Chapter: 20
Meanwhile, the butler, Robert, was also weighed down with worry.
The reason was the woman his master had suddenly brought home today.
No—more precisely, it was his master’s attitude toward that woman that left him feeling uneasy.
Frowning, Robert recalled what had happened earlier.
After showing the woman to her room, he had sent one of the maids upstairs a short while later.
But the maid had quickly returned, tilting her head in confusion.
“There wasn’t any response. Is she asleep?”
Assuming she was simply sleeping soundly, just as the maid had guessed, Robert hadn’t given it much thought…
“Where did she go this time?”
When his master returned to the mansion, he immediately began frantically searching for the woman, his face twisted in irritation.
Her room was empty, so he ordered the servants to search the garden as well, but she had vanished without a trace.
His master had only just returned, yet he had already left the mansion again to search for her.
Even so, there’s no need for him to personally go looking for her…
She wasn’t a five-year-old child.
Besides, all the luggage she had brought was still here.
Wouldn’t she naturally come back on her own?
I heard she was supposed to be the young master’s tutor…
The older one became, the more unnecessary thoughts crept into the mind.
And those thoughts came from having witnessed all kinds of situations over the years.
Based on that experience—
This isn’t a good sign.
Robert’s expression darkened.
Just as his worries were about to deepen further, the sound of galloping horses echoed from outside.
Robert hurriedly rose with his aging body and headed downstairs.
But the only person getting out of the carriage was Herald.
He climbed down alone, looking completely exhausted.
“Herald, why are you by yourself?”
“Good question. Why am I by myself?”
Herald stared blankly into space as though recalling something.
Then he let out an incredulous laugh.
“What about His Grace and the young lady?”
“They’re… coming.”
Herald swallowed the words ‘on foot’ before they could escape his lips.
What kind of creatively inefficient decision was that?
She might have woken up for a moment if they put her in the carriage.
Since when had His Grace become such an excessively considerate person?
“I see.”
Of course, Robert had no way of knowing what had happened.
He simply nodded, completely unaware that Kaiden would not be returning for quite some time.
In fact, it worked out well, because there was something he wanted to ask Herald.
“Herald, about that young lady.”
“Hm? Ah, yes. Miss Emilia.”
Herald nodded with a somewhat worn-out expression.
After all, thanks to his superior, he had heard her name so many times today that he was sick of it.
“What kind of person does she seem to you?”
“What do you mean?”
Herald asked with a puzzled look.
“She seems perfect as Young Master Ivan’s tutor.”
When Herald failed to understand what he was really asking, Robert furrowed his brows.
He wanted to know whether the woman was sensible enough to recognize her place, in case his master happened to take an interest in her out of mere curiosity.
After all, no matter what happened, a commoner could not become the Duchess.
Robert had seen noblemen blinded by love marry women who were completely unsuited for their positions.
And he had also seen that such stories rarely ended well.
He wanted to ask Herald directly, but prying into his master’s private affairs was unbecoming of a butler.
So he approached the subject indirectly.
“Don’t you think His Grace is treating that young lady rather… unusually?”
“Exactly! I guess His Grace was really grateful to her. Hahaha.”
Unfortunately, Herald’s answer wasn’t the kind Robert had been hoping for.
Growing frustrated, Robert temporarily set aside his duties as a butler.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m asking whether you think that young lady might have some ulterior motive.”
“Huh? Another motive? I don’t know. She saved His Grace and even left without accepting any reward. She didn’t seem particularly interested in money either.”
Once again, Herald completely missed the point.
In the end, Robert gave up on having this sort of conversation with him.
He had suddenly remembered Herald’s romantic history.
For just a moment, a mixture of pity and exasperation crossed Robert’s face.
“…My apologies. I’d forgotten how innocent you are. You should go get some rest. You look exhausted.”
Robert patted Herald on the shoulder encouragingly.
“Huh? Wait a second, Butler.”
Herald blinked in confusion.
The words themselves sounded considerate enough, but that strange pause beforehand bothered him.
“Butler?”
Before he could stop him, Robert disappeared almost instantly, as if using some mystical movement technique.
“Huh?”
After being unfairly treated by several different people in a single night, Herald honestly felt like crying.
If he had committed any crime, it was simply working far too diligently.
“Seriously! What’s with everyone today?! Why is everyone treating me like this?!”
His lonely shout echoed throughout the mansion.
Of course, no one answered.
Sigh… I should just go to sleep.
Clutching his wounded heart, Herald trudged away.
At least he was so exhausted today that he would probably sleep soundly.
Sway…
A gentle breeze drifted through the open window, causing the curtains to flutter.
Soon afterward, warm sunlight poured into the room as well.
But to the person lying on the enormous bed, it was nothing more than an annoying disturbance interrupting her sleep.
Emilia’s body rose and fell steadily with her breathing before she instinctively rolled away from the sunlight.
“Mmm…”
The light roused her slightly, but she merely frowned and rubbed her face against the soft blanket.
She remained completely motionless for quite some time afterward.
Then, all at once, her eyes flew open.
An unfamiliar room filled her still-blurry vision.
Startled, she quickly looked around.
Right… This is Kaiden’s mansion.
Looking toward the window, she saw that the sun was already high in the sky.
She had never overslept this badly before.
She really must have been exhausted.
Emilia threw back the blanket and started climbing out of bed.
As she did, her gaze fell upon the leg whose injuries had been treated.
She froze.
Only then did she realize that she hadn’t returned to the mansion on her own two feet yesterday.
At the same time, she remembered exactly what things had looked like before she had fallen asleep.
…I’m insane!
He had kept staring down at her, so she had closed her eyes to avoid his gaze.
How on earth did I actually fall asleep like that?
To be fair, Kaiden did share part of the blame.
He had been standing far too close.
But still… How could I fail to fight off my drowsiness for even that little moment?!
Blaming her own lack of self-control, Emilia bit the inside of her lip.
Knock. Knock.
Just then, a knock sounded from outside the room, making Emilia flinch.
She hurriedly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make it look at least somewhat presentable.
“Yes, come in.”
The door clicked open.
Fortunately, it wasn’t Kaiden who entered.
Instead, it was a maid who appeared to be around Emilia’s age—
No, perhaps even a little younger.
As soon as their eyes met, the maid smiled brightly.
“You’re awake!”
At her cheerful voice, Emilia cleared her throat softly.
For some reason, it felt as though the word ‘finally’ had simply been left unspoken.
