Chapter 20: Who is Elodie Blanche?

I didn’t think deeply about ‘Elodie.’

Thinking back, I shouldn’t have done that, but the image of a ‘housekeeper’ in my head was so strong that I didn’t worry or fret.

It feels unfair now that I think about it.

But isn’t this how people usually think?

The image in makjang dramas is like that, and most of them are ajummas, right?
Ajummas!

(TL: Ajumma is a Korean term for a married, or middle-aged woman.)

Thinking Elodie would be like that, I pondered what kind of pasta to ask her to make, and whether she could grill a steak more deliciously than I could.

So, even when I called Elodie home through Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul, I didn’t anticipate what would happen next in the slightest.

***

─ Ding-dong! ♬

“Yes, come in!”

Elodie arrived at 12 o’clock, not a minute late, keeping her word precisely.

It was a punctuality that made me, who had been sitting on the sofa enjoying Galaxy Train’s PVP, the Colosseum, for the past 5 minutes, feel slightly embarrassed.

“Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul told me…”

“It’s been a long time, Miss Se-ah. Have you been well?”

…What is this?

I was planning to roughly explain that I had amnesia, but the ‘Elodie’ in front of me looked so unimaginably different that my mind went completely blank.

No, really.

Is this real?

I’m not being pranked, am I?

“Young Miss? Is something wrong?”

“Uh… Um, well. Miss Elodie?”

“Oh my, oh my, just as the Chief Secretary said, you really don’t seem to recognize me?”

Elodie, who spoke Korean fluently… No, no, no!

How on earth am I supposed to explain this?

First of all, Elodie was a blonde, blue-eyed foreigner who wouldn’t look out of place in a Hollywood movie.

Yes, a foreigner!

And on top of that, she spoke Korean not awkwardly, but very fluently, which was incredibly bewildering.

Her hairstyle was also so incredibly classic that I would believe it if someone said they hired an actress to prank me.

“You are Miss Elodie, right?”

“I shall prove it to you.”

Elodie suddenly took out her smartphone and showed me a photo.

The photo was of Kwon Se-ah and Elodie, taken on a street somewhere in Europe.

“Your attire is the same.”

“It is the basic attire of a maid.”

Right, this was another reason I was flustered.

Elodie was, no joke, actually wearing a maid outfit.

Moreover, even to me, who doesn’t know much about clothes, it was a proper maid outfit that I could immediately tell was genuine work attire, not cosplay.

What is this?

Is this woman someone who popped out of a manga?

“Uh… Well, I’m incredibly confused, but please come in.”

Elodie apparently came to Kwon Se-ah’s house once a week to help with various things.

So I imagined an ordinary ajumma housekeeper, but she looks too young?

Honestly, her skin is so firm and the elegance emanating from her body is no joke, to the point where I’d believe it if she said she was a movie actress, right?

…Why is Kwon Se-ah using this person as a maid?

What is their relationship?

“Then, please excuse me, Young Miss.”

Elodie, who came into the house, took off her black heels and skillfully started her housework.

Unlike her youthful appearance, the aura she exuded was different, as if she wasn’t just any domestic helper in the home of a chaebol’s youngest daughter.

“I wonder if you’ve been eating well while I was away… Oh my?”

Elodie, who opened the refrigerator door, looked at me in surprise.

“Ah, well… I have partial amnesia. I’ve been managing on my own for about two months.”

“Oh my, oh my, it seems you received help from people other than myself.”

“Pardon? No? That’s not it, I just had delivery food for meals. But I can’t eat much, so I had too much leftover, so I went grocery shopping to cook.”

Elodie’s eyes suddenly widened immensely, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

“Miss Se-ah…”

“Uh, huh? Did I do something wrong?”

“To think you’ve been taking care of your own meals…! This is truly an astonishing development! You, who would only drink sports drinks if I didn’t take care of you, ordered delivery food!”

…Pardon?

“It’s truly a relief. Ah, unlike my worries, it seems you haven’t been living a hungry and difficult life for the past month.”

Wait, wait, what.

What kind of young lady was Kwon Se-ah exactly?

“Ah… I’m so moved. You, who never showed any interest even when I showed you how I cook, have properly gone grocery shopping and filled the refrigerator like this.”

“Ah… Well, um… You can’t always live like that, can you.”

“It truly is a relief. I was always cheering for you in my heart, hoping you would one day be able to escape the swamp you were always mired in, but seeing you look so bright makes me even happier and more joyful.”

It seems Kwon Se-ah wasn’t just any young lady who took antidepressants for no reason.

Damn it, doesn’t this create too much of a gap with the bright persona I’m currently acting out?

…But judging by Elodie’s or Chauffeur Jung’s reactions, they actually like it?

Is this unexpectedly okay?

“First, I will prepare your meal after cleaning your room.”

“Ah, yes. Well, take your time.”

Elodie smiled and went straight into the bathroom.

“Oh my…?”

But as soon as she went in, she was startled and began to open the shelves, checking various items.

“Did you perhaps not use the bathroom?”

“Pardon? No?”

“It’s just that it’s surprisingly clean, and the sanitary products are still empty, so I asked.”

“Ah… Well, I did clean it lightly after using it.”

Elodie’s eyes suddenly widened again, and she went back into the bathroom, examining the drain and the mirror here and there.

“You… cleaned… the bathroom…”

…No, don’t people usually do that?

Kwon Se-ah’s hair reaches her back, so after showering once, you definitely have to remove the hair, right?

Is it possible not to clean this?

Isn’t it stranger not to?

If you’re not planning to turn your house into Bikini Bottom, it’s something you naturally do, isn’t it?

