Chapter 59
59
59. The Maid Left Alone (3)
“I can’t! I can’t do it anymore!”
Alicia, who had been complaining since earlier, finally tore off the cloth covering her head and threw it on the floor. I glanced at Alicia and then focused on my work again.
I had survived for several days on the five most expensive loaves of bread I received for selling the rope to the baker. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to find a job again. It was cleaning up dung in the barn. I grabbed it, thinking anything was better than nothing. I wanted to earn even a penny more, so I forcibly dragged even Alicia, who didn't want to, and now she's acting like this.
“I said I can’t!”
“Then don’t do it and starve from now on.”
“……”
The conclusion was simple. Alicia glared at me with her beady eyes at my words. I didn't even look at her and scooped up the animal dung in front of me and put it in the cart. The large barn was full of various animals and the dung they had left behind. No matter how much I scooped and scooped, there was no end in sight. Besides, the smell was awful. After scooping dung all day, my body reeked of it.
A foal came up to me and started to relieve itself. Alicia was horrified when she saw it, but I calmly placed the shovel underneath. Every time I moved the accumulating dung to the cart, Alicia pretended to vomit.
“Why is it always like this every time you bring me!”
“Because there’s nothing but this kind of work.”
“Don’t lie! I know there’s decent work too, right?”
“That’s because this is all you can do.”
“Are you looking down on me? What can’t I do with this beauty and body!”
“Your head is empty.”
I ignored Alicia, who shouted at me asking what I meant. I was already exhausted, and she kept bothering me. I openly showed my annoyance and scooped up dung again with the shovel, when Alicia grabbed the back of my head. Again. I was almost used to this tingling pain.
“Say it again! Say it again!”
“Let go.”
“How dare you look down on me?! You dare!”
“I said let go.”
Nevertheless, Alicia didn't loosen her grip. I sighed and calmly swung the shovel I was holding towards Alicia. The dung on the shovel splattered and poured over Alicia. Alicia screamed and let go of my head.
“Aaaagh!”
Alicia, flailing, fell backward. Thanks to that, she landed on a pile of dung on the floor. She screamed and tried to avoid it, but the dung had already covered her. Alicia, whose hands and clothes were all covered in dung, looked at her condition and made a tearful face.
“You bad bitch! You nasty bitch!”
“Then why did you attack a bad and nasty bitch.”
“I won’t let you get away with this! I won’t let you get away with this!”
“Yeah. With that determination, hurry up and scoop all this up.”
I scooped up dung again with the empty shovel and deliberately moved it as if I was pushing it towards Alicia and put it in the cart. Alicia screamed and ran away. It was funny how she ran away as if it was scary. I shrugged and scooped up dung again.
I was scooping for a while when something caught my eye. A torn piece of newspaper buried in a pile of dung. The newspaper with a large photo fluttered in the wind. My eyes gradually widened as I casually read the headline.
I quickly pulled out the newspaper and read the words written inside. My hand went down after reading the last word. My blank gaze wandered in the air.
[……Announcement of the Princess's engagement. The partner is Count Bellunita?]
It was the headline of the article I had just seen. In the photo below, a man and a woman stood side by side with their arms crossed. It was taken from a distance, but the blurry face was familiar. Of course. It was the face I had seen all day 5 years ago.
“Vincent Bellunita.”
A name I hadn't spoken in a long time.
A man who remained as a longing.
This was the news of him I had seen in 5 years.
\ \ *
I knew that he had broken off his engagement with Violet. In the bread factory where I used to work, the women often chattered about the stories of the upper class, asking where they got the news. Among them, there were very occasional news about them. There weren't many news about the Bellunita family, but one of the things I heard at that time was the story of Vincent's broken engagement.
I wondered if the news of the broken engagement might be a rumor, but I confirmed with my own eyes this time that it was true.
I stared at Vincent in the photo. His face was blurry, so I couldn't see his exact expression, but he seemed to be smiling. Then, the first thing that came to my mind was his eyes.
What happened to his eyes? I think they said there was a way to fix them back then, did he fix them? Or is it still the same? Still, he's not just stuck in his room anymore. I know he's doing very well, even if I don't know anything else.
‘I’ll bring you back to my side. Definitely.’
“It’s all just talk.”
You son of a bitch, are you that happy?
You're grinning because you're engaged to the princess. I'm sure you're smiling. I crumpled his face in my hands. His smiling face became crumpled. I stared at it intently and then smoothed it out again.
“It’s a relief if you’re doing well, though.”
Honestly, I don't have the right to be angry. It wasn't a relationship that I could shout bad things about. What was I? I was just the only maid who served him, so he hung out with me. It wasn't an important enough relationship for him to find me again just because that maid disappeared. He said he would send me somewhere else for my sake, but there was no reason to look for that maid just because she disappeared in the middle. In fact, he might have known why I suddenly disappeared.
“Still, you should keep your word once you've said it, as a man. You said you'd keep me by your side, you'd protect me, you wouldn't abandon me. It's easy to say. That's how nobles are.”
I finally said the words 'That's how nobles are' that the women I worked with used to say all the time. I sighed deeply again, and Emily, who happened to open the door and come in, widened her eyes.
