Chapter 17
17
It’s like a surprise gift.
Leila from the Leamer household was invited to the duke’s residence party.
The rumor quickly spread among the servants of Arbis. They were all baffled at first, but in the end, they clicked their tongues. It was a well-known fact among the long-time servants of Arbis that Lady Brandt treated poor Leila like her own pet dog.
“Between us, I just don’t know why all those nobles are so wicked.”
Madam Mona, the cook who had heard the news, came rushing to the cottage that very afternoon, fuming. To Bill Leamer, who was taking a brief rest to escape the midday heat, it was a bolt from the blue.
“Calling it consideration—how intimidated do you think that girl will feel in a place like that?”
“Leila’s not the type to get intimidated by something like that. She can just show her face for a bit and come back, right?”
“Ugh, men. You all know nothing!”
When Madam Mona shot him a glare, Bill scratched the back of his neck and lit a cigarette.
“This is a chance to show them what she’s made of.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What else? Pressing the noses of those fine young ladies with Leila all prettied up and showing off her beauty.”
“No, you don’t have to go that far…”
“See? Were you planning to send Leila to the party in her school uniform?”
What’s wrong with the school uniform?
Bill looked puzzled, and Madam Mona tsked and shook her head.
“Hey, Bill Leamer. After all these years, shouldn’t you know how to raise a daughter by now?”
“Daughter? No. I was just thinking about where to send her off to…”
“Yeah, that thinking of yours. You’ll be thinking on the day you send Leila off to get married, thinking when she gives you grandkids, and even thinking when you’re lying in your coffin.”
“Hey, what do you mean sending that young girl off to marry? I hear all sorts of nonsense.”
Madam Mona’s lips curved into a softer smile as she watched Bill bristle.
“And yet you deny she’s like a daughter. Men are so hard to figure out.”
“If you’re just going to say useless things, then go home.”
“Let’s buy her a pretty dress to wear, Mr. Leamer. Like a surprise gift. She’s a girl too—how happy do you think she’ll be?”
Madam Mona said it emphatically, like an order.
“Leila’s not the type to ask for something like that, and you’re not the type to think of it yourself, so I have to step in. I’ll help.”
“…How?”
“You give me the money for the dress, and I’ll take care of preparing it.”
“Fine, do what you want.”
Grumbling, Bill awkwardly went inside, fetched his money pouch, and came back out. He didn’t trust banks, so he always kept his money in that pouch.
By the time Madam Mona had thoroughly collected not just the dress money but even the cost for shoes, Leila returned from the goat pen. The two hurriedly hid all traces of their deal and pretended nothing was amiss.
Leila offered her a cup of tea, but Madam Mona waved it off and left the cottage. In the meantime, Bill had cleverly tucked the money pouch under his backside.
“Did Auntie scold you again because of me? I haven’t been caught climbing trees lately.”
Leila sat in the chair next to Bill and asked worriedly.
“Nothing like that, so don’t worry about it.”
Bill cleared his throat, then relit the cigarette he’d set aside for a moment.
“Then I’m glad.”
Leila smiled brightly, took off her hat, and leaned back deeply into the chair.
Every time Bill saw Leila’s straw hat, which she wore every day this summer, his heart filled with immense satisfaction. He figured he’d feel several times prouder if she were dressed in a pretty gown, so the money he’d forked over to Madam Mona didn’t sting at all.
“Leila.”
When he suddenly called her name, Leila looked up at him with clear eyes.
“What do you plan to do? About that party at the duke’s residence.”
“I’ll just drop by, show my face, and come back. Dr. Etman and his family were invited too, so I’m going with Kyle.”
“Oh? That freeloader’s finally earning his keep for once.”
At the mention of Kyle’s name, Bill felt a deep sense of relief. He was just a young punk who devoured food, but still, that boy was someone he could trust.
“Even so, you’ll need something, right? Like clothes to wear or whatever.”
“I’m fine, Uncle.”
Leila smiled. It was that same pure smile he’d seen since her childhood, the one that always made Bill’s heart ache uncomfortably.
“Fine, my foot. You planning to go in your school uniform?”
“That wouldn’t be so bad.”
Leila chuckled playfully. Her face looked so nonchalant that Bill found himself newly troubled.
Have I really not known how to raise a daughter?
“No.”
Bill startled himself with his mutter.
Daughter? What daughter?
He shook his head firmly.
Leila looked at him with a puzzled expression. Seeing her glasses glinting on her small face made his heart ache again.
Bill knew well the feelings of this child who tried so hard not to be a burden or impose on anyone. He could understand it. And yet, he never knew how to comfort her, always ending up with gruff words.
In any case, his conviction grew firmer that Madam Mona, overzealous as she was, had done something truly excellent.
“Leila.”
Still, Bill mustered his courage one more time.
“…The weather’s awfully hot, isn’t it.”
Back to square one, after all.
Bill felt ridiculous for spouting such nonsense and let out pointless coughs. Leila laughed out loud and gently took his hand, which rested on the arm of the chair.
Who was supposed to be comforting whom?
Bill kept a sullen expression but couldn’t shake off that small hand. Leila, for whatever reason, even gave him a beaming smile. What a beautifully smiling child she was.
