Chapter 65
The Count's Secret Maid - Chapter 65
Translation: godsn
I don't think I'm the shortest one here... but come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone shorter than me since arriving here. Ah, then perhaps I am indeed the smallest person here. Even five years ago... I shook my head to dispel the unnecessary thought.
"Your hair is curly like mine."
"Yes. A little bit."
"Your bangs are all uneven."
Joelli pointed at my short bangs and laughed. Embarrassed, I fidgeted with my bangs. The realization that my face was exposed made me shrink into myself. The moment I bowed my head in shame, she burst into even louder laughter.
"That's nice. Bring it here."
"Yes!"
Joy bubbled up at the long-awaited answer. Without thinking, I responded too loudly and immediately flustered, but Joelli just laughed in response again. I gave an awkward smile as well, closed the wardrobe, and rushed to her.
Joelli stood up from the chair and removed her robe. Seeing her smooth figure, I felt strangely embarrassed even though we were both women. So I averted my gaze slightly while helping her into her dress. I fastened all the numerous buttons on the back and smoothed out the wrinkled fabric.
The figure-hugging dress suited her perfectly.
"Do my hair too."
"Yes."
Joelli sat back down in the chair. I positioned a mirror in front of her and moved behind her. Her long hair was voluminous and glossy. I brought a comb and carefully brushed through it.
"Curly hair looks nice and full, but if you don't take care of it, it gets too messy."
"But yours is pretty."
"Thank you. Isn't yours about the same, Ann?"
"Mine's more frizzy. Even now the ends are sticking out."
At that moment, Joelli suddenly turned and grabbed my hair. The unexpected touch made me freeze in shock. Unfazed by my reaction, Joelli fiddled with the ends of my hair, then twirled them around her finger.
"The ends really do stick out."
"...... Yes."
"But it's cute. Once I touch it, I can't forget how it feels."
After that, she kept playing with my hair for quite a while. Whenever I gave her a bewildered look, she'd just laugh in response. I stood there awkwardly bent at the waist, waiting for her to let go. But when she showed no signs of stopping, I couldn't take it anymore and asked if I could continue styling her hair. Only then did Joelli laugh apologetically and release me.
Having regained my freedom, I went back to styling her hair. I gathered her voluminous locks, twisted them up, and secured them with a floral hair ornament. The stray hairs were pinned down with small hairpins.
When I finished, Joelli carefully examined her styled hair in the mirror. She turned her head this way and that, checking the reflection, then smiled broadly.
"You're quite skilled."
"Thank you."
Fortunately, she seemed pleased. A satisfied smile lingered on Joelli's lips. I looked at her reflection in the mirror. The flowery styling made her glow. She really did seem suited to being a Countess.
"That's enough. You may go now."
"Yes."
I bowed deeply before turning to leave. Just as I grabbed the doorknob to walk out...
"Ann."
She suddenly called me. When I turned around, Joelli had already risen from her chair and was looking at me. Our eyes met, and she tilted her head slightly while curling her lips into a long smile.
"Welcome to this place."
Joelli had been smiling constantly since our shocking first meeting until now. She seemed like someone accustomed to smiling. But strangely, her smile now felt peculiar. Even as I watched her eyes curve deeply toward me, I couldn't bring myself to smile back.
How should I describe this? If I had to put it into words, it felt less like a good smile and more like a bad one—not a habitual smile, but rather one that seemed consciously crafted to conceal something.
But I dismissed it as unnecessary speculation.
"It's an honor."
I clasped my hands together and bowed deeply once more. * Perhaps because Joelli had taken a liking to me, from that day on I became her personal maid. In exchange, Alicia was assigned to clean other areas—dirty places like unused rooms or storage spaces that no one wanted to deal with. Dissatisfied with this, she complained to Audrey several times, only to be reassigned to even filthier areas that nobody else wanted to handle.
In any case, Alicia was just a housemaid. Whether she liked it or not, there was nothing she could do about it. Perhaps it wounded her pride, because every time Alicia returned to her room after work, she would scream and punch her pillow as if trying to burst it. I told you to watch your mouth.
"I was trying to get in good with a noble master to make my fortune, but why did it have to be a woman? Damn my luck!"
To me, Joelli seemed to be the Countess, but I didn't bother telling her. Alicia even asked me once, half-jokingly, if she should just run away. I pretended not to hear.
Alicia had been dismissed, but Johnny was still around. Even after fleeing in shame, he was still summoned back to Joelli's side. Unfortunately, it seemed he had become her attendant just like me—though "attended" wasn't quite the right word. It was more like she kept him around as an ornamental flower, something pretty to look at.
He helped me fetch clothes or items, but whenever there was any task that required touching or interacting with Joelli, he would stand far away. He couldn't even escape because he'd been ordered not to leave the room without permission. So whenever an awkward situation unfolded, Johnny would just close his eyes and endure.
"How adorable."
Joelli seemed to enjoy Johnny's flustered reactions. Sometimes she would touch him with teasing fingers, other times she'd send him lingering glances. Naturally, Johnny was mortified every time.
"Hey, hide me or something."
"How am I supposed to hide you? Don't be ridiculous."
"That woman keeps looking at me weird. Why is she staring like that?"
"I don't know."
And before long, we found out exactly what that look meant.
Joelli summoned a different man to her room every night. I didn't know who they were, but some seemed to be male servants. One night, I was called to her room while half-asleep, only to find a naked man lying beside her. The embarrassment was unbearable.
