Chapter 8
The Head Maid gritted her teeth roughly and shouted.
“How dare! A lowly wench like you! What? A superior? Ha… Until just a little while ago, you were a wench at the very bottom beneath me!”
The years she spent climbing to this position by flattering to protect a beggarly house that had nothing but superficially decent debt flashed before the Head Maid’s eyes.
“After how I managed to climb to this position…”
A family that only knew how to create debt, friends who looked down on her. Now, they all bowed and scraped before her.
‘Please provide me with information, within a bearable extent.’
Emily’s words, whispered to her a few days ago, came to the mind of the Head Maid, who couldn’t hide her anger. The Head Maid, who had happily accepted Emily’s pleasant flattery and taken her around, was startled by the unexpected words.
“Information…”
Emily’s offer to solve the household’s debt had struck the Head Maid quite powerfully. Yet, she hesitated because of the danger she intuitively felt.
‘It’s different from a typical noble wife investigating another family.’
It was even more dangerous because she couldn’t figure out Emily’s identity. The Head Maid shuddered as she recalled the blood-soaked gaze hidden beneath an ordinary mask.
‘But…’
Remembering the incident from earlier, which had scarred her lofty pride, the Head Maid’s face twisted violently. How dare a dusty orphan wench act arrogantly just because she caught the Grand Duke’s eye! The Head Maid’s hesitant hand impulsively opened Emily’s door.
“Finally, when were you planning to come in? I was waiting and got so bored.”
The Head Maid swallowed instinctively, as if to hide her trembling heart. The aura emanating from Emily, who was leaning against something, was no longer that of a maid.
“You said you’d solve my debt if I handed over useful information, right?”
The aura of death, drenched in blood. Feeling that energy grabbing her ankles, the Head Maid let out a stifled breath.
“Of course. I don’t tell lies, you know?”
Emily, who had been watching the Head Maid swallow nervously, twisted her hair around her finger with a pleased expression.
“I have a request.”
“Hmm, you haven’t handed over anything yet, and you’re already making a request…?”
Emily made a displeased face and roughly grabbed the hair she had been fidgeting with. The Head Maid flinched backward at the sight. But once she had stepped in, there was no way back.
“That wench will be kicked out of the mansion soon.”
There was certainty in the Head Maid’s voice as she spoke of the future.
‘Yes, this is my method.’
It had been five years since she started working as a maid. The reason she could rise to a position that normally required over 15 years of work in such a short time was thanks to this ‘method’ of hers.
‘There are plenty of ways.’
Commonly, stealing items… losing trust would make them crumble quickly. It was something she had done often even before, when she was at the Viscount’s house. First, those who put her in danger. Next, those who got on her nerves. Her actions grew bolder.
‘Although I restrained myself after coming to the Reston family as Head Maid…’
Like an addict craving drugs, the Head Maid reached out with her familiar method.
“Just in case, when she’s kicked out, sell her to the black market in the back alleys.”
“The black market in the back alleys…”
Emily, who was looking at the Head Maid, narrowed her eyes.
‘What an interesting thing to do? I like it.’
Emily knew that type well. The kind who, with only high self-esteem, overestimate their abilities and often get caught. Emily liked those types the most. There was no better type to use and discard like them.
‘I picked up a good one. But…’
Like cockroaches, those types were lurking everywhere. It was enough to just get information from them; there was no need to bother lending a hand.
“Touching the Grand Duke’s daughter is a dangerous matter, you know?”
A look of annoyance, rather than difficulty, hovered on Emily’s face. Seeing this, the corners of the Head Maid’s stiff mouth turned upward.
“That wench, I heard she was born with strong magic.”
“Strong magic… Tell me more.”
Emily’s fingers twitched, shaking with pleasant anticipation as she urged her on.
* * *
Eloise, who had slipped out of the mansion to find Kylian, looked around.
“Where is he?”
The vast garden still felt huge to the young Eloise. As if she couldn’t muster the courage to search this place, she stopped and looked around.
“……Huh?”
