EPISODE 6
So I figured I’d better start thinking seriously about how I could protect myself.
“If all else fails, I could try smoky makeup.”
It was just a throwaway comment, but it somehow struck a chord with April, and she couldn’t stop laughing.
It made her feel better to throw in a joke or two about how she was supposed to be the coolest girl in the world.
She pushed the mirror away and stood up from the chair.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The maid child who had escorted me to this room earlier appeared, sulking.
I didn’t bother to open my mouth to speak, but an impatient April spoke up.
“I take it the bath is ready?”
The maid shook her head in surprise.
“Oh, yes! Yes, it’s ready…….”
“Well, that’s quicker than I thought.”
April nodded, her voice unimpressed.
In a world without boilers, she wondered if it would take a little longer to boil water from firewood.
“Well, as long as I can get cleaned up quickly, I’m good.
April asked again.
“Do you have a change of clothes in the bathroom?”
“Uh, yes…….”
The maid shook her head intently.
Then she realized and spoke up for the first time.
“Excuse me, would you like me to take care of the market?”
April shook her head coldly.
“No thanks. I want to be alone.”
“Then maybe a massage…….”
“Maybe another time. I’m really tired today, so I’m going to wash up and go to bed early.”
“Then I’ll…… moo, what should I do, Joe, would that be good?”
The unexpected question from the maid caught April off guard.
“What kind of question is that?”
She quickly pursed her lips in disbelief.
At April’s cold response, the maid’s head drooped again, and after a long time, she began to mumble.
“Mo, sleep while you bathe …….”
The maid’s behavior was quite unnatural in April’s eyes.
It also seemed stiff, as if someone was watching her.
The maid child chewed her tongue several times, like someone embarrassed, and barely managed to finish her sentence.
“Uh, well. I’ll buy some bedding…… and take a look, sir.”
What the hell? What’s wrong with him?
Why is he stuttering all of a sudden?
April narrowed her eyes and looked down at her.
The maid’s shoulders hunched, and her eyes rolled from side to side. It was obvious she didn’t know what to do.
But April quickly looked away.
“I suppose it’s because I’m difficult.
She’d been acting a bit cranky since her arrival, so she shrugged it off and nodded.
“That’s fine. Which way is the bathroom?”
“Oh, the directions are …….”
“That’s fine, just tell me where it is.”
April declined.
She didn’t think she’d be able to wash herself comfortably with someone so nervous.
“I’ll have to ask for a faster maid when the sun comes up.
“Well, in that case…… just open the door to the side room over there and go through two rooms and you’ll be…… there.”
“Okay. Bye then.”
April threw her hands up in the air as if to tell him not to pay attention to her and started walking away.
“It’s so big.
I opened the side door for myself and headed for the bathroom, glancing around and admiring the parts of my room I hadn’t gotten to earlier.
“You said it was two rooms down, so this is it?”
April giggled, opening the last door.
“Wow……. What kind of bathroom is bigger than the room I used to live in?”
It was as big as a six-star hotel suite, but it was just as empty as the rest of the room, lacking much of anything.
I noticed a white bathtub with four cat paws holding water.
April’s shoulders slumped involuntarily.
“That’s weird.”
It was supposed to be smoky, but it was strangely eerie.
“Is it because I’m in a world where there’s no heating except for curtains and fireplaces and stuff? Ugh, it’s cold. Maybe it’ll be better if we get in the tub.”
She crossed her arms and hugged me, rubbing her palms together to create friction heat.
Then she began to undress alone, intent on hurrying into the tub.
Soon the dress fell to her feet with a thud.
April spat out a cold grunt, walked over to the tub, and dipped her left leg into the water.
Then, like a cat startled by something, she jerked her left leg out angrily.
“Ouch, cold!”
The water in the tub wasn’t just icy, it was freezing.
“Damn……!”
April muttered a series of low curses.
Her brow furrowed, she glared at the tub.
“What, you want to have a chi fight with me now, or something?”
Ever since she had been Igwun, she had been the kind of person who could only bathe in warm water, even if it meant steaming to death.
She’d go without food, but she’d pay the gas bill for hot water.
“Somehow, I was ready for a bath sooner.”
She sighed heavily and shuddered.
She picked up a well-worn towel lying nearby and unfolded it.
Then she stepped into the tub. The cold water stung her fingertips, but April held on.
“I hate not washing.
She wasn’t a Taoist, and if she was going to be scrubbed under the cold water, she might as well do it with a wet towel.
She grumbled as she squeezed the water out of the towel.
“If you didn’t have hot water ready for me, you’d at least show some dignity by boiling it yourself, wouldn’t you?”
She felt like screaming every time the cold air hit her.
“Haha, really, are you trying to tame me or something?”
Even if an ungracious nobleman came to visit, he would not be treated with such condescension.
So April thought it might be a way for the servants to express their reluctance to recognize her as their new mistress.
Loyal servants tend to assume the dignity of their masters as their own, don’t they?
Therefore, they would have resented their superiors who did not meet their standards.
“I’ve read quite a few Lopan novels where that’s the case.”
Besides, no one in Count Falcon’s household would take April’s side at the moment.
It was possible, then, that the servants had done this nasty thing, or a prank, on their own accord.
“I hope this face looks mild.”
She clicked her tongue.
April had no intention of putting up with this kind of treatment in the future.
It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong, and she was technically a victim, wasn’t she?
She clenched her teeth hard, trying to hold her chi firmly in the initial field.
When she finally finished, April changed into a fresh set of clothes and left the bathroom.
Stomping back into her room, she slammed the door in anger.
BANG!
With a loud bang, the door flew open with such force that it looked as if it might shatter at any moment.
The maid was setting the table with a bottle of wine, goblets, and some simple food.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…….”
April stepped in front of the maidservant, her eyes shining.
“You.”
“What……?”
“Didn’t you tell me you were ready for a bath?”
“That’s what I said, I did.”
The maid’s eyes widened, already guessing what April was furious about.
She swallowed dryly, then spoke up, her voice shaky.
“Well, we’ve just run out of firewood…….”
I knew it.
You knew and you didn’t tell me.
“I’m sure what you just said is just one of the excuses you’ve been preparing for when I say something.
April snorted and sneered.
“Then burn your clothes, your quilt, or something for firewood!”
“That, I hadn’t…… thought of that, I hadn’t.”
The maid’s head hung low.
April looked away coldly. She picked up a canapé, one of the foods the maid had set out, and said.
“Forget it. You’re annoying me, so get out.”
“Stretch, make yourself comfortable.”
Hearing the door close, April opened the bottle of wine.
She downed it in one swift gulp, barely taking a moment to savor the flavor, and then refilled her glass.
“Yuck. Poisoned.”
She poured herself another glass, wincing at the strong alcohol on her nose.
She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she figured she could use a little something to warm her cold body right now.
As she emptied nearly half the bottle, she felt a little warmer and began to drift off to sleep.
April didn’t bother trying to beat it.
She set the glass down without a second thought, climbed into the large bed, and lay down.
Soon a deep suma found her.
***]
The rain had begun to fall at dawn, and the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.
The rain fell in a steady, dreary drizzle, and its dampness clung to everything.
Count Falcon’s butler and maid were camped outside April’s room, their faces grave.
“Butler, have you made up your mind?”
It was Mrs. Nora, the maid, who spoke first.
“We can’t keep spending our time like this.”
“Whoa…… I know.”
Looking at Gordon with frustration as he hesitated despite his words, the maid spoke up again.
“You must tell your new mistress everything before it’s too late.”
