Chapter 012. The Parlor Maid’s Splendid Hairstyle
Due to a mountain of documents requiring approval, the luncheon with invited guests was slightly delayed.
Though he knew it was discourteous to keep guests waiting, Raymond had urgent matters that could not be postponed and asked for their understanding.
Fortunately, most of the guests invited to today’s luncheon were close friends he had known since childhood, and they readily agreed to wait.
They decided to pass the time before the delayed luncheon by gathering in the parlor, smoking cigars, and chatting, so they headed there in a group.
Having prioritized and completed the urgent documents, Raymond quickly sorted the mail to be sent, handed it to his aide Robin, put away the remaining documents in a drawer, and left the study.
Just as he opened the door to head to the parlor, the sight before him made him freeze in place.
It was irritating enough to see Robin, whom he had instructed to send the mail, loitering at the door, but what felt even more unpleasant was the sudden reappearance of that face which kept intruding on his thoughts uninvited.
Moreover, seeing the maid’s expression stiffen instantly upon recognizing him only added to his irritation.
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you sending the mail you’re holding?”
At the cold voice, Robin’s face immediately showed a hint of “oops.”
“I-I’m going now!”
Answering loudly and moving quickly, Robin threw Deborah a “see you later” before disappearing.
“…….”
With Robin’s sudden departure, an awkward silence fell between the two left behind.
Deborah wanted nothing more than to vanish like Robin had, but committing such rudeness was out of the question.
Yet, having missed the appropriate moment, offering a belated greeting now felt equally awkward.
Unable to do anything but lower her eyes and fidget with her fingers, she stood there as Raymond gazed down at her silently.
‘Was this her face?’
For some reason, since the day she arrived at Elfengrin, that white face, sprawled clumsily on the study floor, kept invading his thoughts unbidden.
Her pale calves, her heaving chest, and those large golden eyes embedded within.
Once recalled, the image played in his mind like fragmented pictures, scene after scene, always leaving him with an unpleasant feeling.
Just as the lingering memory, seen only briefly, was starting to fade and he found it rather pleasing, this maid appeared before him again, mocking that relief and grating on his nerves.
Yet, despite that unpleasant feeling, seeing her face overlay the fading memory stirred a strange emotion in him.
A sense of relief, as if something stifling had been resolved.
Caught off guard by this unexpected feeling, Raymond’s brow furrowed slightly.
This troublesome figure, who had irritated him from the first moment and continued to disrupt his thoughts, he decided to finally remove from his sight.
“Except for specific roles, servants are to avoid being seen within the estate.”
“…….”
At the Duke’s cold, warning words after a long silence, Deborah’s shoulders flinched as she kept her head bowed.
“Are you going to claim you didn’t know this basic rule because you’re new here?”
At the mocking tone, Deborah bit her lip tightly.
She had been told that as long as she stuck to her assigned tasks, a housemaid would rarely encounter the family, so she couldn’t understand why things kept going awry like this.
But he was right, and she couldn’t make such an excuse again.
“I’m sorry. I’ll… make sure this doesn’t happen again……”
Her effort to keep her voice from trembling was evident even to Raymond.
‘Make sure this doesn’t happen again.’
Though it was exactly what Raymond wanted, for some reason, her words didn’t sit well with him.
Still, he couldn’t find fault with someone who had apologized cleanly for their mistake.
After staring at her sharply for a while, Raymond turned and left the study doorway.
Thinking that in Elfengrin, where he would only stay for a season, there would be little chance of seeing this one maid among so many again, the unsettling feeling began to subside.
The thought that, with time, her image would gradually fade and eventually vanish as a mere afterimage further calmed him.
Deborah didn’t move an inch from her spot until Raymond’s figure disappeared down the corridor.
* * *
Early in the morning, quite a few visitors came to the cramped attic room where Deborah and Hanna stayed.
“…What are you all doing here? At this hour…?”
Yawn— Hanna, still not fully awake, rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked at the five people crowded tightly in the small room.
Deborah blinked at the five familiar faces.
They were the ones newly selected as parlor maids, including Deborah.
Today was their first day starting as parlor maids, but it was still far too early to begin work.
Yet, they were already impeccably dressed, ready to start work immediately.
Except for their hair—
As the five hesitated, glancing at each other, one of them nudged the maid standing in the center with her elbow, and as if it had been agreed upon, she spoke with an awkward smile.
