Episode 142. They said you didn’t eat anything today either
The mansion in the middle of the day generally felt quiet and leisurely.
An atmosphere quite different from the grand mansion that busily operated until nightfall when the shadows descended.
Faces seen every day, and tasks that always ran exactly the same.
Though it was a daily routine repeated to the point of boredom, there was one thing that had changed recently.
It was the guest who had been staying in this mansion since a month ago.
The lady the young master brought home one day was a person who seemed somewhat strange.
Her pale face, which made one wonder if blood even circulated through it, was one thing, but more than that, it was her expression and behavior, which lacked even a single spark of vitality.
It reached the point where a rumor circulated among the servants that the young master had brought home a woman who had lost her mind.
Of course, such rumors gradually subsided later on, but seeing her sit blankly under the porch for hours at the same time every day, one might think the rumor wasn’t entirely wrong either.
Even though it was a sight seen every day for nearly a month, there were moments when a strange feeling suddenly crept in.
At the sight of her blankly staring at the garden today without fail, one servant passing by her clicked their tongue.
“What a pity. I wonder what kind of story she has—.”
“Pity? Nothing of the sort. I’m just worried she’ll cling to our master for no reason.”
At the words spat out as if rebuking, the woman who had been clicking her tongue turned back with a face asking what on earth that meant.
“Oh, why? Didn’t you see how the master acts toward that woman?”
“Well, that’s because…….”
She was about to say it was because he was such a kind person to everyone, but her words trailed off.
Thinking about it carefully, the master’s behavior in treating her was unusually excessive.
However, the woman soon shook her head from side to side.
“Even so, how could our master with someone like that…….”
There was a separate reason why the woman said so.
Of course, it was her appearance of looking like a person who had lost her mind, but rather, the guest’s status and circumstances were a bigger problem.
Even though their master was an illegitimate child who could not even inherit his father’s surname, he was still a person who inherited the blood of the Cheister family, which was second only to the King’s power within the kingdom.
It was just that he had not inherited the title and the family; everyone who knew anything knew that the previous Duke Cheister cherished the son he had from his mistress more than his legitimate eldest son, Raymond von Cheister.
Otherwise, would he have passed down the name of the hero who brought glory to the family to someone who wasn’t even the successor?
To have such a partner for such a master…… it was nonsense.
It felt a bit awkward for people in a similar position like them to say such things, but objectively speaking, that was the case.
“You never know. It’s not like marriage is legally impossible.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just go.”
At the words snapping back in rebuttal, the woman with narrow eyes pushed her back, telling her to hurry up and go.
* * *
“Today…… a few bites of soup were all she ate.”
Even though it wasn’t his fault—
The expression of the butler, who gave the same answer every time, looked extremely complicated.
Of course, treating a guest staying at the mansion well was also one of the important duties a butler had to perform.
However, dealing with a person who gave no reaction every time no matter what was asked was a much more arduous and difficult task than expected.
Still, seeing the master’s face darken every time this happened, regret flooded in without fail.
Thinking that he should have encouraged her to eat just a little more—.
“Good work, Kyle.”
Jade, who also knew the butler’s heart, commended his hard work with those short words without saying anything else.
“Shall I have the meal prepared first?”
The butler, thinking that the talk about the guest had concluded to that extent, asked the next question.
It was because meticulously seeing to it that the master felt comfortable at the mansion upon returning home was naturally one of the tasks a butler had to do.
Upon asking that, the answer usually returned was either that he would eat first or to bring the bathtub first.
However, after a moment of silence as if lost in thought, the answer that came from the master’s mouth completely missed those expectations.
“I’ll skip the meal, and just the bathtub in about an hour, please.”
“Then the meal…….”
Toward the butler, who opened his eyes wide as if puzzled, Jade smiled with the corners of his mouth curving slightly.
The butler, who had been by his side for a long time, knew well what that smile meant.
It was the smile he put on instead whenever he had to give a difficult answer.
* * *
Eyelids that had been staring blankly at the flickering light inside the lamp closed slowly and then opened again.
Only the location had changed from the outdoor porch to the indoors; staring blankly at something until the moment the eyes closed was no different from her behavior in the middle of the day.
She knew well herself that this shouldn’t be.
