50: At Hen Inn Again
“Thank you for your help. I will express my grat.i.tude somehow.”
I gave them my best n.o.ble curtsy and bowed my head as deeply as I could. I quickly boarded the Edenbach House carriage and told the coachman where I wanted to go.
I quickly got off the carriage and began walking.
Uoah, my head feels fluffy and disgusting.
I had my hair in braids so that I could wear the wig, so when I took it off and untied my hair, it became a lovely, fluffy hairstyle. Is it a little too childish? I thought, but I wanted to get out of the Edenbach mansion as fast as possible, so I untied my hair and left.
Lots of women were walking in groups, so I drew people’s attention.
Argh, I don’t want to, no.
I don’t want to be a n.o.ble, I screamed in my mind while walking fast.
The sky was blue and clear but the inside of my mind was stormy.
I got off the carriage near the carriage stop and headed towards 『Hen Inn』.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
―― *CREAK*
It must have been lunch break, because the inside of the 『Hen Inn』was deserted and quite.
“h.e.l.lo. Excuse me….”
I quietly whispered and softly stepped into the inn.
When I headed towards the counter, I saw Master sitting on a chair while napping with his arms folded.
(It’s rude to see the crown of his head, so don’t look! Me!)
Master glanced at me with half-opened eyes and then jumped up.
*GAK*
He jumped! I’m the one who’s surprised!
“…… -come.”
“I would like to stay for the night, are there any rooms available?”
Master nodded, and gave me the key that I saw some time back.
“….. It’s the same room…… Ah, you look fine.”
“Well, it is thanks to you that I was able to live properly in Coolden. It’s thanks to Master’s letter. I’m extremely indebted to Bobles-san and his family. It’s only for a night, but I would like to thank you by helping out in the kitchen or by cleaning the dining area. Anything’s fine, so please let me do this.”
I quickly bowed.
However, Master stopped me by holding my shoulder and I immediately raised my head.
I returned to the restaurant again after I put my black bag and the box of macarons down in my room.
I held a broom and swept near the entrance of the restaurant carefully.
My mind finally calmed down.
I only had the milk tea coloured dress on me, so I borrowed an ap.r.o.n and put it on. I had my hair up in a ponytail, but it was fluffier than usual and felt weird.
(I feel them staring from the Fernand Empire’s 2nd soldier station. Were they waiting for the restaurant to open so they could have an early dinner?)
I, who wasn’t used to being examined by men as a woman, ignored all their gazes. I also did this when I worked at the guards’ station in Coolden.
I don’t have any interest in that at all, probably because I wasn’t self-aware of the opposite s.e.x or maybe it was because I had few chances to interact with young men. Having said that, I don’t think I’ll get involved with love.
If I have that kind of time, then I would rather use it on embroidering or other things.
That’s why it was impossible for me to know what their intentions are.
I finished sweeping and this time, I took a dust cloth and wiped around the door. I have to make it clean.
―― *SQUEAK SQUEAK*
“Make the door k.n.o.b clean…… And I have to wipe at the top of the door too.”
I, who wasn’t very tall, jumped as I wiped the door.
I felt the presence of someone tall behind me when they s.n.a.t.c.hed the dust cloth away from me.
“Oh.”
“Is this alright?”
―― *RUB RUB*
The top part of the door was being wiped by someone.
I turned around and saw, “Captain Weller…”
“Yes? Ayesha, was it?”
“Ye-yes. Thank you for wiping it for me.”
I tried to take the cloth back and leave back into the restaurant, but I couldn’t escape from Captain Weller’s strong rust coloured eyes.
His eyes moved from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.
“Everyone was saying that there was a cute new rookie here, but it was you, huh…”
“Un? I’m just helping out.”
It seemed that the young soldiers were making a fuss, so he came to confirm the culprit behind it.
I forced Captain Weller to talk about what happened up until now.
He seemed very troubled because Roberto-sama would bug him, “Where did Lady Ayesha-marie go?” He would ask many times… Well, yeah. I did my best to pretend I didn’t know where I was going after all. Master and Ada-san also helped me out.
But he eventually found me anyway, I don’t know what will happen in the future.
I stared off into the distance and grumbled.
While this was happening, Ada-san came to work a little before the restaurant opened.
She jumped me as soon as she saw me. My heart was pounding.
“Kyai, if it isn’t Ayesha-chan. It’s been awhile! How are you? You’re not being questioned by Captain Weller or something are you?”
Ada-san approached Captain Weller and when I said, “I was just about to tell Captain Weller about it,” it became really noisy, “I want to hear about Ayesha too!” I was surprised and consulted with the two. The result was that I would be helping out as a waitress until 8 o’clock. When I finish, we would have dinner and then talk about what has happened to me while Ada-san has her break.
“I’ll come to the restaurant at 8-ish,” Captain Weller said before going back to work.
(What’s with this information gathering meeting?)
At any rate, let’s help the Hen Inn first. I’ll feel down if I don’t do anything.
It seems like it’s going to be a long night. I have to lie well about things I can’t say!