“Mel… what happens if you kill your father?”
Andy, who was tidying up the bedding, burst into laughter as he saw Hermia asking with a blank face.
“I see you’ve read The Thief’s Tale. Judging from the dark circles under your eyes, you probably haven’t slept well.”
Hermia, who realized belatedly that the sunlight was stinging her eyes, jumped up from the dressing table chair.
“Belle Greywood said she wouldn’t leave Count Arno alone. And Mel is actually here… and… … .”
Andy walked towards her, still confused, swallowing his laughter.
“Our young lady is really immersed. It’s just a novel. If it were real, wouldn’t we, who eat and sleep with Mel, be the first to notice?”
“Is that so… … ?”
Andy clicked her tongue like a countess and crossed her arms.
“I think Mel started thinking she was the real Belle after reading the novel. She started to delude herself into thinking the story was real because she was the main character.”
But why did Mel say she didn’t know the novel?
Why did she say she cried when she saw Walter as if he was looking at her? Hermia asked urgently.
“What did that kid say?”
“It’s true that he grew up in an orphanage, and he said that he sometimes had strange thoughts, but he said that he didn’t feel anything when he saw the master. If the novel was true, he would be the enemy who killed his parents.”
“Did Mel say that?”
“I’ve secretly watched her a few times, and I’ve heard her mumbling to herself in the kitchen that there’s no way she could do that. She was just messing with her hair. She’s clearly confusing fiction with reality.”
Andy spoke with a confident voice, and at least he didn’t seem to be lying.
Well, if Mel Greenwood had a suspicious vibe, the mansion wouldn’t be so peaceful.
Anyone who has watched Count Arnold up close will know that he is not strong-willed enough to commit murder.
Thanks to the timid but proud Count, all the maids in the mansion, including Andy, seemed to have a firm belief that the novel was fiction.
Despite this, Hermia couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.
‘Is my father really a murderer? Or… is the Duke going to marry Mel Greenwood instead of me?’
No, actually, I know the reason better than anyone else.
I was afraid that I would become the daughter of a murderer, have my marriage fall through, and be kicked out penniless.
Hermia squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that her forehead cracked. There could not have been a worse ending.
“By the way, it’s past breakfast time and no one has come to call me.”
Andy muttered, looking at the silent doorway.
‘It seems like the self-restraint order issued yesterday afternoon hasn’t ended yet.’
Hermia nodded calmly at the unsurprising reality.
“You go and eat breakfast. Don’t starve for no reason because of me.”
“That’s what I was going to do! Then take a rest!”
He was truly an unfaithful ally. Hermia returned to bed after watching Andy run out of the room. She needed to calm down for a moment.
After laying down my lifeless body, this time my empty stomach started to scream loudly. Even in the midst of all this, I was hungry. My body was incredibly honest.
From my experience, the best way to endure hunger is to sleep. Fortunately, I quickly became sleepy after tossing and turning all night.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath without any resistance, but soon the door opened wide again.
“Please, knock… … .”
“Miss! Get up right now! A letter has arrived from the Duke’s family, asking to set a date for your engagement!”
Andy came running with an excited look on his face. At the same time, Hermia also jumped up.
“With who? With me? Engaged to me? The Duke?”
“Of course you are, Miss. It couldn’t be Mel.”
Andy took out a light one-piece dress from the dressing room and quickly started dressing her.
“If you knew what date that was, you’d be shocked!”
Hermia, her arms tucked into her sleeves and her limbs creaking, hurried out of the bedroom and headed to the dining room, where the Count and his wife, who had already finished their meal and were enjoying dessert, were waiting for her.
“Come in. Are you hungry? You need to eat breakfast.”
“Yeah. Dieting is good, but anything in excess is bad.”
Hermia sat down on the chair, hiding her suddenly cold expression. It seemed she had told her father that she was on a diet.
As soon as I sat down, a warm meal was brought to the table. The meal, as far as I could tell, was nothing more than a plate of watery consommé and a round loaf of bread.
When I looked at my stepmother as if asking if it was really okay to eat it, she smiled kindly.
“You’ve liked it since you were little. Come and try it before it gets cold.”
“that…….”
Hermia kept her mouth shut as was her habit.
The only food I could eat to my full before coming to Baekjakga was consommé, boiled with as much broth as possible.
I was unfamiliar with other foods and was wary of them, so I ate only consommé for several months, and it seemed that the count and his wife mistakenly thought that I liked it.
Still, it seems like the Duke was happy about the letter he received, since he even made a separate menu for them that they didn’t enjoy.
An engagement is an engagement, but let’s fill our hungry stomachs first. She picked up her spoon with a face full of anticipation.
“thank you for this food.”
As I sat down in front of the steaming food, my appetite began to pique. As I was about to take a spoonful of the warm soup and put it in my mouth, the countess spoke to me with perfect timing.
“What did you talk about when you met with the Duke yesterday? It seemed like the Duke was completely taken aback.”
“yes?”
As she put the spoon down and raised her head, the face that had been raised greatly came closer. Hermia, who had been blinking, simply answered honestly.
“It doesn’t seem like I’m doing anything in particular… … .”
“It’s the face. He looks just like me, he was born with that face.”
