Chapter 75
75
75. The Count I Met Again (5)
Fortunately, I didn't see Vincent after that day. He didn't live here, and only visited occasionally. Even when he did visit, there was no point of contact between him and me unless he went around meeting every single servant. I only saw him from afar, or brushed past him. He didn't remember me, and I wasn't stupid enough to pretend to know him.
The Probationary period was three months. I had to leave here anyway when that period was over. It was better this way. As long as this wasn't Stella Baron family but Bellunita Baron family, I couldn't stay here any longer. This wasn't a mansion or the Separate Residence I used to live in, and there was no butler threatening me. Because of that, it wasn't dangerous for the time being, and I almost adapted to this place without realizing it.
I reminded myself again why I ran away from here. I don't know what this situation is, but it doesn't matter anymore. Let's not settle down here. When the time comes, I'll leave. It might be okay now, but I don't know when or where the butler will find me.
There are less than two months left. Alicia will do anything to stay, so I can leave alone then. This is not a place where I can settle down, but it won't be so bad for Alicia to live here in the future. I didn't want to be hired, and even if I was hired, I was going to leave, making excuses that this place wasn't right for me.
Whether I wanted it or not, the end would come.
I have to earn a lot of money by then.
'He doesn't need me anymore anyway.'
Now my place in this mansion is really gone. I brushed off the bitterness with a laugh. What were you expecting? It's a good thing.
But life doesn't always go the way I want it to. My meeting with him continued in a different way.
"Young master?"
As usual, I opened the door to attend to Robert, but the room was empty. Nanny was out early this morning. So I was the only one attending to him and taking care of his breakfast and lunch. Then, Robert disappeared while I went down to the kitchen for a while.
But I knew right away where he was.
I found Robert struggling to climb onto the horse-shaped Iron table. I wondered how he could climb onto the Iron table that even I had trouble climbing on, but he jumped up, stepping on the square support that held up the legs of the Iron table with his little feet. It looked like he had done it more than once or twice.
"Young master!"
Robert was startled by my shout and turned his head. He was rarely embarrassed when he found me. At the same time, his awkwardly raised body slipped and fell down, and I rushed to catch him. That was close.
"D-don't scold me."
"I'm not going to scold you."
I sighed in relief and helped Robert up. Robert, who was riding on the saddle, grabbed the horse's neck and looked at me. He seemed to know that what he had done was 'something he shouldn't do'. Well, Nanny had been horrified every time, so it would be stranger if he didn't know. But he didn't say he was going down.
Anyway, he wasn't a child who would listen if I told him not to, and he would want to do it even more if I told him not to. Besides, I recently learned that there was a reason why Robert kept climbing onto the Iron table like this. For example, he wanted to be the first to see someone coming out of the vast forest.
In this case, it's better to just go along with it and soothe him.
"Next time, if you want to come here, please take me with you."
"You won't scold me?"
"Yes. Let's go up together."
I struggled to climb behind Robert. His round purple eyes looked back at me. I grabbed the horse's neck with one hand and Robert's small body with the other. As expected, the view outside the window was wide because of the height.
Robert's gaze was fixed beyond the window. It was strange to see his face constantly looking for something.
"What do you see?"
"There are trees. There's grass, too."
"You'll see flowers, too."
"Yeah. There are flowers, too."
"What color are the flowers?"
"Yellow."
"Are there any red or white ones?"
"Yeah."
The little head nodded. I asked trivial questions like how pretty the sky was, what the condition of the soil was, and what the trees looked like. Robert answered my questions one by one. I hoped that would help him forget his longing for a while.
"Hey, Ugly."
"……."
"Ugly."
"Yes."
"Is mother coming?"
I frowned for a moment, then quickly relaxed and looked down at Robert. Robert was still looking out the window. He blinked his big eyes blankly.
"Yes. She's coming."
"Wow, really?"
"Do you miss her a lot?"
"Yeah. I miss her. I miss her this much."
Robert waved his hands around in a circle. He seemed to be expressing a big heart in his own way. I felt sorry for Robert, who was smiling and saying that he could wait patiently. I hugged the child's small body and patted him.
"You're waiting patiently even though you miss her, you're so good."
"Am I good?"
"Yes. You're good."
"Then I don't have to go down?"
Robert didn't share my emotion. I was speechless at his cleverness in accurately grasping my intention to give him a ride and then go down. When I couldn't answer with a forced smile, Robert laughed again and looked out the window.
"Robert."
