The Count's Strange Guest (1)
Count Bellunitto's family receives many letters. The sender was unknown, but they were mostly letters asking about Vincent's well-being. Even invitations to dinners and parties seemed to be quite frequent.
However, the gentleman never responded to any of the letters. Even if they were delivered to him, he did not check them. So most of them were taken care of by the servants even before they fell into his hands.
There was a name that stood out among the many letters that were so persistently sent.
[“Violet”]
[Is that the girl's name?..]
Letters arrive every other day, but they are also not delivered to Vincent.
Isabella ordered Paula to keep these letters separately.
[Is this someone I need to pay special attention to?]
[Then why don't you tell him about it?]
Since Vincent doesn't read the letters, of course he doesn't reply either. However, letters from a person named "Violet" piled up one after another in the drawer of her room.
And one more thing caught my eye.
[-Are you here?]
[...?]
Paula discovered this by accident when she was clearing ashes from the fireplace. On the burnt piece of paper was an inscription in gold letters. The letters that sparkled in the sun were beautiful and elegant.
Next to him lay a letter written in the same handwriting.
[ - How are you doing?]
It was written on high quality paper with a thick texture. The strangest thing was that there was nothing written inside the envelope.
Did this man write directly on the envelope because he knew Vincent would never open the letters?
Nevertheless, letters with gold letters written on them continued to arrive every day. Of course, there was no answer to them. Vincent didn't even check them.
And then one day, under the guidance of Isabella, the girl wrote a response letter and sent it. Paula was told to write something simple, but after thinking carefully, she took a pen and wrote:
[-I'm fine]
From the day she sent the answer, the girl stopped receiving letters. She was worried that she had written something wrong, but quickly forgot about it because she was busy serving her master. And only when an unexpected answer came did she remember about the letter again.
All the same golden, trained letters. This time the message was written on the paper inside rather than on the envelope.
[ - The weather is nice here]
So what?
Paula wondered what the intention behind the letter was. It was noticeable that the last letter had a small amount of smudged ink. When she looked more closely, there were watery marks all over the envelope.
Like tears.
Did the person write the answer while crying because they were so happy to see the answer?
No way.
Paula was curious, but Isabella didn't answer because she said she didn't need to send a reply this time. Then the letters came every day, without interruption. With the same content. It was as if the person was insisting on a reply letter.
In the end, Paula had to write a response after she received Isabella's order again. The girl was about to write casually, like last time, but hesitated for a moment. What came to mind was a water stain that had spread across the paper. For some reason, she thought that she should not write with the same meaning as last time, so she hesitated and looked out the window. She moved just in time to see that the tree had sprouted.
[- Here buds began to sprout on the bare branches.]
After that, she received a response again, and if she sent another email, she again received another response. At some point, she began exchanging letters with a person she did not know at all. The content was still nothing special. Since the first response, no water stains have been noticed.
[- I’m doing well today too.]
On one of the most ordinary days, something quite unexpected happened.
That day she stretched and greeted the invigorating sun. As the day progressed, the girl worried that the day would become too tiring due to her master's good nature. She changed her clothes. As always, she tied her disheveled hair tightly at the back of her head and opened the door.
“Vincent!”
Paula heard an unfamiliar voice.
The source of the voice was the man she first saw in front of the owner's room. It was a tall man in a top hat, he knocked on the door and sadly called Vincent's name.
"Vincent! Open the door!"
The moment she looked at the man who was knocking on the door several times even though there was no answer from the room, the man turned his head as if he sensed Paula's gaze. Paula's brown eyes widened when he discovered her.
The time has come to learn more about each other. Both the strange man and Paula openly looked each other up and down, expressing doubts about who the hell they were.
Then, the man was the first to finish looking at the girl.
“-Oh, new maid?”
As if responding to the “new maid,” Paula immediately leaned over. It was like a self-preservation instinct.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Paula.”
Greetings continue until the other person accepts them.
If a person does not meet your status, you should not straighten your back before listening to him.
Remembering these words, Paula waited for the other person to greet her.
“-Ah.”
The man walked up to Paula with a short sigh. The shiny toe of a boot appeared in her field of vision, facing Paula. The man took her hand and squeezed.
When Paula looked up in surprise, the man leaned down slightly, placing one hand on her back and placing a light kiss on the back of her hand.
“Nice to meet you, miss.”
Pleasant voice.
When Paula met the man's gaze, who raised his head slightly, wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Ethan Christopher.”
“Uh... Yes...”
She answered stupidly, trying to recover from her daze.
