Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: A Special Gift for Emily
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I had all the gifts ready, but I didn't hand them over to Emily or Princess Elizabeth right away.
It'd be more accurate to say I couldn't give them right away.
Because I had to avoid Emily's eyes and wrap them in secret.
Requesting fancy gift boxes outright would raise suspicions, so I asked for plain wooden boxes and fabric for decorations separately, at intervals, and assembled the boxes at night.
That resulted in these large and small boxes.
I lined the insides with velvet and covered the outsides with silk embroidered with butterflies and roses, finishing them neatly into luxurious yet not overly expensive gift boxes.
The large box held the dress, the small ones the necklaces, and I set aside only the sapphire necklace box separately.
For Emily, it would be the dress and the ruby necklace.
Once the wrapping was done, it was already Sunday night.
Not bad at all.
I'd been worried the progress was a bit slow and I might end up giving gifts to two women on the same day, causing a disaster.
Fortunately, nothing as scummy as what a total sleaze would do happened.
Of course, giving them separately doesn't change that I'm still acting like a playboy, just not a complete trash heap.
Or at least, that's what I decided to think.
"Ahem!"
Feeling awkwardly self-conscious for no reason, I cleared my throat loudly and set the boxes down beside the desk.
Even if Princess Elizabeth was getting closer to me, Emily was still important to me too.
It was incredibly indecisive, but I had to act shameless about it.
With that in mind, I got up from my seat and headed to the bed, picking up the alarm clock beside it.
- Tring tring tring!
"...Good."
I fiddled with the hands, confirmed the bell rang noisily, and set the alarm a little earlier than Emily's usual arrival time, placing it carefully on the bedside table.
I wondered if my heart was pounding too much to sleep properly.
- Tring tring... "Hm?" The sun hadn't fully risen yet, leaving the room dim. As I prepared the townhouse for a refreshing morning alongside the other maids and butlers, a faint, unpleasant metallic sound lingered in my ears. I thought maybe something had been dropped, so I opened my eyes wide and scanned around, but the floor was spotless, and the other servants were busily doing their duties. Probably just a hallucination since I'd only just woken up. I resumed my steps toward Young Master William's room. "Phew..." I arrived at the door, stepping carefully to avoid making noise, took a deep breath, checked my uniform, and cautiously placed my hand on the doorknob. Normally, I could enter without a second thought, but ever since hearing that odd remark from the young master over the weekend, I hesitated every time before entering his room. It wasn't that I found it uncomfortable that he read vulgar books. He'd never shown any signs of that before, but after all, he was a young man in his prime. If anything, it was strange that he'd shown no such signs until now. No wonder Madam was worried about it. What worried me was the mishap of barging in while he was 'using' one of those books. I knew it was unlikely since the young master, despite his occasional ditzy moments, wasn't a fool—but he was still a teenage boy in puberty. Men at that age could easily get swept up in impulses, so I couldn't let my guard down. "Gulp..." I swallowed once and gripped the doorknob firmly. - Creeeak... The handle turned with a faint scraping of metal, the door slid smoothly back, creating a gap, revealing the scene inside. "...?!" The first thing that caught my eye through the gap was the neatly made bed and empty sheets. Had he stayed up all night again? Or was he taking advantage of such a gap for something else? A strange anxiety washed over me, my heart pounding, my hand weakening on the door. But the door, having gained momentum, didn't stop—it widened the gap further, revealing what lay beyond. "I've been waiting for you, Emily." The door opened fully, and there was the young master, lounging casually in a chair with his chin propped up, smiling brightly at me. His healthy complexion and tidy desk suggested, contrary to my worries, he hadn't pulled an all-nighter doing something. "Young master, what are you doing?" That left the question of why he was sitting in that bizarre pose. "I'm setting the mood right now, so come in quietly." "Uh...?" Instead of answering, he wiggled his fingers, urging me to hurry up from where I stood frozen at the door. I had no idea what was going on. But since he told me to come in, I stepped inside and closed the door. "So, what are you doing? What's with that weird pose?" At the words 'weird pose,' his shoulders twitched, and he widened his eyes in shock. "...Weird?" "Yes, it looks like a drunk barely hanging onto the chair." "Damn..