Chapter 64
64
64. Paula of the Strange Baron family (2)
Audrey winked at us.
“Let’s greet them.”
“Nice to meet you.”
I bowed. Thankfully, this time Alicia followed suit and bowed as well. The man who had been turned away hurriedly turned around and bowed. But he still couldn't look properly at Joelly.
As soon as the man bowed and turned back around, Joelly immediately turned her gaze to the male servant. The corners of her eyes curved even more.
“What’s the name of that cute one over there?”
“Joelly, you should wash up and get ready first.”
“Oh, Audrey. You have no tact.”
“If you keep doing that, you’ll get sick.”
“Okay, okay.”
Joelly waved her hand and stood up from the bed, scanning me and Alicia.
“I like pretty girls.”
“Pardon?”
Her smiling fingertip touched Alicia. I was puzzled, and Audrey pushed Alicia towards Joelly. Alicia looked back at me, flustered. I was also flustered. But there was nothing I could do. Audrey ushered me and the male servant out the door.
I realized it after coming outside. Joelly had chosen Alicia as her personal servant. The man could stay, but I was kicked out.
I never thought I would be discriminated against based on my appearance even here. I secretly sighed as I looked at the closed door.
“You two, wait here for a moment.”
With those words, Audrey left, saying she had other business. Thanks to that, only the man and I were left in the hallway.
I stared blankly at the door and then glanced at the man. He looked somehow dazed. The events of just now must have been quite shocking.
“You seem very surprised.”
“Yeah. A little. A, actually, a lot……”
Seeing the man stammer, it seemed like the situation just now was really embarrassing. I could tell just by looking at his face how shocked the man was. His slightly reddish face turned crimson, as if it would burst into flames.
“Your face.”
“Ah, no! I wasn’t thinking anything.”
What were you thinking? I was just going to tell him that his face was so red it looked like it would explode, but he was startled and shook his head vigorously. He even flailed his hands. His reaction was somehow quite funny.
“M, more than that, why are you being so polite to me?”
“I’m always polite.”
“No, why do you keep talking like that? It’s awkward.”
“What do you mean?”
Then his red face contorted.
“You don’t know who I am?”
“Who are you?”
“Hey, it’s me. Johnny!”
What?
“Johnny, the one who asked me to introduce him to Alicia……?”
“That’s right! That’s me!”
My mouth dropped open. Johnny? That scruffy man?
I quickly scanned him. The man in the neat clothes looked perfectly normal. His face, which had no black dirt on it, was clean.
“Oh my god! Is it really Johnny?”
“Yes! It’s me!”
“Are you really that scruffy Johnny?”
“That’s right, I was that scruffy— ah, no. Wait a minute.”
Johnny, who had been reacting energetically, suddenly hardened his expression.
“Scruffy?”
“……”
I immediately shut my mouth and turned away. I pretended I didn’t say anything, but I couldn’t take back the words I had already spoken.
“You’re too much! What do you mean scruffy to a person! Was I that dirty?”
“Um…… a little?”
To be honest, he was a little too scruffy. Johnny’s expression turned sulky at my answer. Despite his reaction, I didn’t take back my words. Because the truth is the truth.
“You’re still the same here.”
“You’ve changed a lot. I didn’t recognize you.”
“Have I changed that much?”
“Yeah. You’re like a different person.”
Johnny touched his face. He asked if it was that bad. I nodded firmly. I didn’t know when he was covered in dirt, but seeing his neatly styled hair and clean face, he looked so much better. I would have believed it if you told me he was a different person.
I looked at Johnny’s face again, scrutinizing it. If he looked like that, he might have a chance of succeeding in his unrequited love?
“How did you get here? Were you offered a deal too?”
“No, someone else was offered a deal, but I said I’d go too. They said they’d pay a lot. Were you offered a deal?”
“Not me, my sister.”
“Ah, I see.”
What’s with the ‘I see’ again? His reaction made me feel bad, but I was used to it.
“They said they’d pay a lot.”
I shrugged and stared blankly at the closed door. Johnny, next to me, asked, ‘Right?’ and quickly regained his cheerfulness.
“But you got a haircut here. It’s shorter.”
He pointed to my bangs. Then a question arose.
“How did you recognize me?”
“Huh?”
“You were covering your face with your bangs. Usually, people can’t recognize me.”
“Don’t you remember sweating and scooping ash because of the heat? Back then, your bangs were separated into strands and stuck to your face. I’ve seen your face thousands of times.”
Oh, I see. I tried to hide it diligently, but I was helpless against the flowing sweat. I smiled awkwardly and turned my head. Johnny patted me on the back, saying he was glad to see me. I frowned and kicked him in the shin. Johnny screamed and grabbed his shin.
“It hurts!”
“I hurt too. Stop hitting me.”
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Alicia jumped out and fell to the floor. Johnny and I hurriedly approached Alicia.
Alicia, who was helped up by Johnny, glared fiercely straight ahead. Joelly was standing there in her underwear.
“You’re not good enough.”
“……”
Joelly tossed her blonde hair back and made an annoyed face. Even the gesture of flipping her hair back was filled with annoyance.
What on earth did she do wrong? When I looked at Alicia, she was still glaring at Joelly with fierce eyes. A strange tension flowed between the two women for a moment. I looked at Johnny, flustered. He quickly turned around with a face that looked like it would burst into flames. The most pitiful victim in all of this was over there.
