Chapter 146. Have You Perhaps Heard the News?
“Work?”
At the tone that had risen by a notch, Deborah made an awkward expression, only slightly lifting the corner of her lips.
Jade, who had been staring at her intently, soon let out a long sigh.
He had been fidgeting as if he had something to say throughout breakfast, and it seemed that was what he had been trying to say all along.
“Um, Deborah.”
“…Yes.”
“I understand how you feel, but from what I see, starting work right away seems difficult.”
At the blunt statement, a flash of embarrassment briefly appeared on Deborah’s face.
However, as if Jade thought he shouldn’t back down at this point, he began to press even more firmly.
“Because you haven’t properly taken care of your body for a month, right now, so….”
Jade trailed off and looked Deborah up and down.
It might have seemed rude at first glance, but since she knew it wasn’t his intention, Deborah watched his every movement with a tense expression.
“Your health has… fallen apart, hasn’t it?”
A remark that came out rather sharply, unlike him.
But she couldn’t think of anything to refute that statement.
After all, Jade was the one who knew Deborah’s recent condition better than anyone.
However, if she had intended to back down at this point, she wouldn’t have taken away Jade’s time when he was about to go out.
Swallowing once, Deborah calmly spoke again.
“Even so, I can’t keep relying on you like this, Jade.”
“Relying? This is something Teacher Helena aske—”
“No.”
She already knew what he was about to say without hearing it.
Deborah firmly shook her head and cut off Jade’s words.
“It’s already enough, Jade.”
“….”
“Teacher Helena wouldn’t have asked for something to this extent.”
No matter how much Teacher Helena worried about her, she wouldn’t have expected him to go this far.
She had probably only asked him to watch over her from the side and help within a reasonable boundary that wouldn’t be burdensome.
It was just that he was too kind of a person to turn away from someone in an unfortunate situation like her until the end.
“Truly, I don’t even know how I should repay this kindness… you’ve treated me that well.”
She meant it sincerely.
If it hadn’t been for Jade, there was no guarantee she would even be alive like this right now.
She was truly grateful beyond words.
“This is… a bit disappointing.”
She had only expressed her gratitude, yet at the unexpected response, Deborah’s eyes widened in surprise.
She quickly replayed her words in her mind, but couldn’t find anything that would have hurt him.
As she anxiously watched him smile bitterly—
“Let’s do this for now.”
“…Yes?”
“As you may have already heard, besides the Wilkins bookstore you know, there are a few other places I run.”
Although the sudden remark was puzzling, Deborah nodded as if acknowledging it.
It was something she had heard from Lea Parker, whom she met yesterday.
That he had quite a talent as a businessman, as she had said almost boastfully.
“Recently, the publishing business has gotten quite busy, so I haven’t really been able to manage the bookstore properly. So I was thinking of hiring someone.”
By the time she heard that much, Deborah had already guessed what he was about to say next.
She was about to refuse, but Jade spoke first.
“I’m not making this up just now. You can even ask Mr. Roderick about it. You know him too, right? Roderick Hugo.”
“….”
“It was actually him who told me to hire someone. He even said if I was going to run the bookstore like this, I should just hand it over to him or something….”
At his grumbling, the face of the person who had said that came to mind.
Of course she knew him.
How could she not recognize the face of someone she saw every day whenever she visited the bookstore?
He seemed close enough with Teacher Helena to speak casually, which made him even more memorable.
“But it’s a place I’m very attached to, so I didn’t want to entrust it to just anyone. That’s why I endured it until now, even though it was difficult.”
“….”
“If it’s you, Deborah, you like books, and above all, you’re someone I can trust… Ah, and of course, I plan to set the pay at a standard level.”
Worried she might misunderstand, Jade quickly added that last part.
His appearance was so absurd that Deborah let out a small laugh without realizing it.
Even if he denied it, an employer wouldn’t go this far just to hire a mere employee.
But that didn’t make his words seem like a lie either.
Deborah also preferred working at a bookstore rather than at an inn or as a maid, and as he said, if the pay followed standard rates, it didn’t seem like a bad offer.
After pondering for a long while, Deborah finally lifted her head and looked at Jade.
“By any chance, since when have you been looking for someone to work?”
At the positive response, a bright smile bloomed across Jade’s previously tense face.
☆☆☆
A languid afternoon.
The bookstore, after the customers had left, looked very quiet and peaceful.
Well, that didn’t mean there were times when it was crowded with customers either.
It was so empty that one might worry whether the bookstore was being properly run at all.
—Ah, well, I did say that we obviously needed an employee… Ah, I did, I did say it. …Anyway, I’ll be going now.
She hadn’t meant to ask, but since he was someone she saw every day in that quiet bookstore, she had once casually asked him.
Thinking back to Mr. Roderick’s rare stammering reply, she had some reasonable suspicions, but there was nothing she could say about it now.
In any case, since she was providing proper labor and receiving appropriate compensation, Deborah decided to stop dwelling on that suspicion.
In truth, while there were few customers visiting the bookstore, that didn’t mean there was little work.
Because it was a place filled with an enormous number of books, just managing them every day required considerable effort.
Moreover, according to Lea, who occasionally stopped by the bookstore to chat for a long time, it seemed true that the publishing business was extremely busy.
To the point that the bookstore couldn’t be given any attention at all.
Jingle—
Just as her eyelids were about to close from drowsiness, the sound of the bell rang at the perfect timing.
Deborah, who had been sitting and resting for a moment, turned her gaze toward the door where the sound came from.
“As expected, it’s the same familiar faces again today.”
Lea, who entered through the door, looked around at the same faces as always and pouted her lips.
“Welcome.”
“I don’t know why Jade keeps this place that doesn’t even make money. He should just close it and focus on the publishing house.”
At her sharp remark, the long-time customers of the bookstore glanced over, but Lea didn’t seem to care at all.
“How is it? Are you feeling a bit better these days?”
“…Pardon?”
She was always like this, but Deborah blinked at the sudden question again today.
“Your condition. That nausea, and how you keep getting sleepy at random times.”
“Ah… well, it gets better, then worse again.”
Recently, her nausea had improved a bit but worsened again, and Lea had happened to notice it.
She had asked her not to tell Jade, but somehow Deborah didn’t feel reassured.
In fact, the reason she had asked Lea that was because she was worried Jade would hear about it.
Since he worried so much, she didn’t want to cause him unnecessary concern again.
Hoping it would just pass like this, she gave a vague answer, but Lea’s brows slightly furrowed.
Lea stared intently at Deborah’s face with narrowed eyes for a long time, and just as she was about to speak—
“Hm… Deborah, about that, I’ve been thinking—”
“What kind of secret are you two talking about so interestingly?”
At Roderick’s voice, who had approached without any sign of his presence, the two flinched at the same time.
“Could you at least make some noise when you come?”
Even at the remark said with a sharp frown, Roderick merely shrugged his shoulders.
It hadn’t even been a month since she started working at the bookstore.
But in that time, what she had realized was that Roderick and Lea did not get along very well.
Well, in a way, it felt more like Lea disliked him unilaterally.
And each time, Deborah was the only one caught awkwardly in between.
“Have you perhaps heard the news?”
Contrary to her worry that the atmosphere might become strange, it seemed the topic was changing.
Of course, Lea still looked displeased at Roderick’s tone, which sounded as if he were sharing a secret.
“What news?”
Amid that awkward atmosphere, Deborah quickly intervened.
However, at the words that followed from Roderick, Deborah’s face instantly stiffened.
“The Duke of Cheister is engaged, surely you all know?”
It was the moment the world split apart—Crack.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
