Chapter 7
Episode 7
He easily fell for Rosie's flattery and busied himself showing off his cooking skills.
For that strict Head Chef to take a liking to Rosie—no less, falling for honeyed words. It was a real headache for the kitchen maid.
"You didn't get caught mixing the Death Flag Fruit into the meal, did you?"
"No? Absolutely not! I always did it secretly......"
Then why?
Why on earth would she want to watch the monster's meal being prepared?
Overcome with anxiety, Marie paced around, gnawing at her nails.
"......Rosie, Rosie."
Skipping it for one day was fine, but if it continued, it would interfere with her task.
Rosie's meal duty would likely last about a week more.
It would be a problem if she couldn't add the drug even once during that time.
'I need to do something.'
Should she try to get the meal duty switched?
If someone else took over, she could add the drug as usual.
The only concern was......
At first, all the maids had extremely despised attending the monster.
Because he was a monster.
But then something strange happened.
The maids who attended the monster's meals wanted to keep doing it.
However, since the Marquis who brought the monster wouldn't allow it, the maids were rotated periodically.
He feared they might help with an escape, enchanted by the monster like that.
'If Rosie says she doesn't want to......'
She'd make her give it up by any means necessary.
She couldn't let Rosie's interference disrupt her own work.
* * *
Only 7 days left on meal duty.
Even though I already knew how many days remained, counting on my fingers was becoming a habit.
"Rosie, did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
Rosie and Emily seemed to be particularly close. Despite my recent odd behavior that could annoy her, she always looked out for me with a worried face.
"The Herthas Count Family is looking for their missing daughter."
Herthas Count Family?
It sounded familiar...... Ah!
It was the family of this novel's villainous sub-gong.
Yurta Herthas.
He was the villainous sub-gong who constantly interfered with Arjen's affairs.
The reason Yurta took interest in Arjen was because Arjen had killed his missing sister.
After searching for so long, when he saw his sister returned as a corpse, Yurta sought revenge and approached Arjen.
But in the end, he fell deeply in love with Arjen.
Yurta showed mad obsession toward Arjen, declaring that if he couldn't have him, he'd thoroughly destroy him, tormenting readers' minds throughout the novel.
At first glance, Yurta seemed like a sub-gong with a tragic backstory, but that wasn't the case.
<You destroyed what was mine, so it's only right you get thrown into the abyss, isn't it?>
......Words from the original Yurta.
He was a madman who treated his own sister like his possession.
"Apparently, she ran away about 2 years ago."
"Why search for her now if she ran away 2 years ago?"
"Who knows the minds of nobles? Maybe they want to sell her off in a political marriage belatedly?"
I nodded vaguely.
"I heard the reward is huge. Like the price of a mansion."
Emily's eyes sparkled as she mentioned the reward.
"No portrait or anything, apparently. But they said pink hair, pink eyes?"
"......"
Come to think of it, this body I possessed also had pink hair and pink eyes......
At that moment, Emily's eyes widened slightly as she looked at me.
"Now that you mention it, Rosie, you too......"
"To think I'd get caught this easily. Actually, I'm the daughter of the Herthas Count Family......"
"Yeah, sure."
Emily turned away with a cold face, interest gone.
I needed to go get Rihart's breakfast.
And incidentally monitor to ensure nothing strange was added to the food.
"Hello, Rosie."
As Emily and I chatted amicably, some maids approached us.
"What's up?"
"Nothing much, but you seem to be struggling with the meal duty."
"......And?"
"So, how about we take over for you?"
The maids gazed at me with seeming concern, but I detected something odd there.
Were they pitying me for being dragged to Rihart like to a slaughterhouse, stirring their sympathy?
And thus stepping up to help so readily?
As if.
What kind of scheme was this?
They'd been shoving the duty around, treating Rihart like a monster, but now suddenly changing hearts to help me?
And maids I wasn't even close to?
"Thank you so much. I can't tell you how nice it is working with such kind girls like you."
"Then, Rosie......"
"But it's fine. I can't pass off my duty."
Instead of showing displeasure, I smiled gratefully.
I'd love it if they took over Rihart's meal duty, but if something happened, the blame would likely fall on me for passing it off.
Better to take full responsibility until the duty ends.
"Passing it off? No, we want to help you."
"No. It wouldn't sit right with me. And it's just delivering the food right away—not that hard."
"Really......?"
The maids stared at me with uneasy eyes.
"Rosie, actually......"
As one maid whispered in a low voice as if to say something, the others grabbed her as if to stop her.
......What?
Something was definitely up.
"Got it, Rosie. Hang in there."
......It felt less like cheering for attending Rihart and more like encouragement for the tough future ahead.
What the hell?
Suspicious......
A nagging doubt lingered, but I had no time to dwell on it now.
I hurried to the kitchen before the kitchen maid arrived, watching to ensure no funny business with the food.
Then, as usual, I took the food and headed to Rihart.
With the Guard at Rihart's door, we'd exchanged mere greetings a few times, but familiarity had already sprouted between us.
"Good morning. Have a good day."
"Thank you, miss maid."
After our cheerful exchange, I entered Rihart's room.
But......
......My god, what is that?
I nearly dropped the tray.
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if it was an illusion, but I wasn't seeing wrong.
I couldn't hold back and opened my mouth.
"What in the......"
Rihart lay sprawled exhausted on the floor, half-naked.
Honestly, his half-bare body was beautiful.
The densely woven muscles looked as if a god had painstakingly sculpted them with a brush—sensual and artistic.
But that wasn't what caught my eye.
His bare upper body was crossed with harsh red marks slashing across his back. Multiple ones.
His back bore whip marks.
"......"
I was speechless at the sight.
"......Ah."
A languid voice shattered the silence I'd created and seeped in.
"Miss maid."
I hid my shock and transferred the food from the dog bowl to the plate as usual.
I didn't even offer polite words like "Are you okay?" or "Does it hurt a lot?"
If I was just going to spectate without helping, it was better to thoroughly pretend not to notice. Half-hearted comfort would just make me a hypocrite.
"Was that talk of being kind to patients a lie?"
"If you want, I'll bring medicine at lunchtime."
"Is that your way of being kind, miss maid?"
"You make it sound like you have a preferred way."
Rihart didn't reply right away as usual and simply stared at me.
His blue eyes, which I'd felt were like a serene lake, today seemed like a turbulent sea.
Gazing into those blue eyes felt like being swept away by fierce waves, unable to escape to land and sinking into the dark abyss.
"How strange."
Rihart, who had been gazing intently at me, curved his red lips in pleasant amusement.
