Just then, the carriage arrived at the manor. Thud—there was the sensation of the wheels stopping.
“Is this Langfield Manor?”
At last, she was setting foot in the historic place she had only heard of in rumors. Her heart pounded.
As far as she knew, Langfield Manor was a historic grand mansion that House Eseldor had used since the days when they were a royal house. Of course, it would not look the same as it did back then. Things born of human hands, whatever they may be, cannot withstand the power of time.
But House Eseldor had preserved the manor to this day, constantly repairing and rebuilding the mansion weathered by time. The entire manor was a legacy of the ancestors whose value could not dare be appraised.
The coachman drew back the curtain. Kirix, having stepped down first, held out his hand to her. Receiving the gentleman’s escort, Ayesha stepped down cautiously and looked around.
She had heard that Langfield Manor was a place second to none in beauty. But unfortunately, it was so dark in all directions now that the full view of the manor, famous far and wide, showed only as a faint silhouette.
“Welcome back, Master.”
The butler, who had been waiting for the carriage’s return, tilted an umbrella over the two of them so the rainwater would not splash them, and followed along.
“Ayesha, it is very late, so rest well today and let us continue talking tomorrow morning. The butler will show you to your room.”
The manor’s door opened.
As soon as she followed him inside, the first thing Ayesha encountered was the enormous chandelier installed on the high ceiling. A brilliance beyond compare with the lamps in the carriage poured out dazzlingly. Her vision, which had been dim all along, suddenly brightened, and a brief period of light adaptation came over her. She quickly closed both eyes and braced against the short dizziness that made her temples throb.
When she slowly opened her eyes afterward, the butler was already standing before Ayesha.
The butler was an old man aged to the point that the hair at his temples was streaked with gray. His skin was engraved with wrinkles like rough tree bark, and on the bridge of his nose sat pince-nez glasses to compensate for weakened eyesight. Butlers usually learned their work from generation to generation and devoted themselves to a single family, so this old man must surely have been someone who had stood as a pillar supporting Eseldor for a very long time.
“Hello, I am Ayesha, the spirit medium who arranged a visit by letter. I have troubled you at a late hour, though it was not my intention.”
Ayesha wore a formal smile and gave a slight nod of her head to greet him first. But the answering greeting she had assumed would naturally return did not come. Instead, the butler even adjusted the position of the glasses on his nose and gazed steadily at Ayesha’s face.
An awkward silence flowed for a moment. Along with it, the smile lingering at Ayesha’s lips gradually froze.
Why is he looking at me like that?
They say that as people grow older, their eye for judging others improves with the experience of the years—surely it has not been found out from the very start that I am a fake?
Then should I run away?
Her heart began to pound uneasily. The rising tension choked her throat. Ayesha deliberately let out a small cough as if she were coming down with a cold, and turned her head to avoid the butler’s gaze.
A subtle silence continued.
“Butler.”
Kirix’s voice broke the silence and cut in.
Only then did the butler, mindful of his master, bow politely.
“I beg your pardon. Such a very beautiful person appeared that I was somewhat startled and committed a rudeness. Welcome to Langfield Manor, Miss Ayesha. My name is Wilton.”
Then he slowly turned his body and indicated the direction.
“Please follow me. I will escort you to your bedroom. And since you seem cold, I will have warm bathwater prepared as well.”
Though she had heard an apology, the unpleasant aftertaste would not quite settle.
Ayesha glanced sidelong at the unfamiliar mansion and followed the butler with reluctant steps. The luggage she had packed so heavily was already being carried into the manor by the coachman.
“You will naturally come to know as you stay, but most of the common spaces, such as the banquet hall and the dining room, are on the first floor, and the guest rooms begin from the floor above that. The top floor is used solely by the master.”
The butler climbed the spiral staircase.
The spiraling staircase made her dizzy, so Ayesha grasped the railing.
“A room near the stairs could be busy because many servants pass by, and a room deep inside the corridor would be too far when you go to meals or take a walk, so I first chose a place that is a suitable compromise.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
According to the butler’s explanation, it was a room that suitably compromised between convenience and rest, but each room was so large that she had to walk quite a while to enter.
“Here it is.”
The butler threw the bedroom door wide open.
“Good heavens……”
Before she had even crossed the threshold, her mouth fell open. Ayesha marveled without hiding it.
Perhaps because the servants swept and polished it every day, not a single speck of dust rolled on the bedroom floor, and the walls were a soft, clean cream color like freshly made butter.
The fine carpet with patterns subtly woven in like the carpet in the carriage, the canopy draped in rich, layered folds, the bed that looked cozy and warm, and even the furniture that seemed carefully crafted one piece at a time—everything showed signs of being managed with the utmost care.
Even the vases lined up closely along the wall each held a bouquet of brightly blooming hydrangeas.
“When I heard a guest was coming, I inspected it once more, but as it was prepared in haste, there may be shortcomings. If you do not like it, I will prepare another room.”
“No, the bedroom is very lovely.”
It felt as though she had witnessed another world. The unpleasant feeling she had felt moments ago melted away like snow. She had only seen a single bedroom, yet she could not tell whether this was reality or a dream.
So there were people in the world who lived such elegant lives.
Even the air was different from the boarding house where she currently lived. It was not comparable to the old, cheap boarding house, but having lived on her own, she knew that managing even a single room was never easy—so how many hands must be needed to keep such a huge mansion this clean? Ayesha clicked her tongue inwardly.
“I am glad if it pleases you.”
The butler bowed deeply.
Ayesha observed the butler who had guided her to the bedroom with careful attention. The butler was a model figure of the kind of butler people generally imagined. Though old age was plain to see, his meticulously dressed appearance and his posture that never fell out of order were no less than a young man’s, and from the state of the room he said he had inspected himself, she even sensed a perfectionist temperament.
“As this is a room used by a lady, I will no longer enter without your permission. Starting tomorrow, a servant to attend on you will be newly assigned, so if there is anything you need, please tell that child.”
The butler conveyed various cautions in a rigid, meticulous tone.
“Yes, thank you for your consideration. Ah…… and there are so many hydrangeas here?”
“The master gave special instructions. Since it is a bedroom where a lady will stay, he said it would be more pleasant to decorate it cheerfully with flowers.”
“Ah…… then did he also personally specify the type of flower?”
Having trudged along the corners of the room looking around, Ayesha bent down in front of the vase placed nearest.
“Do you dislike hydrangeas? Shall I change the flowers?”
“That is not it.”
She brought her face close and smelled the hydrangeas. It was strange. Hydrangeas were originally flowers without fragrance, yet the hydrangeas of House Eseldor gave off a mysterious scent. The color, too, was unusually deep, unlike hydrangeas of this season.
“My name comes from the hydrangea. This flower is called by another name, ‘Ayesha.’”
If he had deliberately arranged hydrangeas even taking her name into consideration, then Kirix Eseldor must be a man of a very delicate and sensitive nature.
Ayesha deliberately showed the butler a friendly smile and kept talking to him. The butler was the person who oversaw this manor. Naturally, he would know the manor’s internal affairs thoroughly. If she wanted to pick up this and that information later, it was advantageous to become acquainted early and build familiarity.
“The master did not specify hydrangeas. It seems it was simply a coincidence.”
But Ayesha’s efforts quickly came to nothing.
“The hydrangea is the flower that symbolizes our House Eseldor. The patterns on the walls, curtains, and carpets here are all hydrangeas as well. You probably saw them often in the carriage on your way here.”
