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Chapter 49
For several days after that, I secretly kept an eye on Delia out of concern.
It soon became clear that the attacker had been targeting Delia. On the morning of the day I was attacked, Delia had casually mentioned in front of others that she was going to bake cookies for the first time in a while. She had even added, “In the afternoon, I’ll go to the pantry myself and pick out some ingredients for the cookies.”
But that afternoon, Delia became completely absorbed in the book she was reading and forgot all about baking cookies. She stayed in her room reading the entire time—and in the meantime, I was the one who got attacked.
It was true that Delia was in danger. However, even after several days passed, there were no signs of anything happening around her.
As Ian had mentioned, Delia had a quiet and gentle personality, so she didn’t cause any trouble in the household.
She didn’t go out often either. Most of her time was spent taking walks in the garden, or quietly reading or sewing in her room.
Neither I, Mrs. Pierce, nor Mrs. McBride were the type to gossip. Even without Edward explicitly warning us to keep quiet, the three of us stayed silent, and the fact that I had been attacked never spread among the servants.
‘That attacker…’
I thought it over carefully.
‘Even if the rumor hasn’t spread to the servants, I—being the victim—know about it. And the Flanagan family must have heard about it too. So they probably don’t dare to rush into attacking Delia again.’
As the quiet days continued, the rumors about Lady Alice Norma’s curse related to the painting also faded away. I felt a bit down, thinking I had lost the clue to Aileen’s death once again.
But before long, the mansion became noisy again.
The cause of it was Patrick, the acting butler. Patrick behaved timidly around the Flanagan family members regardless of their age, but Lucy was the one exception.
As I had heard from Carol and Amy, Patrick disliked Lucy intensely. Even though they were both illegitimate children of Roger Flanagan, Lucy was treated as part of the family while he was just a servant—a difference like heaven and earth—and he was jealous of that.
I hadn’t been at the Flanagan mansion for very long, but even so, I had witnessed several times how Lucy was looked down on by the family. For example, when the family gathered to drink tea and chat, Lucy would be the only one not invited. Or when they went out together after receiving invitations from neighbors, Lucy alone would be left behind.
Even when Madame Marcella, who was staying as a distinguished guest while visiting nearby mansions to tell fortunes, met with the Flanagan family, Lucy was always excluded.
Incidentally, the reason Madame Marcella was staying at the Flanagan mansion for so long was because she claimed she had not yet completely dispelled the ominous energy lingering in the house.
“Recently, something quite unfortunate nearly occurred in the east wing…”
That was what Madame Marcella had said to Helen a few days ago. Since I was serving tea in the east wing as the attendant in charge, I was able to overhear everything.
“I sensed it in advance and scattered all the malicious energy.”
“Ah! I knew it! That’s why at that time—!”
Helen almost blurted out, “A maid was attacked by an intruder in the wine cellar, but nothing serious happened!” but swallowed the rest of her words. Even in front of a fortune-teller she trusted, she couldn’t carelessly speak of something that would bring shame to the family.
“However, the energy has not completely disappeared yet.”
Madame Marcella said this while gazing into her crystal ball.
“This family prospers when it fully receives the energy of water. But this year, the energy of fire is too strong, preventing the Flanagan family from properly exercising their power.
This is not something that can be resolved by human effort. All one can do is wait for the bad period to pass. And people like us fortune-tellers can only lend a small hand to ensure that the worst outcomes are avoided.”
Words of fortune-tellers could be interpreted however one wished. If you took a step back, Madame Marcella’s words were the kind that could be applied to anything.
‘She probably doesn’t even know there was an actual attack.’
I grumbled inwardly.
‘Anyone can say, “Something terrible almost happened, but I used my power to make it nothing.”’
Nevertheless, Helen and the rest of the Flanagan family seemed even more impressed by Madame Marcella’s supposed abilities. I found it suspicious that she wasn’t asking for money, but perhaps she was simply waiting to demand a large sum when she left, after enjoying their hospitality.
Returning to Patrick and Lucy—although Lucy was clearly the one being discriminated against, Patrick seemed to think she was still treated far better than he was.
Even if that were somewhat true, it didn’t seem like something Lucy should be blamed for. But from Patrick’s perspective, Lucy was the easiest target in the Flanagan household.
“As expected of a noble young lady.”
