Ch.9Tea Party (4)

“What did I do wrong?”

When I asked if I should leave after seeing her cold gaze, Irene immediately nodded. As if that was exactly what she wanted.

Did I make some mistake today? First she asks that difficult question about whether I think she’s pathetic, then she mentions the noble ladies’ stares that I was deliberately ignoring.

I went over the entire day, but no matter how I thought about it, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I’d even kept a packed schedule specifically to avoid running into Irene.

Because of that, today was the first time we’d met during my guard duty, and I hadn’t made any mistakes at the tea party either.

I couldn’t understand what was causing Irene’s inexplicable behavior.

I wondered if she might be testing me, but isn’t this going too far?

By this point, the thought occurred to me that perhaps she simply disliked me.

Getting her title wrong when we first met, and then rambling on because she looked lonely sitting by herself.

Come to think of it, didn’t she start showing that attitude the very next day?

“Oh no.”

It seemed that was the reason after all. Forget about tests—if she simply disliked me from the start, that would make sense.

The way those blue eyes grew colder whenever she looked at me, the way harsh words spilled from those red lips.

I ran a dry hand over my face and sighed, perched in a corner of the garden.

Earlier I’d been pleased thinking she was being considerate, but now that I understood her true feelings, everything seemed bleak.

As someone who had genuinely cared for the character Irene Yuris from the novel, my heart ached quite a bit.

I thought if I showed her how hard I was working, she would acknowledge me.

The realization that it was already over from our first impression made endless sighs escape my lips.

“Why are you sighing like that?”

As I was wallowing in self-pity, I looked up at the clear voice near my ear to find Rofena staring down at me.

Her brow furrowed as she held a tray of her favorite cookies in one hand, asking what I was doing here.

“I was kicked out.”

“…Pardon?”

“She said she’d prefer if I went away.”

“Oh my, the young lady said that?”

In truth, Irene had never actually said those words, but I grimaced and grumbled anyway.

I’d dealt with an assassin and experienced my first kill, even got injured. Surely she would understand this much complaining.

When I pouted, Rofena chuckled and gently sat down beside me.

“May I sit here?”

“The young lady told me to do whatever I want. I have nothing else to do anyway. I brought cookies too.”

Crunch.

Rofena took a bite of a cookie and cupped her cheeks with a blissful expression.

How could she enjoy them so much? I’d tried them a few times, but they were too sweet and just ruined my appetite.

Watching Rofena happily eating those cookies that seemed more sugar than flour brought an inadvertently warm smile to my face.

With her yellow hair tied back, grinning like a child.

Plus, since Rofena was quite small for her age, she looked just like a little sister.

“What is it?”

“Heh.”

When Rofena tilted her head with one cheek bulging, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Finish eating first, Rofena. I won’t steal your cookies.”

When I picked up the pitcher next to her and asked if she wanted milk, Rofena repeatedly nodded while thumping her chest.

“Ugh, thank you.”

“…Do you like those cookies that much? I find them too sweet to eat.”

“I have good memories associated with these cookies. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them.”

“Good memories?”

Come to think of it, Rofena had never talked about herself, so I seized the opportunity to ask.

After narrowing her eyes thoughtfully for a moment, Rofena began to speak.

“Well, it’s nothing special. I just saw cookies for the first time when I started working at this duke’s mansion.”

“Now that you mention it, how did you end up working here?”

“There’s no remarkable reason.”

“I’m still a bit curious though.”

Since Rofena was Irene’s personal maid.

It seemed natural to be curious about how she came to work at the duke’s mansion.

When I stared at her intently, Rofena swallowed the cookie she was eating and began to speak.

#

The sound of rain was quite familiar. The cold seeping through thin clothes, the stomach that had long since clung to bones from starvation.

Covering her chest with rags for clothes, she wandered from one garbage dump to another.

Occasionally when she found discarded fabric, it became an excellent blanket.

Hoo-hoo-

Perhaps because of the snow mixed with rain, today felt colder than usual, making her body shiver.

She rubbed her cold palms together to generate heat and blew warm breath onto her hands.

Winter nights were a struggle every moment. Simply breathing made her nose ache from the cold that clawed at her chest.

Rustle.

“Ah!”

At that sound nearby, she ran without looking back. Even if she had misheard, this was how she had to react.

If she failed to respond to such sounds, she could lose her life in the blink of an eye on the Empire’s streets, and she had survived those streets for years.

Perhaps no one knew better than her how to act in these situations.

“…Is anyone there?”

After running for quite some time, when she was out of breath, she finally looked around.

Confirming no one was nearby, a regretful sigh escaped her lips. That blanket—she couldn’t bring it with her.

