Chapter 11
I saw Anne crawling over the wide bed, trying to pull away the thin cloth.
“You devil… ugh!”
“Yes, Miss.”
As Anne tried to scream, I quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Hoping her voice would be muffled, I answered Lilith’s question.
Anne, pinned beneath me, scratched my wrist with her nails. It hurt, but I didn’t care.
I glanced at the fallen knife. Fortunately, it was out of Anne’s reach.
“Sorry for the noise. We were just making a bit of a ruckus while tidying up.”
“Really?”
Lilith’s voice was clearly wary.
Sensing Anne’s hostility, Lilith’s tension transferred to me.
“Of course. You can go back to sleep.”
“Ch-Chloe.”
Lilith finally grabbed the thin cloth, seeming ready to pull it back and check outside.
“Miss Lilith.”
Before she could move the cloth, I called out.
“Do you trust me?”
“…Mm.”
Lilith nodded vigorously inside the bed.
A smile naturally formed on my lips.
“Chloe, I trust you.”
“Then please wait here a moment. I’ll finish tidying and come back.”
I spoke calmly.
Though the pain in my wrist made me wince slightly, I didn’t groan.
“Mm-mm!”
Lilith’s hand, which was clutching the cloth, relaxed. Seeing that, I breathed easier.
‘I hope I can quietly get Anne out of here.’
I glanced down; Anne was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
Her face was flushed, her mouth gagged.
‘What should I do?’
Luckily, my dilemma didn’t last long.
“Bliss, what are you doing here? Huh, Chloe?”
Footsteps came closer, followed by Verdi’s voice.
I turned to see the bedroom door wide open, with Verdi standing there, eyes wide in surprise.
“Verdi, quiet!”
I quickly shook my head at her.
When I gestured toward Anne beneath me, Verdi raised both hands to cover her mouth.
Bliss was with her.
“Bliss.”
I called her name.
Bliss’s face hardened as she looked at the bed, Anne, and me.
‘Now that I think about it, I heard a door open just before.’
I hadn’t had time to check, focused on calming Lilith.
“Bliss?”
Lilith’s voice brightened upon hearing Bliss’s name.
Bliss’s stern face softened noticeably.
“Yes, Lilith.”
She whispered something to the maids beside her.
Soon, they began approaching me.
“Sorry, Lilith. Did I come too late?”
Bliss went to the opposite side of the bed from the maids and lifted the cloth to greet Lilith.
“No, it’s okay!”
Lilith’s attention shifted away from me briefly.
“We’ll take care of her, so come here.”
“Ugh!”
“Ah, yes…”
The maids who approached me whispered something.
They removed the hand covering Anne’s mouth, quickly putting something into her mouth. Anne’s struggling body calmed, and her bloodshot eyes slowly closed.
She seemed to fall asleep.
I handed Anne over to the maids and slumped to the floor, feeling utterly drained.
“Hah…”
“Are you okay, Chloe?”
Verdi approached, whispering.
Behind her, the maids were seen carrying the sleeping Anne away.
“What happened?”
“Anne did something to the Miss…”
I gave a bitter smile and trailed off. Verdi nodded knowingly.
Her face showed regret as well.
“When did Bliss arrive?”
“She just got here a little while ago. She wanted to see Miss Lilith first…”
“I see.”
Apparently, she had come to see Lilith but was surprised to find Anne and me struggling and stopped.
Clatter.
I looked up at the sound and saw Bliss looking down at the fallen knife near her feet.
“The knife…”
“Bliss.”
“Oh, Chloe. Are you okay?”
“Yes. More importantly, how is Miss Lilith?”
Bliss picked up the knife and handed it to another maid.
“I bought some cookies as a gift, so I told Lilith to change clothes and come out. She went with my maids, so don’t worry.”
I nodded.
“You’ve worked hard, Chloe.”
A bitter smile remained on my face.
Something still felt off inside.
“Oh! The guests must be waiting…!”
Verdi suddenly stood up, as if she just remembered.
“Guests?”
“Yeah, I told them to wait a bit, but I was gone too long. I hope the kids are doing well?”
“I’m fine, so go ahead.”
“Okay, take care of your wounds and come slowly, Chloe.”
Verdi hurried off.
In the end, I didn’t find out who the guests were.
“Guests in the annex…”
“I brought them. I thought they could get along with Lilith.”
Bliss answered my muttering with a smile. I just tilted my head.
After roughly treating my wounds, I headed to the parlor.
I hadn’t noticed before, but my wrist was quite scratched up.
It would probably take time to heal.
“Chloe here.”
I lightly knocked and entered.
All the maids except Anne were there.
At the parlor table sat Lilith, Bliss, and two others, eating cookies.
‘Huh?’
I stopped as I approached Lilith.
I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing the two people sitting with her.
‘Why are those two here?’
It didn’t feel like a hallucination.
‘Could the guests Bliss brought really be…’
Frozen in place, my eyes met Meria’s, who was standing against the wall.
“Chloe! What are you doing?”
Meria whispered sharply after spotting me.
Though she didn’t like me much, she seemed worried we might get caught by the nobles.
‘Everyone’s tense.’
The maids stood stiffly.
It was a stark contrast to Bliss’s calm maids.
‘Huh? Why are they all looking at me?’
Regaining focus, I saw everyone in the room staring at me.
Meria’s voice must have been loud.
“Chloe!”
Lilith turned to me too, crumbs of cookies all over her mouth.
She smiled brightly, probably happy from the sweet cookies and milk.
“What took you so long, Chloe?”
Noel, sitting with his chin resting on his hand, waved at me.
“I didn’t see you and thought you’d gone somewhere else!”
Noel’s joking smile made Johan, sitting beside him, also look at me.
When our eyes met, Johan nodded slightly.
I quickly collected myself and greeted them.
“Here, here!”
Lilith waved her short arms, beckoning me over.
At the table, only nobles sat.
Bliss’s maids and the annex maids all stood, so it was hard for me to sit.
“Miss, sorry, but I…”
“Chloe, why?”
Lilith tilted her round face, puzzled.
Seeing cookie crumbs fall from her mouth onto her clothes, I stepped closer.
I carefully wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
“I’ll stay with the other maids.”
“Stay here…”
Lilith pouted, clearly disappointed.
She even lightly tapped the chair next to her, voice full of longing.
“But I…”
“It’s okay, Chloe. Sit down.”
Bliss, sitting to Lilith’s left, said.
“This child has been waiting for you since a while ago.”
“…Then excuse me.”
Reluctantly, I sat beside Lilith.
“Chloe, Chloe!”
Lilith grabbed a cookie from the pile on one side of the table and handed it to me.
“Are you giving this to me?”
“Mm-hmm! Chloe, eat! It’s delicious!”
“Thank you, Miss.”
Though I felt the other maids’ gazes drilling into me, I ignored them.
Bliss’s maids and Verdi were fine, but especially Meria, Christie, and Mars stared sharply.
Crunch.
The cookie was the softest I’d ever eaten as Chloe.
Sweetness filled my mouth immediately.
“Delicious?”
Lilith looked at me with hopeful eyes.
“Yes, it’s delicious, Miss.”
“This all! Chloe, eat!”
Hearing my reply, she smiled brightly and eagerly pushed all the cookies she’d gathered toward me.
“All of these?”
“Mm-hmm! Delicious! Chloe’s great!”
She wanted to share because it tasted good herself.
