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Chapter 13
“Haah!”
El shot her eyes open, drenched in cold sweat.
“Young Lady! Are you awake?”
The moment she saw Ena’s worried face hovering over her, El finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.
“Ena… thank goodness. It was just a dream.”
“Young Lady…”
El remained bedridden for three whole days. Strictly speaking, she was trapped in the same nightmare over and over.
In the dream, El was a noblewoman.
The luxurious carriage she rode in would suddenly jolt and come to a stop on a street.
When El stepped out, there lay No. 7, grotesquely dead, before the carriage.
Terrified, she would try to scream and run away, only for the corpse of No. 7 to suddenly grab her ankle and say:
“You’ll become one of them and kill me too?”
Every time, El would shout “No!” before waking from the nightmare.
It had already been three days since Karon had given her both the position of his aide and a document granting her the title of baroness.
But El still hadn’t made a decision, choosing instead to shut herself away.
Only Ena and the old butler came in and out of her room, and each time they entered, they found El cleaning or tidying the place herself, which startled them.
She even continued studying as usual.
Ena, who had secretly hoped El would take this chance to rest, couldn’t help but feel uneasy seeing her mistress constantly pushing herself to do something.
“I’m fine. Just… tired. No, I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry for saying I’m tired.”
El mumbled, curling into the corner of the bed.
“If you’re tired, Young Lady, then you’re tired. You don’t need to apologize to anyone for that.”
“…Thank you, Ena.”
“Um… Young Lady.”
“…?”
After some hesitation, Ena carefully spoke up.
“The Lord may be scary, but he is a good man.”
“I know.”
“In fact, you’re the first guest the Lord has ever personally brought here and called important, ever since I began working.”
“…Really?”
“So, even if you were actually a weasel turned into a human, I wouldn’t care. I just hope you’ll stay here as long as possible.”
“…Me too. I hope so too.”
Still… this is too much.
El recalled the events of a few days ago and felt an almost overwhelming urge to run away.
The thirty gold coins she had received still sat untouched in the safe.
To her, thirty gold coins was enough money to live on for the rest of her life. She could just take it and run.
But then she thought of Karon and closed her eyes in pain.
To run away from her benefactor—that was something she could never do. Not until the day he personally cast her aside.
“Ena. Let me ask you honestly.”
“Anything.”
“From the outside… what does my relationship with the Duke look like?”
“….”
Ena shut her mouth tightly. She couldn’t bring herself to answer, not even indirectly.
In truth, El wasn’t really curious about that.
“Why is the Duke so good to me? Overly good, even. Is he trying to burden me with guilt so much that I end up taking my own life?”
“That’s absolutely not it! Young Lady, why should you feel guilty? Please don’t think like that. Of course, it’s true there are all kinds of rumors floating around in the mansion…”
Ena’s voice trailed off uncertainly. Karon’s instructions echoed in her head.
How could she speak so that El would accept everything happening here and stay willingly?
“I know. I’m pretty good at eavesdropping, you know.”
“…Young Lady…”
El muttered gloomily, her gaze falling to the floor.
Outwardly, everyone in the mansion treated her with utmost respect. El knew they were all good people, at least on the surface.
But once she left the room, their faces and words completely changed.
“Some say I must be an illegitimate child of some noble. Others whisper I was taken in because I was a pretty beggar to indulge the Duke’s bad taste. Some say I’m just… a woman warming his bed.”
“Young Lady!”
“…Or a toy.”
In fact, most in the mansion thought that last one was the truth of her position.
El already knew. She knew all of it.
Watching El force a smile as if pretending to be fine, Ena felt something choking her throat.
That was when she finally realized how she could best carry out her master’s orders.
Kind words from her wouldn’t be enough. For El, what mattered was Karon.
If El was to remain here, it would be because of him.
After some thought, Ena made up her mind and spoke firmly.
“If I may dare to say… the Lord likes you, Young Lady.”
“…?”
“I’ve never seen him joke like that, or smile with such genuine happiness. By that I mean, not the kind of smile he shows to mock others, but a truly good smile.”