“Uh, but what are sanitary products?”

“…Pardon?”

Elodie looked at me, then opened a shelf and took out an embarrassing item to show me.

“Ah, ah! Ah! I know! I know! For a moment, I thought I misunderstood!”

It was about sanitary pads!

I really didn’t want to talk about this!

It’s not a story a man like me can lie about convincingly!

“Miss Se-ah? Are you still not feeling well? If your cycle has changed from before, or if it has perhaps stopped, it means you have a health problem, so you must tell me.”

What cycle, I don’t know, I don’t know!

What am I supposed to answer here?

Thinking back now, for some reason, I haven’t had my period, right?

I stopped thinking that I should consider myself dead when it eventually came, but I haven’t had it even once so far…!

“Umm~! Well… Miss Elodie? It’s not that I’m sick~ It just strangely stopped.”

“Oh my? Then it would be good for you to visit a gynecologist.”

Gynecologist?

Obstetrician-gynecologist?

No way, absolutely not, I’m not going.

How can a man like me go there!

“I’ll monitor the situation a little longer and then decide. You know, right? If I frequent such hospitals… Ah, hahaha.”

Fortunately, Elodie gave a wry smile and nodded.

Ugh, I thought I was going to die.

The topic of periods is still not something I can quite accept.

…Honestly, I hope I don’t get it a year from now, two years from now, or ever.

“Then, first, I will purchase and replenish the sanitary products appropriately.”

Elodie said as she went into the room with the washing machine.

“Oh my?”

Miss Kwon Se-ah.

Don’t tell me you’re the type who never did laundry, not even your own panties and bras, before Elodie came?

“Well… I tried it once for a change of pace~ And it was more manageable than I thought~!”

“Goodness me… Miss Se-ah…”

Elodie, with a burdensome gaze, suddenly took my hand and started stroking it repeatedly.

What on earth is a young lady who gets praised for doing laundry?

“Would you be surprised if I told you I’ve also been cleaning my room?”

“Is that truly so?”

Elodie held my hand and proceeded to check the dress room, the bedroom, and the room with the computer, then clapped her hands in admiration.

“Good heavens… To think you’ve grown into a young lady who can take care of herself like this, just looking at you fills my heart with emotion.”

To speak with such emotion, as if she’s about to cry…

“In the past, even if I cleaned your room for you, Young Miss, you would often wake up amidst a pile of laundry after a week… This is truly a moving change.”

“Ugh…”

“Every week, when it was time to take out the vacuum cleaner from the storage, I would worry about your health, Young Miss, and you don’t know how much my heart ached.”

So that’s why there was a large vacuum cleaner in the storage?!

Strangely, there were also a lot of garbage bags piled up…!!!

“Ugh… Please think of that as a shameful past. Today, just comfortably take care of my meals.”

Elodie smiled and returned to the refrigerator.

“Still, Young Miss? There is no need for you to force yourself to get your hands wet and dusty.”

Does she think I’m forcing myself to do laundry and clean?

If Elodie is coming to the house once a week anyway, it would be good to make appropriate use of her.

Come to think of it, acting moderately bright and continuously doing things a chaebol’s youngest daughter wouldn’t do are different stories.

…I haven’t confirmed it precisely, but Chauffeur Jung and Elodie are properly salaried employees of Hansung Group.

If I pay them and then say I’ll do all the laundry and cleaning myself, that would be truly strange to anyone.

“I didn’t remember Elodie… so I just thought I had to do everything myself.”

“It seems the saying ‘the ground hardens after the rain’ isn’t just for nothing. Hehehe.”

With a graceful laugh, Elodie took basil and tomatoes from the refrigerator and skillfully began to cook.

Just by Elodie starting to cook, the house, which until yesterday I had lived in alone, felt subtly filled with vitality.

Come to think of it, the reason I’ve been talking to myself a lot lately was because being alone strangely made my mood sag.

“Come to think of it, Young Miss? Have you been living alone all this time?”

“Pardon? Well, I haven’t particularly called any other domestic helpers.”

“Oh my, oh my, so that’s why your hair hasn’t been tended to, and your nails haven’t been managed at all.”

Ugh, do I have to do those things too?

Honestly, I don’t think I need to cut my hair yet.

“The room cleaning will be finished soon, so after your meal, I will help you with some simple care for your beauty, Young Miss. On dry days like these, maintenance is very important.”

“Ca… Care?”

“Since you haven’t received any care for a while, I will do my best to assist you.”

“…It’s not something I absolutely have to do, right?”

As soon as Elodie heard my words, she suddenly stopped her hands.

Then, she skillfully wiped the water from her hands on her apron and gently took mine.

“Young Miss… You do your room cleaning and laundry, yet in these aspects, you are still the same as before.”

Uh, uh oh?

What is this, I feel like I just stepped on a landmine?

“But it is absolutely necessary. A beautiful flower is dazzling in itself, but when carefully tended, it shines like a jewel.”

Wait, this is screw—

“Today, I will check everything you’ve missed, including face masks, relaxing massages, hair styling, makeup inspection, and perfume, so please don’t think about running away like before, okay?”

“Ah, no, well… I honestly don’t need to do the massage—”

“Young Miss?”

“I’ll do it. I will. Please take good care of meee…”

Yes!

I knew this would happen!

There’s no way a woman with a body like Kwon Se-ah just fell from the sky.

She must have received some kind of care!

And I have to receive that care starting now!

“Ugh… Kugh…!”

I’m a man!

I don’t want to do this, I just want to sit in front of the computer and play Galaxy Train…!!!