“Oh, no, miss.”
A flustered Mel belatedly covered her face with her sleeve. I had already seen her drenched eyes and bloodshot eyes, but what!
“You said you were sick, but that was a lie?”
Hermia shook Mel’s shoulder with a faint sense of betrayal.
“You said you’ve been getting headaches a lot lately. That’s why I changed the maid in charge to Andy!”
“No, Miss! It really hurt. I mean, it definitely felt like my head was going to burst.”
Mel protested with a look of injustice on her face.
“Once the headache starts, it hurts so much I can’t even get out of bed. But after a while, I feel fine.”
“… … .”
Hermia, whose heart was weakened at the sight of his eyes that had suddenly become teary again, spoke in a slightly softened tone.
“Have you ever been to Dr. Isaac? If you say you’re from Bansenga, he’ll treat you for free.”
“I couldn’t even see your face. The nurse said that I should pay the medical bills from now on.”
That doctor is getting paid by Bansengga?
Mel looked around and spoke in a small voice.
“I think Madam caused a commotion at the hospital a while ago. She was very angry because of that.”
Isaac was a commoner who became a doctor after receiving financial support from the Bahnsen family for his tuition and living expenses when he was young. He was a person who stubbornly refused to pay money even when they offered to pay him, saying that he had to repay the debt.
“Why did the teacher… … .”
Hermia, who had been mumbling, closed her mouth.
Now that I think about it, a few months ago my mother was complaining about Isaac.
‘Oh my goodness, how can you make me wait when you have an urgent patient? And you treat a butcher first! I can’t believe it!’
‘But if it were my house, I would have let the servants watch it for free. Wasn’t that reckless?’
‘So, I guess he must have been stubborn as a commoner. Just wait and see. If Hermia marries into a good family, I will hire a resident doctor too.’
‘If it weren’t for the jewels and dresses you buy every day, I would have hired you already.’
‘Arnold!’
Hermia sighed softly, recalling up to that point. Damn it.
“… If you don’t have enough money, I’ll give you some, so you can buy some medicine.”
Mel sniffled and nodded.
“Thank you, miss.”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes. I felt better before dinner.”
“But why were you crying? Why were you trying to run away?”
Then Mel averted her eyes and wiggled her fingers.
“Two, my headache got better, so I started having strange memories.”
“Strange memory?”
“I think I’m going a little crazy. I keep seeing strange things.”
Hermia followed Mel’s gaze persistently, moving her head. As small as the Countess, she bent down involuntarily.
“What do you see?”
“I run around in this house wearing pretty dresses and playing in a huge castle.”
[Belle was happiest when she was invited to the castle.]
She stopped moving as a passage from a novel suddenly flashed through her mind. Mel bit her lip once and continued to speak stammeringly.
“It’s been a while since I started seeing things like that… … . Other people said I was delusional because I was always with the young lady, but… … .”
What? You already told everyone else?
“As you know, I’m from the Greenwood Orphanage. That’s why my name is Mel ‘Greenwood’… … .”
‘In the novel, Belle has an accident when she is young. She loses her memory and goes to an orphanage, becoming ‘Belle Greywood.’
It’s exactly the same as what Irene said.
“Actually, I went to see the head nun a while ago. I was curious about how I ended up growing up in an orphanage.”
You’re more proactive than I thought.
“A man left me at the back door on a day when the rain was pouring down. He was a child who didn’t know his home or his age, and the only person he remembered was his name, ‘Mel’… … .”
I see. Mother Superior, you have a very good memory.
Hermia, who had been listening blankly, came to her senses belatedly.
“Okay, I get it. What I’m wondering is why you were crying.”
“That’s actually, that is… … .”
Her little, puckered lips were so cute, but now she was so frustrated.
Face. Let’s save face. Hermia endured, only repeating those words.
“When the Duke came a little while ago… When I saw the Duke’s face, I suddenly became very sad… … .”
“You were so sad that you cried when you saw the face of someone you saw for the first time today?”
“What if today isn’t the first time we’ve seen each other… …? What should I do, Miss? Yes?”
Hermia took a step back without realizing it.
“I don’t know. How would I know that?”
The words coming out of his mouth were extremely cold.
“Maybe it’s just your imagination, like other people say.”
“But it’s so vivid?”
Mel was asking, not as if she was supporting herself, but as if she was refuting something. What does this kid want to hear from me?
“Mel, do you know what a ‘thief’s daughter’ is?”
Then came a reply half a beat late.
“… No. I don’t know.”
* * *
Hermia sat in the bathtub, lost in thought.
I felt like I absolutely had to read that book, but the problem was just getting it.
When I asked Andy to take off my dress, he waved his hands in thought.
‘If I lend you a book and you catch me, I’m dead!’
After the sandwich incident, there was no place in the mansion that the Countess’s eyes and ears could not reach, so it was understandable that she would feel scared.
