Episode 19
After dinner, Ashlyn was helping Ann and Lena clean the outdoor veranda.
“That’s weird…”
Lena came from a distance, with her head tilted. Ann asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The tea leaves have decreased again.”
“Again? What kind of tea is it?”
“The marigold tea leaves that came in a few days ago. The head maid said they were very expensive, but today I noticed that the quantity seems to have decreased. She hasn’t even given them to the guests yet.”
Ann stopped sweeping upon this and her expression turned serious.
“…Is this mansion really haunted by a ghost?”
“What? A ghost?”
Lena asked back, frowning.
“No, well… they’ve been saying a ghost appears on the main house’s guest floor these days.”
“The main house’s guest floor?”
Ashlyn, who was quietly sweeping the veranda, asked.
“Yeah… They say they hear strange voices every night, and a ghost in tattered clothes wanders around.”
“Now that I think about it, the mansion has been a little odd lately. Strange liquids are dripping all over the mansion, and there was unexplained soot on the walls…”
“Yikes, could it be…?”
“Why, what’s wrong, Ann?”
Ann gulped down her saliva with a nervous look on her face.
“…Are we finally cursed?”
“Wha… what?”
“The countless demons that have been slain at the ends of our master have come bearing grudges…”
Unable to contain herself, Ashlyn ended up laughing faintly.
“Why are you laughing, Ashlyn? Goodness, she doesn’t know how scary ghosts can be.”
“I don’t think it’s a ghost, though…”
It’s more likely to be that eccentric wizard from the capital.
But Ashlyn could not say that.
“…Hang on, what’s that?”
At that moment, Lena, who was contemplating, pointed somewhere. Ann and Ashlyn followed the tip of her finger with their eyes.
“Why is that…?”
In a dim corner of the veranda,
Beneath a faint lamp light.
A round loaf of bread was floating in the air.
“That bread…”
“Why, in the air…?”
“Ack! Like I said, it’s a curse!”
“AAA!”
Bang, clatter.
The two contemplating people, now startled, threw away their brooms and fled in an instant.
Ashlyn stared blankly at the two figures that disappeared while creating a gust of wind.
“…I’ll have to clean up by myself.”
Whoooo. A dry wind blew in the still silence.
After a moment of sweeping, she couldn’t hold back anymore and said towards the bread floating in the air.
“Will you stop playing around now?”
Then, as if waiting for it, the figure holding the bread began to emerge.
The feisty-faced magician snorted once.
“Why didn’t you run away with them? It would have been fun to watch.”
“I should have.”
Ashlyn mumbled as she swept the scattered leaves on the veranda.
Derion silently observed her, then suddenly snatched the broom from her hand.
Just when she was about to ask what he was doing, he flicked his finger.
Instantly, three brooms started sweeping the veranda neatly on their own.
‘Why’s he showing off his magic for no reason?’
Ashlyn smiled inwardly.
“Why are you here?”
Derion asked.
“That’s what I was going to say…”
“I’m just out for a snack since I was hungry.”
He waved the bread in his right hand and said dryly.
Only Tevet, Ashlyn, and the butler who welcomed him were aware of Derion’s stay at the mansion. The butler seemed to be taking care of his meals, but Derion appeared to be handling other necessities himself.
Ashlyn let out a light sigh.
“So, wouldn’t it be more comfortable for you to reveal yourself and be treated as a guest? Why are you hiding like this?”
“It’s bothersome. I don’t want to deal with ignorant fools and their foolish chatter about magic.”
He added curtly. Suddenly, Ashlyn’s attention turned to his left hand.
A small green frog sat pitifully in his hand.
“…Is that a frog in your hand?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“It’s this impertinent servant I encountered on the way. He was being rude, so I turned him into a frog.”
He said gruffly. Ashlyn shook her head and took hold of the three brooms which had finished cleaning and were now free from the spell.
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“You can’t turn people into frogs with magic.”
Ashlyn muttered.
“That’s right.”
Then, as if he’d heard something interesting for once, Derion chuckled.
“As expected, you and I can communicate.”
At the same time, a magic circle appeared at his feet. It was a short-distance teleportation spell.
Derion yawned once more and shook the frog. Perhaps that was his way of a farewell greeting.
“See you later. I’ll have some marigold tea ready for this evening. They might seem cheap, though.”
After raising a little wind, the ghost of the mansion hid himself like that.
After tidying up the cleaning tools and managing to somewhat calm Ann and Lena (though it didn’t seem entirely successful), Ashlyn headed towards the sitting room where Derion was.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
Derion was engrossed in a book filled with strange scribbles and peculiar symbols.
“As I said earlier, tonight it’s the marigold.”
Every evening, when all of Ashlyn’s tasks were completed, she shared a strange tea time with Derion in the name of memory therapy.
“Then where…”
Derion closed the book and got himself up just as Ashlyn took her seat.
Realizing that he had done it to make tea, Ashlyn hurriedly intervened.
“Oh, I’ll do it.”
Derion casually replied with a sharp expression,
“That’s enough. I happen to be really good at making tea.”
