Chapter 75
“I heard Emmy used to be a herbalist. You mentioned there’s an important herb you’re planning to cultivate, Lady Cherry. So, Emmy can take full charge of managing that. Plus, she’s quick on her feet… so she can occasionally assist the scouting team as well. There will be plenty of other tasks for her too. Everyone is bound to be short-handed.”
At Hose’s words, Emmy’s face brightened instantly. She nodded vigorously and looked at me.
“I—I’m good at everything!”
Even if Emmy didn’t appeal to me with such desperate effort, I already knew her capabilities.
Emmy had made it from Brunel to Happy House all on her own. For all I knew, she might even be better than me when it came to combat skills.
The reason I had hesitated until the very end about what role to give her was precisely because of her skill with herbs—I needed someone to manage the vegetable garden.
Furthermore, since monsters went wild for the scent of Elpinus, we had to find a way to cultivate it without letting the smell leak out.
I spoke to Emmy firmly.
“I said your primary position was a bit ambiguous; I never said you were useless. Just as Hose said, you’re so versatile that I was simply debating where you’d fit best because you’d do well anywhere.”
I had intended to tell Emmy this while everyone was gathered together. She had been looking far too discouraged.
Since what I just said was the truth, it was a bit troubling to see her staying so downcast.
At my words, Emmy’s face flushed with emotion. I was relieved to see her looking bright again.
The division of roles was more or less complete.
For today, we decided to take a break and spend some free time getting used to our respective roles and settling into Happy House.
‘Perfect. I’m just going to roll around under the sunshade and drink milk all day.’
In this warm weather, nothing could be more blissful than lying under a sunshade and sipping milk—enough to make me forget, if only for a moment, the reality of monsters swarming outside the mansion.
As the meeting ended and I prepared to stand up, Harrison looked at me. It clearly meant he had something to say. For some reason, I felt the urge to run away.
“Lady Cherry, let’s have a strategy meeting regarding the scouting.”
Just then, Eden called out to me. Ah, something felt ominous here too. I shifted my gaze between them and decided following Eden would be the better option.
I’d just have to think of a few more excuses for Harrison later.
Eden led me to the sunshade in the garden. How did he know I wanted to come here? Sometimes it felt like Eden could read minds.
After bringing me there, he flopped down onto the mat under the sunshade. I stared at him blankly and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I helped you because you looked like you wanted to escape. If you don’t need the help, you can go back inside.”
“No. I wanted to lie down.”
Without a second of hesitation, I flopped down right next to him. Watching me, Eden burst into laughter again. Lately, he seemed to find everything I did amusing.
Well, if he’s reacting positively to me, I suppose that’s a good thing. Lost in thought while lying there, I stole a glance back at Happy House.
“But if they see us like this, Harrison might come and drag me away.”
“Then at least pretend we’re having a strategy meeting.”
Eden turned onto his side toward me, propping his face up with his palm as he stared at me intently. I followed suit and turned to my side.
“I appreciate you slacking off with me, but I’m a bit suspicious of what you’re up to.”
“I’ve helped you this much, Lady Cherry, yet you seem completely indifferent whether I stay or leave?”
Eden spoke as if tossing the words out casually. I tilted my head.
“Oh, come on, how can I be indifferent? I was quite sad thinking I’d lose the person who drinks milk with me in the morning.”
“…Milk?”
Eden stared at me with an absurd expression, as if asking if that was the only reason.
Of course, even setting the milk aside, I was naturally sad to see him go. He was certainly a capable talent.
Instead of answering, I simply shrugged.
At that, Eden’s expression turned somewhat ambiguous, and then he even frowned slightly as if deep in thought. What was he thinking about?
“Sister!”
Just then, the front door opened and Emmy came running toward me. she flopped down next to me and gave a bright smile.
“You know I like you so much, right?”
At Emmy’s words, Eden, who had been facing me, let out a hollow laugh.
“Isn’t it just because Lady Cherry is the homeowner?”
“It is not!”