“What happened?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
“That is……”
Her gaze reached the crumpled newspaper in my hand. I realized and quickly spread out the newspaper. Seeing the article with the same content as the torn newspaper I found by chance in the barn here again made it feel real. That this content was real. Then I got angry and crumpled the newspaper without realizing it.
“I’m, I’m sorry. What should I do.”
“It’s an old one, so it’s okay. But be careful. Have you finished copying?”
“Yes, here it is.”
Emily checked the letter I handed her and smiled with satisfaction. She didn't spare any praise for writing well. I smiled shyly and shrank my neck.
In this place, which looks like an ordinary house on the outside, I get paid to copy. I copy books, love letters, and sometimes newspapers. Being able to read and write is so useful. Thanks to that, I can sit comfortably and work in a safe building.
“These days, young ladies are so cute. They say their handwriting isn't pretty, so they ask me to write the replies to their letters for them and commission me to copy them.”
“That’s true.”
“Have you ever received something like this?”
Emily smiled mischievously. I avoided her gaze and fumbled with the pen tip, forcing a smile.
“I have. But not a love letter.”
“Oh my. From a man?”
“Yes. From a man.”
“That must have been nice.”
Emily tapped my shoulder. I couldn't say anything. It was such a trivial matter that I couldn't judge whether I liked it or not. Only after looking back did I realize the feelings contained in that trivial letter and feel sad.
Remembering that time made me feel down again. It's because of the newspaper I saw just now.
I shook my head and shook off the useless thoughts.
“Actually. The workload has increased these days, so it seems like it would be too much for you alone, so I hired a new person. You two will be working together from now on.”
“Yes.”
“He’ll be here soon.”
As Emily said, a knock on the door was heard a moment later. She smiled happily and went downstairs. Soon, I heard the sound of the door opening, followed by a noisy voice. I listened to the sound and looked out the window.
Two footsteps got closer, and then the door opened. My gaze naturally turned towards the door.
“Here, say hello. This is the person you’ll be working with from now on.”
“……”
“……”
Emily introduced the new person in a cheerful voice. But I couldn't exchange greetings that corresponded to her words. Because the other person and I froze the moment we found each other.
“Hey, hey.”
“……”
“Hey, hey. Are you listening to me?”
“……”
I lowered my eyes and calmly rolled the pen. The sound of scratching replaced my answer.
The man, who had spoken to me several more times, finally couldn't stand it and snatched my paper away. I sighed and looked up at the man.
“What. What’s wrong.”
“Why do you keep ignoring me?”
“Because you’re worth ignoring.”
“Hey!”
“Don’t keep saying hey, hey. Do you want to get hit again?”
I flicked the pen I was holding around. I sent a warning that I would stab him with it if necessary. The man, who had experienced it once, trembled. A dark bruise that had dyed one corner of his eye blue was noticeable.
“What kind of woman are you every time……”
“What kind of man are you to be so persistent every time. You should know how to give up if I say I don’t like you. Are your feelings the only ones that matter? You have to consider the woman’s feelings too.”
“……Who said anything. It’s because it seems like you’re lying!”
“She doesn’t like you. This time it’s for real.”
“Then was it a lie last time?”
“……”
When I jumped up, the man covered his face with one hand and crouched down. It was a face that said come at me if you dare. But his body was already in a defensive posture.
I snorted and leaned over and snatched the paper in his hand. And when I sat back down in my chair, the man regained his senses and straightened his crouched body.
“Really? She really doesn’t like me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why…… is it because I’m poor?”
“Yeah. And because you’re short and ugly.”
“I, I’m not called ugly anywhere I go with this much!”
“I guess she thinks you’re ugly.”
“……”
The man, who was in shock, had a blank face. I scanned him.
I didn't expect to see him here again. He was the man who was infatuated with Alicia and kept urging me to introduce him. He got hit by me with a shovel last time and he's still like this. I couldn't understand how he could fall in love at first sight just by seeing her face once from afar.
He looked about my age, but his dirty appearance, always covered in ashes, was unpleasant to look at. Even now, there was black dirt or dust on his face, making him look messy. His clothes were just as dirty. There was black dirt on his fingernails.
He wouldn't be able to win Alicia's heart with that appearance, no matter how many times he confessed. No, not just Alicia, but other people would probably avoid him if they saw him.
“If you like her that much, you should do something about that appearance first.”
“Wh, why should I.”
“You’re dirty. Your face, clothes, and hands are all dirty.”
“This is…… th, this doesn’t come off easily……”
He muttered gloomily as he looked at his fingernails. What kind of work does he do? I felt sorry for him, but it seemed difficult for him to win the heart of Alicia, who values people's appearance.
I shook my head and focused on copying again. When I didn't say anything more, he also picked up a pen with a gloomy face.
The sound of scratching echoed in the room. I was copying a book, and he was copying a newspaper. When I glanced at him, his handwriting was quite good. His hand holding the pen was dirty with black stuff, but the ink from the pen tip gracefully drew on the paper. His face while copying was also quite serious.
“You write well.”
I unknowingly blurted out my admiration.