“No, but who keeps telling me this?”
Hermia was suddenly overcome with resentment and trembled in her seat.
“Miss, are you okay… … ?”
“It’s nothing!”
Immediately, the voice of the maid serving the bath came from behind the partition.
“Madam originally told me not to take my eyes off you for even a second… But I’m stepping aside so you can take a bath comfortably… … .”
The maid was speaking very cautiously and with a lively tone.
“Okay. Thanks for understanding, Lucy.”
“You must not eat flower petals today… … .”
Was there snow on the ceiling? Hermia picked up a rose petal floating on the water and put it back down.
‘There were little leaves inside the pudding.’
Even the leaves of unknown plants are used in desserts, so wouldn’t it be okay to just eat the flower petals?
She hesitated for a moment. Come to think of it, the snacks she had during tea time at the garden party were all she had eaten today.
All I could eat was black tea and three tasteless biscuits.
‘I heard that Miss Hermia is trying to control her weight, so I prepared this specially for you. It’s a special biscuit without butter or sugar!’
‘Wow. Really… thank you so much.’
‘Hohoho! I’m so touched that I’m crying, I’m so proud!’
Even when he picked up the fourth biscuit, he had to put it back down because the Countess glared at him.
She was hungrier on the day of the party, since she had to fast all day. Hermia opened her mouth as wide as she could as the maid poured the last of the rinse water over her head.
‘I have to go outside to read a book without my mother’s eyes.’
If I asked Andy, he would tell me the story, but I needed more details.
As I read, I had an expectation that the author’s information would be revealed. Mel’s behavior was also somewhat suspicious.
First of all, I was an illegitimate child. This means that there may be other siblings, either not the first or half-siblings.
The will does not say ‘Hermia Bahnsen’, but ‘Countess of the Bahnsen family’.
It was very important to her that there were more candidates who could marry Walter Rockford. Of course, no one would be out of place in terms of looks, but there is such a thing as taste.
Either rush to marry the Duke or withdraw early and find another rich man.
There is a right age for marriage, so it is better to make a choice as soon as possible.
* * *
“Miss, the brooch shop is over there?”
Andy stopped Hermia as she pointed to a sign that said ‘Lundberg’. My master was now walking down Postbury Street.
“That’s a market for commoners.”
“I know.”
Hermia, who had been responding strangely, turned around and grabbed Andy’s shoulders.
“Help me, Andy.”
“Huh? What?”
“You can’t go out unless you say you’re out buying a birthday present.”
Then Andy shouted, his face as white as flour.
“So you’re saying you didn’t come out to buy a gift for your ma’am?”
“I’m going to buy it, but I’m going to the bookstore first. Sorry.”
The countess’s birthday, which was coming up soon, gave me an excuse to get out.
As expected, the Countess was delighted and even said that a brooch would be a good gift, and she even saw him off.
What do you mean by a jewel brooch when you didn’t even give me a penny of pocket money?
Because of this, Hermia had to take out the emergency money she had hidden in her pillowcase to buy her stepmother a birthday present.
But the ingenious plan was unfortunately blocked, as an intruder appeared less than ten steps after entering Postbury.
“Where are you going?”
Hermia looked up at the large man who seemed to have three of her bodies stacked on top of each other. He was a bandit… no, a mercenary, with a rough appearance and a long sword scar on his cheek.
“The Madam has specially ordered you to guard the young lady. This area is not safe, so please turn back.”
‘Escort? Surveillance, I guess.’
When I left the mansion, there was clearly no one there, but when I saw someone appear in the middle, I knew that he was someone who had been there for surveillance purposes.
My legs gave out for a moment. Andy quickly supported my staggering body.
“Look at that. I told you that the young lady can’t avoid the madam’s eyes.”
“… … .”
Hermia was rather taken aback by Andy’s words. If she missed this opportunity, there was no telling when she would be able to come out again.
The opponent is a lump of matter whose movements appear slow.
I’ve always been confident in running, so I thought I could somehow sneak through the crowd.
She clenched her fists, then let out a deflating sound.
‘The old days? When were we talking about the enemy?’
The child who ran around the dirt floor wearing old leather boots no longer exists in this world.
The moment she set foot in Count Vansen’s household six years ago, she died. Only a skinny, feeble noblewoman, soon to become a duchess, remained.
Hermia, who had been mocking bitterly, straightened up.
‘I may not be able to run like I used to, but I’ve gotten better at thinking.’
She took a round wad of money out of her cloak pocket.
“It’s my first time seeing you, so I guess you haven’t been hired for very long.”
“… Yes.”
The man answered without taking his eyes off the bill.
Hermia unwound the knotted string without taking her eyes off the man, and divided the money into pieces one by one.
The man’s eyes moved busily following it.