CH 20

Carynne wanted to tell the people who undermined Dullan this: ‘Even though that guy’s like that, he’s somehow good enough at night. The size is fine, and his endurance, well… The motion of the ocean isn’t there, but his priest’s robes are quite arousing, I guess?’

If she was actually going to say this, she wondered how they would react. But she had to endure the urge. She wanted to stir the pot, but she had to endure.

This impulse was akin to wanting to touch a wasp’s nest. Even though she knew it was dangerous, Carynne felt the undeniable urge to talk.

“Dullan is…”

“W-Wouldn’t it be better to lather this on top?”

“AH! Lord Dullan?”

Tadadak.

There was a small commotion. Can’t he at least be a gentleman. Taken aback by Dullan’s sudden visit, Donna almost fell over while Helen hid her surprise by keeping her expression blank. The masseuse, on the other hand, quickly covered Carynne with a cloth and stepped back.

Carynne was somehow a little relieved. Before impulse overtook to open her lips, the uninvited guest came in and cut off her stray thoughts. If he hadn’t come in, would she have said it? If she had, what would have happened?

“Why are you here?”

“Your i-injury…”

“I was already treated.”

“Y-You can’t apply oil or water on it.”

“…Did you come here only to say that?”

“……”

No, the 「 conflict of emotions 」 here was as per usual. However this time, Dullan seemed to want Carynne to be more obsessed with him, so he should be moderately coaxed, else he’d become twisted.

“I’m not blaming you. I’m really just asking.”

“I’m here to check if it’s infected to a degree.”

At least whenever he talked about work, he stuttered less. As Carynne’s negligee was swept aside, her injury was disinfected with a soaked cotton ball. When the scent of alcohol mixed with the rose fragrance, Carynne had the intense desire to drink.

“Can I drink some whiskey tonight?”

“Crazy.”

She knew that the best liquor would be brought out today. With this thought, Carynne felt despondent. The whiskey she had in mind had been brewed over sixty years ago and was made in the Hare territory. There were only about seventy bottles of it.

Could she enjoy its taste this time? Damn Hans, I’ll lop off your head and drown it in alcohol.

“Even a glass of rosé wine should be fine, right?”

“Not even beer diluted by water.”

“Damn.”

He was being unnecessarily careful. Carynne clicked her tongue, deciding to sneak some and drink it secretly at night.

“Then can you leave now?”

“W-What.”

“Hm? I’m in the middle of a massage.”

“This… This is an expensive scented… oil… You don’t care about… your inner character at all, you’re just concerned with other things.”

“There are many important guests. It’s only manners.”

“…T-To this extent… If it’s just me visiting, you d-don’t do this. Your hair…”

Dullan didn’t seem to like seeing Carynne like this. What he said was true, though it wasn’t for the purpose that he was thinking. Even so, Carynne felt that it was a bit absurd for Dullan to be acting this way.

He was being particularly more annoying in this life. Was it a mistake that she slept with him?

“Sir Raymond Saytes hails from a barony, and he is close to Verdic Evans. Above all, he’s the man who saved me. Wouldn’t it be natural to try to look good?”

“…To this extent… Y-You’ve never done that. You… already…”

With twitching lips, he continued to criticize Carynne.

“Your morals…”

“Hey, you… ah.”

While it’s like this, perhaps he was trying to grab her by the ankle? Carynne glared at Dullan.

She felt that it was unfair. Why was it that when men lose their virginity, it wasn’t a flaw for them? It would be fairer if men got hurt in that place every time they did it.

Carynne glared at Dullan as though she’d chew him out. At this, Helen quickly rose to her feet and implored Dullan.

“Lord Dullan, there is not enough time. We need to finish Lady Carynne’s preparations.”

“Ri… ght now, it’s mor, ning though?”

“Women are different from men.”

“Ha, you w-waste your time with useless things, t-that is nothing but vanity.”

With those words, the expressions of all the women in the room became menacing. What do you know? How dare.

“That kind of vanity, would you like to try it?”

“U, seless… I shall be praying until evening…”

“Shut it.”

Carynne made a gesture of pinching over her lips to shut him up, then she called the masseuse.

Raymond was surely going to be absolutely handsome today, but if he’d be a mere stone next to a diamond, shouldn’t the soil on it be removed at least? Helen, Donna and the masseuse were nervous as they approached Dullan.

After quite a while, the three women were left exhausted as they stepped back.

Dullan, you really don’t go beyond expectations, huh.

“Usually, you’d have become a handsome man by now, but… um… I don’t know, something like that?”

