Chapter 19
This iced tea with honey and dragon fruit was refreshing and sweet, so it would suit the tastes of those who were trying tea for the first time.
After Chloe made sure that all the kitchen maids had received a cup of tea, she carried the remaining iced tea on a tray and headed to the living room for tea time for herself and Ellie. That was what she was going to do.
However, Ashley stopped her in her tracks.
“Madam, thank you so much for taking such great care of maids like us!”
Ashley bowed deeply toward Chloe, more than ninety degrees. Chloe was a little surprised, but soon smiled.
Chloe looked up from the back of Ashley’s head who was still bowing deeply to see that most of the kitchen maids were doing the same.
It was the first time she had received such kindness from any of her servants, aside from Kiel and Ellie.
Chloe, who was feeling a deep sense of emotion and joy at that fact, was able to spot a maid standing in a corner with a puzzled look on her face. It was Jaqueline.
Jaqueline heard rumors that Madam had changed. But she didn’t want to believe it. She wished she could hate Madam without worry as she had a small grudge against Madam.
‘I trust you understand, Madam, how important it is to know who is responsible for this incident.’
It was half a year ago. Chloe, who was so bad at her job that her butler took all of her authority over personnel affairs and budget management, had made mistakes more than once or twice. Among them were small things that could be overlooked as cuteness…
However, there were times when things were so big that they absolutely had to find the person responsible.
One day, a group of difficult people burst into the kitchen. They were a stern-faced maid, a butler, and the mistress. They were all people whose status was incomparable to that of a mere dishwashing maid.
Moreover, all three of them looked unwell. The maids, including Jaqueline, had a feeling that something bad was going to happen here.
Chloe was shaking with a face as blank as a sheet of paper, so much so that it was pitiful to look at. Even a three-year-old could tell that she was scared and nervous. For a moment, even Jaqueline felt pity for her.
‘Then, madam.’
The butler who always had a bright smile on his face had an indifferent expression, making one wonder if he was the same person.
‘Who is that? The one who dared to steal Madam’s food transaction certificate.’
At the butler’s words, the maids instinctively sensed what had happened.
Chloe, with her pale face, could not meet the maids’ eyes. Trembling, she raised her arm and pointed at one person with her index finger.
It was Jaqueline.
‘I, I … the maid.’
Chloe said in a voice that sounded like she was going to collapse any minute.
‘I saw that maid do it!’
Jaqueline couldn’t understand a thing Chloe was talking about. She was just a kitchen maid. She didn’t know what Chloe did or what her trade certificate was, so there was no way Jaqueline could have anything to do with it.
And the butler and the maid could not have been unaware of that fact. Thinking so, Jaqueline appealed.
‘Wha… I don’t know what you are talking about. I think there was a misunderstanding, Madam. I’m just a kitchen maid.’
But Kiel didn’t answer and just looked at Jaqueline, the maid pointed out by Chloe, with indifferent eyes.
He spat out in a businesslike manner.
‘Head Maid, take that maid away and punish her.’
‘Understood, butler.’
As soon as the butler finished speaking, the head maid’s vicious hands grabbed Jaqueline’s neck. She screamed as she was held so tightly that her throat was choked.
‘Ma, Ma, Madam! This is unfair! It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me who did…’
But no one listened to her pleas. Jaqueline continued to look at Chloe. But she, with her pale face and trembling, did not even glance in her direction.
The kitchen was filled with the tense silence of the kitchen maids who could not even breathe properly. Jaqueline felt so wronged and scared. As she was dragged away by the powerful head maid, the last thing she heard in the kitchen was the butler’s voice.
‘I think …60 rounds of whipping should be enough.’
As she refused to admit her wrongdoings while receiving physical punishment, the number of times Jaqueline was beaten ended up being much more than 60. The scars from the beatings she received back then still remain on her body.
It had only been half a year since that happened, and with the scars still clearly visible on her body, it was difficult for Jaqueline to let go of her resentment toward her mistress who had blamed her for the incident and tried to survive on her own.
So Jaqueline wished she could hate Chloe all she wanted. Seeing her change, especially the way she looked after mere maids like them with such an affectionate face… was really hard to bear.
With that thought in mind, Jaqueline didn’t bow to Chloe, even though her face was trembling with embarrassment.
‘Will madam hold a grudge against me for this?’
Jaqueline thought.
‘Maybe it will come back to haunt me. Maybe she will blame me for her mistakes once again.’
How dare a kitchen maid stand up straight and face the Duchess without greeting her. It was clearly something to be greatly ashamed of. If it had been in another noble family, she would have been beaten and kicked out without saying anything.
Jaqueline looked at Chloe. Chloe also happened to see Jaqueline standing upright. Their eyes met in midair.
Jaqueline flinched.
It was the first time she made eye contact with the madam.
This time, she didn’t avert her gaze. Chloe’s eyes, which were now staring directly at Jaqueline, were… much clearer and purer than Jaqueline remembered.
And there was no resentment or hostility in those eyes.
When their eyes met, Chloe smiled at Jaqueline. It wasn’t a mocking or sarcastic smile, but a genuine, kind smile.
Her lips moved silently toward Jaqueline. It was a sentence conveyed only through the shape of her lips, conscious of the gaze of those around her, but Jaqueline had never heard such words from the mistress. Up until now, the mistress had never spoken directly to a head chef, let alone the kitchen maids.
And her lips were saying,
‘I understand you.’
Chloe, of course, remembered clearly what had happened with Jacqueline half a year ago. She could also guess how wronged and heartbroken Jaqueline must have felt at that time.
There was no other reason why she felt deep sympathy and pity for Jaqueline. It was because she was Park Hajeong.
‘That kid looks like me.’
During the time when she couldn’t say a single harsh word to anyone, she also experienced countless unfair things. In the end, at the end of her life, she was forced to resign after taking responsibility.
Although the reasons for what happened were different, Chloe was able to deeply understand the maid’s feelings.
It was only a single sentence, and it was only through the shape of her lips, but she deeply hoped that her feelings would be conveyed properly to Jaqueline.
Meanwhile, Jaqueline read the shape of Chloe’s lips.
It felt like her mind was going blank.
Jaqueline stood there until the Duchess disappeared and the other kitchen maids, one by one, returned to their duties.
She was so confused. Madam, had she really changed?
Was this the real appearance of the current madam, who personally cares for and looks after mere maids?
***
Chloe and Ellie carried a tray of iced tea into the living room and drank together. The dragon fruit iced tea was really refreshing and sweet, perfect for the early summer weather.
It was then that a knock was heard at the reception room door. Then a maid came in.
“Madam, the master is calling.”
“The duke?”
Chloe got up from her seat in surprise. She asked Ellie to clean up after herself and followed the maid’s lead to Alphonse’s office.
“Please come in.”
With Alphonse’s permission, the maid opened the door to the study.
As she entered the office, Chloe’s eyes widened involuntarily. The office, which was incomparably large compared to a normal office, was filled with books, giving off an atmosphere more like a library than an office.
Bookshelves on both sides were filled with books and materials, and on the opposite wall along the center, a high window showed the bright blue summer sky.
And in front of the glass window, there was a desk and the Duke. Chloe took a step towards him.
Alphonse, backlit by the light coming in from the window, was smoking a cigar, and somehow even his appearance had a mysterious air. He spoke while looking at Chloe with his red eyes.
“Please sit down, wife.”
Chloe sat down across from him. Alphonse knocked the ash from his cigar into the ashtray and began to speak.
“I have invited you to discuss the commercialization of Milk Jam, which you mentioned earlier.”
“Ah, yes.”
‘What is he trying to say?’
