Chapter 16
“This is…”
“We’ll have to redo everything now!”
With an angry voice, Uben kicked the dirt-stained shirt.
“Why did you have to mess with someone else’s work and ruin it?!”
He seemed convinced I had dirtied the shirt on purpose.
But that shirt had already been on the ground before I even touched it. It must’ve been blown off by the wind, and since it rained, mud had seeped into it.
“It’s not like that…”
“Is playing tricks on people that fun for you?”
Uben didn’t even let me explain — he just threw his accusations like sharp stones.
I had been careful to pick up the fallen shirt so the mud wouldn’t get on the others, but his angry kick had made all that effort useless.
“Uben?”
“……”
At that commotion, Lilia and Idorian came out of their rooms, looking half-awake.
“Uben, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Seeing them, Uben shut his mouth and glared at me.
“I didn’t do it — it was already on the ground…”
“Please, just stop bothering me!”
He clearly had no intention of listening. Snatching up the muddy clothes, he stormed away.
“Ah…”
Lilia, who had come down the stairs, looked between Uben — crossing the hall with the dirty clothes — and me, still standing there, then followed after him.
That’s not what I meant to happen.
I only helped because I’d seen Uben sitting by the well for hours, scrubbing blood and mud from Idorian and Lumi’s clothes.
I hadn’t expected praise, but if I’d known it would turn out like this, I never would’ve gone to the backyard.
“……”
I thought about following Uben to explain that I hadn’t dirtied his laundry… but then stopped.
“Because of you, my mom died.”
He was already furious, and I knew how much he hated me. He wouldn’t listen, no matter what I said.
Just being in the same space as me must already be hard enough for him.
Maybe it’d be better to ask Lilia to clear up the misunderstanding later.
“What happened just now?”
As I was about to leave, Idorian approached me quietly. His calm but low voice was followed by a sigh.
“Penelope, I asked what happened. Why is Uben acting like that?”
The tone of his questioning made it sound like he’d already decided it was my fault.
Part of me wanted to just walk away — but that would only make things worse. So I lifted my head.
“Why are you all wet?”
He rubbed at his eyes, looking tired, and sighed again.
“It started raining, so I brought in the laundry,” I said.
Idorian frowned, as if something didn’t add up.
“Why did you bring it in?”
“…I told you. Because it was raining.”
“Then why was Uben so angry?”
“One of the shirts had fallen on the ground…”
I hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but as I tried to explain, I could feel my frustration building, so I stopped mid-sentence.
“And?”
He motioned for me to keep going.
“I think he thought I got it dirty on purpose.”
It felt pathetic to sound so defensive, so I quickly ended there.
“So it wasn’t on purpose?”
“…No. It wasn’t.”
Idorian let out a deep sigh. Did he think I was lying?
I braced myself for a scolding — for him to tell me again to stop causing trouble and keep quiet.
“I’m sorr—”
“Alright. I understand.”
His voice was tired but calm. He nodded slightly.
Did… he believe me?
“I’ll talk to Uben. Go dry yourself off.”
“……”
“Wait, I’ll get you something.”
Before I could refuse, he fetched a towel and handed it to me.
“…Thank you.”
He gave me a lingering look, then went toward the storage room where Lilia and Uben had gone.
Click.
“I worked so hard on it. I wanted His Highness to like it, so I tried my best…”
As soon as he opened the door, Uben’s tearful voice spilled out.
“She ruined it…”
“Uben, I’m sure the lady didn’t mean to,” Lilia said softly.
“That’s a lie! There’s no way it was an accident.”
Uben quickly rejected her words.
“This morning — when I was carrying water, she kept hanging around, getting in the way. I had to hurry, but she was so slow!”
“She was just trying to help—”
“She even half-did the dishes because she didn’t want to work! His Highness had to redo all of them. He must’ve been tired already, but she didn’t even let him rest…”
Idorian met my eyes briefly, then stepped inside and shut the door.
I could still hear Uben’s trembling voice through the wall.
I stood there for a while longer, then quietly walked away.
So Idorian redid the dishes.
I had tried my best to clean them, but I must’ve missed spots.
In the end, both the laundry and the chores had just made more work for everyone.
The next morning.
As soon as I woke up, I went to the storage room, gathered up the clothes Uben had thrown, and headed for the well.
If I wash these clean again… maybe Uben will believe me.
“Penelope?”
Idorian approached, frowning slightly.
“What are you doing?”
“…What did Uben say yesterday?”
He hesitated before answering.
“I explained that the clothes were already on the ground.”
He probably accepted it because Idorian and Lilia said so, but he still wouldn’t believe it deep down.
“You said it wasn’t your fault. Then why are you doing this?”
“If I wash them again, Uben will believe me.”
“Believe what?”
His voice had a sharp edge. Neither he nor Uben liked it when I worked.
“That I really didn’t do it on purpose.”
“…You felt that wronged?”
It wasn’t just that.
It wasn’t about wanting their approval or trying to earn favor for later.
I just didn’t want Uben to hate me anymore. His hatred — toward me, and from me — was already exhausting enough for both of us.
I kept scrubbing the fabric, deciding not to explain further.
“Leave it. I’ll do it later.”
“…I’ll be careful this time.”
He took my arm and pulled me to my feet.
“Enough. Go inside.”
“I can do it properly. Yesterday’s dishes—”
Ever since I’d become like this, my movements had grown clumsy. I thought I’d been thorough, but I must’ve missed something.
“I’ll be more careful than yesterday.”
“Haa…”
“You should go — your shift with the Grand Duke is soon.”
I tried to change the subject, hinting for him to leave, but when I tried to sit back down, he caught my wrist again.
“Penelope, I already have enough to worry about without you adding to it.”
“…What?”
His words made it sound like I was nothing but trouble. I frowned, and he quickly looked away.
“I mean — you don’t need to do these things. I’ll handle them.”
“Because you don’t trust me to do it right?”
I twisted my arm, and he let go.
“Or because you think I’ll cause harm?”
I didn’t need him to answer. I already knew.
If he didn’t like how I did things, he could’ve just shown me how. It wasn’t complicated work. Even if I didn’t do it perfectly, it wasn’t dangerous.
If he was stopping me altogether, then he must think I was dangerous.
“I never planned to hurt anyone — and even if I wanted to, I don’t have the power to.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
But he couldn’t seem to find the right words to continue.
“Everyone here has a role,” I said quietly. “If I just sit around doing nothing, they’ll all hate me. So I’m doing this… because otherwise, everyone will.”
His golden eyes trembled slightly.
“I don’t want to be hated anymore.”
I couldn’t afford to be. If there was even a small chance of surviving, I had to take it.
For just a moment, his red lips twisted with a pained expression.
