OAP 04

Chapter 4

After seeing Martha off outside the castle gate, Siona went up to the office on the second floor.

Since her father and older brother took no interest in the household, Siona had matured early.

The Earl had invested money in an office in the capital but paid no attention to the estate. He entrusted full authority to Eli, but her brother was always at the gambling house, so naturally, the family affairs fell to her.

“I should take a look at the estate’s earnings today.”

She opened a thick ledger and began filling in the blanks.

“Strange. Why do we keep having a deficit?”

She propped her chin on her hand and calculated the numbers for a long time, but still, funds were short.

The estate did make a small profit, yet money was short every month. It was truly odd.

As she shuffled through papers and books like that, the sky over Legvel grew dark, and raindrops began tapping against the window.

Setting down her pen, she rose and gazed outside.

“I hate the rain, but there’s no choice.”

Martha had asked her a favor before she headed to the village.

‘The hounds will go wild if they’re hungry. Please, just feed them once before you go to bed.’

Apparently, when they were once left hungry, they broke out of their kennel and killed all the rabbits and chickens.

It wasn’t really work befitting a noble. But due to their difficult circumstances, they couldn’t afford many servants.

She couldn’t ask Josef, who was sick in bed, or the gardener and stable hand who had gone home.

Grumbling, Siona came down the stairs and frowned.

“What a cursed day.”

Putting on a raincoat, Siona carefully opened the door.

The eerie creaking sound made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but she squeezed her eyes shut and stepped outside.

Whoosh.

The raindrops were much thicker than they had looked from inside. The candle she had brought went out as soon as she stepped out, rendering it useless.

“I can’t see a thing.”

She crossed the dark garden and walked around the building until she reached the iron-barred kennel in the back garden. The hunting dogs that her father and Eli took out every hunting season bared their sharp teeth at her appearance.

Determined not to show any fear, Siona raised her voice unnecessarily.

“Quiet! Shh!”

She stood at a distance and poured the dog food she had brought from the kitchen into their bowls. Excited, the dogs thrust their snouts between the iron bars, drooling.

“Get back!”

Siona defended herself by waving the metal scoop.

It felt as if the hounds might burst through the bars and attack her at any moment, and her legs began to tremble. When she finished feeding them, a sharp smell stung her nose.

“Time to go back.”

Leaving the kennel behind, she fastened the front of her raincoat tightly. The ground had started to get muddy, making it hard to walk quickly.

As she hurried along the path, she had felt a strange sensation for a while.

‘It’s like someone is following me.’

It made her even more nervous, especially now that there was no one in Legvel who could protect her.

Splash, splash.

She heard someone step in a puddle. No longer able to dismiss it as imagination, she gripped the candlestick she was holding with more force.

Then it happened.

The sky flashed, followed by a loud rumble–crash–bang!

“……Ah.”

Her fear reached its peak; even standing still, her legs shook.

Just as sweat or rainwater began to form on the hand gripping the candlestick, a pillar of fire fell from the sky and struck the large tree in the back garden.

The tree that had guarded the back garden for many years was instantly engulfed in flames and shattered into pieces.

Boom!!

“Kyaa!”

Startled out of her wits, Siona fell backward and couldn’t move. She curled up on the spot with her eyes tightly shut. Then someone appeared, snatched the candlestick from her hand, and threw it far away.

“……?”

Shocked, Siona opened her eyes. Another flash of lightning lit up the face of the being looking down at her.

Red eyes…!

It was the slave her father had brought some time ago. Her brief relief vanished as quickly as it came, and Siona was once again seized by fear.

‘Why did he take the candlestick?’

Was he after the silver?

Whether he read the terror in her blue eyes or not, he moved a little away from her. Then he bent down and turned his back to her.

“Wh-what is this?!”

It seemed like he wanted her to climb on, but Siona had no intention of doing so.

However, the slave, drenched without a raincoat, did not move. Siona tried to get up on her own several times but couldn’t move. She must have twisted her ankle when she fell.

