It was a person he had completely forgotten.
There were times when he remembered, but it was a name he consciously wanted to forget.
The woman the Duke met when he was at his most brilliant.
There was no romantic atmosphere between them.
She was a good woman, but the Duke’s ambition was greater than love. So even though he knew she had feelings for him, he pretended not to know.
“…Margaret has finally come.”
“What should we do?”
“It would be best to treat her as a guest.”
But that meant he wouldn’t do anything more. Mrs. Wells answered “Yes.” to the clear line drawn by the Duke.
Emotions corrode over time.
He had been away for a long time, so he arbitrarily thought she would have forgotten him. He knew he was being selfish, but accepting the curse was too much for the Duke.
He avoided life in the capital. He vaguely thought that if a divorce letter came someday, he would just stamp it and send it back with a bland letter of consolation.
“Shall we have a drink?”
Mrs. Wells spoke tactfully. Whenever the Duke mentioned life in the capital, he was noticeably disturbed. She thought this time would be no different.
However, a completely unexpected answer came back.
“I’d like to have breakfast with her…”
“With Lady Chesworth?”
“Haha. Jessica, you’re joking.”
“Ah.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could ask Miss Carol.”
Only belatedly did Mrs. Wells remembers that today’s guest was not just Lady Chesworth.
It was the first time the Duke had taken the initiative to meet someone.
Mrs. Wells, who was cleaning the floor, paused. Before she knew it, her eyes were red.
“I’ll ask Miss Carol.”
After the snow stopped, the sun that rose was more brilliant than usual. It wasn’t dazzling, but the warmth of the sun that drove away the shadows was clearly touching the Duke’s skin.
There was a quiet commotion in the Duke’s Mansion.
Because Caroline Langston had disappeared from the Duke’s Mansion.
With a light heart, Mrs. Wells headed to the guest room prepared for Carol to convey the Duke’s proposal to have breakfast together.
Because of the guest who suddenly arrived yesterday, she didn’t have the energy to properly care for her. Thinking that she should apologize, Mrs. Wells knocked on the door of the guest room.
Knock knock.
But all that came back was silence.
“Miss Carol?”
Knock knock.
There was no sign of life inside, so she knocked persistently several times. Enough to wake her up even if she was deeply asleep.
A bad thought briefly crossed her mind. What if she had collapsed?
As soon as she thought that, Mrs. Wells opened the door wide.
Swing.
And what she faced was a guest room without a hint of warmth. That’s how Mrs. Wells’ search for Caroline Langston’s whereabouts began.
The first person Mrs. Wells went to find was Norman.
Norman looked busy preparing a meal for the guest who had visited the Duke’s Mansion after a long time.
“Norman.”
“Why do you call my name with such a scared expression? It makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Although Norman was twice her size, Mrs. Wells had practically raised him, so he was afraid of her. After wiping his wet hands on his apron, Norman came out into the hallway.
“Do you know where Miss Carol is?”
“Huh? Why are you suddenly asking me about Miss Carol’s whereabouts?”
At Norman’s naive expression, which did not match his size, Mrs. Wells touched her forehead. It was because she now had a feeling that something was going wrong.
“I told yesterday that the guest had come and asked Miss Carol to be guided by Norman. Didn’t Miss Carol go?”
“She did. Thus went straight to the lady.”
“Then Miss Carol is…?”
“I asked Miss Carol to deliver the porridge to the Duke because I had to go to the lady in a hurry.”
“Didn’t Miss Carol ask you to guide her to the guest room?”
At Mrs. Wells’ question, Norman, with wide eyes, shook his head vigorously.
“She’s never asked for such a thing.”
“Is there a possibility that you forgot…?”
Under Mrs. Wells’ suspicious gaze, Norman made the most aggrieved expression he could and appealed.
“It was only a few hours ago, I can’t forget. I worked all night without rest, I didn’t even have a sip of alcohol.”
Looking at the time, she had been looking for her for over an hour, but she still couldn’t find a single hair of hers.
The next person she went to find was the coachman. She had definitely said she was worried about her siblings, so she could have gone back as soon as the sun rose. She had definitely said it was okay to go as soon as the sun rose.
“Carol has never been here.”