Her hands were freezing. Her feet and body too. But what was coldest was her heart.

As she hugged her trembling body, a voice reached her ears.

“Who are you?”

The voice was as cold as winter’s chill, making her snap to attention.

She flinched at those blue eyes fixed on her, then suddenly realized the status of the woman standing before her.

The dress enveloping her body, so magnificent compared to her own rags that her knees buckled involuntarily.

No matter how young the girl appeared, age meant nothing under the name of status.

Nobility.

Her body trembled at the thought.

She recalled hearing that they treated human lives like insects, beheading anyone who displeased them.

Perhaps she too would die here—the thought made her vision go white.

“I’m s-s-sorry…”

“You look cold.”

Before she could even register what words had tumbled from her lips, trembling more than when she shivered from cold, she felt something wrap around her body.

Warm fabric, like someone had draped their own clothing over her, transmitting body heat—as she stared blankly at it, the noble standing before her spoke.

“Follow me.”

I don’t like seeing people in my territory suffering from cold.

As the girl turned away indifferently after saying this, she stared blankly at her retreating figure.

Was this a dream? But her pinched cheek definitely hurt, and the fabric covering her was warmer than anything she’d known.

Those blue eyes that had looked at her lingered in her mind.

Looking up, she saw the moon resembling those eyes, and like someone following light on the night sea, she slowly began to move.

Those small footprints on the muddy path, traces of that girl who seemed like an adult despite probably not being much older than herself.

She followed as if entranced.

#

“That’s how I ended up at the duke’s mansion, and the first thing they gave me was a cookie. I’ve been working as a maid ever since.”

“…No wonder you like cookies.”

“Right?”

After hearing Rofena’s story, I stared at her face.

I wondered if Rofena hadn’t mentioned her family name not because she chose not to reveal it, but because she didn’t have one.

Because she was a commoner, a rare status in this duke’s mansion.

I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. I felt guilty for making Rofena tell such a story.

Status in this medieval setting was more than important—it was a shackle that bound one’s entire life.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh? What for?”

“You didn’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. Well, we’ll be seeing each other for a while anyway.”

As I scratched my cheek while speaking, Rofena eventually smiled broadly and picked up a cookie.

That carefree smile bothered me somehow, and I smiled bitterly while staring into space.

Besides Rofena’s story, I was also slightly surprised by this unexpected side of Irene.

I had grown accustomed to the villainess portrayed in the novel, as well as what I’d seen of her this past week.

That gesture of readily offering help to someone in her territory—how could such a person be called a villainess?

“It’s surprising though. Seeing how she acts toward me, I wouldn’t have expected that.”

Looking at Rofena with a playful smile to lighten the mood, she giggled and nodded.

Having heard how Irene spoke to me, she would probably sympathize to some extent.

“But what did you mean about seeing each other for a while? I might get fired soon.”

“No way, that won’t happen.”

“Her expression sours every time she sees me, and I don’t even know what I did wrong. I think she just doesn’t like me.”

When I sighed while speaking, Rofena shook her head as if telling me not to say such things.

“That’s not it. She just doesn’t know how to express herself.”

Doesn’t know how to express herself, huh?

But that cold demeanor whenever she saw me seemed, no matter how I looked at it, like she was displeased.

“Does the young lady seem like such a bad person to you? Bad enough to say she doesn’t like you?”

“…No, not really.”

At least the Irene I’d observed for the past week couldn’t be called a bad person.

She quietly fulfilled her duties, and despite her cold exterior, she seemed to take good care of those around her.

Rofena always had a cookie in her mouth whenever she returned from Irene, which was evidence enough.

“She’s a good person.”

I nodded while looking at my shoulder that had once been bandaged.

The emotion that had glazed Irene’s eyes when she looked at the bandage I’d applied was subtle but definitely concern. How could I not have seen it?

She simply couldn’t express it.

She restrained her every action, always striving to perform the perfect role of “young lady of the house.”

Did I fall so short in her eyes?

The thought that suddenly occurred to me left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I ran my hand over my face again.

“Evan.”

But my thoughts were soon scattered by a voice behind me. As always, my body stiffened at that cool voice.

A chill ran down my spine, making my heart feel like it had dropped with a thud.

Of all times.

Feeling dismayed, I stood up but couldn’t raise my head, and that cold voice pierced my ears like an arrow again.

“My, what an interesting conversation you were having.”

I wondered how much she had heard.

Perhaps sensing my expression souring, that chilly voice passed by me on the wind.

“You think I dislike you.”

“……”

“Would you care to tell me what grounds you have for saying such a thing?”

At her continued words, my expression gradually hardened.