Accepting Jade’s kindness as if it were natural, staying in his mansion, and losing her soul like this without doing anything.
In a way, it was natural for the mansion’s servants to whisper that she was a madwoman.
She knew, she knew it all…… but she couldn’t do anything.
A feeling as if her whole body were drooping like wet cotton.
No matter how hard she tried to move with the thought that she shouldn’t be like this, it remained only a thought.
She didn’t even have the strength to reach out her hand and just wanted to sleep like the dead without doing anything.
A feeling as if the world continued to move while she alone was stopped.
That was the reason Deborah went outside and sat during the day.
Lest she really start wanting to do nothing forever.
Lest she close her eyes like this and never want to open them again while asleep…….
It was when she tightly hugged her knees in fear.
Knock, knock.
Her gaze naturally turned toward the sound of knocking on the door.
“Can I come in for a moment?”
“…….”
A faint sigh escaped her mouth unconsciously.
It was because she knew all too well why he had knocked on the door, as it was a routine repeated every single time at this hour.
She didn’t feel like it, but she couldn’t keep a person standing in front of the door forever either.
At her soon-to-be brief answer, the door opened immediately.
“You’re not asleep yet, are you?”
Deborah, who let the words asking if she wasn’t asleep yet—when he had clearly come at this hour—slide, stared blankly at the tray held in his hand.
As expected, at the sound of a sigh leaking out again, Jade approached closely with a thin smile.
“They said you didn’t eat anything today either.”
“…….”
“Something really bad will happen at this rate. I told you, right? In exchange for not forcing anything else, you must have at least the minimum amount of food.”
Jade, who pulled up a chair and sat down, placed the tray down in front of Deborah.
“It’s oatmeal boiled in milk; it will be smooth to swallow.”
Looking at Jade, who held out a spoon saying “Here,” Deborah shook her head slightly.
“I’m sorry. Today…… my stomach really doesn’t feel well.”
In the very beginning of staying here, she really hadn’t wanted to eat anything, so she had skipped meals for several days straight.
It was from then on.
After Jade returned home in the evening and checked her food intake, if he felt it was insufficient, he would bring porridge or soup on a tray like this.
Knowing that, she had barely managed to finish the minimum amount of food even if she didn’t want to eat, but for the past few days, her stomach had truly been unwell, and she couldn’t swallow anything.
Perhaps she had gotten sick from forcing it down; after throwing up everything she ate last night, her stomach felt even worse.
It reached the point where she felt nauseated just by smelling the food.
Still, she thought she would get by with a pretense of taking a few spoonfuls of soup, but it seemed such a trick hadn’t worked after all.
“Still, try at least a little. Just a few spoonfuls.”
“…….”
“It’s something my mother used to make for me whenever I was picky about food as a child; strangely, no matter what else failed…… this went down well.”
At the words she was hearing for the first time, Deborah’s gaze slowly moved to Jade’s face.
Since coming here, he had told her many different stories whenever he had a chance for the sake of Deborah, who did nothing.
But in the midst of that, the strange thing was that among those many words, not once was a story about his parents included.
Of course, the reason could be vaguely guessed.
He probably tried to avoid words that intentionally brought someone to mind.
Anyway, as it was the first story about his parents to come from his mouth, she naturally began to listen.
“I know well myself that when you have no appetite, you really don’t want to swallow anything—but try to make an effort to eat even if it’s by force.”
“…….”
“Deborah, right now your face…… you don’t know what it’s like, do you?”
At the sight of him smiling while slightly furrowing his eyebrows, Deborah unconsciously stroked her face gently.
Come to think of it, she couldn’t even remember when it was that she last looked in a mirror.
It was certain that it would be a pathetic-looking face.
“You have to find strength.”
“…….”
“If Teacher Helena returns, she would be sad to see Deborah’s face.”
Teacher Helena…… at the name of the woman she longed for, her throat momentarily choked up with emotion.
“Now, so will you try to eat just a little?”
While doing so, Deborah quietly accepted the spoon he brought to her fingertips.
Deborah, who tightly gripped the silver spoon in her hand and soon scooped up a mouthful of the white porridge, finally saw a smile bloom on the lips of Jade, who was watching her.
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