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, placed a hand on his forehead, released his chin, and straightened his posture. "Forget what you just saw." "It'll be hard to forget, but I'll try." "Thanks..." His ears turned red as he shyly ducked his head a bit. Did he think that was a cool pose from his perspective? It was a little cute. "So, why are you up so early today? I was startled at first, thinking you'd pulled another all-nighter." "I had something urgent to do this morning, so I woke up a bit early." "?" He beckoned me closer, turning slightly to fiddle with something beside the desk. He wasn't explaining properly and just kept doing his own thing, which was a bit frustrating, but I approached without complaint. "Here, take it." As I got within a step of him, he picked up a silk-decorated box from beside the desk and held it out to me. "An errand? Who should I deliver it to? Or should I put it in storage?" "Not an errand, and it's not for anyone else." "Then what is it?" "It's yours." "Of course it's the young master's item." "What?" "What's wrong?" He frowned at me like I was spouting nonsense. I blinked rapidly back at him in bewilderment. "Ah, ha, haha!" A beat late, as if realizing something, he burst into hearty laughter, grinning widely and pointing right at me with his finger. I slowly followed the direction of his finger with my gaze. This direction... me? "No, I mean it's a gift for you." The moment I realized his fingertip was aimed at me, he stated matter-of-factly that the box's owner was me. "Pardon?" For a moment, my mind couldn't process his words. But no matter how many times I repeated them, the meaning didn't change. Why? My first thought was pure confusion. There was no reason for the young master to give me anything. It wasn't my birthday, and there were no special rewards. There was a big event, but as a maid, my job was to quietly follow behind him as usual and stick to the walls. "...Why give this to me?" "Check what's inside, and I'll explain." "Understood." Curiosity was killing me, so I set the box on his desk and opened the larger one first out of the big and small ones. It opened smoothly with just a little pressure on the lid. "...Clothes? Is this the young master's outfit?" "Yep. Take it out and see." Following his instructions, I carefully lifted out the dress. A striking black dress with a wide neckline and thin straps over the shoulders, a deep green shawl, a black leather belt, and finally a blue hair ribbon—the contents of the large box were complete. "For the Founding Day event—you don't have anything to wear, right? Wear that." "My maid uniform is fine." "I'm not fine with that. The other nobles' maids and valets will be strutting around, and I can't have my servant looking downcast. Even the less attractive ones will doll up, so you should show off your pretty looks too, Emily." "Eek..." My heart started racing. A gift. The fact that he'd been thinking of me all along, pretending not to care. The way he complimented my appearance so casually, without changing expression. It made me so happy. "Thank you..." "No need to thank me. If you're that grateful, just dress up pretty for Founding Day." I bowed deeply, my voice trembling with thanks, and he chuckled lightly, patting my back. "Yes." I shyly replied and carefully folded the clothes back into the box, treating them like fragile eastern porcelain. "By the way, aren't you going to open the small one?" As I closed the box to avoid damaging the fabric, he pointed to the tiny box beside the large one. The dress was like an appetizer, and that small one the main course—he seemed subtly expectant, so I smiled and picked it up. "I'll open it now." I declared so and lifted the lid of the palm-sized box. "!" The moment it opened and I saw what was inside, my heart sank. Even I, who knew little about jewelry, could tell it was an expensive necklace. I immediately set the box down and looked at the young master. "Young master." "Yeah?" "I think you put the wrong thing in the small box." "The necklace with the red gem?" "Yes." "Then it's the right one." "......" His insistence that something so obviously not mine was mine made my heart feel like it would burst. A faint hope rising for what I'd long given up on. I knew it wasn't true, but the lingering possibility kept making me hope. My heart wouldn't listen. "This... it's too much to just be for appearances, isn't it?" I voiced my doubt in a trembling voice. If he tilted his head with that usual clueless expression, my broken heart would return to normal. "......" "Young master...?" But today's young master just looked at me silently and smiled gently. That smile carried a meaningful air, making my heart pound so wildly I could feel it in my fingertips. "...Young master, what does this mean?" "Think whatever you want." My mind went blank. My head wouldn't work properly. But he added more words, heedless of my state. "For now, it's just for appearances." This was bad. The unnecessary 'for now.' That nuance implying it might change later. It was driving me crazy. "Got it?" "......" I didn't. But one thing was certain. The young master was acting strange. That much, I could assert for sure.