How funny.
Tilia looked with contempt at her father, who began to make strange sounds, drool uncontrollably and stutter:
- Uh-uh.
Even in this pitiful state, those eyes still saw her as a piece of meat that could be sold. As a property that will enrich and support his life.
His thoughts, his greed were so obvious that Tilia couldn't help but laugh.
Meanwhile, Bradley continued to reach out to her, desperately trying to say something.
- Do you want to say something, father?
The Baron shouted something desperately, but to Tilia's ears it sounded like a pig squealing.
Suddenly she remembered that day as a child when she was so afraid of him that she ended up wetting her skirt.
When she was so small that she could not even reach his waist, his flying kicks and thunderous screams that made her ears ring were more terrible to her than the hammer of hell.
If only I had known then. Tilia exhaled with slight bitterness.
Her father was just a scarecrow who turned to mush after three years. There was no need to be afraid of him. No more afraid than being afraid of drowning in the desert.
- Eh, eh, eh...!
The sight before her eyes was so pitiful that even the desire for revenge disappeared. Tilia looked at her father, who was screaming wildly, with a blank expression on his face, and spoke indifferently.
- Do you remember, father? When I was little, you often beat me.
-...Eh! Eh!
- But you know what?
Tilia whispered softly to the man, who was now floundering like a dying fish.
- Your blows then. They didn't cause me any pain.
She then raised her hand and hit Bradley on the forehead, hard enough to make a sharp sound.
- Y-you...!
Bradley Ambrose's pupils dilated even more as he tried to say something, but then he realized what had happened and began to squirm as if he was having a seizure.
- Oh.
Tilia slightly covered her mouth, as if in shock from the terrible sight, and called the nurse.
- Oh, God, here he is again.
The nurse, who arrived slowly, swore openly even in the presence of the patient's guardian, pressing Bradley's body to the bed.
- Eh, eh! Eh...!
- Don't move, Your Grace. Do you really want to be in the morgue today?
Under the desperate cries of her father and the angry curses of the nurse, Tilia left the hospital room with a calm face.
She will never return to this ward again. She saw with her own eyes that her father was beyond recovery. She confidently confirmed that she could remain in Acansis.
- Hello. I came to pay my outstanding medical bills.
And yet, despite the fact that her father was now a powerless ghost who could no longer stop her, Tilia had to fulfill at least this minimum duty.
It was not a duty owed to him, but a duty imposed by society. She absolutely couldn't let an unpaid hospital bill jeopardize her promotion.
- The patient's name is Bradley Ambrose. Could you check please?
Unlike the nurses and carers, the behavior of the billing staff was not that bad. One of the employees, having specified the name in a rather polite tone, bowed her head in bewilderment.
- Bradley Ambrose, did you say...? There is no debt. Everything is paid in full.
- Paid in full?
Tilia frowned slightly, her expression saying that this couldn't be true.
- Could you double-check? Bradley Ambrose from Ward A, Room 403. That's how you spell it.
She even wrote the name on a piece of paper just to make sure, but the answer was the same.
- Yes, this is definitely Bradley Ambrose from A403. There have never been any late payments - he always pays on time.
Impossible. Despite her firm answer, Tilia looked at the employee with obvious skepticism.
Her father's minimum wage pension must have ended last year. If she had enough to pay for hospital expenses, George Ambrose would not have left her...
- Could you check this for me?
While Tilia stood there, clearly suspecting a mistake, the employee, trying to help, pulled out the payment record.
Seeing that the entire amount had indeed been paid, Tilia asked in a slightly worried voice:
- Then... is it possible to find out who made the payment?
- Well, unless it was a legal guardian, we usually don't know... Oh, wait. It appears the payment was made by check, so we may be able to identify the payer. Let's see... so the person who paid the hospital bill is...
***
-Where to, miss?
Tilia took a hackney carriage, not a stagecoach, from the entrance to the hospital. She couldn’t answer the coachman’s question right away and simply looked into space.
If it were possible, she would prefer a cheaper stagecoach. But her destination was in an upscale area where most stagecoaches did not drop off passengers.
- Miss?
The coachman asked again in bewilderment. But even to this Tilia did not respond, only squeezing her intertwined hands tighter.
"Let's see... so the person who paid the hospital bill is..."
The soft voice of the cashier she was talking to earlier rang in her ears again.
“Oh, it was the Duke of Davenport. Now that I saw it, I remembered. The Duke's assistant came to pay every month. He was quite handsome. I assume you don’t know him?”
- Miss, seriously!
When the woman's voice, permeated with rude curiosity, resounded again in her memory, the rude tone of the coachman finally interrupted her thoughts.
-You look like a beautiful young lady who just heard bad news in the hospital.
Startled, as if waking up from a dream, she raised her head. At the sight of her pale face, the coachman’s voice softened slightly.
- Still, if you get into the carriage, you need to say where you are going. Where to, miss?
- I'm sorry. Please take me to Duke Davenport's estate.
- Duke Davenport? Do you work there as a maid?
Tilia ignored the coachman's attempt to make small talk and tightened her clasped hands.
Outside the window of the cheap, shaking hackney carriage, the city floated by.
Her homeland, where she returned after such a long absence, was no different from before.
Noble ladies and gentlemen, dressed to the nines. Beggars were hiding behind them. Those who could afford to look at the world with kindness, and those who had to endure anger in order to survive.
Watching the street scenes, as if cast from the same model, Tilia gradually regained her breath.
She returned to Akansis. But not to the past.
The world remained the same, but her heart changed.
Remembering the regrets she had been replaying over and over in her head for the past three years, Tilia's eyes shone with determination.
Now she understood her feelings. She knew what she needed to do to avoid regrets.
Even if everything else remained the same, her resolve had changed. And therefore the result will be different.
With firm determination and slightly rosy cheeks, Tilia watched the landscape rush by.
***
- Your Grace, it was reported that Miss Tilia Ambrose has arrived at the main residence.
Ilex heard this from Kevin while he was doing paperwork in the Essentine estate office.
After it was decided that Tilia would live in the annex, most of his belongings were moved there. Naturally, documents and items needed for work were also moved to the office in the outbuilding, making it a more comfortable work space than the main residence.
Without looking at the flustered Kevin, Ilex asked in an even voice:
- Has she arrived at the main house?
- Yes, the butler from the main residence came and reported that Miss Ambrose is currently waiting for Your Grace in the living room.
So she actually went to the baron's hospital room and ended up checking the payment documents. That's why he instructed Kevin to deliver the checks there.
- The butler hasn't left yet. Maybe you should tell Miss Ambrose that you're in the annex and ask her to wait a little longer?
- No need.
Ilex reacted dryly to Kevin's quick suggestion and picked up his pen again to sign the document he was looking at.
- She can wait. No need to fuss.
- Your Grace, this is not a signature field.
Hearing the polite remark, Ilex put down his pen and looked at him silently.
- I know.
-……
But he no longer knew.