~Chapter 21~
“How should I get through it this time…?”
I had somehow managed to muddle through the first night of our newlywed life.
But I hadn’t thought ahead about how to deal with the next scheduled consummation night that would inevitably come again.
“Wouldn’t it be best to handle it the same way as last time?”
After a moment of contemplation, Damien spoke.
“If you just stay in my room for the night and leave in the morning, everyone will assume what they want. No one will pry too deeply.”
“You’re right. Then let’s continue dealing with it that way for now.”
In truth, no one here was forcing me and Damien to consummate the marriage with glaring eyes.
However, whenever I saw their pure, expectant gazes for reasons I couldn’t quite fathom, I felt a slight pang of guilt in my heart!
‘Just like when the head maid explained it…’
She had calmly and concisely reminded me that almost a month had passed since I arrived here, and that the consummation day was approaching again, before briskly returning to her duties.
Yet, during that short explanation, her eyes sparkled with a subtle excitement.
‘It was just like when she applied honey to my eyes on the first night.’
And their anticipation was evident even during meals.
“Hmm?”
While scanning the dining table, Damien furrowed his brows as if something seemed off.
“Why is there so much eel today…?”
Martin, who always looked gloomy as usual, answered in his perpetually depressed but slightly more energetic voice than usual.
“It’s eel season, my lord.”
“…I see.”
Aside from eel, there were plenty of dishes that were generally known to be “good for vitality.”
Recently, the servants had even started paying close attention to my meal portions.
“Madam, please have a little more.”
“Uh, but I’m full…”
“You must eat to build your strength. Just a little more.”
When I shook my head, having reached my limit, Martin would appear from somewhere.
“Then please have this along with it…”
And he would pile my favourite food in this mansion—eyeball marshmallows—high on my plate.
“Ah… Then I guess I can eat a bit more.”
In the end, I always ended up clearing my plate with those eyeball marshmallows.
Being on the receiving end of such eager expectations from everyone made me feel a bit sorry.
‘What do I do, when in reality we’re just sleeping and leaving…’
Of course, unless we divorced, our marital relationship would continue, and as long as it continued, we would eventually consummate it for real someday.
But that day wasn’t today.
‘Someday… we’ll probably do it…’
Lying in Damien’s bed, I imagined myself next to him.
Damien, in a loosely worn robe, lying beside me with a languid, seductive smile…
As my thoughts reached that point, I jolted upright in shock.
“W-what!”
What on earth was I just thinking?
‘Why did Damien in a robe suddenly appear in my head?’
My face felt like it was burning up.
‘Why am I having such indecent thoughts about an innocent person…!’
I must really have gone crazy at this point.
Otherwise, why would I imagine Damien, who always buttoned his shirts right up to his neck and lived such an ascetic life, like that?
“Ugh, I should just go draw or something.”
And so, my worries about consummation night came to an end for now.
“Hey, have you heard that rumour?”
Margaret, a trainee maid at the main residence of the Maledictus Duke’s estate, covered her mouth with her hand.
“What rumour?”
Mary, another trainee maid whom Margaret was talking to, stopped mopping and looked up.
When their eyes met, Margaret glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before whispering to Mary.
“The rumour about the ghost of the groom who hanged himself from the Rails Bridge.”
“Eh? What’s that?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard yet?”
Seeing that Mary had no idea about the groom ghost, Margaret began speaking rapidly with excitement.
“A few months ago, a man wearing an old ceremonial suit hanged himself from that bridge. I think his name was John?”
“John…”
Such a common name.
‘Why is it that in these ghost stories, the man’s always called John and the woman’s always Jane?’
Mary thought the story was probably nonsense, but pretended to look interested.
“So why did he die?”
“They say he was dumped by the woman he planned to marry. Right before the wedding.”
“Wow, he killed himself just for that?”
“How can you say ‘just for that’? He really wanted to get married. Failing to achieve his life’s wish must have crushed him.”
Margaret defended the tragic groom as if she knew him personally.
Thinking this would turn into a long ghost story session, Mary quickly changed the topic.
