/
Though she was exhausted, the maids urged Radis to change out of her sweat-soaked clothes and into dry clothes. Then, she was given lemon water, and later warm milk with honey.
Then, the maid with a cute ribbon on her hair placed a wet towel over Radis’ forehead. The maid had a happy expression.
When Allen came back, he freaked out when he found about ten maids flocking around Radis’ bed while they supported her.
“What are you all doing to a patient? Everyone, go out!”
“We’re just nursing the patient back to health!”
“Is there a need for twelve people to do that?”
Allen drove the maids out of the room like an angry buffalo.
And the maids cried like a flock of sparrows.
Allen turned to Radis and apologized.
“I’m very sorry for making you go through a strange thing like this.”
“What do you mean strange? It’s alright with me. I guess everyone likes nursing someone to health.”
With a red face because of her fever, Radis thought.
‘I guess they don’t hate me. What a relief.’
When she thought so, she smiled.
Watching Radis like this, Allen sighed inwardly.
‘Rather than calling a fellow woman handsome, they just couldn’t understand!’
In Allen’s perspective, Radis had very short hair, but she was still a pretty girl.
Though she might look like a boy because of her strong features, the other women couldn’t see the truth.
The maids of the mansion strangely think of this lady as handsome. They were making quite the fuss, saying that Radis was like a handsome, prince-like young lady who resembled the main character of the novel 〈 Dame Angela 〉. It’s the most popular novel these days.
Allen didn’t know what’s going on anymore.
He looked at Radis with some pity, then he spoke.
“I’ll get a quiet exclusive maid who’ll be taking care of you.”
“An exclusive maid? I’m really fine. It’s just a cold.”
“You don’t have to feel conscious when your condition is like this, Miss Radis. You just need to focus on your recovery.”
When Allen said this, Radis could no longer refuse.
She smiled and tried to brush off the awkwardness between them.
“Mister Allen.”
“Yes, Miss Radis.”
“Thank you very much for your concern.”
Closing the door behind him, Allen wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.
“Poor thing
”
Under Yves Russell’s orders, Allen investigated Radis’ background.
On the surface, Allen was the House Russell’s butler, but behind the scenes, he was actually a member of the marquis’ secret information organization called ‘Acroates’.
‘It’s great that I got ahold of the old gardener at House Tilrod.’
Once contact was established with a servant from the Tilrod mansion, it wasn’t difficult to investigate Radis’ background.
In particular, old man Roto, a gardener working for the Tilrod family, seemed to have a lot of things to say.
’I really couldn’t stand it. The salary’s just as valuable as shat on a rat’s tail, but there’s so many things to do. And there’s this one thing—there’s a run-down cabin that’s been abandoned for a hundred years far away from the manor, yet they wanted me to pay for the cabin’s broken door? It’s been years since I told my wife about that broken door, but what’s the reason for holding me accountable for it? It’s not a place for an old man like me, and while crying, my wife told me to leave that place. That family’s “generosity” is just too much.’
With a glass of strong rum in one hand, old man Roto started lamenting and rambled on.
‘I’ve seen the Young Ladies and the Young Master grow up since they were kids. But the Madam and the Master treated Lady Radis strangely.’
The old gardener raised his thick hand.
’If you bite ten fingers, only those fingers would hurt, right? That’s a lie. If you bite just your ring finger, your jaw would hurt, and that pain would go straight to your brain. Then the other fingers would need to be held tightly so that the pain would go away. Poor Lady Radis was like that.’
With his fist holding silver, old man Roto told the whole story of the cancellation of David Tilrod’s acceptance to the academy.
The young lady, who had been obedient all this time to the terrible Madam, seemed to have finally begun to rebel. Roto added that he thought Radis to be pitiful, but on the other hand, he was relieved.
Hearing this, Allen thought that Radis would be a more rebellious or spiteful girl.
However, seeing Radis here and now, all he could see was a poor girl who had been abused by her parents.
No matter how insignificant her place was in that household, she was still a young lady of a noble household, but just by looking at the items she brought from home, anyone could guess what kind of treatment she received from the Tilrod family.
How could a girl of her age have only worn-out men’s clothes?
Moreover, she seemed to have been treated so poorly that she found it difficult to entrust her only bag to anyone.
’Thank you very much for your concern.’
Allen could feel Radis’ sincerity in those words.
It was natural to worry about a sick person, but this child seemed to be really grateful about it.
After blowing his nose into his handkerchief, Allen headed someplace else.