His manner as he straightened his back and let go of her hand was elegant. Even though his hand was no longer there, her hand was still floating in the air. The back of her hand, where the man's lips touched, was hot.
“Vincent locked the door. Can you open it?”
“-Ah...”
Then she came to her senses and lowered her hand. The girl scratched the back of her hand and headed towards the door.
There were times when Vincent's door was locked, although very rarely. She wondered how she could have been locked, but when the girl pulled one of the many ropes hanging on the wall next to his bed, the ropes connected to the wall were tied together and the door was locked.
Several strings snaked along the wall. At first the room was too dark, and the girl was too busy servicing Vincent, so she didn't notice. After carefully examining the room, she discovered that the rope he pulled to lock the door was long, from wall to door.
When she first witnessed such a scene, the girl could not believe it and doubted what was happening. Vincent told her that he had installed a rope in case something dangerous happened while he was alone. Once witnessing a scene of her being used, Paula asked about this and that because it was so amazing, but Vincent didn't answer her, so she soon lost interest. Perhaps the other straps hanging from the wall were for the same purpose, except he used them to open the door and close it.
Just in case, Isabella gave her a set of emergency keys. Paula was in charge of the extension, so Isabella asked her to keep it clean. The girl used the key when his door was locked.
Paula dug into her apron pocket and pulled out the emergency key. The moment she opened the door and turned the doorknob, she knew she couldn't ask a man named Ethan Christopher what his relationship with Vincent was.
“-Oh, with the owner you have...”
Then, through the open gap, something was heard whistling.
It was going to explode soon!
There was the sound of breaking glass. The phrase, spoken in haste, was not finished.
Ethan walked in at the sound, turned his head and was shocked. Paula looked around too. It was a glass bottle that hit the wall and broke into pieces. Paula guessed who was the initiator of this action, based on her experience.
And indeed, a heartbreaking voice came from the dark room.
“-Close the door.”
[I told you it was dangerous.]
Paula frowned and looked at Ethan. He was still looking at the broken glass bottle. The girl could see thousands of thoughts flashing across his blank face.
[Is this the first time you've encountered this stupid person?]
[That would be amazing, definitely.]
As she shook her head and took a step into the room, something flew again and hit the wall. This time it was a glass cup. She told him to drink water, so he got angry with her.
She closed the door for now. This was because she was afraid that the person might be in danger.
“There’s a young gentleman standing at the door.”
“Tell him to leave.”
“Who is he?”
If you think about it, how did this person know that Vincent was in a separate building? Usually the guest who came to see him would come to the main mansion. Because of course they think he will be there.
Due to circumstances, the butler had to greet guests at the mansion, since Vincent lived in the annex. In the absence of the butler, Isabella took over his role.
But the man outside was standing in front of his door, the door in the annex.
" - You have nothing to know. Send him back."
“- Master.”
“You too get out of here.”
[Why are you so angry?]
Then she heard a knock on the door.
“-Vincent.”
It was the voice of a man named Ethan. Everything seemed to have calmed down to some extent.
Paula looked straight at Vincent. His eyes closed before she realized it.
[Are you trying to pretend to be asleep?]
“Let me see your face, Vincent. It's been a long time since we last saw each other. Don't you miss me?"
“-...”
“I want to see you.”
What was that atmosphere like?
There is something strange between these two men...
“Don’t think about anything strange.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“I can tell what you're thinking just by the sound of your breathing.”
“I didn’t do it.”
Paula tried to turn away and prepare food, but realized that she had not brought breakfast. Come to think of it, washing water and new clothes... she forgot about it due to the sudden commotion.
“I’ll bring you something to eat.”
“I have no appetite.”
“Please wait.”
“I'm not hungry!”
Paula ignored Vincent's screams and opened the door. She came face to face with the enemy who had been impatiently knocking on the door earlier. The man immediately looked inside the room. The girl hastily closed the door, blocking his view.
“ - I'm very sorry. The gentleman said that he doesn't want to see you.
“Oh no, I really want to meet him. I need to tell him something!”
The slander was not intended for her. And yet there was no answer from her.
Ethan slumped his shoulders helplessly. Trying to smile through his disappointed face, he continued speaking:
“I'll take care of it in a few days.”
A guest came to the count's house.
“Long time no see, Isabella.”
“Long time no see, Ethan.”
Ethan entered the living room and greeted Isabella. Isabella greeted him familiarly, handing him the top hat.
Seeing the close relationship between them, it seemed that this person was more than just a guest.