Chapter 66
The Count's Secret Maid - Chapter 66
Translation: godsn
After finishing wiping the windows, I wrung out the rag in the iron bucket. The water had already gotten dirty. To fetch fresh clean water, I lifted the bucket's handle.
While walking down the hallway, I ran into Johnny. The moment I saw his face, I frowned. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes like someone who hadn't slept properly in days.
"You look tired."
"Really bad?"
Johnny touched his own face.
"Yeah. Did something happen?"
"Ah, just... work's been tough."
He forced a smile as he said that. Must be going through a lot mentally.
"How's it going with Alicia?"
"Not bad. Lately she even responds when I talk to her!"
Johnny beamed. His weary face suddenly lit up with vitality.
Before coming to the Count's estate, Alicia would only smile without responding whenever Johnny spoke to her. At a glance, it might have seemed like a friendly smile, so Johnny wouldn't have known, but Alicia hadn't wanted to engage with him at all. If she responded, it would just give him false hope or something.
After I stopped being assigned to Joelli and Alicia took over, Johnny got his "chance."
Recently, Alicia learned that Johnny was the shabby guy who'd had a crush on her. I told her. She was absolutely shocked when she heard. Anyway, since then, she's started responding to him more, as if her opinion of him had improved somewhat. 'Oh, hi Alicia.' 'Yeah, hi.' The other day I happened to see them talking. Though her voice was coy, Alicia smiled at him with slightly crinkled eyes. Johnny stared at Alicia's face as if he could bore holes through it with his gaze. To an outsider, they might have looked like a couple just starting to date. Knowing the real situation, I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak. The clearly visible power imbalance between them was heartbreaking.
Well, digging into hidden circumstances never leads to anything good anyway. Sometimes secrets are more beautiful when left as secrets.
"Use this chance to get closer to Alicia."
"W-w-what are you talking about? How could I?"
Why's he so startled? Anyone would think I told him to confess his love.
"Just talk to her more. How long are you going to pine alone? You have to seize opportunities when they come. If you miss this chance, when will you ever get another moment alone with her? Right?"
"Well, that's true but..."
"This might be your last chance."
"Last chance...?"
Johnny murmured this with a dazed expression. I raised both fists in encouragement. Johnny nodded with renewed determination.
"Well, do your best."
After giving my usual words of comfort, I parted ways with Johnny.
I was walking down the hallway again, having just turned a corner, when I saw a man and woman standing in the middle of the corridor. They were looking up anxiously, shifting their feet restlessly. Their urgent voices overlapped as they called out:
"Please! Come down!"
"It's dangerous!"
"Yes, it's dangerous!"
"Yes, it's dangerous so you must come down!"
Wondering what was happening, my gaze naturally followed theirs upward. Just then, something came flying past me and crashed into the wall. Startled, I looked to the side just as—thud!—something fell to the floor, rolled around, and came to a stop at my feet.
A horse? Picking it up, I saw it was a wooden horse figurine. Where did this come from?
When I looked ahead again, I could see the full situation more clearly. Across from the man and woman stood a large iron horse statue, and someone was perched on top of it.
The moment the person atop the statue shifted their body, the iron horse statue swayed. The man gasped in alarm and quickly steadied the statue, his face turning pale. The woman let out a shriek, on the verge of bursting into tears. Only the small feet dangling below the saddle wiggled playfully.
But those feet were... remarkably tiny.
"Kyahaha!"
A bright, clear laugh erupted soon after. I slowly approached the scene. The small feet kicked the horse's torso with a thump thump before bouncing excitedly on the saddle. A glimpse of golden hair flashed before disappearing again.
"Please come down! Huh?!"
"My heart is pounding! Please get down!"
"Yay! Yay! Hahaha!"
What in the world was happening? As I drew closer, I saw the small feet tilt precariously to the side. The moment I realized it, I tossed aside the iron statue I was holding and sprinted forward. A small figure suddenly tumbled out from the left. By the time the belatedly aware man spread his arms to catch them, I had already slid across the floor with the falling child cradled in my arms.
A sharp scream rang out immediately after. As I skidded, I collided with the iron horse statue. Thud! My vision flashed white from the impact.
"Kyaaak! Young Master!"
