Chapter 010
“I’m sorry….”
We went to the adjacent living room, and it was a voice that made me wonder if it was really mine.
“I was wrong.”
My ears, visible through my hair, were red, and my hands, placed neatly on my knees, were trembling slightly.
Just thinking about what happened earlier made me feel so embarrassed.
Rio, who met us in the hallway, separated the two of us.
Delphia held Irina’s hand and told her that these clothes were called nightshirts and were originally meant to be worn loosely.
Oh my God, I didn’t know there were men’s clothes, let alone women’s clothes, that revealed half the body like that during sleep.
“I made a mistake because I didn’t know the Duke’s clothes were in their natural form …”
“I had never seen clothes like that before.”
Winifred wore clothes that covered his neck tightly, exactly as Irina wanted, and let out a deep sigh.
And he pressed the corners of his eyes, which had dark shadows.
‘I don’t know what this is supposed to be.’
It was a day when he couldn’t sleep as usual.
Balancing the auditory hallucinations and visions hitting his head as the morning sun rose.
And while he was lying on the sofa with all his strength exhausted, he had to accept sleep that was as vague as mist.
‘How long did I sleep like this? One hour? Two hours?’
He had a memory of moving his body in a blurry way.
The mist gradually became thinner.
Then another person entered.
She entered carefully so as not to make any noise, but Winifred had already woken up the moment the door opened.
He was sure the person walking was wearing slippers and walking on the carpet.
To Winifred’s ears, it sounded like a military boot hitting the dirt.
His body was tense.
One step, a small movement from her.
He focused on everything.
The misty sleep that had spread over him long ago disappeared.
She stretched out her arms.
And there was something in her hand.
‘What is this, a dagger? Or a bomb?’
He started to feel nervous.
His eyes were closed, but it was as if they were open.
He had to look for an opportunity to overcome them all at once.
Winifred held his breath.
And at the moment the opponent turned.
“…..!”
The intruder fell to the floor.
But something was strange.
The body was too small to be considered an enemy, and above all, there was no smell of blood.
In fact, a scent that could not be smelled on a battlefield tickled the tip of his nose.
The scent was not something that would remind him of only one person.
If he wanted to be honest, it smelled like grass, or rather a wheat field without human blood.
It was a scent that could never be smelled on a battlefield.
“……Ah.”
Only then did his vision, which was very narrow, return to its original state.
It wasn’t an enemy he had caught.
But it was the only daughter of Count Leonid and his wife, whom he took himself and brought back home the day before yesterday.
‘What mistake did I make?’
Winifred quickly retreated.
He didn’t want to show his face full of deep self-loathing to anyone, so he turned his head and rubbed his face with his hands.
“…Why are you here?”
She was someone to be cherished.
She was someone to be saved.
She was someone he had to repay a lot to.
He felt disgusted with himself for attacking such a precious person without being able to distinguish between what was right and wrong.
He bit his lip hard.
“I asked you why you are here.”
“Well, I wanted to bring you a meal… I heard you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
“…Who asked you to do this? Delphia or the chef?”
On earth, who made you do this?
“I’m the one who wanted to…..”
Maybe because she bit her lip a little, she stopped talking and then continued again.
“I’m the one who said I would do it.”
“Ha….”
A deep breath flowed between the lips that were tightly closed,
He lifted his hand from his face.
The expression on his face, revealed under his hand, was clear disgust.
“You cut your hands on the first day and now you’ve decided to do the housework yourself?”
“I don’t know if I brought a guest or a new maid.”
Irina lowered her gaze at the sarcastic voice.
I bit my lip.
Hurt was piled on top of fear.
“……. Sorry, I made a mistake.”
Winifred, who was looking at Irina that way, wiped his face with his hand and turned his head again.
‘It was better not to see Lady Leonid now. In addition, it would be better for the Lady to be invisible.’
“There is no need for you to do things like this from now on. You are truly my guest.”
There was nothing special Winifred wanted from Lady Leonid.
