Chapter 004: The People of the Count’s Family
“This is my wife, Audrey. If you have any questions while you stay here, you can ask her.”
At that, the woman called Audrey puckered her lips. Then she glanced sideways toward her husband.
‘Ah…….’
In that instant, Roanne could tell to some extent. Exactly what type Audrey was.
‘I used to see people like that a lot when I worked part-time.’
She suddenly went on a trip down memory lane into her recent past.
When taking orders at the counter, there were often women who came with their boyfriends or husbands and absolutely never ordered with their own mouths. Those who would pout and send wary glances her way if the man spoke even a little too long while ordering on their behalf.
‘She’s someone who… protects her husband a lot.’
In her mind, she had grumbled about it, calling it the “squid protector” syndrome.
Quickly shaking off the memory, Roanne made sure not to look at Francis for long so as not to irritate Audrey’s nerves. However, her quick radar had already finished scanning all of Francis.
‘The older brother… isn’t quite as much as the younger one.’
It might be rude to think this, Roanne thought.
Francis’s features were one thing, but his complexion was so haggard that one wouldn’t even doubt it if told he was suffering from a disease. An aura of unusual frailty surrounded him. His drooping eyes and sagging mouth made him look devoid of energy.
And his features bore a striking resemblance to the Countess of Glister.
‘He takes after his mother’s side.’
Roanne carefully raised her eyes and looked at the Count of Glister, who hadn’t said a word until now.
‘Then?’
However, looking back at the Count, Roanne could not hide her surprise.
‘Huh?’
Though the Count of Glister also had graying silver hair, his appearance didn’t particularly resemble Alexis. Not a single person in the Count’s couple possessed a face that looked like Alexis.
‘What is it? Where on earth is the source of that amazing beauty?’
Roanne became puzzled. In the heavy silence, she quietly picked up her utensils and diligently swallowed her food. All the while, she didn’t stop thinking.
‘Is he the child of a concubine?’
It was a trope common in novels or dramas. Taking a young, beautiful second wife and bearing a son like him but not being loved. Could it be a story of a young master like that?
‘If it’s something like that, the reason both families wanted to marry us off makes sense.’
Roanne made up her mind to slowly observe the situation of this Count’s family as well. However, as if to make her resolve meaningless, she soon faced a major incident.
* * *
“What? Suddenly the East Annex?”
That day, too, she was leisurely sitting in the garden enjoying refreshments.
Roanne was spending her time smiling amidst the softly shining sunlight and the scent of flowers filling the garden. In the morning, she had run into the Countess of Glister on her way out, and when she greeted her brightly, the Countess turned away abruptly as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
‘For a Countess, her manners are a bit lacking.’
However, such rudeness from an opponent was something Roanne, who had been tempered through countless part-time jobs, didn’t care much about. She was leisurely savoring a high-quality tea whose name she didn’t even know. It was truly a rest and luxury she had never enjoyed before.
But then, news like a bolt from the blue dropped on her.
“Where is that?”
Actually, she herself didn’t consider it a bolt from the blue. The problem was that the faces of the maids attending her turned pale as if they had been struck by lightning.
The butler approached Roanne and her maid and, with a polite but somewhat cold attitude, informed her that from now on her residence had been designated as the East Annex, and she should move there.
“What’s wrong with everyone’s expressions?”
Watching the butler’s solemn attitude as if announcing a major event and the pale face of the maid, only Roanne remained puzzled, knowing nothing.
“You cannot do this! It hasn’t even been that long since my Lady married into this family…!”
The maid protested. Watching that aggrieved attitude, Roanne slowly recalled the maid’s name. Her name was Leah, she thought it was Leah.
It was a name that reminded her of her stepsister Leila, but unlike Leila, the maid named Leah seemed to be standing up to the butler for her sake.
‘I don’t know the circumstances, but she seems to be taking my side.’
If there’s an opportunity, I should be better to the maid named Leah, Roanne thought.
“Even if she married into the family…!”
The butler fired back in anger as the low-ranking maid protested.
“Lord Alexis hasn’t even entered the house and they aren’t even having anything that could be called a married life, so what justification is there for her to remain in the main building! Even if you call her the wife, all day long she just idles away……”
The butler, who was shouting at the maid with a face red with anger, suddenly shut his mouth mid-sentence. He peeked at Roanne’s reaction, but there was no sign of significant agitation. Roanne narrowed her eyes and glared at the butler.
‘Anyone could figure out what the next words were.’
“Ahem, anyway.”
The butler returned to a solemn attitude and continued.
“I have already ordered the servants to move all the luggage to the East Annex, so the Madam may move there as soon as she finishes her refreshments.”
“Wait a moment, Mr. Butler! This is too sudden!”
As the butler turned away after finishing his one-sided notification, Leah followed behind him.
“Lord Alexis is only away right now, but he’ll be angry when he returns! If he finds out his residence is the East Annex—”
“Who said Lord Alexis’s residence is the East Annex?”
At Leah’s words, the butler suddenly replied with a sneer.
“Pardon?”
A flustered Leah asked back.
“Lord Alexis’s residence remains the same.”
The butler said with a smile that was almost cruel.
“The only thing being moved is the Madam’s residence.”
* * *
The East Annex of the Glister Count’s estate.
Just what kind of place was it that the maid Leah was trembling like this?
“It’s over now. If we go to the East Annex, both the Madam… and I……”
And trailing off, Leah was crying her eyes out. It was behavior not very suitable for a maid serving a noble lady, but Roanne, who came from another world, was more curious about Leah’s words.
“Just what kind of place is the East Annex that you’re like this?”
“That place is… that place is……”
Leah couldn’t bring herself to continue. Roanne was only able to hear the story after barely calming her down.
The East Annex at the Glister Count’s estate was a place so disastrous and gloomy it could be compared to the Cold Palace of an ancient Chinese imperial palace. From the ancestors of the Count’s family, anyone abandoned by him or who became a nuisance to the family was cast out to this East Annex, where they had to die without receiving any salvation.
“To cast the Madam out to such a place!”
Leah burst into tears again as she spoke. Seeing this, Roanne’s mood was also incredibly complicated.
‘I thought I was finally being compensated for my difficult life in reality, but to be pushed to the background.’
Is it goodbye to the luxurious life now? It was good while it lasted. Roanne also swallowed her regret and moved her steps toward the East Annex with her maid, Leah.
‘But it’s not like I can go back.’
When the expression of Viscount Heartwood, who looked relieved when she said she would marry, came to mind, Roanne quickly shook her head at the thought that instinctively arose.
‘Besides, that isn’t my real family anyway…….’
It didn’t seem like they would listen even if she asked for help. Roanne’s instinct was telling her so.
‘It can’t be helped.’
Roanne swallowed a sigh.
‘I’ll have to look for a job here too or something.’
In the reality she was from, she was desperately poor and, being all alone at the bottom, there was no part-time job she hadn’t tried. She might have to work to eat and survive here too.
Leaving behind the dream-like time of just a few months, she headed toward the East Annex, preoccupied with thoughts of quickly adapting to this world and finding a job.
“Is this… it?”
And finally arriving in front of the East Annex, Roanne couldn’t properly continue her words. Leah, who was behind her, answered while sobbing.
“Yes, Madam. And this place will now……”
Become our grave.
It was as if Leah were whispering that in the despair and darkness. However, the expression on Roanne’s face as she looked at the East Annex was different.