Leila woke without a single toss or turn. Dawn was just breaking, filling the room with a clear ink-black darkness.
Lying still, Leila slowly took in her surroundings.
The familiar ceiling. The window with cream-colored curtains. The old desk. A few books spread out on it. The soft blanket carrying the faint scent of sunlight.
My room.
Only then did reality sink in, and a sigh of relief escaped her.
It had been a long time since she’d had a nightmare. It was a memory from the days when she’d been left alone in the world, shuttling between relatives’ homes. Until she met Uncle Bill, every day had been a repetition of nightmares, but the time spent in that particular house—where her fear of water had been planted—remained especially deep and vivid.
“This is all that little bitch’s fault!”
Whenever he was drunk, her uncle never failed to vent his rage on Leila. Sober, he was a timid, quiet man, but as far as Leila remembered, he was drunk five days out of every week. On days he’d lost money gambling, he grew even fiercer, and without fail, he’d curse and beat Leila.
She hated him. Despised him. But as an orphan with nowhere else to go, all Leila Llewellyn could do was endure it.
Leila tried desperately. She helped with the housework without a moment’s rest. She tried to eat as little as possible. She stayed quiet like an object tucked in the corner. And yet, on the day she was finally chased out of that house, her aunt handed her a paper bag with a few cookies inside. Leila quietly looked at her aunt’s bruised face, bowed politely, and took it.
On the stagecoach heading to the next relative’s house where she’d have to impose, Leila took out one cookie and ate it. The chocolate cookie was so delicious that her heart grew sad.
Still, Leila didn’t cry. All the way to her destination, she practiced smiling like a good girl. The more she wanted to cry, the brighter she smiled. Because there was no one in the world who liked a crying orphan. Being chased out again and again, she seemed to get better and better at smiling.
But on the day she had to cross the border alone to this place called Berg, it didn’t work so well. Young as she was, Leila knew that the single address clutched in her hand was her last hope. If she was abandoned this time too, she’d inevitably end up in an orphanage.
Even so, she did her best to smile that day—the day she met Uncle Bill’s eyes full of warmth and compassion, the day she crossed the threshold of this room for the first time. Leila still couldn’t forget it. She probably would never forget the day she gained a family again, a home she wanted to return to.
So, everything’s fine.
Comforting herself, Leila lightly rose and got out of bed.
The party at the duke’s residence was tonight. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t bothered at all, but she didn’t want to dwell on it deeply either. She’d just attend briskly, stay quietly, and leave—that was all.
Miss Claudine had no idea. That Leila Llewellyn would gladly do anything for Uncle Bill and this warm cottage.
Leila opened the window, hurriedly washed her face, and changed clothes. When she vigorously opened the door, she saw Uncle Bill ready to head out for work. Leila approached him with a bright smile.
“Let’s go together, Uncle!”
By afternoon, the mansion had finished preparations to receive guests. It was a grand party, but to the servants of Arbis, it was familiar work, as routine as any other day.
They carried out their duties skillfully from their respective positions. All that remained was for the sun to set and the splendid party to begin. No one in Arbis doubted the success of tonight’s event. Just as everything under the name of Herhardt was perfect, so too would this night’s party be flawless.
Mathias emerged from the dressing room in his evening coat. When he brushed back his hair to reveal his forehead and brows, his impression grew a touch colder. The faint smile at the corner of his lips couldn’t soften the chill of his sharp eyes and angular features.
“Everything has proceeded as you instructed, my lord.”
Hessen, having dismissed the valets, reported in a low voice. Picking up a cigarette, Mathias lightly raised one eyebrow and turned.
“They set off about an hour ago, so the prepared items should have been delivered by now.”
“I see.”
Mathias nodded curtly at the chin, placed the cigarette between his lips, and lit it.
“You’ve done well.”
At the response accompanied by a slight smile, Hessen bowed once more.
The news that Claudine had invited Leila Llewellyn to the party had reached Mathias through his mother’s lips. Praise for the kind-hearted young lady who extended charity and kindness to all—something along those lines.
If left alone, it promised quite an entertaining spectacle, so Mathias saw no reason to object. Leila would show up in rags, and Claudine would lavish her with pity and sympathy to her heart’s content.
Mathias thought he knew well what aspect of Leila provoked Claudine. She was certainly an irritating girl, and crushing her pride would be immensely enjoyable.
That was why.
Knowing what Claudine wanted, he had no desire to give it to her. That pleasure should be his. Mathias von Herhardt did not know how to share what was his with others.
“What shall we do with these items, my lord?”
Hessen pointed to the box by the unlit fireplace. It was the box containing the gift that the cook had prepared on Bill Leamer’s behalf.
The gift that had been scheduled for delivery to Bill Leamer’s cottage today had been rerouted here through Hessen. And through Hessen, prepared items had been substituted as Bill Leamer’s gift and sent to the cottage.
Mathias slowly smoked his cigarette as he gazed at the box. It wasn’t hard to guess what was inside, even without opening it.
“Throw them out.”
His command, exhaled with the cigarette smoke, was calm.
