TPBDN 05

Chapter 5

“Hello. My name is Eloise.”

Eloise awkwardly pronounced her name and bowed her head.

“In this house, there is only one person you need to use honorifics with — His Grace the Duke. So you may speak informally with me.”

“Yes.”

Eloise nodded. The image of Rick, whom she had parted from at the orphanage, floated into her mind.

‘Do I really deserve to enjoy this luxury just by myself…?’

Eloise’s face darkened as she remembered Rick, who had always looked out for and helped her.

“Miss, is something troubling you?”

A maid, noticing her gloomy expression, asked gently.

“It’s Rick at the orphanage — he’s worrying me.”

“He’s a close friend, then. Would you like Rick to come and stay here as well?”

Riena said as if she already knew what Eloise was worrying about.

“Really? Really?”

“Of course. You must be having a hard time arriving somewhere unfamiliar.”

“Could I send him a letter first? …Rick is frightened of nobles.”

Eloise asked, a little relieved.

“Yes. I’ll help you — don’t worry too much.”

Hearing Riena’s firm promise, Eloise relaxed and rubbed her eyelids.

“You’re tired, aren’t you? Have a proper wash and rest well tonight.”

Riena took Eloise in and led her to the bath, reaching out to help remove her clothes. Startled by the approaching hand, Eloise stepped back. The marks on her body made her flinch.

The orphanage director’s violence had been branded into the children’s bodies as if it were routine. Eloise had been spared the worst — since the director intended to sell her at a higher price — but with his violent temper it was impossible to avoid all of it.

‘Everyone hates filthy beggars…’

Eloise remembered how the market folk had avoided her with disgust. She was certain she looked like a filthy beggar with ugly, unpleasant scars.

“Just… I’ll wash by myself.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, may I know the reason?”

“Ah — there are scars all over my body and I’m afraid they might be gross.”

“Gross? If someone thinks that… then —!”

Riena’s voice rose with indignation, and she snapped her own mouth shut, surprised at herself.

‘That must hurt if she slaps her mouth like that.’

Avoiding Eloise’s eyes, Riena awkwardly scratched her head.

“You spoke too fast; I didn’t catch that. Or rather, I didn’t hear it.”

“Um… let’s forget that for now! You’re so cute and lovely, how could you be gross? If you’re okay with me, that’s what matters, right?”

Riena flailed her arms and babbled, flustering Eloise until she felt dizzy from the rapid onslaught of words.

“Ah… yes.”

Everything was unfamiliar — the luxurious setting, being called “miss.” Eloise instinctively shrank. What embarrassed her most, though, was how attentively Riena tended to her bath.

“I have a younger brother close to your age. He trains with swords and comes home covered in all sorts of wounds. Compared to him, your scars are nothing.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. By the way, what caused the burn mark on your neck?”

At Riena’s cautious question, Eloise recalled the events of a few days ago — the evening the market’s regulations had tightened and she couldn’t be sold. The director had been raging; remembering the sound of his voice made Eloise flinch again.

“Well… sometimes the director at the orphanage gets excited.”

Eloise couldn’t bring herself to explain the whip marks and cigarette burn scars that a girl of noble upbringing should never have. She evaded the details.

“I shouldn’t strangle the bitch to death myself. I should shut her up in that mansion until she dries up!”

At Eloise’s vague explanation, Riena ground her teeth as if she’d understood everything at once. She smiled with a fierce glint and spoke with a hint of a foreign accent that made Eloise glance at her.

“Riena?”

“Yes…? Oh my!”

Riena’s startled laugh made Eloise think she’d caught the meaning of those foreign-accented words.

‘I must never anger Riena.’

Eloise nodded to herself, and Riena began to brush her hair. Even though Riena’s hands trembled from being so worked up, her touch was careful.

Despite being agitated, Riena’s hands were clumsy — they sometimes brushed Eloise’s shoulder and felt calloused. The only people Eloise had seen with hands like that were market cooks and other tough workers.

“Is Riena good at cooking?”

“Cooking?”

“Yes. The cook I saw before had hands like that.”

“I don’t really cook, but I do a lot of things similar to it.”

Riena’s vague reply left the room quiet, and Eloise’s stomach growled loudly. Riena chuckled and said, “You just arrived and probably haven’t eaten yet. I’ll have food brought to you.”

Walking toward the kitchen, Riena’s brow tightened, reflecting her annoyance.

‘Did the aide report incorrectly? How can someone so small be seven years old?’

Though she’d been told the girl was seven, she was so tiny and frail that Riena couldn’t believe she was the same age as her own younger brother.

‘I should have gone with him when I killed that woman.’

The gaunt, emaciated body, the scars from beatings, the cigarette burn at the nape of the neck — each detail made Riena’s breath hitch with anger as she replayed it in her mind.

“Food for the lady!”

Riena slammed the door open in her usual brazen way and shouted.

“Wait.”

Ignoring the displeased chef, Riena roughly untied the ribbon at her throat.

‘Why am I stuck doing this stupid maid job…?’

Riena muttered complaints under her breath. A maid approached her cautiously.

“Riena, are you already… back from—?”

“Yes, aren’t I? She’s arrived.”

Emily. A maid who had joined the household around the same time as Riena. Her obvious disdain for Eloise narrowed Riena’s already tight brow further.

‘I want to find that person as soon as possible and finish it when His Grace returns.’

Riena had posed as a maid in the Reston household for half a year now. Given her temperament, it was a wonder she’d lasted this long.

“You should probably keep your distance from her.”

“From who?”

“From the child who arrived today.”

Emily’s whisper made Riena roll her eyes.

‘What on earth is she doing…’

If others could handle this, Riena wondered why she had to be doing it herself. She’d rather go into the mountains and wipe out monsters; that would be easier.

“If you upset the head housemaid because of this new girl, you won’t get leave to see your brother.”

Emily offered that excuse, apparently thinking the head maid would be displeased. Riena gave her a sidelong glance.

‘I’ve enjoyed watching her fawn over the head maid like someone from the palace.’

Riena had amused herself watching Emily flatter the head maid. Her amusement faded, and her eyes turned cold. She began to plan.

‘I’ll turn the staff upside-down and get rid of them when the time comes.’

Half a year ago an incident had occurred, and the owner of the north wing changed that day. The household staff had been replaced, and in the resulting confusion a spy could have slipped in. Riena, who had been undercover among the maids, clicked her tongue in displeasure.

‘Well… we did intentionally loosen the staff up a bit.’

It had been a decision the aide and she had agreed on. But things were starting to move in a direction Riena didn’t like.

‘That body…’

The gaunt frame, dust-covered hair. That appearance tugged at something in Riena’s heart. Yet there was something else inescapable about that child.

Fearful, trembling eyes — like a puppy shivering — that seemed to reflect not only the wounds on the body but scars traced across the heart as well.

‘I can’t let this go. I must find out quickly and turn things upside-down.’

Soon, it would be over. This tiresome charade was almost finished. Riena’s eyes gleamed coldly; her calm face took on the chill of a harbinger of death.