Chapter 053. Why on earth do you live like that?
The atmosphere froze in an instant with the sudden appearance of the duke.
Not only the three people who were mercilessly assaulting, but also Deborah’s face, who had been lying motionless like a corpse under them until now, turned pale.
It was no different for Lady Charlotte and Robin, who were standing a few steps away.
Only one person, the man standing at the center of everyone.
Except for Raymond von Cheister, everyone present was frozen to the point where even their breathing couldn’t be heard.
What broke that suffocating silence was the duke’s voice, cold as frost, coming out again.
“What are you doing, I just asked.”
Words spat out as if crushing each one.
“Should I tear your mouths to make you speak.”
At those chilling, murderous words, everyone’s shoulders flinched simultaneously.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lady Charlotte finally stepped forward with a completely stiff face.
“Your Grace.”
Her voice, which was always unwavering and straight, was trembling faintly enough that even Lady Charlotte herself, who was speaking, could notice it.
Seeing her master unmoving at the call, Lady Charlotte bowed her head in front of him this time.
“……If you permit, I will take them first, grasp the situation, and report to you afterward.”
Of all people-
The moment she realized who the protagonist with the wretched face visible among the three maids was.
The thought that passed through Lady Charlotte’s mind was ‘of all people.’
Violence had broken out among the servants in the mansion.
And the duke had caught the scene, so that alone was already a bad enough situation.
But of all people, the target of the assault was none other than Deborah.
The opponent to whom the young master showed an unusually sharp reaction.
And, not long ago, the opponent he had personally carried in after discovering her wandering the hallway.
She didn’t know exactly how much emotion it was or what he intended to do, but it was clear that her master felt special emotions toward that maid.
So this situation was not good.
If it ended with discipline or dismissal, it might even be fortunate.
The problem was if he decided to personally punish them.
Having thought that far, Lady Charlotte slightly shook her head and bowed deeply in front of him once more.
“I…… beg you like this.”
“…….”
Surely- While thinking that the Raymond von Cheister she knew would never personally lay hands on servants, his appearance was so chilling that her heart pounded uneasily.
It might seem cold, but it wasn’t for the three who were trembling as if about to faint and shedding tears.
As a thorough member of the Cheister family, the only thing Lady Charlotte worried about was one possible scenario in this situation.
The situation where he, the head of the family, personally steps in to punish a commotion between maids, and the scandal that arises from it.
If such a thing leaks out of the mansion and spreads like wildfire among the gossips…… it might leave a great stain on the Chester name.
Moreover, wasn’t this a crucial time when marriage talks were going on.
It could be called overthinking, but such things happened not infrequently in high society whenever people got bored.
So, with the thought that she must prevent such a situation in advance, Lady Charlotte was waiting for his answer with her waist bowed like this.
For some time after that, an icy silence continued.
Just when Lady Charlotte’s mind was in complete chaos, wondering what to do about this.
“Take them away.”
At the heavy resounding voice, Lady Charlotte’s waist finally lifted upward.
“Then…….”
To the question confirming if he was permitting it, Raymond looked back at the three with cold eyes.
Eek- Unable to even meet his eyes, the three simultaneously bowed deeply with pale faces.
“Get them out of my sight right now, right now.”
Words emphasizing twice.
In case the master’s mind changed, Lady Charlotte quickly approached the three.
“……Follow me.”
At the quietly murmured words, the three who had been trembling looked at Lady Charlotte as if she were a savior and hurriedly followed behind her.
Though there were matters ahead, Lady Charlotte let out a sigh of relief, thinking she had avoided the biggest crisis for now.
It was when she was about to step forward, thinking she should take these wretched ones who caused this and hear the detailed story.
“Stop there.”
When he had told them to go and now told them to stop again, not only Lady Charlotte but everyone stiffened their faces in surprise.
Slowly, Lady Charlotte, having caught her breath, slowly turned around.
However, the lips that had opened to ask what it was soon closed again.
It was only natural.
How could it not be strange when the gaze of the opponent she thought would be looking this way was directed at a completely unexpected place.
Lady Charlotte’s gaze followed the duke’s gaze to examine the tail attached behind the three.
Deborah.
Staring blatantly at Deborah, who was following behind with a messed-up face, the duke opened his mouth once more.
“You, here.”
With the action of pointing to his front with his chin, it goes without saying that everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
Except for the two parties involved.
* * *
-“Follow me.”
At the duke’s command, oblivious to everyone’s stinging gazes, Deborah hesitated for a while but eventually followed behind him.