"Oh no! Are you all right?!"
The two servants—now clearly identifiable—shouted and rushed toward me. I lay on the floor, groaning in pain. It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes. As I whimpered, I felt something squirming against my stomach, trying to push itself up.
Only then did I clumsily prop myself up to inspect whom I had caught. And there, nestled against me, was a child. A little boy, no older than four, with tousled golden hair and wide violet eyes, stared blankly at me.
Who...?
"Young Master, are you unharmed?"
"How is your condition?"
The two servants fussed over the child in my arms. It finally dawned on me that they were attendants.
But "Young Master"? As I stared in bewilderment at this unfamiliar little being, the boy didn't take his eyes off me.
Then, his head tilted slightly to the side. His plump, rosy lips moved in a pout.
"Who're you?"
That's exactly what I wanted to ask. Who are you?
"Young Master, please come down first. Even if we are merely servants, it's improper to climb atop a lady like this."
At the man's meaningful glance, the woman gently lifted the child off my stomach and set him down. Only then could I sit up properly. A sudden cough wracked my chest—evidently, shielding the boy from the fall had taken its toll. My ribs and stomach throbbed dully.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
The man offered me his hand. I took it and rose to my feet, smoothing out my crumpled clothes before coughing again. Standing made the back of my head throb, and my back ached especially badly. The delayed pain surged—the impact must have been worse than I'd thought.
As I gingerly touched my back, the man spoke with concern.
"It might be wise to get examined, just in case."
"I'll be fine. You should check on him first. I managed to catch him, but he might still be shaken."
I still had no idea who this child was, but since they called him "Young Master," he was likely nobility. So I added politely, and the man nodded.
All the while, the boy's clear eyes remained fixed on me. Then, tugging at the woman's skirt, he called her "Nanny."
"Who are you?"
"I'm not sure. I'm seeing you for the first time as well."
The woman's gaze also fixed on me. She wore an apologetic expression.
I waved my hand—which had been rubbing my back—dismissively to indicate I was fine. Then I realized my hand was empty. Hastily, I scanned my surroundings. Over the woman's shoulder, I spotted the metal bucket I'd thrown earlier lying discarded. And the foul-smelling liquid that had thoroughly soaked the area around it.
"Ugh."
By the time I reached it, the spilled contents were already a lost cause. I picked up the overturned bucket and surveyed the sodden floor. A sigh escaped me.
"Oh dear, what a mess. Let me help you," the woman said, eyeing the liquid spilled across the floor.
"It's alright. I was the one who threw it."
Crouching down, I scrubbed the floor with a rag, wringing the liquid back into the bucket. As I repeated the process—wiping the floor and squeezing the rag into the bucket—the woman stubbornly insisted on helping, using the hem of her skirt to mop up the mess. I tried to dissuade her. The quick-witted man hurried off down the corridor, saying he'd fetch more rags.
Eventually, I surrendered to the woman's persistent offers of assistance and resumed cleaning when suddenly—squelch—a small foot appeared before me, firmly stomping on the edge of my rag. Lifting my head, I found the child glaring at me with a sullen expression.
"Ugly."
...What?
Stunned by this sudden affront, I froze. Then a tiny finger jabbed accusingly in my direction.
"Ugly! Ugly-face! You're an ugly-face!"
"Y-Young Master..."
The woman looked at the child with dismay. I was still processing what I'd just heard. But as if to cut short my bewilderment, the child continued.
"Ugly-face, who are you?"
"Young Master, please don't do this. Stop it."
"I said who are you?!"
With each word, the child stomped harder on the rag, splashing foul liquid that soaked my hands.
Too shocked to respond immediately, I still couldn't quite comprehend what this little brat was saying. Calling me ugly out of nowhere? Did I hear that right?
Though the flustered woman tried to restrain the child, it was useless. When I remained silent, the child seemed to take it as a challenge, demanding louder and louder to know who I was with a tone that said they wouldn't back down until they got an answer. Then, the child pouted dramatically, puffing out their lips.
"It's an order!"
"Young Master!"
I might not know who this child was, but one thing was clear.
A bratty, arrogant, insufferable little runt!
