“Because of that, Miss Siella will need to vacate this bedroom you had been using right away.” It must have been the confident attitude of Patrick. “The maids will tidy up the bedroom after Miss Siella leaves, so I would like you to vacate the room as soon as possible.”
Siella wasn’t angry; she instead thought that he was being ridiculous.
Siella stared at Patrick in silence for a while. When Patrick didn’t get much of a response from Siella, he raised his head in frustration. And in that fleeting moment, it wasn’t difficult to see the passing emotions on his face. He had a momentary expression as if the person in front of him was really annoying before he quickly erased it.
“Miss Siella, didn’t you hear me?”
But that was only for a moment. As if he had never done that, Patrick soon looked at Siella with eyes pretending to be polite and speaking in a nonchalant voice.
“Please clear this bedroom right away. We need to finish cleaning up before the Duke returns.”
It sounded more like a one-sided notice than a request no matter how one thinks about it. Siella pondered for a moment before opening her mouth and tilting her head to one side.
“Is that the Duke’s order?”
“The Duke instructed me to prepare a place for Miss Camellia in the main building.”
His answer cleverly missed the point of her question. But Patrick was just staring at Siella with a naturally virtuous expression as if he didn’t know what the problem was.
It seems like this conversation is going to be quite long. Siella asked him again as he let go of the metal doorknob she had been holding.
“Head Butler, I am asking you if it was the Duke’s order to give this bedroom to Miss Camellia Moore.”
“…”
Patrick blankly blinked his eyes, not expecting that Siella would ask him this way.
“Other than that, I don’t think there’s any reason why I should vacate this bedroom for her.”
Patrick’s mouth remained firmly shut and didn’t open despite Siella’s words. Patrick’s speechless expression convinced that Siella’s guess was correct.
Perhaps it was true that Eschert ordered for Camellia’s room to be in the main building of the mansion, just as he said. But it must have been Patrick’s arbitrary decision to choose Siella’s bedroom as Camellia’s room.
Siella stared at Patrick with cold eyes. Flinching as if he had been stabbed by a sharp sword, Patrick hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Miss Siella. I don’t know if you know, but this is the bedroom the Duke had been using ever since he was a child.”
So what? Siella blankly stared at Patrick with a questioning look in her eyes. Patrick finally let out a long sigh after being unable to speak for a long time and keeping silent.
“But after Miss Siella came to the Duke’s mansion, he moved into the bedroom used by the former Family Head.”
“He did.”
“And Miss Siella got to use this bedroom.”
“That was also right.”
Those were facts Siella knew that best than anyone else. Siella stared at Patrick with a particularly bored expression.
And as he sighed in frustration, Patrick added, “What I’m saying is, this bedroom is the second-best bedroom next to the master’s bedroom.”
There was a moment of silence after his words. Patrick looked at Siella as if he was expecting something from her. But Siella didn’t respond. Patrick looked at her with a blank expression and lightly shook his head.
“Miss Siella.”
“…”
“What I mean to say is, now that Prince Edwin has returned, wouldn’t it make sense for him to use this bedroom?”
At that moment, Siella swallowed a cold laugh. There was a reason why she had been obediently matching Patrick’s tune even when she already realized what his real purpose was.
“Head Butler, how long have you and I known each other?”
“Why are you asking me that all of a sudden….”
However, it seems like Patrick was thinking Siella wasn’t keeping up with the flow of their conversation. Glancing at Siella with a pathetic look in his eyes, Patrick lowered his head and replied. Bowing his head politely doesn’t mean he can completely hide his insincere feelings.
“If you count the number of years, then it has been six this year.”
“Yes, six years.”
“…”
“That amount of time couldn’t be said to be short.”
Siella took a step back from Patrick and put her hand on the doorknob again.
“But I didn’t know until now that you’re a person with such a knack for saying things like this.”
“What are you…!”
“Didn’t you mean to tell me from the start to vacate this bedroom for Prince Edwin?”
“…”
Siella recalled Patrick’s attitude when he added honorifics to Camellia’s name a moment ago. She felt that at that moment. She could guess that Patrick was probably convinced that Camellia was different from Siella. That unlike Siella, Camellia could win Eschert’s heart.
Though of course, she had no idea where Patrick’s confidence came from. What was certain was that it was deliberate when Patrick brought up Camellia’s name in front of her with a clear purpose.
“I don’t know why you bothered to mention Miss Camellia in this matter and even used the Duke’s order as an excuse.”
Siella raised one corner of her mouth at an angle and looked at Patrick with a judging gaze as she said.
As if realizing what Siella was thinking and wanting to deny it, Patrick opened his mouth in a hurry. “Miss Siella. I just heard that Prince Edwin said he wouldn’t live in the Duke’s mansion unless he shares a bedroom with Miss Siella….”
“That’s enough, so stop talking.”
“…”
“Because I don’t want to waste my time listening to your ridiculous excuses from early in the morning.”
“But Miss Siella. The bedroom…!”
“I will vacate the bedroom.”
“…”
“For Prince Edwin.”
Siella said coldly and Patrick’s face hardened. Regardless of what he does, Siella stares at Patrick as if telling him, ‘If you don’t have anything more to say, go.’
Patrick let out a long sigh.
“For now… I will bring your breakfast to this bedroom like before.”
“Just do it.”
Siella shut the door before Patrick could politely bow his head to say goodbye.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Siella spent most of her time in her room.
“Gosh, did you see it just now? About that woman’s waist.”
“Yeah. It looked like it wouldn’t be even a handful. Even the most beautiful women in the capital wouldn’t do it to that extent.”
“That’s right. She wasn’t even wearing a corset and looking so skinny like that… ugh, she’s trying to be an annoyance and bother someone else.”
Otherwise, she may encounter unwanted words she doesn’t want to hear.
“She’s really spiteful. Why does she keep her body shape like that when she doesn’t go out at all anyway?”
Siella squeezed her hands, which had begun to slowly tremble.
“Kid, are you asking because you didn’t really know?”
She was thinking of leaving immediately. She wants to go to a place where she couldn’t hear those voices who were ignorant, throwing shade at her and carelessly harming her. But for some reason, her feet won’t move at all as if they were stuck to the floor.
“It’s because she’s trying to get into the Lord’s eyes.”
Siella’s skinny body wasn’t meant to be seen by anyone. Nor was it the result of her efforts to adapt in the changing aesthetic standards that befell the Empire a decade ago. It was just a proof of the struggle that she had while living in despair but not giving up her life in agony.
“But she’s sort of pitiful when things suddenly turn out like this.”
“What kind of things?”
“Even though she tried so hard, she may be kicked out sooner or later, let alone succeed in marrying our Lord….”
“Hmm, yeah. Though I really hated seeing her living here without any kind of position… I think you’re right after hearing what you said. She’s kind of pitiful.”
Pitiful. But there was a sneer in the voice when they said it. Siella heard it clearly. The words she doesn’t want to hear but she could hear more clearly and stuck to her ears than any sweet words. Like the painful memories she couldn’t forget no matter how hard she wants to forget.
(T/N: People will never understand another person unless they are standing in their shoes. If they were the ones in that position, let’s see if they can still hold their head up high. They might have driven crazy.)
RECENTLY UPDATES
