.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Go over to their house and ask Aunt Jane to wash me?”

“Why go that far? That’s even weirder. Your husband is right here.”

Your husband is right here.

The impact of those words was so strong that Eir just stood there, blinking blankly. Rubel, as if unaware of the weight of his words or simply saying it for appearances, shrugged lightly and went into the bathroom.

As he went in, he stuck his head out and added, “If I catch you washing yourself, you’re really going to get it.”

Eir, who had been trying to calm her trembling heart, let out a forced cough before finally moving.

What’s the big deal about washing? I’ll just not wash.

That’s what she thought.

But exactly eight hours later…….