When I went down to the first floor, sure enough, the servants were busy sweeping the snow. But no one scolded Elaine for coming out late.
‘It’s strange, it’s been a while since they started…’
The maids, the maids who would complain to Elaine were quiet today, only glancing at each other.
But that didn’t cover up their displeasure, so Elaine quickly picked up a shovel and scrambled toward the snow that had not yet been cleared.
She took out the thickest of clothes she had and put it on, but the cold wind seeped in through the gaps in the loosely woven muffler.
“Oh, it’s cold.”
[Shall I warm you up?]
“It’s okay. It gets hot quickly when I clean up the snow.”
Elaine responded bravely and blew her hand without gloves once and drove the snow shovel into the snow as hard as she could.
Then she lifted the shovel with her body weight and scooped up the snow in a few shovelfuls, spreading it across the sidewalk.
After repeating it a few times, her breath quickened and sweat began to form on her forehead.
Anyone who saw it would be proud of how hard she worked, but in Rabes’s eyes, she just looked foolish and pitiful.
[It’s frustrating, so I can’t watch it. Hey, get out of the way.]
In the end, it was the moment when Rabes pushed Elaine and tried to wag his tail.
“Someone is coming, Lord Rabes!”
Suddenly Elaine tugged at his tail, causing Rabes to fall from mid-air into the snow. And before Rabes had time to get angry, he heard the sound of someone stepping on the snow.
Rabes poked his head out of the snow, wondering if the damn bad guys from the house were coming to bother Elaine again.
However, the person standing in front of Elaine was very different from Rabes’ expectation.
“uh? L’Arch, what brings you here?”
L’Arch was the only one in the house who didn’t bully Elaine, but he was the one Rabes didn’t like the most.
He didn’t answer Elaine’s question and took the snow shovel Elaine was holding without hesitation.
“Don’t do this.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Elaine looked at him curiously.
Elaine, whose cheeks and the tip of her nose were dyed red by the winter wind and her clear green eyes were blinking, was emitting a pure and innocent beauty like an edelweiss blooming through the snow covering the whole mountain.
L’Arch is suddenly realizing the beauty of Elaine.
Rabes’s vigilance has increased.
‘What the hell is he going to do…?!’
It wasn’t until Rabes began to pour magic into his tail that L’Arch opened his mouth.
“I’m telling you not to do things that only maids would do in the future.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“As you said the other day, you are a member of the Newt family recognized by the head of the Newt family. You shouldn’t be treated like a maid. Maids or other family members might use it as an excuse to ignore the Newt family.”
L’Arch was speaking as if he was trying to enlighten her with great wisdom, but the countess treated Elaine like a maid with the acquiescence of Count Newt, the head of the household.
Because of that, Elaine’s expression became even more puzzling.
“Did you….. just realize that?”
L’Arch’s brow furrowed at the unexpected question.
But for Elaine, it was completely incomprehensible.
‘Wasn’t the calculation already over when you started treating me like a maid? It’s been almost 10 years… Is it going to change because I say something?’
Count Newt, whom Elaine knew, and L’Arch were not people who would change their attitude because of her word.
L’Arch was also at a loss for what to say about it, so he evaded her words.
“Anyway, so far, I’m telling you not to do anything further to tarnish the Newt family’s honor.”
“It wasn’t something I did because I wanted to.”
“You’re getting more talkative, Elaine.”
“If you don’t like me answering back, why don’t you get rid of the habit of talking like it’s all my fault?”
Rabes, who was about to jump out and attack L’Arch, clapped his hands when he saw Elaine saying everything unexpectedly.
‘That girl wasn’t quite an idiot.’
While Rabes giggled alone, L’Arch’s complexion got worse.
‘Elaine has changed.’
The sense of incongruity that had been felt since the other day became more evident today.
Not long ago, Elaine hadn’t even dared to utter a word. No, she couldn’t even look him in the eye like this.
Ever since she came out of the annex, Elaine’s appearance has always been the same.
The gaze toward the floor, the lowered eyelashes, her lips set in an expressionless line, the drooping shoulders, the weak footsteps.
It was always in front of L’Arch that she showed a slight change. She was unable to lift her head, but her cheeks turned red and her lips pouted. She even mumbled useless words for no reason.
‘I never listened to it properly, but if I had to guess from the words I heard, it must have been about the weather or an upcoming event or a garden or a bird or a butterfly.’
Elaine, who was like that, has changed since the last time.
She, who had always kept her mouth shut, raised her head upright and said everything she want to say to Martin and Lorina, and did not flinch in front of him.
And most of all…
“Then tell him to kick me out of the family. He can kick me out, right?”
Unable to believe the words had come out of her mouth. L’Arch couldn’t stop thinking about Elaine for a moment.
The only place in the world for her to lean on was the Newt family.
She’d always lower her head in front of Rubaine, and she’d never protested the bullying from her cousins and maids below Martin.
There was only one reason for that.
She is afraid she will get kicked out.
Because the world is too heartless for a young girl to survive alone.
And then Elaine said to kick her out first.
‘However…!’
L’Arch’s first feeling was bewilderment, but it was soon followed by unfamiliar anger. It felt like a sense of betrayal somehow.
‘How dare you run away from me?’
That was unacceptable.
Elaine was meant to be used only for L’Arch himself, not for his parents or siblings. Until then, it was a flower that should grow pretty and calm by his side.
‘It was something I had decided to do when I first met Elaine at the age of 11, and so far there have been no problems with that plan.’
However, the flower, which had been considered easy to grow, suddenly began to rebel. Of course, there is no way that a legless flower could jump out of the greenhouse, but for the first time, L’Arch felt the need to ‘manage’ it.
So he suggested to his parents to improve Elaine’s treatment.
Of course, the two of them did not understand what L’Arch was talking about, however, persuading them was very easy for L’Arch.
“If you gave Elaine the last name Newt, you should treat her accordingly. If we don’t do that and treat her as a maid, wouldn’t the daughter of Count Dardil look down on our family?”
“Does Lorina look down on our family?”
“She acted like Elaine was under her and acted as if she had already become Countess of Newt. Besides Martin, Damon, and Ellie, they’re in trouble trying to please Lorina… Tsk.”
After being persuaded by Lark, who was sincerely displeased, Count Newt and his wife also decided to follow his opinion. Of course, Martin, Damon, and Ellie had to listen to nagging from their parents for a long time.
So since then, they haven’t called Elaine to do the servants’ labor, but he was surprised Elaine came out with a snow shovel early in the morning.
It was even more ridiculous that she was upset at him for doing her a favor.
“Well, whatever…Can I go in now?”
L’Arch, who had been staring at Elaine for a long time, suddenly came to his senses at the sound of Elaine’s voice.
Unlike himself, who was deeply disturbed, Elaine seemed to be nonchalant, which made him even more displeased, but it was not something that he could be argued one by one.
“Yes. And why don’t you change your clothes into something a little more… decent, someone would think you were a real maid.”
“This is the warmest clothes I have.”
L’Arch didn’t have anything to say, so he just opened his mouth a little and sighed.
“Sooner or later, Ellie will be coming from the dressing room to match her clothes. I will tell you so that you can match some of the clothes then.”
“If you want to do that, well, I won’t stop you…”
Elaine shrugged and walked past L’Arch toward the mansion.
Out of the snow pit, Rabes giggled, then sat on Elaine’s shoulder.
[What’s going on? Just the last time you met, you froze in front of that guy.]
Elaine shut her mouth until there was no one around her, and only answered after climbing the stairs to the third floor.
* * *