Helen, Donna and the masseuse could only be frustrated, and Carynne was feeling bitter. It was just enough that the soil was brushed away. That’s as far as she could expect from Dullan.

“A-A person’s worth isn’t judged by their outward appearance.”

Then, are you worth more than how you appear? Nothing about him could hold a candle to Raymond, be it personality, power and knowledge.

But instead of speaking up about it, Carynne smiled with her eyes and said, ‘It’s my turn now, please get out of the way,’ and left her body to the three women.

And there, Dullan watched the already pretty girl turn into an astounding beauty.

* * *

Isella gritted her teeth audibly.

“I don’t like that either! Bring something else! I need a dress that would make my complexion look brighter!”

“What about this ivory fabric, Miss?”

“It’s too dull! Is this a joke?”

“…No.”

Coming from the next room over, Verdic knocked, although it wasn’t heard. Isella insisted on staying next door to Verdic because she had nightmares, but her father also felt very tortured by this.

“Isella, stop this now.”

“Even you’re doing this to me, Father?”

“What did I…”

“Hiic…”

At Verdic’s sigh, Isella burst into tears. Seeing this, Verdic could already feel his fatigue rushing in at once.

“…Haa.”

Even the Evans’ lady-in-waiting, who had been with them for the longest time, was also of no help. She originally was this selfish since she was raised as a precious child, but it wasn’t usually to this extent. After coming to this place, it seemed like she couldn’t control her emotions.

The thought of his daughter depending entirely on the knight induced a headache. Before the knight would change his mind, Verdic would have to hasten their engagement.

It was already too much to handle the knight because he was so talented, but it was even worse of a headache when his daughter was acting as though she had melancholy on top of it all.

“Isella.”

“Yes.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Raymond saved Lady Hare.”

“Right, he is an exemplary knight.”

“She… she’s… nngh… she’s prettier than me.”

“And what of it?”

“What do I do if Sir Raymond falls in love with that girl?”

“If you put it that way, then Sir Raymond would have set up a harem of women by now. Ah, and men, too.”

“Father!”

“Do you remember when you got engaged?”

“…When I was five.”

“Do you think a child at that age could talk about serious feelings?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m telling you to stop thinking that life is a fairytale. With me and your mother, too, I only met her once before we got married. Catherine Hare was also engaged to Dullan Roid at that age. So did you, so did Sir Raymond, and me and Lord Hare. Marrying for love is what idlers on the streets sing about. For people like us, love comes after marriage.”

“I fell in love with Sir Raymond at first sight!”

“You also fell in love at first sight with the blue diamond necklace you received during your last birthday.”

“Father.”

“Be reasonable. You’re being too emotional right now. It’s difficult to imagine that he would suddenly break off his engagement with you and marry someone else’s fiancée.”

But Father. Her father thought that everyone else would also move according to their self-interest and by the course of rationality. But was that the case? Was that true?

Would Raymond marry her according to his best interests and sire children with her because it was an obligation? Would she need to marry him to present their child to her father, a grandson of his that would have the last name of a noble?

“The blue dress is the best one.”

“Milady, please raise your arms.”

Isella was speechless. She had an obligation. As she was born with the name of Evans, she must carry her duties and must repay her father for feeding her, giving her a place to sleep in, and providing the clothes on her back. Isella wore the blue dress that she disliked the most.

“Do you still have nightmares?”

“Sometimes.”

“What kind of nightmares do you have?”

Isella felt the stream of light coming in from the window.

“A nightmare with a dead body.”

“Why, is it a dream with your mother or even me dying? You know that people are bound to pass on…”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then tell me.”

She had to keep talking. While her father was still listening.

“Here, the Hare household’s… maid. It’s a nightmare where I keep seeing that black maid’s dead body.”

“Was there a maid like that here?”

“…She went on a vacation during the second day we arrived. Her corpse keeps appearing in my dreams.”

“Then what’s worrying you? Wouldn’t that ridiculous nightmare end the moment that maid is called and you see her in front of you alive? Don’t tell me you’re a prophet.”

“No, I’m not…”

She gulped.

“She’s been on vacation since that day.”

As he was frowning while looking over his daughter’s outfit, Verdic raised his head for the first time and expressed his wonder.

“What? It’s been a while since we came here…”

“Father. I haven’t seen her since I’ve started having these nightmares.”

Why did the black maid disappear after that? If seeing that dead body was a mere hallucination, shouldn’t the maid have shown herself the next day? Isella couldn’t stop trembling.

That night, the scene she saw in that room came to mind. The face of the maid who had her head separated from her body. It was too clear of an image.

It was so terrifying.