A huffy Emmy shouted back, and I barely managed to calm her down. If we made too much noise, we might catch Harrison’s eye. I had to pretend to be in a serious meeting.
Though, lying this comfortably on a mat, it seemed a bit late to try and create a serious atmosphere.
I just wanted to fall asleep like this.
Knox stood before the lobby window, quietly looking out. He didn’t even bother stepping outside the front door.
He could see two men and a young girl laughing happily while lying under the sunshade. From a distance, it looked like a scene from a painting.
‘They look like a family.’
Watching them made his chest feel tight, and for some reason, he craved a cigarette. Even Knox himself didn’t know the reason.
Knox took a lollipop out of his pocket and unwrapped it. The lollipops he brought from Brunel were almost gone. He had to ration them now.
“Since when have those two been so close?”
Harrison asked, having approached Knox’s side at some point. Knox bit down on the candy and let out a smirk.
“Did I not look close to her? I’m quite close with Lady Cherry as well, Lawyer Howard.”
At Knox’s words, Harrison turned to look at him. Their gazes locked heavily in the air.
“You don’t even have a greeting for your sister’s husband, whom you haven’t seen in a long while.”
“Did I ever truly play the role of a brother?”
Harrison replied in a cynical tone, unusual for him, and looked back out the window. Knox stared at Harrison’s profile blankly, lost for words.
If he said anything more here, he’d truly be trash. Knox swallowed a hollow laugh.
‘No, am I not already trash?’
He had only briefly shown his face at the funeral of his own sister, Isabella, after all.
Harrison was the husband of Knox’s sister, Isabella, but Knox had rarely seen him over the years.
Under the pretext of being busy, Knox had shown zero interest in the affairs of the Rudfercher family and had been negligent in his role as a family member.
“Bella liked you very much, Lawyer. We didn’t see each other often after becoming adults, but every time we did, she talked about you.”
“I know. Bella is still my precious wife to me. She is my first and last love.”
Knox fell silent for a moment at Harrison’s response.
When the two first married, Knox had thought Isabella would suffer quite a bit because Harrison Howard was a man who knew nothing but the Sinclairs.
But that had been Knox’s misjudgment. Harrison had always been sincere toward Isabella, and he was a much better man than Knox had thought.
Knox, who had only avoided and run away from his problems, had no right to judge Harrison.
Their gazes turned back toward Cherry and Eden outside the window.
“…You seem to cherish the young lady of the house you serve very much. Like real family.”
“Yes. My Lady is my family. She is the one who allowed me to be in this position.”
Harrison answered with a face deep in thought and watched Cherry silently for a moment longer. His gaze as he looked at her was firm, unwavering, and incredibly warm.
In a way, Harrison was the same kind of man as Eden.
That was why Knox felt somehow infinitely pathetic. He, who chose to be cold from the bottom of his heart while pretending to treat everyone with warmth.
He followed Harrison’s gaze toward Cherry.
What about Cherry? How would she judge Knox? He suddenly became intensely curious.
“I do not wish to control the Young Lady.”
Harrison spoke while watching Cherry’s face as she laughed joyfully beyond the window.
“I simply wish for her to be happy without facing danger. That is all.”
Knox’s peculiar gaze landed on Harrison, but Harrison never took his eyes off Cherry.
The management of the mansion was proceeding smoothly.
Harrison checked the types and quantities of daily necessities I had gathered, verified the food and supplies, and organized what we lacked and what we needed to replenish in the future.
“We are quite short on food. We need to secure enough to last until we can harvest crops.”
Harrison reported to me as we sat facing each other on the sofas in the first-floor salon.
“Originally, it was just supposed to be me, Harrison, and Susanna. I didn’t expect the numbers to grow like this.”
I fell into deep thought. If I recalled the contents of the novel well, wouldn’t there be something useful?
Even though it was told through Aurora’s perspective, I still knew to some extent the major and minor events that would occur over the next two years.
Furthermore, Aurora’s group had visited Brunel before. This meant I also knew roughly what events would happen around that time.
‘I’m sure there was a conflict at Kintne back then…’