Ashlyn pursed her lips.
‘Lies.’
It was because she was about to blurt out those words.
In the past, Derion would often brew tea for Ashlyn.
Of course… the taste…
“Deri, what does this taste like to you?”
“It tastes like delicious tea. Why?”
“What do you mean why? It only tastes bitter.”
“Oh, that’s because your highness didn’t put honey in it.”
“Come on, this bitterness doesn’t make sense even without honey… Oh, Sir Jex! Don’t drink that. It’s almost poison.”
“…such a picky royal palate.”
“I can hear you!”
In the end, Ashlyn had to remake the tea herself. The memory of Jex, who had been her guard, was vivid in her mind.
Ashlyn smiled softly at the refreshing memory.
At that moment, she heard a loud clattering sound from the side. Startled, Ashlyn, who’d been soaked in nostalgia, turned her head.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it, Mr. Wizard… please.”
Derion, who had been fiddling with the teapot in a rather desperate manner, raised an eyebrow.
“Well, if you really want to.”
He shrugged and sat back down.
Ashlyn quickly made two cups of tea. The rich aroma filled her nostrils and almost made her head spin.
‘It smells lovely.’
Thinking so, she focused on the dried tea leaves.
Naturally, the image of platinum tea leaves came to mind.
‘I only changed the packaging and put it away…’
The Southern Diamond was still buried deep in Ashlyn’s luggage.
Given the nature of the platinum tea, it probably wouldn’t matter if it aged, but she still needed to address them.
Mm. Ashlyn’s brows unconsciously furrowed.
Seemingly picking up on this signal, Derion glanced at her.
“What are you reading?”
His voice was curt.
His abruptly focused gaze fixed near Ashlyn’s hand.
“It’s a newspaper.”
“Oh… right.”
She looked down at what she had brought from her room to pass the time.
Derion, who was staring at the bundle of paper, suddenly crumpled his brow.
“Wait a minute. The date has long passed.”
He had a displeased look on his face, as if he had seen something dirty.
“It’s because I get the old ones and read them before they’re thrown away.”
Ashlyn replied casually. At that, Derion looked incredulous.
“Why are you doing that when you have the Duke?”
“What?”
“It’s obvious he’s so infatuated with you that he can’t think straight.”
Derion spoke as if he were teaching something very natural. Ashlyn did not respond. At her silence, Derion let out a bitter laugh.
“You can’t even ask for a newspaper?”
“I am a servant. How could I possibly…”
“Ha!”
At the sudden burst of sound, Ashlyn looked up. There was characteristic sarcasm on the grumpy magician’s face.
“Just toss it at him. He might end up buying you the publishing house instead of a newspaper.”
“Mocking…”
“I’m not mocking. It’s not a joke.”
Ashlyn blinked without saying a word. Derion blew on the tea in front of him and took a sip.
“Anyway, I’m telling you to make good use of him.”
Ashlyn tilted her head slightly.
“…Well, to be honest, I don’t remember anything, so I feel a bit overwhelmed. Just asking for something.”
“Well, at least you have a good attitude.”
“What?”
“Who knows what that devil’s intentions are? Getting myself into debt with him by recklessly asking for things… I’d never do that. If a weakness is exposed, I’d be the only one at a loss. Why dig your own grave? Ugh!”
…Was he telling her to ask him for a favor or not? It was difficult to keep up with Derion’s train of thought.
“But all that talk applies to people like me… You can be the exception.”
He murmured, resting his chin on the table. His pale cheeks trembled slightly; as if he were speaking words he did not want to say.
“So, why don’t you try to sway him around at your disposal? That devil will probably rejoice in being manipulated by you like a pervert, even if he knows it.”
“…”
Ashlyn silently stared at the surface of the tea. Every time Derion, with his chin resting on the table, spoke, it caused a gentle ripple on the surface.
“But that’s the problem, isn’t it.”
She didn’t know what he was thinking, but Derion’s expression turned extremely grim.
“That mad, perverted duke in love…”
He shuddered, then clicked his tongue.
“Well… I’ll give you my sincerest condolences.”
With that, he gulped down the tea in one-go like alcohol.
* * *
A few days later, there was a small change in the northern servant’s quarters.
Thunk!
A large cabinet had been placed against one wall of the lobby.
“The lord has decided to place all newspapers from the empire in the northern servant’s quarters.”
She heard a maid whispering like that.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know.”
Puzzled voices erupted here and there.
Thump, thump, thump!
Whether they liked it or not, the servants busily fluttered around the cabinet. In no time, the wall of the lobby was covered with all sorts of newspapers.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to read them… Oh no. They’re not going to take a test or something out of the blue, are they?”
“No way.”
The servants quietly whispered as they disappeared. They didn’t pay much attention to the change.
‘He really…’
Only Ashlyn stood there staring blankly at it all.
It was obvious, even without looking, who had leaked the talk about newspapers to Tevet.
Who leaked the newsletter to Tevet, it was obvious.
Derion this chapter really said: Girl, you should know the formula by now- gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss
