064. The task I had instructed
“Alright, alright! Then, let’s all work hard on our assigned tasks today too!”
The boring morning meeting finally ended with the sound of clapping hands a couple of times.
Amid the crowd noisily exiting the servant hall leisurely, Deborah was also mixed in.
Unlike those gathered in twos and threes chattering lively, she was still quietly alone.
Someone approached closely to such Deborah’s side.
It was one of the few faces among the chamber maids who spoke to Deborah.
“It’s so peaceful now that just Molly is gone, isn’t it?”
There wasn’t really anything to say in response to the words seeking agreement while giggling.
It was also comforting for Deborah that Molly’s gang was out of sight, but since she was involved in that matter, it felt a bit awkward…….
So, with ‘Ah, well…….’ she vaguely brushed it off, but perhaps displeased with that bland reaction, the maid who asked the question immediately furrowed her brows.
“What’s with that reaction? Actually, isn’t Deborah the one who benefits the most from Molly being gone?”
“…….”
“Did she bully you a bit? She dumped all the work on you, looked down on you for being an orphan. Right, you even got hit on your first day. Actually…… everyone thought it was really too much, but we couldn’t say anything because we were watching out.”
Even though they thought that way, not a single person stepped forward when Deborah was being bullied.
Probably because they were afraid the sparks would fly to them.
While understanding, somehow her mouth felt bitter, and unwittingly, a scoff escaped with a smirk.
“But you know too-.”
The other party, unaware of such feelings, glanced around once as if it was some big secret, then leaned in close again and whispered in her ear.
“It’s all because Ludmila made her do it. Molly is a bit strong and violent, but she’s not the type to persistently bully someone like that.”
“…….”
“So, everyone is saying this incident is self-inflicted too…… but Deborah, you should still be careful. A girl I work with said she’s grinding her teeth every day, it’s a sight. She says it’s all because of you that she’s like this.”
The maid, who kept chattering on for a while saying it was nonsense, soon seemed to have said all she wanted, patted Deborah’s arm a couple of times, and exited the servant hall.
Deborah, who stood blankly in place for a moment, also diligently followed after a short while.
Click-
Before starting cleaning, Deborah first flung open the window wide for ventilation.
“Ha-.”
After inhaling the fresh air coming through the open crack, it felt like her stuffy breathing finally eased a bit.
It hadn’t been long since she started feeling this claustrophobia.
About a week or so.
No, thinking again, it seemed exactly five days.
Five days since that day she fled from the duke’s bedroom as if escaping.
It probably started as a heart ailment from then.
-Get out right now.
“…….”
As that icy voice like frost came to mind, her chest was instantly heavily oppressed.
Deborah, who came out of the bedroom like that and returned to the attic, wrapped her chilled body tightly in the blanket and didn’t move for a long time.
Then, at some point, she must have dozed off unknowingly; when she barely came to her senses from Hannah shaking her awake, it was already daylight.
-Look at this girl, why so listless. Did something happen yesterday?
-……What could have happened.
-No, you were sleeping at that time without changing clothes yesterday, and I thought you were tired from going to the market, but looking now, it seems like something happened.
-…….
-Why, did something happen with Robin yesterday……?
-……No, what could there be.
-That confession to you is why Ludmila threw that fit, so maybe he felt a bit embarrassed too? Didn’t he say that?
To Hanna’s words continuously making wrong guesses, Deborah brushed it off saying it’s not that, but she seemed suspicious till the end.
Well, who could imagine it.
No one would think such things happened in that short day.
That Raymond von Chaister spent a night with a low-ranking maid of unknown origin, and the next day, he kicked that maid out.
The fortunate thing at least was that before anyone noticed, everything returned to its place.
As if that day’s events were a one-night dream, Deborah’s daily life returned to the starting point as if nothing happened.
During those five days, she entered his bedroom exactly once, but fortunately, she didn’t encounter the bedroom’s owner until the moment she left.
It seemed to end like that.
No, it was ending like that.
As if cleanly cutting out the one night spent with the maid who presumptuously acted out of her place as if it were a mistake, he behaved as if he had finished all the sorting.
The one still holding onto the memory of that severed day was actually Deborah, who caused things to turn out this way.
‘Should I have just pretended not to know anything, followed as he wanted…….’
‘No, before the wound gets deeper…… it might be fortunate it ended around here.’
Even agonizing dozens of times a day in such ambivalent thoughts, there was no clear answer.
It just flows like this.
If he doesn’t call, even facing him once was something she couldn’t dare imagine.
Only the time realizing that was vainly increasing.
A feeling like her feet gradually sinking into an endless quagmire.
Deborah shook her head vigorously as if shaking off the heavy emotions.
“Get a grip.”
Turning around, Deborah quickly walked to where the trolley was placed.
* * *
The atmosphere enveloping the study was extremely heavy.
He was originally a person with particularly few words, but the young master’s atmosphere seen recently was almost ‘murderous’ itself.
As if proving that, the faces of Butler Greig and Mrs. Charlotte standing in front of the desk where the duke was sitting were stiff with tension, unlike usual.
When the suffocating silence continued endlessly.
A fine crack appeared on the duke’s brow who was reviewing documents.
“Here.”
Greig stepped forward one step to the bundle of documents thrown forward as if tossing.
What he was looking at was the ‘expenditure report’ that Greig submitted monthly.
“This part alone has unusually high costs-”
Greig, who was staring at the item pointed by the tapping fingers, at some point wore an expression of dismay.
He had forgotten to record the item for the large cart purchased last month at gardener Hedrick’s request.
Since there was back-and-forth until approval for the previous cart that was continuously repaired, he realized only now that he had only increased the cost and forgotten the item entry.
With a darkened face, Greig began reporting the details as thoroughly as possible.
After the explanation ended, a tense silence like thin ice settled again for a moment.
“From now on, all documents you submit-”
The voice heard without inflection sounded somewhat like usual.
But the two who had watched him for a long time knew.
That his mood was currently extremely uncomfortable.
Raymond’s wall-like eyes sharply flew straight onto Greig’s face after a brief pause.
“Should I review every single one from beginning to end?”
“…….”
Having made such a basic mistake, there was no excuse to say.
Rather, if he had yelled ‘How do you handle work like this’-
Instead, being calmly questioned back made him feel at a loss.
Greig bowed his head politely in front of him.
“……I’m sorry. I will be careful not to make such a mistake again.”
Fortunately, the old butler’s sincere apology worked, and Raymond’s gaze turned elsewhere.
To Mrs. Charlotte standing beside with a completely stiff face.
“How is the preparation going.”
“It’s being prepared smoothly without issues.”
To the question about the crown prince’s visit, Mrs. Charlotte began reciting the progress so far without hesitation.
After listening to her detailed report, Raymond nodded shortly without particular comment.
After that, the dismissal order fell, and only then did a light of relief quickly pass over the two’s faces.
It seemed the suffocating time was all ending.
Ah, if it weren’t for the duke calling Charlotte back with a short sound-
“The matter I instructed.”
‘The matter I instructed’. Words that sound somewhat vague.
But Mrs. Charlotte, who immediately understood like a ghost what the duke meant, opened her mouth without delay.
“As you ordered, I returned her to her original duties.”
“…….”
To the report that flowed out calmly, the duke sank into thought for a moment in silence.
Butler Greig’s expression, watching that sight, changed to one of great puzzlement.
What on earth happened to change the young master’s expression that had been cold as ice throughout.
But that worry didn’t last long.
“I see.”
Because the duke, who soon returned to the same as before, no, rather cooler expression than before, indicated departure.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
