Mezen Madam’s question was completely out of the blue.
“Yes, this is the first time I’ve met you.”
Lunaria had never even seen her from a distance. Naturally, it was their first meeting.
Hearing her answer, Madam Mezen simply turned away, saying, “I see.”
It was a puzzling first conversation.
Since Madam Mezen did not say to leave the mansion, Lunaria took it as permission to work there as a maid.
From then on, every day she came to the Veila Mansion, cooking meals and cleaning. In this way, Lunaria settled into her role as a maid at the Veila estate.
Just as her trailing old memories seemed to come to an end, the shadow flickering inside the first-floor window disappeared.
And then the door to the mansion opened.
A middle-aged woman with no expression held the doorknob and looked at Lunaria.
She stood taller than most grown men, her body solid with well-developed muscles.
“Were you watching me coming?”
“Try spending all day with Madam Mezen yourself. You’ll see how boring it is.”
The caregiver, Emily, spoke bluntly, but she was someone with a deeper heart than anyone else.
In her previous life, contact with Emily had been lost once Madam Mezen passed away.
Even after her return, Emily’s true identity remained unclear.
Lunaria only half-guessed that she was not an ordinary caregiver.
“You two get along so well—why talk like that?”
It had been over ten years since they last met.
Lunaria swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled softly.
“What’s that bag?”
Emily pointed at the worn cloth bag in Lunaria’s hand.
“Ran away from home?”
She did not miss the fleeting expression crossing Lunaria’s face.
Without waiting for an answer, she continued:
“Good job. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“I do.”
Before Lunaria could stumble over her words, Emily quickly answered for her.
“You don’t, do you?”
“I do!”
Ignoring Lunaria’s flustered explanations, Emily strode into the mansion.
On their way to Madam Mezen’s room, Lunaria repeatedly begged Emily not to tell the Madam that she had left home.
“Madam, Miss Luna is here.”
“Come in.”
When the door opened, Madam Mezen was seen sinking into her armchair, eyes closed.
Her finely silvered hair, showing the years, her firmly shut lips—Lunaria had missed her so dearly.
It had been far too long since she last saw Madam Mezen alive. Lunaria almost burst into tears.
In her harsh life, was there anyone who had shown her as much consideration as Madam Mezen?
Though they had only known each other for half a year, Madam had left her name in her will.
“Madam Mezen, I missed you.”
She barely restrained herself from running into her arms.
Instead, Lunaria clasped the old lady’s hand. Warmth was there.
“Even though you saw me just yesterday.”
Madam Mezen lifted one corner of her lips, squeezing her hand back.
That slightly arrogant smile reminded Lunaria so much of Frantes that she gazed at her with emotion.
“Luna ran away from home. That’s why she’s a little sentimental right now.”
“Well done.”
But she had asked Emily not to mention it.
Lunaria turned a betrayed expression toward her.
“She has no place to stay. Shall we prepare the east-end room on this floor?”
“Do so.”
“No! That’s all right, Madam Mezen, Emily.”
Lunaria hurriedly tried to stop them.
But the two ignored her words. At times like this, they were perfectly in sync.
Emily snatched Lunaria’s bag.
As Lunaria tried to resist, her body staggered under the strong force.
Emily walked off briskly.
“Come on. It’s a room not cleaned for ages—dust everywhere.
We’ll need to tidy the west room as well, so let’s finish before lunch.”
“I really am fine.”
Lunaria scurried after Emily.
“You should accept kindness when offered. Refusing isn’t polite. Madam only allows this because it’s you.”
She was right. If Lunaria’s own thoughtfulness were rejected, she would surely feel hurt.
Still, Lunaria wasn’t used to just receiving.
Her restless fingers fidgeted in the air.
“Then how should I pay for living expenses?”
“Forget it. Madam Mezen isn’t someone who needs money. She has more than she could spend in a lifetime.”
“…Thank you…”
“I didn’t do anything. Save your thanks for Madam later.”
Emily climbed the stairs leading to the second floor.
“Someone will be staying in the west room for a while. He’s arriving at dinner.
If only we’d been told sooner, we could’ve cleaned in advance—honestly, his arrogance never changes.”