"I like pretty things. But I don't like forcing anyone. It's only truly fun if both sides enjoy it, right? If only one person's having a good time, it just feels gross."
In the end, that was also why she kept Johnny around. She didn't want to drag him in against his will, so she was waiting, keeping him close until he felt the same way. It meant she really liked him. Of course, Johnny himself only felt threatened, completely oblivious to her hidden intentions.
But I sensed Joelli's gaze on me in a different way. When our eyes met, hers were gentle, but when she thought I wasn't looking, her stare prickled like a thorn. As if she were scrutinizing me. Whenever I felt that gaze, I'd tense up without realizing it.
This routine repeated for days. Joelli grew increasingly demanding, Johnny grew more flustered, and I, stuck between them, just focused on doing my job. At first, it was awkward, but as the same scenes played out again and again, I got used to it.
But just as I was settling in, my assigned area suddenly changed. Without warning, I was moved to cleaning the rooms on the second floor. I had no idea why. Had I unknowingly upset Joelli? Either way, cleaning was familiar work, so it was actually more comfortable. And not having to endure Joelli's strange stares anymore wasn't so bad.
Then Alicia took my place. How? My confusion cleared when a fellow maid in the same cleaning area told me that Alicia had begged Audrey for another chance a few days prior.
Every time I passed by while attending to Joelli, Alicia had glared at me fiercely—who would've thought she'd pull something like this behind my back? That prideful Alicia, of all people.
"What's your game?"
"What?"
"Since when do you swallow your pride to serve someone?"
Alicia shot me a fierce glare.
"It's because of you!"
"Me?"
"Yes! You were trying to steal my spot again!"
Huh? What did I even do? As I stood there baffled, Alicia exploded.
"I'd rather serve that woman than lose to you!"
Only then did I realize her old habit had resurfaced—that nasty tendency to snatch away anything I had, no questions asked. Even in the short time I'd been there, I'd learned enough about Joelli's demanding nature. I could guess what might've happened when Alicia was alone with her. But Alicia was willing to endure all that just because she couldn't stand the thought of me taking her place.
"Besides, if I serve her, I might get to meet other nobles later. It's annoying, but I don't have a choice right now."
She was irritable, but it didn't seem like a purely impulsive decision. Not that it mattered to me.
"Good luck with that."
"Just stay out of my way."
Like I'd thought before—I had no intention of getting in her way.
Though this wasn't where I'd chosen to be, now that I was here, I wanted to focus solely on my assigned tasks. Whether it was attending to Joelli or cleaning, it didn't matter. Seeing as Johnny had come because of the generous pay, at least I wouldn't have to worry about compensation. Since this was temporary employment anyway, I might have to leave this place eventually. Until then, I needed to earn as much as possible so I wouldn't go hungry after leaving.
And thanks to being freed from Joelli's side, I could now observe this place more closely.
As I wiped the corridor windows, I stared intently through the glass at the dense thicket beyond. If I peered hard enough between the tangled branches, I could just make out something pale. Only recently had I realized that pale structure was another mansion belonging to this Count's estate. It was so far away that you wouldn't notice it unless you looked carefully.
This place, surrounded by forests on all sides, didn't seem like the main building. So was it the annex? It was strange—normally, a noble's estate would have a garden, but there was nothing like that here.
Still, even if there was another mansion, I couldn't just go there. The servants here weren't allowed outside without Audrey's permission. In fact, there weren't even any visitors. Even though a Count's estate would usually receive guests, I hadn't heard of anyone coming since I arrived. Joelli herself didn't go out much either. Maybe that was why our own outings were so strictly controlled.
The only place we could freely go without special permission was the area right in front of the mansion's entrance. The moment we stepped into the woods, we'd be interrogated—where we were going, why we were leaving, and so on.
Perhaps because we were temporary hires, we seemed to be under strict supervision. What's more, after talking a few times with the other maids, I learned that all the servants in this mansion, like Alicia and me, had been brought in from outside.
Surrounded by forests, unable to even visit the other mansion—no, unable to properly see anything, not even a garden. And all the servants were outsiders. I'd never even seen the face of the Count himself; the only noble presence here was Joelli, the Countess. But why would a Countess live in such a remote annex?
After spending days piecing things together, I came to one conclusion:
This was a very strange mansion.
Normally, there should be at least one or two long-serving retainers around. Like in the place I used to work before—
I shook my head sharply, cutting off the thought. Maybe because of past experiences, memories from five years ago kept resurfacing lately.
I hadn't completely forgotten. There were memories I couldn't shake, no matter how much I wanted to. Sometimes, I recalled my time in that mansion. Even though I'd been sold for gold coins, I still had more good memories than bad. Though the beginning and end were unpleasant, the moments I looked back on were beautiful—that must have been why.
Sometimes, I thought of him.
The short time we'd shared, the memories, the conversations, the promises. And our final moment. The worry for him—left alone in that dark room—still shook me at times. And that was already five years ago.
A missing maid would have been forgotten by now. Long enough for him to think I might be dead. Yet, I'd sometimes wondered if he was still looking for me.
That's impossible.
It can't be.
Even if he were, he wouldn't be able to find me. He'd never seen my face. How could he search for someone he'd never even laid eyes on?
And then another man surfaced in my thoughts.
I immediately shook my head again. The only way to deal with this gloom was to push it away. He's living well. Everyone must be living well. So I should live well too. That was how I consoled my heavy heart.