I’ll Raise the Baby Tiger, Squirrel Style
Before the shock had even faded from Melissa’s face, a look of profound disgust took its place.
Her brow furrowed sharply, and she stepped off the bed.
Her voice rose in a shrill shriek that made both Jane and me flinch.
Even caught in an awkward position, Jane continued with steady calm.
Melissa shoved past Jane and me in turn before storming out of the room.
By the looks of it, she was heading straight to confront the butler or the Duke himself.
The moment that word slipped from my tongue, my heart began to pound in sympathy.
It seemed the evaluation criteria held secret clauses capable of filtering out candidates on a single word alone.
While staying here, I had to watch every word, every step, absolutely everything.
‘Be a thinking rodent.’
Out of nowhere, the Duke’s face flashed in my mind, his sharp gaze staring down at me.
Then again, being careful now felt a bit late, given how thoroughly I had already landed in His Grace’s bad graces.
Jane gave me a thumbs-up and offered a warm smile.
I beamed at Jane and offered my sincere thanks.
Jane stared at me blankly for a second.
Jane seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering.
When I gave her another bright smile, Jane nodded slightly and opened the door.
With her cheeks faintly flushed for some reason, Jane glanced back at me once more, then slowly turned and left the room.
I wondered briefly if Lady Darters would return in one piece after confronting the Duke, but I soon shook my head.
I collapsed onto the bed, letting my back sink into the mattress.
Never in my life had I lain on a bed this plush; it felt like stepping into an entirely new world.
It practically coaxed the sleep right out of me.
I could do nothing to stop my eyelids from drifting shut.
***
On an ordinary day, Kuhn would have dined at his leisure and lingered in the bath.
Tonight, however, he had rushed through his meal and hurried toward the bathroom.
The corners of his lips kept twitching upward, making it near impossible to maintain his composure around the servants.
‘B-be… a thinking squeaker…’
Those wide eyes drooping slightly, her sullen irises moist with an injured pout.
Shoulders slumping to match her gaze, hands clasped politely in front of her all the while, her voice sinking to a defeated whisper.
Even while swallowing every scrap of her pride just to honor her promise to Hokan, the woman’s face as she mimicked his words lingered in his mind.
Every time those wide eyes sprang unbidden to his thoughts, an airy chuckle slipped through his lips.
Even in flattery, one could hardly call her wager with Hokan a wise move, but her regard for the boy was genuine and rare.
And that sincerity kept drawing a smirk from him.
‘I haven’t had a reason to laugh since my brother died…’
Yet a family head could not afford to go about smiling loosely before the household staff.
According to the ruthless heir training he had endured in his youth, where his back had split beneath the lash and his hips had blackened with bruises, a patriarch was always meant to wear an impassive mask.
To tuck away his stray thoughts, Kuhn sank deeply into the tub, washing clean the day’s fatigue and lingering notions.
Fresh from the bath, draped in only a robe over his sleepwear, he headed back toward the office.
It was his habit to review tomorrow’s duties and map out the most efficient schedule.
With a sharp bang, someone kicked the office doors wide open.
Kuhn slowly lifted his head.
No one had ever barged into his office in such a manner before, so it was certainly no one from Blan Castle.
Kuhn tilted his head, arching a single brow as his gaze settled on the woman before him.
Far from startled, the languid weight in his eyes pinned her firmly where she stood.
The person who had stormed through the door like an enemy commander was Melissa of House Darters.
After a fleeting instant of being entranced by Kuhn’s deadly yet captivating gaze, Melissa gathered her senses and spoke.
Marie, a maid who had sprinted in after Melissa out of breath, caught the edge of Kuhn’s sharp glare and trembled in utter panic.
Ignoring Melissa completely, Kuhn addressed the breathless maid instead.
Marie sounded on the verge of tears.
Melissa paid her distress no heed.
Melissa stepped closer to the Duke’s desk as she demanded an answer.
Kuhn spoke while continuing to look only at the maid.
Marie relayed the words with a timid, trembling voice.
At last, Kuhn turned his gaze toward Melissa.
His eyes flashed like a freshly honed blade.
Kuhn tilted his head back slightly as though utterly exhausted by the conversation.
“Lady Darters. I am currently extending to you every ounce of courtesy a noble is due, so take your satisfaction in that and get out of my sight.”
Marie opened the door and waited for Melissa to exit.
Swallowing back rising sobs, Melissa fled from Kuhn’s office.
Once the door clicked shut, peaceful silence settled over the room once more.
He thought he heard a faint cry from the corridor—‘Just because you’re handsome doesn’t give you the right! No wonder you’re still unmarried!’—though he couldn’t be sure.
Kuhn brushed it aside entirely and resumed examining his documents.
***
As soon as breakfast ended the following morning, the young ladies gathered in the drawing room of the annex.
A long table flanked with chairs, nowhere to be seen yesterday, had been set in the center of the room.
Moments later, the front doors swung open to reveal Maurice and the maids.
At Maurice’s command, the ladies took their places one by one.
Maurice stood before them and let his gaze sweep across the room.
Rather than announcing that Melissa had been disqualified, Maurice phrased it tactfully as a personal withdrawal.
Perhaps he wished to avoid revealing that a single misspoken word could lead to immediate elimination.
Even though I, quite unintentionally, already knew the entire story from start to finish.
Nine pairs of bright, focused eyes turned toward Maurice’s face.