She asked the coachman who always took Carol, but the answer that came back was similar to what she heard from Norman.
He asked his fellow coachmen just in case, but the answer Mrs. Wells wanted did not come back.
‘Was she bewitched by a ghost?’
Mrs. Wells, tired, sat down on the lounge sofa. Mrs. Wells, who always sat upright, rarely leaned against the back of the sofa and put her hand on her forehead.
She went down to the basement just in case, but it was in vain. She also went to the annex, but there was no harvest.
“Did she soar into the sky, or sink into the ground? I really don’t know.”
It was fortunate that she had made an excuse to the Duke in the middle of the search, saying that Carol seemed to have already fallen asleep.
She felt a slight anxiety as she watched the setting sun.
‘What if she doesn’t come back like this?’
She was more worried about the Duke’s state after her disappearance than her disappearance without reason. Before she knew it, the sun was setting.
“Mrs. Wells, good evening.”
Jack, who served as a guide and messenger, greeted her by slightly lifting his hat.
“Jack, welcome.”
“Is the tea all gone today?”
Jack’s cheeks turned red as he asked after a long deliberation.
“Look at my mind. My memory is getting worse with age.”
Mrs. Wells quickly got up from her seat, rushed to the kitchen, and came back with afternoon tea.
As a kind of welfare, the servants’ lounge always had tea and sandwiches prepared for the wandering servants.
“Thank you.”
Jack expressed his gratitude, saying that he was really looking forward to the sandwich because he skipped dinner. Jack put food on his plate and sat at the table diagonally across from Mrs. Wells.
“You’re welcome. But I don’t think I called you today…Is there any news?”
Usually, Mrs. Wells was the one who called Jack. Jack only came without being called when there was a mission from outside to the Duke’s Mansion.
But an unexpected answer came out.
“No, I have an errand.”
“An errand?”
“I came to tell you that I properly delivered the message to Miss Carol’s siblings that Miss Carol would stay overnight at the Duke’s Mansion.”
The question that had tormented Mrs. Wells all day was unexpectedly solved.
“What did you say?”
At the news of Carol from Jack’s mouth, Mrs. Wells made a devastated expression.
Jack, who had been putting a cookie in his mouth, coughed out at Mrs. Wells’ intense reaction.
****
Thud.
After the sunset completely faded, Carol returned as a human.
Before turning into a human, Carol used her beak to pull the blanket over Louis’s face.
“Don’t lift the blanket.”
Carol, changing her clothes, admonished Louis.
“Of course.”
Perhaps because he had the blanket over his head, it must have been stuffy. Listening to his lowered voice, Carol hurriedly dressed.
Being conscious of Louis, who kept the blanket over his head, made her dress faster, but it actually slowed her down compared to usual.
“By the way, when did you come back?”
“Are you that surprised that I’m here? Didn’t you hear from Dylan or Kevin that I would be coming soon?”
“I heard that. But that’s not what surprised me.”
“Then?”
“Why are you at the Duke’s Mansion?”
Carol asked as if it was obvious. She had heard that he would be visiting soon, but she didn’t expect to run into him at the Duke’s Mansion. She thought there was only one guest who came here yesterday…
Carol paused in thought. Then she asked with a worried look.
“The person you came with…is it Lady Chesworth?”
“How did you know that?”
At Louis’s question, Carol took a deep breath. Louis and Chesworth had come back together. Although they were in the same capital, she never imagined that the two would be connected.
“I heard it yesterday. So?”
“Huh?”
“Is it true?”
“It’s true. But if you’re misunderstanding…”
“I’m not.”
Carol cut off Louis’s words and answered. The fact that she came this far means that her feelings for the Duke are still there.
“Did you coax her to come here with you?”
At Carol’s sharp question, Louis rolled his eyes.
“Why are you here?”
In the original work, Louis never set foot in the Duke’s Mansion. She clearly remembered that there were very few guests who visited the Duke’s Mansion.
‘The variable was Louis.’
Louis, who knew Margaret, had coaxed her to come to Cardiff early for some reason.
“By the way, I think I should be the one asking why you’re at the Duke’s Mansion?”
“What?”
“Why are you working at the Duke’s Mansion?”