Then, a sudden call came and I looked down and was surprised. I don't know when he came... Vincent was standing there. I froze at his appearance, and Robert called out Vincent! and smiled brightly.
Vincent frowned.
"I told you it was dangerous."
Robert's face turned gloomy at the angry voice. He subtly buried his face in my arms and pretended not to hear. Vincent's expression became even more fierce as he watched him. His sharp gaze was fixed on me, so I quickly turned my head and looked at the horse's head. It was embarrassing because I was riding along with young Robert.
Soon, I heard a sigh in my ear.
"It's dangerous, so come down."
Vincent reached out his hand. I tried to take Robert out of my arms. Robert struggled and resisted going down. I managed to get him off and carefully lowered him down. Vincent grabbed Robert's small body and hugged him. Then he immediately tapped his head.
"Don't keep going up because it's dangerous. If you go up one more time, I'll throw you away."
"That's mean!"
"It's not mean, it's fair."
"Fair?"
"Yeah. It's mine, so I can do whatever I want."
He's saying some good things to a child. I looked down at Vincent, who was threatening Robert, with a pathetic look. Vincent, who was threatening Robert not to go up again because it was his, looked like the most pathetic man in the world.
I was about to get off, wiggling my butt, when a hand was suddenly extended. Vincent, who had put Robert down on the floor, reached out his hand to me as well.
"Take it."
"Yes?"
"It's too high to come down alone."
I looked back and forth between his hand and his face in confusion. He flicked his hand once. At his urging to grab it quickly, I calmed my trembling heart and slowly grabbed his hand.
The warmth that wrapped around my hand was warm. It's nothing. He's just trying to help because it looks like it's hard for a woman to come down alone. It was a consideration that a gentleman could do. I reminded myself of that and jumped down to the floor.
It was definitely high. It felt like my body was floating. It felt like I was falling into an endless cliff. I lost my balance because I closed my eyes tightly in fear.
But a soft touch wrapped around me. I also instinctively hugged something. Then, when I opened my eyes wide, I saw golden hair moving gently from my chest. My legs were dangling in the air.
I ended up hugging his head.
"Eek!"
I was horrified and took my hands off, and my body staggered backward. He quickly put his arms around my back and grabbed me. I had to grab his head again to regain my balance. Thanks to that, I almost tore out his hair. I was flustered when I heard a groan from below and moved my body back.
"I-I'm sorry."
"I understand, so don't move."
His face was right below me. My eyes were spinning.
"L-let me down!"
"Wait. I'll let you down now..."
"Let me down now! Let me down quickly!"
I begged him to let me down. I struggled as much as Robert did earlier. But the more I struggled, the closer I got to his body. I couldn't stand it anymore when his breath touched my neck. My heart was pounding and going crazy. My eyes were spinning so much that I felt like I was going to throw up.
As a result of all the fuss, my body went down. Just as my feet were almost touching the floor, I couldn't stand it anymore and jumped off. But his action of letting go of my hand and my action of jumping off got tangled up, and I finally lost my balance.
My panicked body fell backward, and the moment Vincent reached out his hand to grab me again, my raised leg kicked between his legs.
Thud! The sound was eerie.
Soon his body bent forward. I saw that far and fell backward, hitting the back of my head on the body of the Iron table.
This time, a gasp escaped from my mouth. Stars flashed.
I came to my senses after seeing twenty stars. I touched my tingling head and remembered the feeling that had touched my toes and raised my body. Vincent was crouching with one knee on the ground, crouching down. Robert, who had witnessed all this misery, blinked his eyes and squatted next to Vincent, looking at him.
"Vincent, does it hurt?"
"……."
Vincent didn't say anything. His deeply lowered face seemed to represent his heart. My heart was pounding in a different sense.
"M-master?"
"……."
"Are you okay? Yes?"
"……."
I took a step closer to him, who was still not answering. It was ominous. W-was there a very big tragedy? I've cut off the Bellunita Baron family line! Just as I was despairing, not knowing what to do with this tragedy, laughter suddenly erupted.
"Ahahahaha!"
Joelly was standing behind me, I don't know when she came. Next to her were Alicia, who had her eyes wide open, and Johnny, who had a miserable expression on his face. Among them, only Joelly was sobbing, clutching her stomach as if she was about to pass out.
"You."
Soon Vincent slowly raised his head. His pale face and sparkling eyes were fiercely fixed on me.
"What did you say your name was?"
I swallowed hard at the question he spat out, gritting his teeth. I'm saying it again now, but I definitely didn't imagine this reunion.
Not at all.