All she had to do was eat with a full stomach, sleep comfortably, recover from her wounds, and reconcile with her difficult past.
After she takes a rest here, she will take her necessary step to leave on her own path.
That’s all.
Doing something that only servants do like this was not something he expected from her.
“So.”
In addition, these actions could hurt her.
“I want you to leave the room.”
He spoke strongly because there was no sign of movement from Irina, and only then did he feel the small body moving backward.
Irina, who was walking a few steps, stopped.
And hesitated for a moment.
‘What are you trying to say?’
Winifred wiped his dry face again.
“This.”
And a voice containing hesitation was heard.
“Eat the meal while it’s warm.”
It was unexpected.
When Winifred turned his head by surprise, Irina had already left the room.
* * *
“…….”
‘Is he angry?’
Irina looked closely at Duke Winifred, who was sitting silently.
The Duke sat still in that position.
I was at a loss whether his face was stiff because he was angry or not.
“Are you still angry?”
Irina also knew that placing her hands indifferently on a nobleman’s body was a serious crime.
‘But but! I could see his entire chest and belly! Oh my god, he was so manly! Ah? I mean, how could he show his belly like that and come out half-naked? Oh my god, how could he do that!’
Irina’s eyes began to flicker as she remembered what happened earlier.
‘Ugh.’
Irina covered her face with her palms.
However, without realizing it, she caught a glimpse of Winifred, who was still pressing his eyelids.
‘…..But what was different?’
The shapes of the men Irina had seen so far were completely different.
Aren’t men’s bellies protruding or sunken and disgusting?
But the Duke’s belly looked solid and had some scars…
“…..!”
Our eyes met.
Irina, who was looking at Winifred through her fingers, was shocked and lowered her head.
“Lady Leonid.”
I turned my head in response to the voice calling me.
“What were you thinking so seriously that made your face turn so red?”
“…..Nothing.”
If there is a mouse hole, I want to enter it and hide.
Irina lowered her head more to hide her red face.
I didn’t even know that the back of my neck, which was exposed when I lowered my head, and the ears visible through my hair had already turned red.
“Are you.”
I flinch.
“Imagining.”
“…No!”
Irina raised her head.
I tried to say that this was not really what I was thinking, but my mouth froze.
‘Is he smiling?’
Duke Winifred was really smiling.
Somehow, Irina, in a daze, forgot what she wanted to say and blinked.
“You accused me of being unscrupulous, but the young lady was the one being unscrupulous.”
“No, really.”
Irina turned her head slowly.
“I guess we will stay like this for a while?”
“No! I’ll just drink tea!”
The taste of the tea, which I drank quickly to avoid being found out, was terrible.
“What, what made it taste like this?”
Do nobles usually drink these bitter things without caring about the taste?
“…….”
Irina, who was surprised, quietly pushed the teacup away.
Meanwhile, Winifred, who suddenly approached, muttered in a low voice.
“I caused a mark on your wrist.”
It was Irina’s wrist that the Duke had grabbed earlier.
“I’m sorry.”
Irina, who was surprised by the apology, looked at Winifred.
He apologized while wiping the corners of his mouth.
“I was having a nightmare at that time, so my reaction was sharp.”
I reached out my hand and carefully wiped my wrist, where his handprint remained.
“I think you will get a bruise if you leave it like this.”
“…….”
“I will call the doctor, Mr. Perrin. He will treat your bruise before it forms.”
Winifred turned around.
“Excuse me!”
It seemed as if he was about to leave the living room, so Irina quickly grabbed the hem of his clothes.
He stopped and looked at Irina as if wondering what was happening.
“It’s okay not to call the doctor.”
‘It would be better for it to be visible.’
“Something like this will disappear quickly.”
Irina let go of the hem of her dress and touched her wrist again.
I didn’t want to go to an expensive doctor for something like this.
And I also had other thoughts.
‘He.’
Irina looked at Duke Winifred.
