Chapter 17
“Thank you, but I will choose my maid later myself.” Rose firmly stated it this time, even though until now she had been following Ella and Molly without any complaints.
Upon hearing that, Miriam"s face hardened like a rock.
“Do these maids not appeal to you?”
“No, it"s simply that I"ve only just met them, and I don"t know them. Don"t misunderstand me.”
“Why…”
“They"ll be the ones who"ll stand by my side for many years to come, so I"d like to choose carefully.”
“Yes, if that"s what you mean…” Miriam blurted out her words with an expression as though she had just bitten a cold, mushy vegetable.
"What can I say? I want to be careful in choosing my own maid. "
“Did I offend you?”
“Of course not.”
Miriam quickly changed her expression and lifted her lips into a smile. It was so fake it looked like she had two weights at the ends of her lips.
“Then, I"ll choose my maid of honor later.”
“I will entrust the task to you.”
The air in the room became a bit awkward since Rose rejected the maids Miriam brought in.
“I"m tired, so I will rest now.”
“Then make yourself at home. I will take my leave. ”
When Rose gave her order Freddie stepped back to take his exit, leaving Miriam standing out like a sore thumb.
“I"ll take my leave as well.” Miriam replied, and followed him out.
Freddy, who was already far from the room, waited for Miriam to appear at the end of the corridor.
When Miriam and the maids approached, he stepped aside with Miriam. It was not until he saw the maids move away that he opened his mouth.
“What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing bringing her into that room?!”
“You left it to me to prepare the room.”
“I left it to you, trusting that you"d prepare it well! Do I have to tell you how to do your job?”
“I don"t understand the problem. That room was used by the hostess for generations.”
Freddie"s neck stiffened at Miriam"s twisted words.
“Do I need to spell it out for you? Don"t you know what happened in that room?”
“Yes, I know.”
“Since the room terrifies people and brings misfortune, no maid goes near it. How did you not know that?!”
Freddie touched his forehead and sighed.
Natalie, who had just left her room, looked around and saw Freddie standing at the end of the corridor.
“Huh? What"s he doing?”
The gray-haired butler was arguing with someone, clearly enraged, this aroused Natalie"s curiosity.
“Oh my G.o.d, he gets angry, too.”
Natalie, curious about Freddie, wondered why he was so frustrated. She approached a cabinet that was halfway through the corridor and quickly hid behind it, from her hiding spot she heard bits and pieces of their conversation.
“Change your perspective and think. Would you stay in a room where a man jumped?”
“I"m but a mere maid in the day. Don"t compare me to those who are high-ranked.”
“If you asked me in advance, I would"ve never let you take her into that room!”
“Mrs. Katriana, of course, would have asked you to give her that room.”
When her name came out of Miriam"s mouth, Freddie opened his mouth and hopelessly shut it again.
Miriam knew Freddie wouldn"t be able to say anything if Mrs. Katriana was present.
Since some time ago, everyone in the castle implicitly acknowledged that Mrs. Kartriana was in control.
“You should keep in mind that the mistress of this castle has changed. Mrs. Katriana is no longer the hostess.”
“Of course I kept that in mind. I believe the newcomer will prove herself as a hostess.” While saying so, Miriam smiled, as if she was ignoring Rose.
While watching Freddie and the maid"s argument, Natalie tilted her head.
"Are they fighting over my lady? I think someone jumped from that room."
Frustrated because she couldn"t hear their conversation properly, Natalie pushed her body closer to the cabinet.
"I feel more anxious since I can sense that their bickering is related to Lady Rose."
Driven by the desire to find out what it was all about, Natalie didn"t notice that the vase on top of the cabinet was tipping uneasily.
Crash!
The vase fell down from the cabinet smashing onto the floor.
Freddie and Miriam gazes snapped towards the direction of Natalie"s hiding place.
Natalie"s heart shrunk, she covered her mouth with her hand and stuck to the wall as close as possible.
“If she finds out later and gets upset, you"ll be the one who has to deal with it!” With this remark, Freddie quickly left the scene.
After watching him move farther away, Miriam turned around and stared at the cabinet. She walked towards Natalie"s hiding spot at a frightening pace.
Natalie suddenly felt like a rat in a cage, as if stuck between the hammer and the anvil.
"I can"t pop out all of a sudden. If I get caught hiding, what shame will I face?"
Just as she was feeling the utmost humiliation at the thought of being forced to face Miriam, a maid shot in as if being chased by the devil.
“Miss! Mrs. Katrina is looking for you!” A maid sprang up and called Miriam.
