“Also, you may take time off from work until your heart settles.”
Callius continued, his voice hesitant.
“You were… nearly kidnapped. You must have been terrified.”
At his unexpected words, I blinked in bewilderment.
“Um… actually, I was only a little surprised….”
“You can rest as long as you wish. Brandon and the other maids are here, and I will have someone else attend to me.”
For the first time since becoming a maid, I was met with such consideration and kindness, leaving me awkward and unsure of what to do.
Seeing Callius care so much about my condition stirred something tender within me.
“Yes, thank you very much, My Lord.”
I offered my thanks while concealing my unsettled feelings, but he gave no answer, keeping silent.
After a moment, Callius murmured under his breath.
“…If only I could step outside, nothing like this would have happened in the first place.”
His tone carried a note of regret that was entirely unlike him.
“My Lord….”
“Do not worry. This will never happen again.”
There was something unfamiliar in his voice.
I was about to reassure him, but the words died in my throat as he spoke again.
“It won’t happen a second time.”
His voice, almost like a vow to himself, filled the room with a clarity I had never heard from him before.
At daybreak, Mary and Dorothy, who had been locked in the underground cell through the night, were transferred to the Security Department.
“Wicked wretches! May the heavens curse you both!”
“Even if you hated someone, how could you dare do such a thing?!”
“Get back! Lest the Duke’s wrath fall upon us as well!”
Curses poured from the maids toward the guard carriage as it rolled out of the estate.
The story had apparently spread throughout the mansion overnight, leaving all the maids fully aware of what had transpired.
They knew that my sudden disappearance in the forest had been caused by the servant Dean, and that Mary and Dorothy had been the masterminds behind it.
“Come to think of it, weren’t they badmouthing Lizzy endlessly even after being banished to the laundry?”
“And ever since, they’ve been lying and skipping prayers, haven’t they?”
“Even after being punished, they learned nothing… What a disgrace!”
The maids continued buzzing about the incident, bringing up all of Mary and Dorothy’s past misconduct.
At the same time, they subtly began looking after me, which was the only silver lining in the entire ordeal.
“Lizzy, have you eaten?”
“Look at her face; her cheeks are so sunken. How much she must have suffered….”
Everyone seemed to feel a twinge of guilt for not paying closer attention to me while I was falling into Dean’s trap.
Even so, not a single person mentioned Callius’s name.
It was as if only a select few knew he had left the mansion with his ailing body and returned.
‘Orders must have come from above to keep it strictly quiet.’
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that no rumors would leak out.
‘So, does the incident end here?’
All that remained was to await the sentence Mary and Dorothy would receive.
Since inciting murder was a capital crime, execution was almost certain.
Following the fading rumble of the carriage with my eyes, I turned around and headed back.
While I was enjoying an unusually long break, the duchy was blanketed in blooming roses.
Wherever I walked, the fragrance of roses drifted on the breeze.
I asked the gardener for a lush bouquet of roses and used them to brighten Callius’s room.
Staying cooped up inside was beginning to bore me, after all.
“Are you already fit to return to work? Did I not say you could rest longer?”
Callius said in a gruff voice.
Ignoring the underlying worry in his tone, I replied teasingly.
“If a mere maid rests for too long, she might get dismissed. And wouldn’t that be entirely your loss, My Lord?”
“…You would do better to hold your tongue.”
Callius snorted dismissively, acting as if he didn't care about my words.
Meanwhile, I carefully arranged the rose stems in the vase.
Suddenly, the tip of my cane caught against the table leg, and it tilted abruptly.
“Ah….”
Before I could catch it, the cane slipped from my grasp and clattered across the floor.
Flustered, I reached down, patting across the floor.
I waited for my fingertips to brush against the cool cane, but my hands found only empty air.
At that moment, I heard the rustle of fabric, followed by the soft sound of someone crouching close by.
I sensed him picking up the cane from the floor.
I froze, waiting to see what he would do.
Callius then stepped closer, laid the cane in my open palm, and spoke.
“Are you certain you are well? Now you’re dropping your own eyes.”
"…"
Without answering, I narrowed my eyes and looked toward where he stood.
To tell the truth, Callius had been acting a little strange lately.
“W-what is it? Why are you staring like that?”
“Hmm….”
Despite his usual sharp edge, he seemed strangely gentler than before.
Would a young master normally pick up a maid’s belongings with his own hands?
I rose, dusting off my knees, and said nonchalantly.
“Nothing, I simply felt that you have become much more mature lately, My Lord.”
“That sounds suspiciously like mockery.”
“…Ahem, of course not.”
I cleared my throat lightly.
Before he could begin another scolding, I hurried to change the subject.
“Oh, right. It seems a grand event will be held at the estate soon. All the servants are busy cleaning the main building.”
“Hmm.”
Callius let out a long sigh, my words having caught his attention.
“A ball must be taking place soon.”
“A ball?”
“The duchy hosts one every year to mark the social season. Around this time, a great deal of guests arrive.”
A ball…
The light dimmed slightly from my face.
Such occasions were bound to be a burden for Callius, confined as he was to his room.
The more visitors came, the more people would question the reason behind his seclusion.
All at once, I recalled what the maids had been discussing a while back.
‘By the way, have you heard? They say Master Amarcus will be visiting the duchy soon.’
…
I really must have been out of my mind.
‘How could I forget that?’
Could that man be attending the ball as well? Just like in the original story, threatening Callius’s position?
The moment I imagined turmoil returning to the estate with the villain’s appearance, a dull ache started in my head.
Arranging the roses in the vase, I silently prayed again and again.
‘Please… let it pass peacefully.’
On a sunny spring afternoon.
A single carriage pulled quietly into the estate of the Duke of Rivannion.
Stepping down from it was a young man with pale silver hair.
After nearly three years, the youth lifted his head to take in the estate he had returned to.
The sweeping, gorgeous gardens and the imposing facade of the mansion showcased the full grandeur of the ducal house.
And in his eyes, as he drank in the magnificent view, a heavy greed surfaced.
Yet that blatant look vanished in an instant as the Head Butler approached.
“Welcome, Master Amarcus.”
“It has been a long time, Mr. Benjamin.”
“You have grown so much. How was your life at the academy abroad?”
“It was good. The scenery was stunning, and the food was excellent as well.”
He replied with a smirk.
Three years ago, when he and his cousin Callius had applied to the Imperial Academy, only Callius was accepted.
The sting of that rejection remained vivid in his memory.
He had been forced to seek out another school comparable to the Imperial Academy, ending up studying abroad without any prior plan.
Ever since, the mere mention of the academy stirred a bitter sense of humiliation within him.
“By the way, where is Callius?”
Amarcus asked, the smirk lingering on his lips.
The Head Butler paused for a brief moment before resuming his calm demeanor.
“Lord Callius caught a severe cold a few days ago. He is still resting in his room to regain his health.”
