Although she had been granted leave, Shioana went to work the very next day and began catching up on her backlog. While Thompson and Murphy had divided the work among themselves, there were still parts she needed to check.
It was manageable because she could forget her thoughts while she was engrossed in work. However, whenever she occasionally looked up, a sigh escaped her involuntarily.
'I heard that His Excellency still hasn't been able to get out of bed. I wonder how badly he must have been injured for that to happen.'
Her heart felt heavy at the news about Duke Bernhard that Martha had delivered this morning. She hadn't seen him even once since coming out of the cave.
'Are you saying you still don't know who I am?'
The words the Duke had spoken echoed endlessly in her ears.
Shioana lightly shook her head, shaking off her thoughts.
No matter how much she thought about it, this didn't make sense.
If Duke Bernhard is Etienne, why is he being so cruel to Shioana?
She had two concerns at the moment.
'I am afraid of acknowledging the Duke as Etienne, and of hearing the misunderstandings he harbors.'
In both Regbell and here, a bright future could not be easily envisioned for the two of them from the start.
'Because he is Duke Bernhard.'
As she let out a long sigh, Raul, who had returned from handling business outside, wore a welcoming expression.
"I think I told you to rest a little longer, but you're already back."
"I unintentionally caused you trouble."
"Meeting a bear in the forest is just how it is. It's a relief that it wasn't worse."
As Shioana was about to turn the documents again with her thimble-wearing hand, he handed her a few sheets of paper.
“What is this?”
"I picked out some decent, affordable vacant houses from the newly listed ones."
“Ah. Thank you.”
It seemed he hadn't forgotten her story about finding a new house.
Shioana flipped through the documents with sparkling eyes. Just as Raul had said, the location was good, and the price wasn't too bad either.
She wanted to get off work today and check the house herself.
"I'll go with you this afternoon."
“You won’t do that.”
Since the boss was a busy man whose time could be measured in money, at Shioana's refusal, he scratched his head and let out a low sigh.
"I'm just going out to work, so there's no need to feel pressured."
So, after work, Shioana looked around a few houses side by side with Raul.
She would have been in trouble if she hadn't come with him. She didn't know as well as Raul what to focus on when looking at a new house.
He carefully examined the lighting and mold inside, and even scrutinized the atmosphere of the alley in detail.
"It would be inconvenient to live in a place too far from the market."
"I think that's likely the case."
Raul chuckled as he watched Shioana, who had been standing beside him with an admiring expression the whole time. He had never had a younger sister, but he thought that if he did, this must be what it feels like.
"I've been walking for so long that I'm thirsty and hungry. Shall we go over there and have some meat?"
"...Ah."
Since she was indebted to him, it was only right to treat him to at least one dinner. As Shioana hesitated due to her meager finances, Raul grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.
"I won't ask you to buy it for me, so come quickly."
The roadside restaurant had only a few items on the menu, but it was packed with customers, making it impossible to find an empty seat.
Upon Raul's arrival, the staff guided them to a reserved seat, and the two were able to order smoked meat right away.
"This is the most successful place in District 8."
“It seems so.”
There were many customers, and the staff looked frantically busy. Only then did Shioana feel a slight hunger at the savory aroma.
"If you only eat porridge when you're sick, how can a person possibly regain their strength?"
"...Ah."
Only then did Shioana realize that Raul had come to buy her meat to help her recover.
Following the veterinarian, Raul was the second person to show her kindness upon her arrival here. She wanted to express her gratitude, but her heart was racing ahead, and she couldn't seem to speak.
Just then, the ordered meat and drink arrived, and Raul skillfully butchered the meat with the dagger he had strapped to his side.
“Come on. Eat a lot.”
"I will definitely repay this kindness."
Shioana recalled the time she first came to Urcheka and stayed up all night sewing with Martha. She really did her best, but even feeding Harriet well was difficult.
She didn't want to admit it, but she realized that sometimes working hard alone might not be enough.
'If we hadn't met such a good benefactor, Martha and I would still be suffering.'
At that time, the needle prick wound still remained faintly on the tip of her finger.
"It is twice or three times harder for outsiders like us to survive here than for others."
Shioana nodded at the words quietly uttered by Raul, who had been silently eating his meat.
After all, Martha had to unjustly be framed as a thief simply because she was not from this region.
"That's why you put in the effort to earn money."
Shioana smiled brightly for the first time in a while at Raul's cheerful words.
“Yes, boss.”
Raul's mouth curved into a wide grin at Shioana's smile.
Actually, he had many things he wanted to ask, but he put them off until later. She was so thin right now that it was important to feed her well.
It was around the time the two were finishing their meal. Shioana, who had been looking somewhere, widened her eyes. Count Noah was walking briskly down the street, leading a large entourage of his subordinates, just as she had seen him before.
'...Count Noah.'
She had forgotten about him in the middle because of Duke Bernhard's business.
'Good heavens, there are things you should forget.'
Raul looked puzzled as she hid under the table, afraid of making eye contact.
"Are we playing hide-and-seek right now?"
"...That is."
At Shioana's troubled voice, he turned around to shield her. In doing so, he did not forget to carefully observe the man who was just passing by.
***
The meat she had enjoyed for the first time in a while remained undigested because she had witnessed Count Noah. Shioana groaned in pain in the carriage returning to the Bernhard mansion.
She felt like she was being driven to the edge of a cliff.
'I don't feel like returning to the Duke's mansion, either.'
Encountering Count Noah, whom she had seen in District 8, was even more terrible. Her future, which had seemed to show a glimmer of hope, was once again shrouded in fog.
'What should I do?'
She knew very well that she shouldn't just avoid it, but it was too big a task to handle, so she kept hesitating.
'It is really painful to see his face when he hates me.'
Just as she was thinking that nothing was easy, the carriage had already arrived at the mansion. Shioana looked for Harriet and Martha first.
"The young master has gained a lot of weight, perhaps because the food here suits his taste."
Harriet's cheeks seemed to have gotten a little plumper from staying in a warm room with no drafts from above. Shioana, holding her rosy-cheeked nephew tightly, gently rubbed his back.
"Martha, I roughly looked into a new place to move to today."
"You should have gone with me. Did you do such a difficult job all by yourself?"
"No, not at all. Since the boss accompanied me, it wasn't difficult at all."
At Shioana's words, Martha narrowed her eyes and kept smiling. That face was the same as when she had decided to marry Count Noah.
"Martha. I'm telling you, the boss doesn't like me."
"Miss, I tell you, a man will give his heart and soul to the woman he likes. Just look at the boss. He keeps giving you food, finding you a job, and now he's even helping you find a house."
She was well aware that Martha was eccentric, but today's story was strangely persuasive.
"He treated me to meat today..."
"See? I told you, if he buys you meat, it's practically guaranteed."
Shioana was completely flustered because of Martha, who was acting like a dating expert.
"It just made my head hurt even more for no reason."
She already had so many things to worry about, so she didn't want to be conscious of the boss as well.
She stepped up to the second floor of the main house, struggling to forget everything Martha had said. Cedric moved her room again to the Duke's room next door. As she walked down the still-dark hallway, her heart tightened.
'Your Excellency is in a very critical condition.'
Viscount Conrad, whom she had met on the first floor earlier, looked very grim. In fact, the two of them knew that they hadn't been attacked by a bear.
'It is said that the arrow was poisoned.'
And the Viscount conveyed his belated gratitude.
'Thank you very much for looking after the Duke.'
Previous Next
Comments
Post a Comment