In the end, Siona reluctantly crawled and grabbed hold of his neck. Stronger than he looked, he lifted Siona onto his back in one go.

‘What if someone sees this?’

Especially if her brother Eli saw this, he might scold her – for letting herself be carried by a lowly slave like this, unable to preserve her dignity.

But strangely, although the slave’s back was damp, she felt a warm presence.

‘What’s this? He smells good.’

His wet clothes gave off the scent of well-dried hay. As her tension began to ease, her vision grew hazy. Exhausted, she buried her face a little deeper into the slave’s back.

‘I mustn’t fall asleep…’

It was a night of endless rain.

Siona opened her eyes again two days later. Not only had she twisted her leg, but she had also caught a cold and was suffering from a high fever.

“Oh, my lady. I leave the house for just one day, and you get this sick? What are we going to do?”

Siona gave a faint smile at the cool touch of the damp cloth Martha used to wipe her forehead. A splitting headache pounded, but she gritted her teeth.

“Martha, did you handle your business well? Is the mother and child safe?”

“Is this really the time to be worrying about others?”

Martha sighed heavily.

She felt terrible for having left Siona alone on such a rainy night, and now this had happened.

“By the way, how did you even get to your bedroom in this state?”

Martha had returned to the Evgenia mansion the next morning.

But there was Siona, burning with fever, lying in bed with a wet cloth on her forehead.

There was no way the sick young lady could have done that herself, and there was no one else in the house to nurse her. It was certainly curious.

“……Ah. That’s…”

At Martha’s question, Siona’s already flushed cheeks grew even redder.

She hesitated to tell what had happened in the back garden, even though it was nothing special. She had only done as Martha asked, so why did she feel as if she had done something wrong?

‘If Martha finds out I was carried on the back of a lowly slave, she’ll faint.’

Because he and Siona should never mix.

As she quietly confessed to herself, Martha fussed.

“Looks like your fever is still high. Just look at those red cheeks.”

Martha scooped up a generous spoonful of fever-reducing medicine and held it out.

“Take your medicine quickly. It’s dangerous if we don’t bring the fever down.”

This isn’t because of the fever…

Swallowing the terribly bitter medicine, Siona gave an awkward smile.

It took over ten days for her to fully recover. As soon as she was better, the first thing Siona did was go to the back garden.

“……You!”

As she had expected, he was there.

He was cleaning the dog kennel when he noticed Siona and immediately turned his head away.

“Hey! I’m calling you!”

She didn’t know why he turned away from her, but in that instant, her face flushed with humiliation.

This wasn’t why I came looking for him…

She had intended to thank him for helping her that day. But her lips, betraying her will, kept spouting grumpy words.

“Is that how you behave, you insolent slave?”

Even as Siona called out, he moved toward the nearby stable. Watching his back as he pushed a cart loaded with hay only made her more annoyed.

Her leg wasn’t fully healed, so she limped but barely managed to cut in front of him.

When Siona spread her arms to block his path, he finally stopped.

And then she couldn’t help but be surprised.

She could have sworn that when he first arrived, he was smaller and thinner than she was. But now, standing in front of her, his shoulders were broad and gave off a sturdy impression.

He was also quite tall. Standing close, Siona had to tilt her head up to see his face.

Just then, a gust of wind blew, scattering the shaggy hair that had been covering his face in all directions.

“……Ah.”

For the first time, Siona got a good look at the slave’s face, and her cheeks flushed bright red.

His appearance had changed greatly from the day they first met.

His smooth forehead was fully revealed, and his sharp-looking red eyes, straight nose, and thin lips were perfectly harmonious.

‘I’ve never seen anyone more handsome than my brother or father.’

Ashamed that such a thought had crossed her mind, she raised her voice again.

“When I tell you to stop, you stop! How dare you ignore my orders!”

Even though her father had brought him here, he was merely an employee of Legvel, and she was his master.

Even at Siona’s yell, he did not show a compliant attitude.

“…….”

Instead, he furrowed his brow. It was Siona who became flustered.