A white arm suddenly popped out from Johnny’s back and wrapped around him. Joelly pressed her face against Johnny’s back.
“We meet again?”
“Gasp.”
Johnny had a look on his face as if his heart had stopped. Joelly giggled at his reaction. Then she raised one hand and gently stroked Johnny’s hair.
“What’s your name?”
“U, uh, uh, I, uh.”
“Is your name UuhuhIuh?”
“Ah, no. No, it’s not. It’s not.”
Johnny shook his head urgently.
“Then what is it?”
“Jo, Jo, Johnny, it’s Johnny.”
“Okay. Johnny. Nice to meet you. Do you want to come to my room tonight?”
“Pardon?”
“Hehe. Your surprised face is cute too.”
Joelly tapped Johnny’s face with her finger. Johnny stiffened at the gesture. Joelly blew air into Johnny’s ear. Johnny, who suddenly came to his senses, screamed and instantly escaped from her arms, jumping to the other side.
His speed was so fast that no one could stop him from leaving. I sadly watched his back as it became smaller and smaller.
“He’s really my type.”
I could feel the ecstasy in Joelly’s voice. It was like an innocent village boy had caught the eye of a mischievous noble lady. I sent words of comfort in my heart for the unfortunate situation that would unfold in the future.
Joelly, who had been staring at the place where Johnny disappeared for a long time, now looked at me.
“You, follow me.”
She pointed at me and turned around. I was flustered by the sudden command, but I quickly came to my senses and followed her.
Joelly, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and looked at Alicia.
“You can go now.”
Then she slipped into the room.
I helped Alicia up and dusted off her wrinkled clothes. Then I glanced at her face, which had been glaring at Joelly since earlier. Her eyes were going to fall out. Seeing her tightly closed mouth, something must have happened.
I sighed and followed her into the room. As soon as I closed the door, Alicia’s gaze disappeared. How dare a servant stare so stiffly at her superior. I should warn her not to do that later.
When I turned around, Joelly was putting on a gown. She tied the string around her waist and headed to the closet. I blankly scanned her back.
Joelly, was it? Is she the owner of this mansion? Or the Baroness? I leaned more towards the latter. I could feel the elegance in her simple walk and small movements. I thought she must be a well-educated noble lady.
She stood in front of the closet and turned to look at me. Only then did I quickly approach her. And I opened the closet.
“Pick one.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Something bright.”
Something bright…… I was momentarily troubled by the difficult command. There were quite a few dresses hanging in the closet. The colors and designs were also diverse. It was as if all the dresses in the world were in this closet.
I looked at them one by one and pondered quite carefully. She said something bright, so wouldn’t it be okay if the color was bright? So I chose a light sky blue one. I wasn’t confident even after choosing it. When I glanced up at Joelly, she smiled and shook her head. That meant she didn’t like it.
I put it back in the closet and took out the white dress next to it. But this time too, Joelly shook her head.
After that, I picked out and handed over a few more dresses. But they were all rejected. I put the light pink dress that was rejected again and took out the yellow dress, but Joelly, who was tired of rejecting, waved her hand and sat down on the chair behind her.
I was flustered and looked inside the closet again. Since everything I handed over was rejected, I didn’t know what to take out this time.
“What’s your name?”
“Po…… Ann.”
“Okay, Ann.”
I heard a voice mixed with laughter. I could feel her looking at me. But I didn’t turn to look at her and kept looking inside the closet.
“Where did Ann come from?”
“I came from a small village. It’s too small to have a separate name.”
“Is that your hometown?”
“No. I have a separate hometown.”
“Pilton?”
At Joelly’s question, I stopped rummaging through the dresses and turned around.
“How did you know?”
“The girl who was in my room until just now told me. She said you two are sisters?”
Ah. I nodded and started looking through the dresses again. She must have asked Alicia the same questions she asked me. Thinking that, I diligently looked at the dresses. I was being more careful in choosing because I kept getting rejected. Joelly kept asking me questions, perhaps because she was bored of waiting.
“Is this your first time doing this?”
“It’s not my first time.”
“Hmm. Then have you done it somewhere else?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“It’s not really a place I can tell you about.”
I was so focused on choosing a dress that I just answered vaguely without knowing what I was saying. But I did choose my answers when I received occasional in-depth questions. Even during that time, I quickly looked at the dresses with my eyes. Would this be good, or would that be good? After worrying for a long time while rummaging through countless dresses, I finally chose one.
It was a white dress with a body-hugging design. There was no noticeable pattern, but it wasn’t just plain because there were flower stitches on the ends. It seemed good to wear neatly.
Okay, it’s decided!
“How about this?”
I turned around with a bright smile. I showed Joelly the dress I had carefully chosen. If she said she didn’t like it this time, I should ask her if she wanted to choose it herself. Thinking that, I looked at her, but her gaze was fixed on my face, not the dress.
But that gaze was sharp. It was a sharp gaze that made the smile disappear from my face. That’s strange. I’m definitely smiling, but why do I feel like I’m being observed?
“……Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ann is very small and petite.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. I’m a bit small.”
“Yeah. You’re probably the smallest of the servants here.”
She scanned me from top to bottom.