“A… good smile?”
El tilted her head. Was there such a thing as a bad smile?
Ena couldn’t say more.
Because the Lord did smile often—just not in a good way.
He smiled when he crushed retainers who coveted his dukedom. He smiled when he dealt with assassins in the dead of night.
Those were smiles of cruelty.
Suppressing a shiver, Ena forced her expression to remain calm.
“Yes. I can vouch for it. I used to be the maid in charge of cleaning the Lord’s chambers before you came, after all.”
“You, Ena? No wonder you seemed different from the other maids.”
“You flatter me. But the fact that he assigned me, his personal maid, to you—that shows how important you are to him.”
“So the Duke really does want me to crumble under guilt and—”
“That alone was enough for me.”
“…Ena?”
El’s eyes widened. Ena was looking at her with the same reverence she gave her true master.
“In serving you, Young Lady. I’ll say it again—you are the Lord’s honored guest.”
Ena’s gaze and words were sincere.
But even her heartfelt confession couldn’t explain why Karon had taken El in, granting her not just kindness but even a noble title.
Still, El felt a little of her worry fade, and a faint smile appeared.
“Thank you, Ena.”
“It is my joy, Young Lady.”
Just as Ena was about to add something, a loud commotion came from outside the window.
Curious, El walked over and looked out.
A carriage she didn’t recognize had stopped at the front of the mansion.
Tilting her head, she asked, “Isn’t the Duke’s house symbol a blue falcon?”
“Ah, that one bears the symbol of the Marquis of Terrelair. Their crest is a red rose.”
Ena, who had followed to the window, answered smoothly.
El glanced at her and whispered softly, “Ena… when will I ever know everything like you?”
What she truly wondered was when she would finally become a natural part of the Duke’s household, like Ena.
“Young Lady, I heard from the head maid that even the Lord took a month to learn to read. But you mastered it in just a week. It won’t take long before you surpass me in knowledge.”
“…But I’m probably the only one who learned to read after becoming an adult.”
Despite Ena’s encouragement, El replied self-mockingly and turned away.
The visit of another noble had nothing to do with her, anyway.
After all, she belonged nowhere in this mansion.
Not a servant, not a noble guest, not even the Duke’s mistress.
She didn’t know what Karon wanted from her—only that she would do whatever he asked.
Because it pleased him.
But somehow, the thought that this should be enough left an empty ache in her chest.
“Young Lady.”
A knock sounded, followed by the old butler’s polite voice.
At once, El hurried to the door, opening it herself as she always did.
The butler blinked in surprise at seeing her in person, then quickly lowered his gaze.
“What is it?”
“The Lord has given strict orders that you are not to leave your room.”
“…Me?”
“Yes.”
“Because of the guest who just arrived?”
This was the first time Karon had ever restricted her movements.
El’s voice trembled slightly.
She had foolishly thought that since meeting him in early summer and now standing at the edge of autumn, they had grown close.
But there was something called status.
A wall impossible to climb, a line that could never be crossed.
The image of the noble title grant he had given her flickered in her mind.
“…Yes.”
“…I understand.”
The butler’s curt reply drew a faint, powerless smile from her lips.
Once again, she was reminded of her place. The prince and the beggar—that was exactly the relationship between the Duke and herself.
“Young Lady… the Duke is only concerned for you.”
“…Thank you.”
The butler added carefully, but El only murmured her thanks before quietly shutting the door.
Her face darkened as she turned away.
She wasn’t thankful at all. Instead, the thought gnawed at her—was Karon ashamed of her?
She shouldn’t feel hurt.
But the harder she tried to suppress it, the more twisted her expression became.
“I… need to try harder.”
“Young Lady…”
Sensing what was happening, Ena tried to stop her, but El was already sitting at her desk like someone possessed.
There was no other way.
This was all Karon wanted from her.
With a creak, she pulled open the drawer and took out papers.
For her benefactor, she had only one duty: repayment.
Nothing else mattered.
Not even her own trembling emotions.
They were all worthless.
(To be continued in the next chapter…)
