Chapter 48: When You Get Abandoned Don’t Trust Anyone
At that time, everyone’s eyes turned to Mrs. Colento, who was helping the chef check the list of ingredients he ordered. She could barely hide her perplexed look. But soon, with her fierce eyes, she scanned the quiet kitchen once.
“It’s none of the employees’ business who visits the mansion. There should be no cases where people lightly open their mouths and then get kicked out naked.”
As soon as Mrs. Colento left the kitchen, Lina whispered.
“The most interesting fight is the fight between love….”
But I couldn’t hear Lina’s voice.
‘Yes. You couldn’t have arrived in Ingord in just one day after receiving my letter.’
Now I understood what Richton said, mocking me for not having to hurry. Wilhelm’s visit was already scheduled. He didn’t give up on Azmaria.
‘Why? Did that crazy guy really fall in love?’
The mere imagination was a disgusting assumption. Rather, it seemed more plausible to assume that there was some reason not to lose Azmaria Will even after bending his pride.
“Susan, are you okay?”
I looked at Lina wondering what she meant.
“Why are your hands trembling like that?”
Her eyes were not on my face, but on my hands washing the dishes. My hands were trembling as if I had a hand tremor.
“You’ve been oddly healthy. What if you faint again?”
“It’s because my shoulder hurts. I think I hurt my muscles while carrying something heavy yesterday.”
I shook off my hands before I dropped the plate.
“Sorry, Lina. I’ll take a break.”
“That’s better.”
I slowly exhaled while walking out of the kitchen and across the aisle. This was Ingord, Susan. Wilhelm couldn’t do anything to you. Maybe he’s not interested in you anymore.
So stop this damn tremor. After taking deep breaths, I focused on the most troublesome thing that I didn’t want to think about. However, even when I returned to the annex and went to bed, the tremor of my hands did not go away.
***
Early in the morning of the next day.
The heavy rain did not stop and the atmosphere of the mansion was also terrible. As a maid, it seemed certain that Wilhelm and Count Will’s visit had a profound effect on Ingord’s mansion.
Azmaria did not come to the annex last night. I heard that she spent a day in the main building because she was scared and couldn’t control her body properly. Maybe it was because of Wilhelm.
“I’m sure he was in her bedroom all night. Who’s going to comfort her if it isn’t him?”
“Don’t you remember what Mrs. Colento said? His Excellency never had a woman in his bedroom.”
“Is Lady Azmaria a common noblewoman? She’s going to be a duchess. What’s the big deal about a bedroom?”
The answer to their questions was simple. If Azmaria was found alive today, there would not have been a heated night, but if she had evaporated without a trace….
“Susan! The bell in the lady’s room rang.”
Judging from the fact that the report of survival was heard, it seemed that last night was quiet. It was time to look down at the empty teacup and agonize. Someone sitting across from me knocked on the table in front of me.
“Well, Susan.”
It was Lina.
“If you don’t mind, can I go up instead of you?”
“You?”
“Well, there’s no big reason….”
Lina, who was looking around, stretched out her neck and whispered.
“I’d like to ask her something, but I’m not the kind of person who can easily visit her.”
“What are you going to ask?”
“I can’t tell you in detail. It’s just… When I hinted that I had a knight I liked, she gave me advice several times. But I don’t know if it’s going well or not.”
It was a welcomed proposal for me.
“All right.”
I was going to ask Lina or Marie to go up for me. It would be unfortunate for Azmaria, but… I also didn’t want to run into Wilhelm if possible. Now, I couldn’t possibly comfort Azmaria and sympathize with her fears. I no longer felt compelled to please her even if I was forced to.
“Lina! The carriage has arrived!”
I headed to the back gate instead of Lina. In front of the door, there were already several boxes of ingredients. My feet sank into the muddy ground. The rain was strong, but the wind was weak. If the weather had been the same yesterday, a hundred people, including guests, employees and knights, would have had to set sail.
“Ugh. You’re not the maid I’ve always seen today.”
The youngest and tallest from the men came to me. His face, seen through the raincoat, looked very fair, not like a worker’s.
“What’s your name?”
“Susan. Is this all you need?”
The man shook his head vigorously.
“The head maid ordered additional duck meat, so I think you should check it out. It’s not the same farm meat we use.”
“As long as the meat delivered to the Duke is of quality, it doesn’t matter.”
“Then, later if you say that you didn’t receive the proper goods, it’s only us that will lose. If you don’t check it, we’ll just go.”
