Chapter: 18
That night.
Ricardo kicked his blanket off again and again, thinking back on what had happened during the day.
Why on earth did I do something like that?!
Putting a ring on someone’s ring finger was no different from a proposal. He knew that—and yet his hand had moved on its own.
If he had to make an excuse, it would be that Mary’s fingers were just too slender and pretty…
By the time he snapped out of it, the flower ring was already on Mary’s ring finger.
Suddenly, Ricardo felt curious.
What did Mary think about it?
When he put the flower ring on her finger, Mary had simply smiled and thanked him.
She hadn’t looked particularly surprised or flustered. She hadn’t even asked why he put it on the fourth finger.
Could it be that she doesn’t know what it means to put a ring on the left ring finger?
That couldn’t be.
Even commoners wear their wedding rings on the left ring finger.
No… maybe Mary really doesn’t know.
Unlike nobles, commoners aren’t educated in etiquette and social customs from a young age. If she was a country girl who never even attended an academy, it was possible she didn’t know.
I should let this pass naturally so Mary doesn’t get strange ideas.
It wasn’t even a gemstone ring—just a poorly made flower ring. There was no way it could carry the same meaning as an engagement ring.
And besides, wasn’t he Ricardo Hamilton? There was no way he would propose to a maid with something like a flower ring.
If I were really proposing, I would’ve given her a huge diamond ring.
Following that train of thought, an image formed in Ricardo’s mind: Mary receiving a diamond ring.
An adult Ricardo Hamilton stood tall and reliable, just like the father he’d seen in old portraits.
With a broad chest and large hands that could easily hold Mary, he stood before her as she waited demurely.
“Will you marry me?”
“…Yes.”
Though her face flushed shyly, their gazes never left each other.
As he slipped the ring onto Mary’s pure white finger and held her hand, a bright smile bloomed on her face.
“Thank you, Ricardo.”
“Ghk—!”
Ricardo sucked in a sharp breath and jolted upright. His face was even redder than Mary’s in his imagination.
Not ‘Ricardo’—she’d say ‘Young Master’.
There was no way a maid like Mary would gently call him by his name.
…Or maybe it’s okay if she’s being polite? ‘Sir Ricardo’ wouldn’t be so bad, right?
She might accidentally forget the honorific.
And if it was after a proposal, then in places where no one else was around, she might call him by name affectionately, like lovers do.
As Ricardo desperately tried to come up with reasonable justifications, he suddenly stiffened.
What am I even thinking right now?
It made him sound like someone desperate to be called by Mary using his name.
No. Absolutely not!
His blanket flew up into the air once more, flailing noisily like his unsettled heart.
It was a confusing night.
I carefully removed the flower ring from my left ring finger and placed it on the bedside table.
At the sight of the clumsy little flower ring, a smile naturally formed on my lips.
I knew what it meant to wear a ring on the left ring finger.
But I didn’t attach any great meaning to the flower ring I received from the young master.
Every child I had taken care of before had put a flower ring on my left ring finger at least once. Some of them even confessed boldly.
“Mary, when I grow up, I’m going to marry you!”
“No! Mary’s going to marry me!”
While working as a village nanny, I’d been proposed to by countless children. Thanks to that, I was used to this sort of thing.
I guess he didn’t know what the ring finger means.
There was no way the young master had made a cute proposal like the village kids.
Having come to a simple conclusion, I got ready for bed. After going out for the first time in a while, sleep quickly washed over me.
It was a peaceful night.
A warm afternoon, sunlight streaming in long beams.
The young master, who had been reading as usual, suddenly asked,
“Who am I?”
At the unexpected question, I quietly looked at him.
Why was the young master suddenly asking something like a drunk man from the village?
“You’re the young master.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Pardon?”
“Not ‘young master.’ You could call me something else.”
Something other than “young master”…
“My lord?”
That wasn’t it either. From his subtly twisted expression, his dissatisfaction was obvious.
“Then… young master sir?”
“No.”
“Your Excellency?”
“Why does it keep getting more formal?”
If he didn’t like young master, young master sir, or Your Excellency…
“I’m sorry, young master. I can’t think of anything else.”
When I answered honestly, he said curtly,
“Don’t you even know my name?”
“How could I not know it?”
“Then say it.”
“You’re Young Master Ricardo Hamilton.”
His light green eyes wavered slightly.
He still looked displeased. But honestly, I was dissatisfied too.
“Then what about you, young master—do you know my name?”
“…Of course I do.”
“You hesitated a little.”
“I was dumbfounded because you asked something so obvious.”
“That’s exactly how I felt just now.”
I continued in a slightly sulky tone.
“You’ve never called me by my name even once, so I thought maybe you didn’t know it.”
There really hadn’t been any need to call me by name. I always noticed first before he called me.
Whenever I felt his sharp gaze, I would immediately ask if he needed anything. That was only natural for a maid.
“Since no one ever calls me by name, I feel like I might forget it myself soon.”
When I exaggerated like that, the young master’s expression darkened. After a brief moment of thought, he opened his mouth.
“…Ma—”
His slightly hoarse voice was so quiet I could barely hear it.
“Yes? I can’t hear you.”
The young master squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and then shouted,
“…Mary! There, are you satisfied?”
His pale cheeks were tinged red.
Was calling someone’s name really that difficult?
Either way, I was happy that the young master had called my name for the first time.
“Yes, young master. That’s enough. Now I’m sure you know my name.”
He let out a sigh of relief, as though he’d accomplished the most difficult task in the world.
Then, with his face still flushed, he glared sharply at me.
“Now it’s your turn.”
He jerked his chin toward me, as if urging me to do something. There was an odd sense of expectation in his expression.
My turn?
“I called your name. Now you should call mine.”
“What? I already did earlier. I called you ‘Young Master Ricardo Hamilton.’”
“Since when was my name ‘Young Master Ricardo Hamilton’?”
He put particular emphasis on “young master.”
“Don’t tell me you want me to call you just by your name?”
He nodded as if it were obvious. I flinched and shouted,
“I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“How could I possibly call you by your name! That would be a huge problem.”
“What’s the big deal about calling a name?”
“It is a big deal! No matter how kindly you treat me, there’s a line between you and me that can’t be crossed. What do you think would happen if I crossed it?”
With his arms crossed, the young master looked at me arrogantly, as if telling me to go on.
“I’d start treating you like a friend. I’d speak casually, maybe even throw an arm around your shoulders, and shamelessly ask you for things.”
“What kind of things?”
The sudden question left me momentarily speechless.
I didn’t really have anything to ask for.
Hesitating, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Well… asking you to raise my salary?”
As I said it awkwardly, I saw him frown.
“Is your pay too low?”
“No! I was just giving an example. I haven’t even been paid yet, but what you promised when I first joined the grand ducal household is more than enough! Anyway, calling you by name is absolutely not okay.”
When I firmly put my foot down, the young master sighed.
“So troublesome…” he muttered, then added as if conceding a point.
“If you add an honorific, it’s fine, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then just add ‘-nim.’”
“Ricardo Hamilton-nim? Like that?”
“Drop the family name.”
“Ricardo-nim.”
“…Again.”
Did I pronounce it wrong?
I carefully repeated it.
“Ricardo-nim.”
After a long silence, the young master abruptly turned his head away.
“That’s enough. You can go now.”
Was something wrong again?
I bowed and left the room.
Appeasing the young master’s moods seemed to be getting harder and harder.