The place she entered following the duke was a study not far away.
“Sit there.”
At the words pointing to the sofa on one side of the study, Deborah hesitated for a moment but went and sat as told.
Though it wasn’t her intention, she was one of the parties who caused a commotion in the mansion, so in front of him, she was a sinner.
Moreover, the opponent’s gaze on her was already unkind, so her heart shrank even more.
‘But…… why on earth did he call me here?’
In fact, with the thought that she had shown such a humiliating scene again, she only wanted to escape from his presence as soon as possible.
Fortunately, Lady Charlotte stepped in, and she naturally thought she was included in the words to get out of his sight right away.
So she had followed behind, but his unexpected action was puzzling to Deborah as well.
The duke who told her to sit on the sofa walked somewhere.
Sounds of rummaging as if searching for something were heard, and soon after, the man who returned to the sofa had a small box in his hand.
But its shape somehow looked familiar.
Like, it felt as if she had seen something similar quite recently…….
The moment she recalled that it was a few days ago when she hurt her hand, the duke strode to the seat next to her.
Deborah, who naturally thought he would sit on the opposite seat, was startled and backed away.
However, he didn’t care at all and sat pulling even closer by the amount Deborah had backed away.
How many times did that repeat.
Only after being cornered in the corner with no more room to back away did the chasing and being chased finally end.
Deborah watched the man’s actions, who calmly took something out from the box, with a strange expression.
What was in his hand was a white circular container.
What it was could be guessed from the following action.
When he opened the lid of the circular container, inside was a pale green ointment.
An ointment made by mixing lavender and olive oil.
It was an expensive ointment used for wound healing.
The reason Deborah knew it was because she remembered the orphanage director once taking it out from deep in the drawer and showing it, saying it was very precious.
She was surprised that what the man brought was that lavender ointment, but more than that-
As the man, with plenty of ointment on one hand, immediately tried to grab her chin with the other hand, Deborah was startled and turned her head to the right.
It wasn’t ‘no way.’
Realizing that the duke had brought her here to apply medicine like last time, her heart began to surge greatly.
For a few seconds, a stinging gaze pierced the side face of Deborah who had turned her head, and the man’s large hand grabbed her chin again and turned it back to original.
The flustered Deborah unconsciously shook her head.
“I-It’s, fine-”
“Stay still.”
“…….”
With the hand firmly grabbing her chin and the gaze blatantly touching, her words were blocked in an instant.
Taking that opportunity, the man’s hand came up and gently rubbed over the wounded area.
Deborah’s heart began to pound madly.
Not only the sensation moving over the wound, but seeing the man’s face up close, her mind went blank on where to place her gaze.
After what felt like an hour but was one minute passed, finally the duke’s hand fell away from her face.
While wiping the ointment on his hand with a handkerchief, the duke suddenly threw out words bluntly.
“Come to think of it, there was a similar wound before too.”
“…….”
“Was it for this reason back then too?”
“…….”
Deborah, who briefly recalled when the ‘before’ he was asking about was, remembered the day she first received the chamber maid duties and bit her lips tightly.
She was human too, so she wanted to report all the misdeeds committed by Ludmilla’s group, but it felt like tattling, so she stopped.
And, she didn’t want things to escalate because of her.
Whether he read the intention of Deborah who kept her mouth shut, his brow slightly twitched for a moment.
“Why on earth do you live like that?”
“……Pardon?”
“I mean, why do you live like an idiot, just taking it.”
“…….”
“Or, is getting beaten like a neighborhood drum your hobby?”
“…….”
The mocking words that came out one after another.
Her heart was already on the edge anyway.
She had been miserably beaten like this for something that wasn’t her fault, so even Deborah, who was good at enduring and letting go, couldn’t feel entirely okay.
It was barely holding back as if it would burst if touched, but the man ended up touching that sore spot.
Deborah stared straight into the man’s eyes.
At a glance, it looked calm without any emotion.
But Raymond could tell that the golden eyes that always shone calmly were flickering like a red sunset.
While looking at it with a strange gaze, finally those red lips moved.
“Because I’m a lowly orphan.”
“…….”
Words resonating lowly.
Unlike the fiercely flickering golden light, the voice was so calm that the disparity made it even harder to look away.
As if entranced, while staring blankly at the man’s face, Deborah continued the following words calmly.
“As Your Grace said, because I’m a lowly orphan.”
“…….”
“I had to endure even when treated like that…… to be less exhausted.”
With the gaze meeting straight without avoiding, Raymond’s eyes twitched in spasm for a moment.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