I called up the man who was about to turn his back without regret.
“Hey. If you don’t complete the order, it’s your fault.”
“It’s not our fault. I said it might be hard because it’s an additional order.”
“…When did Mrs. Colento order more?”
The man who was staring silently into my eyes shook his head.
“How would I know that? All I do is move things and get confirmation for them.”
Mrs. Colento, as I knew her, was not the type of person to make such a mistake. She was a woman who kept her promised time even on her return day from vacation.
What was the probability that she, who prepared an annual autumn banquet and managed the kitchen’s books, would make an “additional order”? Even more so on a day when a strong typhoon hit, and I would take Lina’s place.
“Where should I go?”
“It’s not far. It’s about five minutes down from here. There’s a carriage I couldn’t bring because there weren’t enough people, and that’s it.”
“Wait here for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
I went back to the kitchen, but Mrs. Colento was gone. The excuse to check the man’s words has disappeared. I frantically searched the cupboard. Fortunately, there was an old teapot left in the corner. There was no time to prepare secretly. I clenched my teeth and cut my palms with a kitchen knife.
“Ugh.”
I picked up the lying cloth and wiped the blood that began to drop from the wound. Then, I poured it into the teapot with water, squeezed it tightly once, and closed the lid. I hoped my poison wouldn’t dissolve itself.
I left the mansion with a teapot in my raincoat. Strangely, the wound did not throb even though it was drawn quite deeply. The man I was waiting for looked at the teapot in my hand and asked.
“What’s that?”
“It is water that can check whether the meat is of good quality or not. Come on.”
I followed the man into the forest where the dirt road led to the downtown area. The man who had been walking six steps ahead turned his body sporadically to check on me. Then he cried out in a loud voice.
“The earrings are beautiful. Can Ingord’s maids wear something like that?”
I also shouted out loud to beat the sound of rain.
“The lady gave it to me.”
“Lady? I don’t know who it is, but the earrings are huge.”
They could definitely be said to be large. When I saw her offering precious black pearl earrings to kill a maid. I thought slowly, stopping. Perhaps, this man could be innocent.
“Hey! What are you doing? Not coming.”
He might be someone who had nothing to do with Azmaria. Yes, there was a better chance of that.
Mrs. Colento could have ordered additional duck meat unlike usual, and the earrings could have been brought up without any intention. But that assumption was no longer meaningful. For me, the worst chance was more important.
“I got a cut on my hand.”
The man who was walking earlier came back to me. I showed him my bloody palms because I didn’t stop the bleeding.
“Tsk, you look sick. Where did you get that wound?.”
Before he finished, I opened the teapot and poured it into the man’s face. The pinkish blood mixed with the rain and gradually faded. It was then that the face, which had been wrinkled by absurdity, began to distort.
“Arghh!”
The man clasped his face. I backed away, clutching at the kettle. Red eyes glared at me through thick fingers. My breath stopped for a moment.
‘Good girl, Agrane. Come here…’
Wilhelm’s muffled voice tied my feet.
“Y…you crazy bitch!”
He frantically clutched my arm.
“Ouch!”
My eyes shook at the gripping force that seemed to tear my arm. No matter how hard I struggled, his body remained motionless.
“I won’t kill you nicely. Until you beg me to kill you with every part of your body….”
I didn’t know if he was out of his mind. With all my might, I bit the flesh inside my mouth. I collected the blood that flowed out and spit it on the man’s face.
“AHHHH!”
My head turned to the arm that the man instinctively swung. The wound in my mouth did not hurt, but the cheek hit by his fist hurt enough to make my head tingle.
“Damn it, I will kill you! Come right now!”
From then on, I ran away like crazy without looking back. Every time raindrops hit my cheek, my teeth ached. How much did I run? I saw someone’s shadow getting closer. It was Keane. A thought crossed my mind.
‘Maybe Azmaria took Keane away.’
But I had no energy left to run. He approached me and stretched out his hand with a bewildered expression on his face.
“Your face…”
I slapped his hand away. The sleeves of the raincoat were red with dripping blood.
“I don’t need your help.”
Lina abandoned me. Now I’m not sure Keane wouldn’t do that. I passed him and headed for the mansion. Only then did the numb pain in the mouth and the pain in the palm come to life. Did Lina know that I was going to be in this situation?
‘It doesn’t matter now.’
Wasn’t that a really meaningless question? Just because she didn’t know won’t calm my