“Now?”
“Yes! She said right away.”
Miriam looked at the broken vase and the maid"s embarra.s.sed face, before swinging around.
“Okay, get rid of that broken vase over there.”
Thanks to the maid distracting Miriam, Natalie quickly opened the door to the closest room and crawled in. Fortunately, it was empty.
"Phew… I almost got caught."
She swept her hand across her chest, clutching her heart, forehead soaking with sweat.
"No, wait. Why am I hiding like a stray cat? What did I do wrong? They were fighting in the corridor, I couldn"t cover my ears!"
Once she thought about it, Natalie lifted her head and stepped out again.
The situation in the corridor was over. There were no shards, only water remained where the vase had fallen and broke.
Natalie shook her head and clicked her tongue.
“There must be many shady secrets within this castle. My Lady Rose should have married into the imperial family!”
Yansen, who was organizing the doc.u.ments, looked up at Freddie, who had been pacing around the room anxiously for some time now.
“Your making made me dizzy. Please sit still.” Yansen said in consideration of Freddie"s worry, but it went unnoticed by the other party.
“You don"t have to worry too much.”
“How can you not care? I"m sure His Highness will be upset if he finds out.”
“Well, we can"t fix that.”
“You sound at ease.”
“Who was the maid? Mrs. Katriana planned to drive out the maid herself, she had been under us for more than a decade. Right now, we have no choice.”
“Are you saying you expected this? Then you should have told me sooner. I thought I"d never leave that room.”
“You don"t have to get too excited. You"ll be the one in trouble if you step out of here.”
“What does that mean?”
“His Highness has acknowledged this, so we just have to trust and watch what he does. If you"re wise, you"ll get over it.”
Yansen looked interested as if he was already looking forward to the fight between Mrs. Katrina and Rose.
Freddie; however, was dying of fear, the cause, another storm that swirled viciously in the castle.
Yansen, who was relaxed, did not understand.
No matter how many times His Highness said he would take Lady Solstern as his wife, Freddie couldn"t imagine it. The young Lady Solstern, who grew up as a flower in a garden, is dealing with Mrs. Katriana, who is as fierce as frost. This was no game.
In Freddie"s eyes, he saw this as a battle between a snarling sparrow and an owl stalking its prey before swooping in for the kill.
“I don"t know anymore.”
He was sick of caring and had a headache, so he muttered to himself that it would all be alright, knowing inside that such was not the case.
After lunch, Rose fell asleep in her new room.
"I couldn"t sleep the night before because I was moving from room to room, and I fell asleep without knowing the run of the castle."
Rose left the room to find Natalie, but she wasn"t in the corridor.
"Now that I"m out, shall I take a look around the castle?"
Exiting her room, Rose turned and walked leisurely towards the corridor leading to the central staircase.
"Thinking of the situation with Freddie earlier, I explored inside the huge castle little by little.
As I turned the corner of the long corridor, I could see someone walking toward me with no hesitation."
“There you are!” The young man exclaimed in a cheerful voice.
“I was just on my way to see you.”
“Me…? Who are you?” Rose asked gently, now embarra.s.sed she held the hem of her dress.
“My name is Yansen, the administrator.”
A man who introduces himself as an administrator is probably seen a lot during the day in the castle.
"Oh… this was the man from earlier!"
I took a closer look at the young man. He was the man in the garden who was being spied on by the maid.
Yansen looked closely at her surprised face and asked, “Why so surprised?”
Rose shook her head quickly.
“It"s nothing. You look like someone I know.”
“Hha. Yes. My face is quite common.”
Yansen smiled at her, his eyes curving up to express his amus.e.m.e.nt.
It"s refreshing to see a smile from someone with an intellectual mask. His laughter makes the surrounding air feel fresh.
"A common face here means one that makes women cry."
After going through that knight from the torture yard, who would threaten me with feral, menacing growls, and resentful glares whenever he saw me, I thought all men in the castle were like that. However, Yansen seems to be the exception. It"s relieving to have finally met a normal person, in this dog eat dog castle.
“Where are you heading?”
“I wanted to wander around the castle, it"s boring to just stay in a room all day.”
“Whether you know or not, it"s dangerous for creatures to wander around alone, the wolves here are always antic.i.p.ating new prey. Whether it"s a human or a beast.”
Rose smiled softly at the words, “human or beast.”
“In that sense, may I show you around? I"ve got a number of things to tell you as well, it would be great to be able to inform you of them now.” Yansen kindly asked, waiting for Rose"s response.
“I"d greatly appreciate it.”
Rose happily followed him.