Lunaria’s heart thumped violently.
“Who’s coming?”
Even her lips trembled as she asked.
“Madam’s nephew. A man.
He’s quite a dissolute fellow—you may find him unpleasant. But you’ll be fine. You’re not the sort to fall for that type.”
Emily’s sharp assessment made Lunaria purse her lips to suppress a laugh.
“Why? Is he a womanizer? At least handsome?”
“He is popular.”
Emily answered indignantly, as if she couldn’t understand it.
“Anyway, be careful.”
Emily worried about things that could never happen.
Could a man like Frantes, with such status and looks, ever truly care for her?
Perhaps he might show interest for fun.
But to mistake that for something more, to think there was even a chance—that was a luxury reserved only for those who were worthy.
‘How could I possibly dare harbor such feelings?’
Lunaria tied on a white apron and pulled her hair into a low bun.
Then she and Emily cleaned the east room all morning.
It was her first time seeing the room’s interior.
Madam Mezen hated inefficiency, forbidding the cleaning of unused rooms.
So Lunaria had always just dusted the hallway lightly.
As expected, the east room was full of cobwebs and thick dust.
She flung open the squeaking shutters long closed.
Emily lifted the bed, and Lunaria cleaned beneath it.
They swept the floors, placed fresh bedding, and transformed the room into one so neat the old state was unimaginable.
Lunaria hung her two faded outfits in the small mahogany wardrobe.
Her heart felt uneasy.
She was grateful, but Madam Mezen’s generosity weighed on her.
‘I suffered enough in my past life…surely I can enjoy at least this much.’
She tried to reassure herself, but it wasn’t easy.
Lunaria went to the window, gazing down into the empty garden.
As if, if she stared long enough, someone might appear.
She found herself waiting.
By the time the east room was finished, it was already lunch.
With practiced skill, Lunaria quickly prepared a meal.
The three of them sat together at the table.
According to Imperial etiquette, servants could not dine with their employers.
But in Madam Mezen’s mansion, things were different.
“Luna, prepare lemon cake for dinner.”
Madam said this while eating her beef sandwich.
Though her tone was casual, Lunaria sensed her hidden affection for her nephew, and a faint smile touched her lips.
Lunaria’s lemon cake was Madam Mezen’s favorite dessert.
Not surprisingly, Frantes also loved it.
After tasting it once, he even came to the kitchen, begging her to teach him the recipe.
Though good at everything, for some reason he always failed at baking cakes.
But he never gave up, so she knew he truly loved lemon cake.
Such were the days until Madam passed away.
‘Yes…’
In two months’ time, Madam Mezen would die, leaving Lunaria behind.
No matter how she struggled, that fact would not change.
Seeing her eating beside her now, Lunaria’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Madam was a remarkably healthy elder for her age.
She ate hard food with no problem, digested well.
Her joints ached a little, but she walked without difficulty.
Yet she claimed her health was poor—something deep within, unseen, hurt.
When Lunaria suggested bringing in a village doctor or keeping a physician, Madam refused, saying it was an illness unique to her alone, untreatable by anyone.
Even Emily, who never hesitated to speak bluntly to Madam, remained composed only on this subject.
It was as though they had both come to the Veila Mansion to wait for a prepared death.
‘So that’s how it was…’
Perhaps Madam even knew the exact date she would die.
In her past life, she had closed her eyes in complete peace.
Lunaria, who had been unable to be with her at the end because of the moneylenders, wept until her eyes swelled when she later heard the news.
Now, returned, she could understand a little.
The calm heart that prepares for an inevitable end.
‘This time, I will see Madam to her rest. I will do everything I can for her until her last moment.’
And once all was over in Tilbury, Lunaria would leave for a place where no one knew her.
To find, like Madam, a grave of her own…
“Yes, I will. After cleaning the west room, I’ll buy some lemons.”
“No, after the meal, take Benny and go to the village. The west room was cleaned half a year ago—I can manage it myself.”
Emily spoke.
“Normally it’s my job alone, but you’re helping me. I can’t allow that.”
“Why is Luna only stubborn in times like this? Can’t you just live comfortably?”
While they bickered, a knock sounded at the front door.
The long-awaited guest had arrived.
