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“Hilda, sorry, I know we just ate, but do you mind bringing the Madam her tea? I have my hands full today, so I’m asking you.”
Everything was going so smoothly today that even lunch was bursting with critical hits, but then suddenly, things went to a stop. With a grimace, I thought, ‘Why me?’ but Emily already rose from her seat as though she was waiting for the chance. Soon, the sound of teacups and tea leaves being skillfully placed on the tray rang in the air.
“I knew it, our Hilda is amazing. If I were you, I’d say I wouldn’t go because it’s terrifying.”
While she was busy arranging the things on the tray, I just relaxed around the kitchen. I’ve somewhat adjusted to the game now, and with a full stomach, I secretly fantasized about coffee. Back when I worked part-time in a café during college, I used to drink coffee all the time.
Ah, come to think of it.
I looked around the spacious kitchen. Fellow servants were busy with their own tasks because the count, the countess and Adrian had separately just finished their lunch. This meant that no one would care if I just so happened to swipe something for myself.
Since this was a well-to-do count household, it wasn’t lacking anything. From coffee that could be espresso shots, milk, and then white sugar. ‘Kay then, let’s see here. If I mix this and that, then I can make something similar.
I brought a tall glass and added sugar and milk into it, pounding into the mixture with a spoon so that foam would rise. If there was a French press around here, then I would have been able to make frothed milk quickly, but alas. I had to make do with manually doing it, and somehow the foam rose up.
“Hilda, what are you doing? What’s with the bubbles?”
“Mmh, I’ll put it in my coffee. Do you have a tall glass? I’ll give you some so you can taste it.”
“O-Okay.”
Emily set down the tray and brought a glass of her own. As each cube of ice rattled as I poured the drink over them, the fragrant aroma of coffee lingered around the tip of my nose. Then, after I filled the other half of the glass with foamed milk, I poured in the espresso shot and made an artistic marbling over the surface.
Since Emily had never seen anything like this, she looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Hilda! Where did you learn how to do something like this?”
“When I used to work part-time at a café… Uh, just drink it first.”
I let out a careless answer mistakenly, but I quickly covered it up by pushing the glass into her hands. Not expecting this, Emily took it and looked at it intently first, then she cautiously took a sip. Then, she covered her lips.
“Oh my word, how delicious!”
“Really? That’s great. Go ahead and drink all of that. I’ll make some for myself later.”
I could only make a clumsy cold brew latte with the ingredients I had on hand, but the espresso here wasn’t so bad. In the end, the latte still tasted good enough.
Emily praised the coffee nonstop and downed the rest of it while I made more. It’s always a nice feeling whenever someone genuinely enjoys the coffee I made.
“Right, Hilda. This is the tea that you’ll be bringing to the Madam. I put the tea leaves in it already, so all you have to do is go up, take out the strainer, let it cool for a sec, and then pour some for her. You’ll have to wait for her until she’s done drinking, you know that right? You can come back with the tray after that.”
Actually, I didn’t know about any of that, but I still nodded towards Emily, who kindly gave me instructions. There was a white milk foam beard on her lips, but Emily continued sipping without knowing this.
“I’ll come back soon, Emily.”
“Okay. What you have there is scalding boiled water, so be careful with your hands! It’s the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor, you know that right? Knock on the door and then tell the Madam that you’ve brought her tea. Even if there’s no answer, you can go in.”
“I’ll make you another glass of coffee, so you don’t have to save it. I’ll be back.”
I gave a wide grin to the also smiling Emily, and then I proceeded to head for the countess’ room with the tray in my hands. The room at the end of the hallway on the second floor, the room at the end of the hallway on the second fl…
While recalling Emily’s words, it suddenly struck me—she also said, ‘If I were you, I’d say I wouldn’t go because it’s terrifying.’ When she said that, she shook her head as she shuddered.
The countess was a normal human being though, not a devil. So why? What’s so scary about her?
“I’ve come to bring your tea, Madam.”
I knocked on the door, but there was no answer coming from inside, just as Emily told me. I waited for a moment before I opened the door. But when I stepped in, I was shocked even more than when I first saw Adrian.
Gasp…
What kind of room… While a rotten stench wafted in the air, there was blood all over the place. It smelled exactly as if that red fluid had been hand-smeared throughout the wallpaper. Old, rotten, but the unmistakable metallic stench of blood.
I looked away, but the moment I did, I thought I was going to faint.
Right there, the body of a blood-soaked goat was hanging on the wall.
Oh my god, all those red streaks on the wall were from that goat’s blood? But where did its head go? Why was only its body hanging there?