Chapter 49
“Are your parents all gone?”
Claudio asked in a dry tone.
Marsha slowly nodded.
“Then who on earth are you looking for?”
“…”
Her lips parted, only to close again.
To answer would mean to reveal everything about herself.
“…I don’t know if I should really tell you.”
Her voice came out heavy, strained.
“Why? Because you don’t trust me?”
“It’s not just you I don’t trust. It’s just…”
Marsha shook her head.
“Telling this story to anyone takes enormous courage. I’ve never spoken of it to a single soul until now.”
“Not even your friend knows who you’re searching for?”
Marsha nodded again, her movements weighed down.
Claudio disliked that she was keeping something from him, but at the same time, there was an odd sense of relief in knowing no one else knew her secret either.
Relief?
His eyes widened.
What was there to feel relieved about?
…No. That’s not what matters right now.
Lowering his gaze, he said quietly,
“So? Did the broker give you the answer you wanted?”
“…”
Marsha didn’t reply, but her expression told him everything.
Slowly, he let a languid smile curl his lips.
“Then make a deal with me.”
Marsha’s chin jerked back, her wide eyes clouding with unease as if she hadn’t heard him right.
“I think it’s time I returned to the villa.”
Her mouth fell open in surprise.
She had known he would leave eventually, but not so suddenly…
“Well, that’s good, then. Seems the duke has agreed to your wishes. Once you’re back, you can have a proper examination and rest—”
She forced a smile as she spoke.
“It won’t be that peaceful.”
Claudio shook his head.
“The duke’s temper is foul. He told me outright not to expect treatment from the family physician or help from anyone in his household.”
“What?!”
What kind of petty nonsense was that?
Marsha flared in indignation, but Claudio looked almost amused, like a man pleasantly drunk.
“That’s why I need you to help me.”
Help him?
Did he mean he wanted to come here for treatment?
“Go to a doctor in Sedem market. He’ll be far more skilled than I am.”
“Outside physicians can’t be trusted. Rumors might spread that someone from the duke’s house was wounded.”
He fixed her with a sharp, unwavering look.
Marsha quickly averted her eyes before replying,
“Then you’ll just have to tend to your own wounds. It should be fine. Honestly, I didn’t do anything extraordinary before.”
Besides, if he was already well enough to ride, he could certainly manage his own treatment.
But then Claudio said,
“You keep talking about wounds. I told you, I want your help.”
Marsha lifted her head.
Arms crossed, he was smiling at her with calm leisure.
“Help you…? With what, exactly?”
Her voice was full of wary curiosity.
“As I said, I can’t rely on anyone inside the duke’s household. I want you to stay by my side and assist me.”
Her hands, folded neatly atop her lap, twitched.
To stay by his side and assist him…
He’s asking me to be his maid.
It wasn’t that becoming a maid itself wounded her pride.
Whatever noble pride she had once carried had been worn away, long ago, by the last four years of her life.
And yet, the blow landed deep.
That he would make her his subordinate…
Even as his savior, she had always known she could never stand as his equal.
Sitting across from him now, trading words so lightly, was already a strange illusion.
Then why did it sting so bitterly?
Had she let herself believe, simply because he treated her kindly, that she had become someone special?
Did I, without realizing, start thinking of this man as a friend?
Perhaps Claudio had seen her as a servant from the very start.
He’d shown her kindness only because she had saved his life, only because she was a pitiful woman living alone.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
“If it’s your own circumstances you’re worried about, don’t be.”
His tone was as untroubled as a breeze drifting in from outside.
“No one will ever know.”
From his coat, Claudio pulled a folded sheet of paper and handed it to her.
A contract, written in the simplest of terms.
What lent it weight was the seal stamped at the bottom—the crest of Duke Gloria himself.
So the duke has permitted this too.
Yet wouldn’t it have been far easier for the duke simply to assign him a few household maids, instead of stamping his seal on such a thing?
‘I don’t know.’
Marsha’s head was a tangled mess.
She couldn’t begin to guess at Duke Gloria’s intentions, but Claudio was the bigger problem.
How could this man be so brazen?
Did he truly think she would automatically agree to anything just because he brought it before her?
Was it because she had no choice but to listen?
Struggling to calm the storm churning in her chest, Marsha fixed her gaze on the contract, silent and unmoving.
Claudio spoke.
“For one year. If you help me during that time, I’ll help you in return.”
“With what?”
Marsha lifted her eyes to him.
As always, Claudio stood tall and composed, radiating effortless confidence.
“The person you’re searching for.”
Her eyes widened, and Claudio answered her unspoken question with a smooth, self-assured smile.
“I’ll find them for you.”
At that moment, Marsha saw her father’s face lying pale and still in his coffin.
The stabbing ache in her heart quieted into a heavy calm.
“Well? Not a bad deal, is it?”
Not a bad deal… or perhaps nothing but loss.
Either way, it was no different from fortune itself landing in her lap.
She couldn’t reject this simply because of her unsettled feelings.
But Claudio didn’t understand what he was offering.
If he ever learned what kind of person Marsha was searching for, he might very well wash his hands of the whole affair, unwilling to be dragged into something so troublesome.
“……I should tell you this first.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t even know what the person I’m looking for looks like. I’ve never heard their voice, either.”
“Then why are you searching for them?”
Claudio let out a short, incredulous laugh.
Marsha’s reply came heavy and low.
“Because they’re the one who killed my father.”
“……”
The smile on Claudio’s face vanished at once.
“The incident didn’t even happen in Strabine. And it’s been four years. The investigators back then found no evidence and gave up. Even so… can you really find the one I’m looking for?”
Claudio fell silent, lost in thought, before speaking slowly.
“…To be honest, I didn’t realize it was that kind of case.”
Marsha nodded, resigned. But then Claudio continued.
“Still, we’ll give it a try.”
A spark lit in Marsha’s eyes.
“If you don’t give up, then I won’t either. I’ll do everything I can to find them. So? Isn’t that worth a year of your time?”
If Claudio had simply declared that he would find the culprit, Marsha would never have believed him.
She knew better than anyone that what she sought was like searching for a needle in a sea of sand.
But instead, Claudio promised not to give up.
Those merciless words, spoken without the certainty of success, gave her a strange and powerful trust.
“…It feels like you’ve taken on a burdensome task for the sake of someone like me.”
“Don’t call yourself ‘someone like me.’ Do you think I let just anyone stay by my side?”
One eyebrow arched as he wrinkled his nose.
“And besides—do you know what I might ask of you in a year? Even if you decide you’ve been tricked and try to run, I won’t let you go. So you’d better be ready.”
The corners of his eyes narrowed into something sharp, almost mischievous.
Yet even under the weight of his half-threat, Marsha felt no fear.
The sting of sorrow lingered faintly in her heart, but she knew time would soon wear it away.
***
When Berry heard that Marsha had agreed to serve as Claudio’s maid and leave with him for a year, her face went pale.
“S–suddenly?”
“Yeah. It was decided really suddenly. But…”
Marsha gave a rueful smile.
“It’s the kind of opportunity that won’t come again.”
“…Ah.”
Berry nodded slowly.
“You’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Then… will I only see you again a year from now?”
“……”
Marsha couldn’t promise that.
She didn’t know if she would be able to return here after a year.
Not until she found the culprit.
But if she did manage to uncover the truth and finish everything within a year…
“…I’ll try to come back. This place is like my hometown now.”
She smiled as she spoke.
It wasn’t a firm answer, but Berry didn’t feel disappointed.
She knew Marsha was terrible at giving empty reassurances.