Once I grasped the child's temperament, my mind abruptly calmed. Right. That's how it was. Getting flustered and panicked was for amateurs. I'd had plenty of experience dealing with insufferable people. And I'd faced men far more bratty, far more arrogant, and far more insufferable than this child.
"Young Master, please stop stepping on—"
"Young Master."
I parted my lips calmly. The child's eyes sparkled as if waiting. The nanny looked at me in alarm.
"Though my status may be lowly, I do know my manners. If you wish to know who someone is, it's proper etiquette to introduce yourself first."
I enunciated each word slowly and clearly so the child could understand. The kid just blinked rapidly, as if trying to process what I'd said. Only the woman seemed to grasp the full meaning, looking utterly at a loss.
"Orders must be obeyed!"
Though not fully comprehending my words, the child must have found them irritating because they suddenly shouted. Despite their impressive sentence structure, their pronunciation was so imprecise that their yelling came off as more cute than intimidating. Not a shred of dignity to be felt.
"What a shame, but I have no answer to give to that command. I humbly request you withdraw that command. And your foot as well!"
As I spoke, I grabbed the edge of the rag trapped beneath the child's foot and shook it. Though I meant for him to move his foot, the message clearly didn't get through as he didn't budge. Just as I was about to carefully pull the rag out from under his foot with measured strength, a small hand suddenly shoved my shoulder with full force.
I landed hard on my backside. Simultaneously, there was a loud splat. When I looked up, the child was sprawled face-first on the floor. Apparently, when my body fell backward and the rag abruptly came free, he'd lost his balance and toppled over.
The nanny hurriedly scooped up the child in alarm, but his face and the front of his clothes were already completely soaked.
The child's face crumpled. His large eyes welled up with tears that threatened to spill over any moment. Flustered, the nanny kept dabbing at his wet face with her skirt hem.
I-I told you to move your foot! Scrambling to my feet in dismay, I noticed the man who'd gone to fetch another rag still hadn't returned. Somehow, I felt I shouldn't stay here any longer.
"Th-this small rag is woefully inadequate to clean up all this water. I should go get a larger mop. Just leave it be."
Mumbling excuses, I immediately turned to leave. A loud wail erupted behind me as I hurried away.
"Waaaaah!"
Of course, I didn't look back.
Let's be honest—I was running away.
He clearly looked like some young master from a noble household, and belated anxiety struck me that I might be punished for making him cry. So I deliberately dragged my feet when going down to the kitchen to get a new rag. By the time I returned, fortunately, neither the child nor the nanny was there.
As I finished mopping up the spilled dirty water, an uneasy feeling nagged at me. I made a child cry and ran off—shouldn't I at least apologize? But I didn't know who he was, and I had no desire to seek him out and stir up more trouble. It hadn't been a pleasant encounter anyway.
After finishing the cleanup, I massaged my aching back and went to refill the bucket with fresh water. Soon, I forgot about the incident entirely.
Yet it didn't take long before I encountered that wretched brat again. While cleaning my usual area as always, I was summoned by Audrey and sent to Joelli's room.
"This is my nephew. He'll be staying with us for a while."
Standing beside Joelli was a small, familiar-faced child. That impish expression beneath short golden hair wasn't something I could forget even if I tried. His violet eyes sparkled brightly as they fixed on me. I remained silent under that gaze.
"He's been talking about you. Said he absolutely had to meet you."
Damn it. I forcibly suppressed the urge to bolt straight out of the room. Though I was fully prepared to make a run for it if necessary.
"Who you?"
"Robert, you must greet someone properly first."
"Hi. Who you?"
The child remembered exactly who I was. And he seemed perfectly aware of what this situation meant too.
"...... I'm Ann."
Upon finally hearing my introduction, the child—Robert—smiled cheerfully. Though there wasn't an ounce of genuine warmth in it.
"From now on, Ann will assist the nanny in attending to Robert."
"Me, you mean?"
"Yes."
"You're saying... me?"
"Yes. Ann."
Joelli smiled sweetly. Beside her, Robert grinned even more delightedly. Behind them, the nanny forced a smile while giving me a sympathetic look. Alicia, who was attending to Joelli, kept shooting me sidelong glances with a displeased expression.
"We're counting on you."
Caught in the middle of it all, I just wanted to cry.