“Um… Celine!”
“…Celine?”
Deborah tilted her head, puzzled, at the familiar name the maid called out after hesitating.
“Your hair, Celine’s hair! You did it, didn’t you, Deborah?”
“…….”
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over Deborah, as if she had heard these exact words not long ago.
And she was sure she had also heard something like this next.
“Deborah! Could you do our hair too?”
Five pairs of sparkling eyes turned toward Deborah.
She had thought it odd that, despite their perfectly donned, ornate maid uniforms, their hair was all disheveled, and now she understood why.
From the back, Hanna, whose hair was also a mess, gaped in disbelief, now fully awake, but Deborah only let out a quiet, long sigh.
* * *
The garden, bursting with vibrant, colorful flowers, was filled with the hues of full-blown spring.
Every year around this time, noblewomen and young ladies visiting Elfengrin’s meticulously tended garden, cared for by skilled gardeners, were left breathless by the stunning scenery, letting out soft exclamations of awe.
“The Elfengrin garden is truly comparable to the royal gardens. This view always lingers in my mind, and every spring, I eagerly await an invitation from you, Miss.”
A noblewoman in a red satin dress embroidered with colorful flowers spoke with a gentle smile.
“You feel that way too, Madam? Honestly, so do I. A beautiful estate like this is one of a kind in Ruvake.”
The praise, started by one, spread like a ripple among the women.
“It’s not just the scenery. Isn’t Elfengrin a haven of beautiful people as well?”
When an older noblewoman voiced this compliment, a sound came from one side.
At that moment, parlor maids, carrying teapot sets and three-tiered dessert trays, approached the table where the noblewomen sat, walking in a neat line.
They carefully placed their items on the white tablecloth adorned with embroidery, then each picked up a beautiful glass teapot and began pouring warm floral tea, brewed from dried leaves, for the noblewomen.
The noblewomen, who had been chatting merrily, fell silent, closely observing the parlor maids’ movements with keen eyes.
It was common for the caliber of parlor maids to rise with the status of a noble family, but among them, Elfengrin’s parlor maids were particularly renowned in social circles.
Rumors of their doll-like beauty and elegance spread like wildfire through the mouths of gossipers, making many eager to catch a glimpse of Elfengrin’s parlor maids whenever the opportunity arose.
“My goodness, the rumors were true.”
At the slightly excited tone, Cecilia, seated regally like a queen, tilted her head slightly.
“Rumors?”
“Yes. They said Elfengrin’s parlor maids were as beautiful as dolls, and it’s true.”
“As Countess Ailes said, Elfengrin is truly a place where everything shines with beauty.”
“You flatter us.”
Though her reaction wasn’t overt, the maids sighed in relief inwardly as they saw the corners of Cecilia’s lips curve softly as she lifted her teacup.
Having poured the tea, the parlor maids stepped back a few paces to maintain an appropriate distance, ensuring they could attend to the noblewomen without intruding on their tea time.
Just as they stepped back, a young lady seated at the end of the table noticed something and her eyes widened.
“Oh my—good heavens…”
At her soft exclamation, Cecilia’s slightly lowered eyes lifted upward.
Wondering what they were looking at, everyone’s gazes naturally followed.
And from the mouths of those looking in that direction, the same exclamations began to spill out.
With a curious expression, Cecilia finally gave an order to the parlor maid standing where their gazes were directed.
“Come here and turn around.”
The parlor maid, terrified that she might have done something wrong, slowly turned in a circle with a nervous expression.
As she turned, the onlookers’ gazes shifted to astonishment one by one.
When the maid had turned about halfway, Cecilia’s low voice rang out.
“Stop.”
At the firm command, the maid’s hesitant movements froze in place.
Cecilia’s blue eyes slowly widened as they took in the intricately braided hairstyle hidden under the headpiece.
“Good heavens—now that I look, all the maids’ hairstyles are so elaborate. Does Elfengrin even style the parlor maids’ hair?”
“Our ladies’ maids’ skills can’t even compare to this. Where did you find such maids, Miss Cecilia?”
Despite the barrage of questions from noblewomen asking where they could hire such ladies’ maids, Cecilia remained silent.
Or rather, it was more accurate to say she couldn’t respond.
She genuinely had no idea who had done these elaborate hairstyles.
As Cecilia’s gaze, filled with intrigue, scanned the parlor maids’ hair one by one, her expression grew increasingly fascinated.
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