“Can you do me a favor on behalf of the doctor?”
He nodded as if asking her to speak.
Irina smiled and expressed her desire to speed up her grand plan.
“Please hire me as a maid for this mansion!”
“Rejected.”
In a moment, silence fell between the two.
Winifred sighed while rubbing his head.
“As I said before, you are a guest in this mansion. You can just rest. “
“But….”
Irina bit her lip.
“If I don’t work …”
‘Rat! How dare you skip the morning cleaning?’
A sharp voice echoed in my ears.
It was a winter day.
It was a day when people sleeping on the street froze to death.
‘Do you know what they call a person who eats and plays without working? They’re called a beggar!’
‘Aah!’
I was beaten badly at that time.
But what scared me more than being beaten was being kicked out.
I didn’t want to die from the cold.
I wanted to live.
Since that day, I never stopped working, regardless of whether I had a fever, fell, or limped badly.
My only concern was allowing me, who was a tenant, to stay in that bad inn.
Irina took a breath.
“Working is the reason I will stay here.”
“…..?”
“I can’t stay like this. If I stay without doing anything, I could be kicked out at any time.”
And although I don’t intend to go back, I can’t help but return to the slums if I’m kicked out.
I didn’t know what happened to Ben.
He could be alive, he could be dead.
If Ben were alive, I would have died the moment I stepped into the slums.
And even if Ben died, the situation wouldn’t change much.
There were many people in the slums who were eagerly waiting to replace Ben.
One of them would take me instead of Ben, and this time I would be taken by their hands to Baron Barodon’s palace.
“So, I don’t want to be kicked out.”
I had nowhere to go now.
Duke Winifred said I could stay here, but…
How much can I trust his words?
Where is the guarantee that the words will not change?
If I think about it, my parents probably said something like that when they left the battlefield, saying they would definitely return.
But my parents didn’t return, and I was left alone.
I couldn’t even believe promises that were just words.
“Furthermore, I don’t know why the Duke helped me.”
After listening to Leo, I heard that my parents fought with Duke Winifred’s knights and that Winifred’s knights received a lot of support.
But isn’t this not considered a sufficient reason to find me and do this?
Irina clasped her hands.
“I want to work.”
She raised her head and looked at Duke Winifred.
And asked seriously.
“Please let me work.”
“…….”
Duke Winifred’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Irina.
He fell silent for a moment as if thinking about something, then nodded.
“Okay, I’ll give you a job.”
“…..!”
“But you won’t work as a maid.”
“Why?”
Irina’s eyes shook as if she were embarrassed.
“I’m only good at cleaning…”
“Is that true? That’s disappointing. But Lady Irina, I’ve already found all the servants to work in the mansion. If you were to work as a maid, I would have to fire someone. “
“No, that’s….”
I can’t prevent others from living if I want to live.
Irina lowered her head sulkily, but quickly raised it again.
“I can do other things well.”
She answered bravely.
“Although it looks like this, I’m good at everything other than cleaning. I clean dishes well, and I also clean the grill well after cooking.”
In addition, I was able to change the sheets well and wash the clothes well.
Even when the river froze behind the slums, didn’t I always wash my clothes clean?
“Is the next goal after maid a kitchen maid?”
Logan Winifred looked at Irina and smiled slightly.
“Unfortunately, I have another job I would like to entrust to you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Logan stretched his hand.
When Irina placed her hand on his rough, calloused hand, he gripped it firmly and helped her up from her seat.
“You’ll start working in a few days.”
He looked at Irina with a faint smile.
“I’ll show you the mansion today. You shouldn’t look for work before walking around the mansion.”
It seems he really wants to entrust a task to me!
Irina nodded, her eyes sparkling.
The smile on Duke Winifred’s lips deepened a little.
“By the way, Duke.”
Irina, who was naturally escorted out of the living room, asked quietly.
“What is my job?”
The Duke raised the corners of his mouth and answered Irina’s question.
“Secret.”