“Yeah, you’re right. So what happened next?”
“Anyway, after he died, people kept seeing him.”
Margaret lowered her voice meaningfully.
“Late at night, a man wearing an old ceremonial suit wanders around carrying a rope.”
“A rope?”
“Yeah.”
“And if he finds a woman he likes at night, he drags her away with that rope.”
Margaret smiled chillingly.
“To hang her and die together with him.”
For some reason, Mary felt goosebumps rise on the back of her neck.
Margaret had told ghost stories before, but today it felt especially eerie.
‘A rope… and an old ceremonial suit…’
Imagining it made her feel uneasy and creeped out.
The combination of the two was just too unsettling.
At that moment—
Clap clap–!
“Everyone.”
At the sound of the butler’s voice, Margaret and Mary straightened up in shock.
Though the butler here wasn’t as strict as a head maid in other estates, no one wanted to be scolded for slacking off.
“Today, we have a new colleague joining us. He will be working here at the main residence as a trainee servant.”
The butler gestured to the young man standing beside him.
He stepped forward stiffly, arms glued to his thighs in an unnatural posture.
“Hello.”
He had a freckled face, round blue eyes that almost popped out, and a wide smile that stretched almost to his ears, perhaps out of joy at getting hired.
Seeing him, Mary felt something strange about him.
“My name is John.”
Ah, John again.
‘What’s with all these Johns today?’
Thinking that, Mary clapped lightly to welcome him and then looked up.
Her eyes met those peculiar blue eyes.
As he smiled brightly at her, Mary felt a chill run down her spine.
‘W-what is this…’
Why was he smiling at her like that?
Feeling creeped out, she tried to tug Margaret’s arm, but the butler’s voice rang out.
“Now then, John. Let’s go introduce you to everyone else.”
“Yes, sir.”
As John turned and followed the butler, Mary let out a sigh of relief.
“Huh? Mary, what’s wrong?”
Watching John’s receding back, Mary replied,
“Uh… it’s nothing.”
Yeah, it must have been her imagination.
‘Who would believe such an urban legend…’
Since he was still new, John hadn’t been given a uniform yet.
He was still wearing his own clothes.
“……”
Mary stared blankly at his distant back.
“Mary?”
She couldn’t answer Margaret’s call.
John’s tattered black clothes—
They just happened to look eerily similar to a ceremonial suit.
“Huh?”
By the time Rubiana finished working on the portrait, it was already late at night.
“Is it this late already…”
She thought she should get ready for bed and left the studio.
‘I should wake up earlier tomorrow so I can finish sooner.’
As she walked down the hallway towards her room, she suddenly stopped.
From somewhere, an incredibly beautiful sound was drifting through the air.
Faint, yet strangely enchanting, as if it was pulling her ears towards it.
“Piano music…?”
There was a piano on the first floor of the west building.
It wasn’t cursed or anything, but since no one really played it, it was rarely used.
‘Who’s playing it?’
Rubiana immediately headed down to the first floor.
“Excuse me…”
There, she saw a man in servant clothes playing the piano—a face she didn’t recognize.
She let out a small exclamation.
“Ah, you must be the new trainee, right?”
Thunk.
The music stopped.
The young man turned around, and his blue eyes met Rubiana’s. Slowly, his lips parted.
“Ah, madam. I’m sorry for playing without permission…”
Seeing him about to stand up in a hurry, Rubiana gestured for him to remain seated.
“No need to get up. You can keep playing if you’d like.”
John slowly blinked his large, bright blue eyes.
“Your playing is truly beautiful.”
“…Really?”
John lowered his head deeply.
Thinking he was just being shy, Rubiana spoke kindly.
“Of course. So don’t worry and play as much as you want. I’ll be on my way.”
She turned towards the stairs.
“Thank you. But…”
Lifting his head slowly, John spoke in a voice so quiet it was almost inaudible.
“Madam… you’re even more beautiful…”
As he watched her back, a smile spread across his face so wide it looked like his mouth would tear—
—and in his hand, he held a rope.