That was what Patrick said sarcastically when he saw Lucy in the east wing.
That day, I had gone down to the first floor of the east wing to get some cleaning tools and happened to witness their argument.
Both of them had rooms in the east wing—Lucy on the third floor, Patrick on the fourth—so they ran into each other often whether they liked it or not. That day, Lucy had just returned from a bookstore in town with several books, and Patrick, who happened to be passing by, picked a fight with her.
Embarrassed at the thought of being caught watching, I quickly hid behind a large cleaning supply cabinet in the corner. It was big enough to conceal me completely.
Even at a glance, Patrick’s face was flushed red and his speech slightly slurred. He was clearly drunk and causing a scene.
“You’ve already finished reading books, I see. Truly the life of a noble lady. Someone lowly like me is lucky just to know how to read at all.”
“Be quiet, Morgan.”
Lucy shot him a glare. Though she was always timid in front of the Flanagan family, she acted firmly like a member of the household toward the servants—and Patrick was no exception.
“Go do your job instead of bothering others.”
“Your job, huh. We’re both illegitimate children anyway, yet one gets to live comfortably as a lady while the other works himself to the bone as a servant. What kind of fortune were you born with to be treated so well?”
Lucy had intended to ignore him and walk past with dignity, as she had done many times before. But that attitude only seemed to irritate Patrick further.
“Enjoy acting all high and mighty while it lasts.”
He shouted at her back as she climbed the stairs.
“You’re still a woman of the Flanagan family, after all. And all the women of the Flanagan family are going to die soon.”
‘What?’
Hearing his sudden remark, I was startled.
I wasn’t the only one. Lucy also stopped midway up the stairs and turned around.
“What did you just say?”
“Figures a woman wouldn’t understand.”
Patrick snickered.
“Can’t you see what’s going on? Three women of the Flanagan family have died in just the past few months! Well, they had it coming—strutting around like they’re so important!
Haven’t you heard what the maids are saying? They say it’s a curse! Yeah, what else could it be? The Flanagan family is finally falling apart. Watching those arrogant women die one by one—it’s satisfying.”
‘What’s wrong with him?’
I clicked my tongue silently.
‘It’s not just the women in this house who look down on him. So why is he only targeting them?’
Unaware of my thoughts, Patrick continued spewing insults.
“So you’d better watch yourself too. If you keep walking around with your nose in the air like a proud lady of the Flanagan family, you might trip and break your neck on a pillar.”
“What kind of nonsense—”
“If you die like that, maybe they’ll finally acknowledge you as a Flanagan. But if you’re the only one who doesn’t die, it’ll prove you’re not really one of them. Who knows what kind of bastard your mother rolled around with to trick her way into this family. Just some cheap wh—”
“Shut up!”
Patrick couldn’t finish his sentence. Lucy had thrown the book she was holding straight at his face.
It was a fairly thick, hardbound book. It struck him squarely, and blood immediately began streaming from his nose.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Patrick wiped his nose with his palm, saw the blood, and glared at Lucy viciously.
“You crazy bitch—I’ll snap your neck!”
“Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
Just as Patrick was about to lunge at Lucy, a loud voice rang out from behind.
“Morgan! Lucy! What kind of disgraceful behavior is this in broad daylight?!”
It was Helen.
She strode up to Patrick and slapped him hard across the face.
“How dare you! Have you still not learned your place? Drinking in the middle of the day and causing this kind of scene? If you create trouble like this one more time, you’re out!”
Patrick’s face flushed red, but he didn’t dare raise his voice in front of her.
“Go back to your work! Don’t stand around here!”
At her command, Patrick shot Lucy a vicious glare before leaving.
Helen then turned to Lucy, who was still standing on the stairs.
“You’re not blameless either. What kind of woman raises her voice and fights with a servant? And in the east wing, no less, where we have an honored guest staying! What would happen to our family’s reputation if this disgrace were seen?”
“I’m sorry.”
As always, Lucy immediately shrank back and apologized meekly in front of the family.
Helen looked at her with clear displeasure.
“Blood will tell. Bringing low blood into the Flanagan family has done nothing but damage our dignity.”
With that, Helen quickly walked off toward the kitchen.
Lucy picked up the book from the floor and went upstairs.
Only then did I come out from my hiding place.
It felt like a storm had just passed.
