‘Besides, what kind of rumors are circulating among the nobles? I made it perfectly clear that I intend to use that woman as a maid.’
I knew the nobles considered me a barbarian, but it was frustrating to be viewed as such a degenerate that I would force myself upon a woman who didn’t want me.
Perhaps because I had raised my younger sister by myself since she was a child, to Laslo, such an act was far beneath him—worse than that of a beast.
And yet, it was those high-and-mighty nobles who were drooling and scrambling to commit those very beastly acts.
‘Is it really too much to ask, considering I’ve never even held a woman’s hand before?’
Grumbling to himself, Laslo vowed that he would never touch Edel, if only to spite the public’s expectations.
He briefly unfolded Barbara’s letter before tucking it back into the envelope. While he would have to keep an eye on the Celestine Marquis family, they did not seem to be in league with the Lancaster Ducal family.
At that moment, a mistake he had made earlier crossed his mind.
“Look at this. She’s trembling so hard, as if I’m about to cut off someone’s head this very instant.”
He had muttered that, sounding wronged, in front of a woman who had lost both her husband and her stepchildren to him.
‘I really am a thoughtless bastard. How could I say something like that to her?’
Even if she had been distant from the Lancaster bloodline, they were people she had lived under the same roof with, and they had died miserably; there was no way she could be unaffected.
Yet, she had answered so calmly.
“It is a wonder that I am still alive, so you need not find it difficult to speak, Count.”
For a moment, I think I stared at her, stunned, without even realizing it.
‘How can she be so composed, even in that situation?’
Even if someone is your enemy, it is difficult to show kindness to the person holding your life in their hands. I knew that, but to see such a gentle smile, devoid of even a shred of lingering resentment!
‘Should I call that worthy of a Duchess…?’
Laslo reflected on himself, realizing he had changed very little from the days when he was just a mercenary—one who held the title of Count but spent his time lounging around the guildhall, picking at peanuts.
The feeling at that moment was… well, was it closer to embarrassment?
It was a very strange thing. I had never felt ashamed or embarrassed of myself in front of anyone before…….
‘Stop thinking about it. I have work to do.’
He sighed, loosening his cravat, when he suddenly remembered something and called for a servant.
He then pointed out several items he had gathered to the servant who had rushed over.
“Put these in ‘that woman’s’ room.”
“‘That woman’…? Ah! Understood.”
The servant quickly realized who ‘that woman’ was and brought over a silver tray.
As Laslo watched high-quality stationery, pens, and ink being placed one after another onto the tray, he hoped that, at the very least, Edel wouldn’t sneer while looking at them.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work today, Daisy.”
“You rest well, too, Unnie.”
After saying goodbye to Daisy in the next room and returning to her own, Edel’s eyes widened. On the small, shabby table sat high-quality stationery, envelopes, ink, and a pen.
‘Ah! The Count of Krissus has…….’
She had been half-doubting when he told her to write a reply to Barbara herself, but seeing the stationery actually prepared made her heart swell once again.
She had so much she wanted to say, but Edel took a deep breath, trying not to get too excited, and picked up the pen.
「To the esteemed Dowager Marchioness of Celestine.」
She stared at that one line for a long time after writing it down.
Before, she would have started with ‘My beloved and respected Barbara,’ but she felt she shouldn’t do that anymore.
She was no longer a noble; she was nothing more than a mere maid.
「I do not know how to thank you for your deep compassion in remembering and worrying about this sinner.
I know you have many concerns, but I am doing well…….」
The beginning was easy, but she hesitated when it came to explaining her situation.
Rather than trying to reassure Barbara with lies, she felt it would be better to explain how relieved she was with her current circumstances, but she struggled to find the right words to convey her true feelings properly.
‘I must not let it be distasteful to the eyes of the Count of Krissus, who will inspect the letter…….’
Not wanting to waste the stationery, Edel stopped her pen several times, editing the sentences in her head as she wrote. Because of that, it was past midnight, when all the other servants were fast asleep, that she finally finished the letter.
「……I pray deeply for your health and well-being.
– With endless respect and affection, Edel.」
After placing the final period, she scanned the letter once more to ensure there were no spelling errors, awkward sentences, or expressions that might cause a misunderstanding.