Count Arnold, who was eating an eclair with his mouth full of chocolate, pointed his fork alternately at his daughter’s face and his own face.
The countess lifted the linen and wiped the corner of her husband’s mouth with her own hands, and said calmly.
“That’s true. If Hermia hadn’t been so much like you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to love her until the end.”
“It’s a blessing. Wow.”
“… … .”
Anyway, even though they bickered every day, their marriage was still good. When I consciously turned my eyes away and put a piece of meat on my spoon, the Countess clapped her hands!
Ah. That’s surprising. Could it be that he did that on purpose? It was a reasonable suspicion.
“The Duke wants to hold the engagement ceremony to coincide with my birthday party next week.”
“Next major?”
“Yes. You even suggested that our house be the place to have the ceremony. The wedding will be held at the cathedral, so I’d like to have the engagement ceremony held at our place.”
“But… that day is your mother’s birthday.”
If I were to hold my birthday party and engagement ceremony at the same time, I would probably not get much attention. I couldn’t easily understand the Countess’s delighted attitude.
“This is a great opportunity for the Duke of Rockford to visit our home!”
Well then, that’s right. I almost misunderstood my stepmother.
“Of course the Duke’s military academy classmates will be attending, right? My goodness, dear! They are all children of elite families in the capital!”
“Well then, how many senators will come?”
“List! I need to reply right away asking for a list of guests to invite!”
Count Arnold’s eyes, stained with ashes, flashed. Hermia, who had just begun her meal, had long since disappeared from their sight.
She ate the consommé silently, feeling her heart, which had been pounding as she came down the stairs, suddenly calm down.
As I watched the excited couple say that the Duke’s family would pay for all the expenses for the birthday party and engagement ceremony, my excitement naturally subsided.
After that, plans to hire a new pastry chef and gardener and decorate a reception room to use as a break room followed.
Hermia took advantage of the couple’s distraction to hand the kitchen maid an empty plate.
“Just one more bowl… … .”
I looked around and whispered, and the maid quickly took the plate and disappeared. Thanks to the letter from the Duke, it was a luxury I hadn’t enjoyed in a long time.
‘Walter Rockford, are you an angel from heaven?’
* * *
In the span of a few days, Count Vansen’s estate became more extravagant than ever before.
The reason was that the count and his wife had replaced all the furniture, even those not related to the party, with new ones, saying that if they just presented the receipt, the duke would take care of all the expenses.
First the curtains and sofa were changed, and the next day the crystal chandelier was doubled in size.
Although it is not the season for a wood fire, the color of the bricks surrounding the fireplace has changed and the poker has been replaced with a new one with an angel decoration on the handle.
I burst out laughing when I saw that the red carpet that covered the floor had suddenly turned blue.
‘If it’s going to be like this, I might as well just buy a new house.’
Hermia, who had been looking around the mansion cynically, returned to her room. Then, her face immediately darkened at the noise she heard outside.
The count and his wife’s ambitious remodeling plans extended beyond the interior of the mansion to the exterior.
There’s a lot of construction going on in the garden outside right now. They’re even building a fountain.
The workers who had finished digging the ground to connect the water channels were now laying stones in a circle to form a frame.
How can a fountain fit in such a narrow garden? And how can a fountain as big as that be?
‘It doesn’t suit you at all!’
Hermia closed the terrace door with a frown. And the noise at night was so loud it was hard to sleep.
Considering that the construction work continued until dawn, the night shift allowance that had to be paid would also be considerable. It was something that a normal couple, who would have deducted the cost of items that their employees broke from their salaries, would never have dreamed of.
“This is all possible because it’s other people’s money. Damn it.”
“yes……?”
Lucy tilted her head as she entered the room carrying bath salts and a towel.
“It’s nothing.”
“Sometimes I think… I think you talk to yourself a lot, young lady… … .”
Yeah. You said everything you wanted to say in a crawling voice.
Hermia, who was internally grumbling, went into the bathroom while scratching the back of her head. Before Lucy could intervene, she took off her clothes in a hurry and asked a question that suddenly occurred to her.
“You know, how’s Mel doing these days? I haven’t seen her much even inside the mansion.”
“Mel… … ? She’s just like usual… … . She breaks dishes while washing them… and ruins clothes while doing laundry… … .”
You seem really bad at work.
“Other than that, don’t you say anything like seeing strange scenes or anything like that?”
Lucy, who was pouring perfume into the bathtub and stirring it, made a whoosh and then shook her head.
“You did this a few times before, but you’ve been quiet lately… …? Was it since I visited Professor Isaac… …?”
Hermia’s eyes widened at her words.
“Did Mel go to the doctor?”
“Yes… … . That kid probably doesn’t have any money since he spent most of his salary on compensation… … . He said he’s been there twice already… … .”
The person who supported the commoner doctor was his father’s half-brother, ‘Jack Bahnsen’, who is recorded as having lost his life in an accident.
I wondered if the doctor had recognized Mel. I was so uneasy. Everything seemed so vague, like a mystery that could not be solved.
“Stop asking questions and just wash up quickly… … . I’m a bit busy these days… … .”
“Oh, uh. Okay.”
Hermia put her feet into the lukewarm water with mixed feelings.