Eloise’s gaze stopped. Black hair sticking out sharply from within a grassy area covered with white snow like a cozy blanket. Eloise ran straight towards it.
“Found you!”
“Wha, how did you find this place……”
“I told you I’d come to your room this morning! See! You jumped out of the window with that body and got hurt again!”
With hands full of worry, Eloise grabbed his hand. Kylian flinched at the warmth felt from the touching hands.
“I brought ointment, so let’s apply this.”
A girl who appeared out of nowhere. Even without her saying anything, Eloise easily noticed the heart layered with one more veil. While curious about Eloise, who approached with a kind smile, a corner of Kylian’s heart felt wary.
‘Can I trust her?’
Everyone approached him because of his background. Wearing a mask of kindness. When he got close to those wearing masks of kindness, he felt a cold chill. But the hand he held yesterday felt warm.
“Kylian?”
The boy’s heart fluttered at the warmth from the hand applying the ointment. As if uncomfortable with the fluttering, the boy frowned. Afraid that the wall he had built so high inside might disappear.
“What’s wrong?”
With a worried look, Eloise reached out her hand. Staring at the hand coming towards him, Kylian suddenly started running away to avoid the warmth he would feel from that hand.
“……Huh? Kylian!”
He could hear her calling him, but the boy couldn’t stop. Last night’s events were still something he couldn’t explain… Yes, the boy couldn’t understand his own fluttering heart now.
“Kylian!”
The girl named Eloise was chasing after him. Calling his name. There had been someone who called him ‘Kylian’ like that before.
‘Mother…’
The boy, who found it hard to open his heart and had built walls, had always yearned for love. So, the appearance of a ‘mother’ one day made the boy’s heart race. His parents, who had died when he was just born.
‘From now on, this lady is your mother.’
The servant had said, pointing to a woman he was seeing for the first time, instead of his deceased parents. He had questions, like how a woman he was seeing for the first time could be his mother. But for the boy who yearned for love, the existence of a ‘mother’ was significant enough to set aside such doubts and approach.
‘Kylian!’
Remembering his mother, the moment he regretted the most began to press down on the boy.
The night when his name was called in a sharp voice. What followed was all too familiar. The hands grabbing his hair and hitting him. The objects thrown like she was taking out her anger. The jewels that hit his body and rolled around.
Endure, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt. The boy repeated it to himself like a mantra. But a corner of his heart kept asking him. Is it really okay?
‘Why! Was power that important to Father? Enough to do something as absurd as marrying his daughter to a dead man? Ha… This is wrong. Yes, it’s all because of you.’
His mother, who had been screaming alone, would always turn her arrow of anger towards him. Whenever that happened, the boy would tell himself it was okay. But the more he did, the more bruises formed on the boy’s heart.
‘Mother…’
The boy had always wanted existence like the parents of a friend who occasionally visited him. But the mother he imagined didn’t exist.
‘Kylian, nice to meet you. I’m Rian.’
Whenever he met the friend named Rian, there was always something he envied.
The father who always embraced him.
The mother who always cared for him meticulously.
The boy, who blankly watched the scene filled with warm warmth, quietly hid the purple bruises. For some reason, at that moment, the bruises felt shameful.
It hurts.
Remembering the time he met Rian’s family, his arm somehow felt throbbing with pain. It definitely didn’t hurt until a moment ago. He could endure it. It hurt so much.
No. It’s okay. It must be because of the wound on my arm.
Kylian’s reddened eyes grew even redder, like the blood flowing from the gaps of the wound. Finally, the sturdy dam protecting him broke, and tears welled up and seeped out. As if the hot tears streaming down his cheek were a signal, Kylian raised his head.
‘Mother, please…!’
A stifling feeling rising in his throat dominated him. Kylian strongly pushed away his mother’s sharp hands, which had been familiar until just yesterday.
At that moment, something hit a piece of furniture. The sound of a decorative sword hanging on the wall falling echoed. Soon after, a moan filled the room.
‘Ah… Keuk!’
His mother’s body lay collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Soaked in the same color as the eyes she always said were creepy.