Fortunately, she had chosen her words carefully from the very first sentence, so she didn’t think there would be any major problems.
Edel suppressed the urge to pour out more of her story and folded the stationery.
‘Will Barbara be glad to receive this letter?’
She rubbed her weary eyes and lay down in bed, but sleep did not come easily. As she stared at the dark ceiling, the day she first formed a connection with Barbara came to mind.
* * *
Seven years ago, it was the day of a tea party hosted by the Countess of Ladric, who was known as a big player in society.
Living up to the Countess’s reputation, it was the largest among the countless tea parties held in the early summer of that year.
The guests were clearly hand-picked, to the point where those invited felt a subtle sense of pride.
However, had she known there was a plan to make someone the object of ridicule at that gathering, Edel would never have attended.
“Oh my, it’s the Dowager Marchioness of Celestine! She really came.”
“Pardon? Is there something wrong with the Dowager Marchioness of Celestine coming?”
When Edel asked innocently, her acquaintance, who was attending with her, grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear.
“The Countess of Ladric and the Dowager Marchioness of Celestine don’t get along very well. You can see just by looking that their styles are completely different.”
“Then why did the Countess of Ladric invite the Dowager Marchioness?”
“It seems she plotted something to deflate the Dowager Marchioness’s ego……. Oh my, the atmosphere is going to be like sitting on pins and needles.”
Edel felt quite displeased at that.
‘To conspire to torment one person among many. What a mean and cowardly thing to do!’
She couldn’t help but dislike it. Even at just seventeen, she already knew all too well that the moment she made even a small mistake, she herself could become a victim.
“They are all cultured ladies, surely nothing will happen.”
It was a remark meant to soothe her acquaintance’s anxiety, but it was also Edel’s own hope.
However, the ladies who were so dignified and cultured in their interactions with her revealed their vile nature toward the old woman who offended their eyes.
The place where the tea party was held that day was the annex of the Ladric estate.
Modeled after a summer villa, the entire place was built of wood, and because of that, every step they took produced a cheerful sound as the heels of their shoes clicked against the floor.
However, that sound was only cheerful to the ears of those whose bodies were perfectly sound; to those who were not, it must have been a sound that felt quite intimidating.
“The Dowager Marchioness of Celestine has arrived.”
As Barbara entered the annex’s reception room with the servant’s announcement, the Countess of Ladric signaled to those around her, and her acquaintances rose from their seats to greet Barbara.
Without a word, merely wearing a smile.
Edel realized at that moment that she could no longer hear the music.
A strange silence hung over the reception room, and Barbara, with a somewhat stiff expression, walked toward the seat assigned to her.
Click, clack.
Click, clack.
At the sound, Edel unconsciously looked at Barbara’s legs.
She was limping. Judging by the sound, it seemed she was wearing a prosthetic leg.
‘Don’t tell me, did they get quiet on purpose, aiming for this?’
Not just Edel, but everyone around was glancing at Barbara’s legs.
‘So that’s why they chose this place for the tea party…….’
She had wondered why the Countess of Ladric, who was so proud of her mansion’s marble reception room, had suddenly decided to hold a party in the annex.
But to think it was just to belittle one person; her stomach churned.
‘Whatever happened between the Countess of Ladric and the Dowager Marchioness, you should not make someone else’s disability a subject of ridicule in this way!’
The discomfort rose. Edel, trying her best not to draw attention to herself, spoke to Barbara with feigned delight, casting all caution to the wind.
“Oh my, what a coincidence!”
Her voice, which shattered the silence of the drawing room, drew everyone’s gazes away from Barbara’s legs and toward her.
Barbara, too, looked visibly confused, her eyes clearly saying, ‘What is this now?’ But Edel spoke to those around her in a slightly excited tone.
“A while back, our carriage wheel got stuck in a gap between the stones while we were in the city. A person riding in another family’s carriage happened to pass by and helped us, allowing us to escape the situation safely.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. The person who helped me refused any form of compensation and left. I only vaguely remembered the face I saw reflected in the carriage window, but to think that person was the Dowager Marchioness of Celestine!”
Hoping to appear natural, Edel approached Barbara and offered to help her up.