Chapter 2
What… killing and stealing, what?
I swallowed a dry gulp. I suddenly don’t understand why this topic is coming up, do I?
…Could it mean something like this?
“As I see you stealing and pretending to be a master with tricks you learned on the side, I wonder, in about a year, will it be you instead of me as the lady?”
Hmm, it’s quite persuasive with nonsensical tricks and baseless attacks combined, but no. Eve Rose doesn’t live such a complicated life.
The lady prefers more immediate actions and results. If she wanted to kill someone, she should have done it now, and if she wanted to roll in gold, she should have bought someone right away.
If she had been so unwell as to cry out that way when she woke up, maybe despair would have come. Let’s ask, turning slightly.
“Did you have such nightmares last night, miss? Shall I serve a gentler tea than usual?”
“No.”
“Then did you have such thoughts all day, miss? Perhaps it’s better to make the medicine a bit milder than usual?”
“No.”
“Clear it up then.”
She asked with a calm, blurred gaze.
“Once again today, Hanon has incurred the wrath of the lady. Should we prepare for retribution now?”
“Why would that concern you?”
So many applied problems today? Let’s just consider it halfway deserving of punishment.
With bowed head, the mask on my lips began to tap… Tap tap, with quite a strong force.
It’s been five years since she’s lived gratefully for the teacups that only break twice a year. Such whims? Nothing at all.
But as I tapped the silver mask with damp eyes, Eve Rose Nine, chin resting gracefully, simply stared at me in silence.
“Really strange. Too quiet.”
Our lady’s persuasiveness comes from merciless hands, and her unwavering firmness comes from dogged determination, right?
Anyone in this mansion knows. When angered, Eve Rose doesn’t stay silent like this. She screams like a banshee, curses, and smashes things.
She rages as if her own handful of life doesn’t matter, and each time her explosive wrath engulfs everything around.
Stinging words are a given, and dragging the infuriated opponent by the hair is routine.
Despite originally having a weak body that easily tires, she never cared about collapsing from exhaustion or enduring three days of illness despite feeling numb all over. Huh? Doesn’t she usually elegantly scold or divide tasks according to hierarchy? Well, there was a time when she was somewhat like a friend to the lady, but… even then, it wasn’t much different from now.
“Why won’t they send invitations? If they get angry, they start from the palm of their hand, so how can those chick-like girls win?”
Yes, that’s right. The rough work that should be done by a servant like me instead. That’s precisely Eve Rose Nine’s main way of venting anger. Perhaps it’s because all the affection given by the people around her is so extreme.
If I hadn’t burned myself up to the point of being visible, wouldn’t I have quietly buried the complaints of the naive lady?
This house is not normal.
While her father buys her anything she wants, he keeps her locked up in the house as if she were a prized possession. While her fiancé fulfills all requests when they are together, he mostly communicates through letters and rarely stays by her side. And despite her dislike, to live like a noble, she has to call and meet her maid, namely me, dozens of times a day.
Yes, that’s how all the close people around Eve Rose Nine were like.
So, the beautiful heiress of this estate must have grown up to be someone who can only truly release her emotions when she feels something breaking and withering in her own hands. How much time has passed in the awkward silence that followed only the sound of beating?
Eve Rose, who had been silently observing me, spoke again.
“In a year, I will marry Count Caspar Meridian.”
I wanted to ask why this topic suddenly came up, but was it because of the strange silence earlier? My mouth didn’t easily open, so I just nodded quietly for now.
Caspar Meridian. He is the second son of the Meridian Count, and one of the only two counts who will become the husband of Roselotte, making him Eve Rose Nine’s official fiancé.
Is he lacking in appearance? The two sons of the Meridian Count are considered the epitome of aesthetic perfection by the people of this country.
Then is his personality strange? He is rumored to be gentle and affectionate, and attaching the title of count to his name is nothing short of praise, regardless of the social status of those he interacts with.
But why would such a person, who is said to appear in the capital only twice a year and spends most of his time secluded in the northern frontier, be our lady’s fiancé?
Hmm? Wouldn’t Count Meridian and Eve Rose Nine know the answer? After all, the options for unmarried noblewomen in Roselotte are limited, and people often say that if the families and parents agree, it’s a good match.
The societal atmosphere in Roselotte is completely different from Lilieu, where love marriages are the norm and such arrangements are defined separately as “strategic marriages.”
Lilieu. The eternal rival of Roselotte. The country where I was born and spent my childhood, my mother’s homeland.
They love old stories and poetry, and at night, they light eternal flames that never go out on milk-colored fountains…
“Let’s stop thinking about places we can’t reach.”
I scolded myself again.
I am no longer the Viscountess Alyeiroze Hanon of Lilieu. In Roselotte, I am just Hanon, a fallen noble-born maid from a distant land.
Anyway, this marriage was something Eve Rose had longed for since childhood, and marriage is usually a cause for celebration.
Bowing my head in an effort to hide the sincere smile that couldn’t be pinned down to a single point, I said, “Congratulations, miss. You’ve met someone worthy, so you’ll be a happy bride.”
“Thank you. But you, you’ll kill me that day and marry my husband.”
Cancel sincerity. I stuttered like a fool who didn’t know the chair from earlier.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either…?”
“Why? I wasn’t a good employer, was I? Haven’t you ever thought about killing me? And when will you answer my question? I think you asked what day it was earlier.”
What nonsense, seriously. Even if the lady doesn’t know, I’ve never thought about killing anyone! And when did you ask about the date, you asked me how long it had been since I went crazy!
“You have a face full of things to say, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Hanon was thinking about what answer you wanted, miss.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t speak because I wanted an apology.”
“Me…? Apologize?”
Can this be called a conversation? The lady keeps babbling nonsense, and I keep making clumsy remarks.
And apology, shouldn’t it be me who receives it, no matter how you look at it?
‘That’ Eve Rose Nine is soon to become an official countess. There will probably be maids, but shouldn’t at least one be taken with her? But who does the lady have?
There’s a distant relative who’s making me do everything a common servant would do out of sheer dislike, but clearly, there’s no one else but me, right?
So, as I help prepare for the wedding, I’ll also be marrying some minor nobleman from a distant estate. I won’t be able to see you like this anymore, and I’ll just bless you from afar and wipe away my tears. What are you going to do about it?!
Surely the viscount won’t twist the contract with me to keep me by his daughter’s side, right? If he did that, I’d really give up all the money and guardianship and just coax one of the handsome servants in this house to run away…
My thoughts were running wild with delusions at that moment.
Knock knock.
A cautious knock sounded from outside the door.
“Miss, lunch is ready.”
It was the voice of the maid, Zideiji.
We both looked at the door simultaneously, then back at each other. Strangely enough, it was like a mirror, the moment when we both opened our mouths to say something.
The first to close her mouth was the lady. She naturally took a breath and then sighed.
“Never mind. Looking at your eyes, it seems pointless to talk now. Let’s stop here. So, Hanon, what day is it today?”
“It’s the second day of March, miss.”
“Already?” There’s not much time left. The lady murmured something incomprehensible. After tapping the table with an unaccustomed calm face, she seemed lost in thought for a moment before decisively opening her mouth again.
“Tonight, Father will call for you.”
