The Maid Catherine (Part 3)

Something was wrong.

The venomous stares the maids cast my way the moment I stepped into the Prince's Palace, and the strangely stifling, grim atmosphere hanging in the corridors—it was all off.

What is this?

I furrowed my brow and surveyed my surroundings. Edwin looked up at me, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

"What's the matter?"

"The atmosphere feels peculiar."

"The atmosphere?"

Edwin blinked, clearly not understanding in the slightest.

Just then, the maid who had brought Edwin's washbasin that morning caught my eye. Despite what had unfolded earlier, she appeared to be in remarkably high spirits, wearing the smug expression of someone who had just chanced upon unexpected good fortune.

"You there."

"N-Nanny?"

Startled by my sudden call, the maid whirled around with wide eyes.

"Why are you so alarmed?"

"Wh-Who says I'm alarmed?"

The maid seemed to gauge my expression for a fleeting second before her demeanor turned sharp and dismissive.

"Why did you call me, anyway? I happen to be quite busy."

Her thinly veiled insolence made my scowl deepen.

"Did something happen while I was away?"

"What do you mean, 'did something happen'?"

"The mood does not seem particularly pleasant."

"Ah." A brief, mock gasp escaped her lips, followed by a theatrical smirk. "Well, you see... one of the maids from the annex committed a rather insolent offense, daring to disobey the head maid's direct orders."

A maid from the annex?

An ominous chill settled in my chest. Seeing my expression harden, the maid smiled with her eyes, though her thin lips remained cruelly curled.

"A lowly wretch had the audacity to serve His Highness a meal without permission. The kitchen staff had no knowledge of it, of course."

At her sneering explanation, Edwin's eyes went wide as saucers.

"What does that mean?"

Those were my exact thoughts.

"What happened to that maid?"

"What do you think happened? The head maid punished her personally." The maid snickered, utterly reveling in the misfortune. "By now, she's probably locked away in the food storehouse. Now then, I have far too much work to attend to, so if you'll excuse me."

Offering Edwin a perfunctory nod of her head, she haughtily turned on her heel and strode away.

The moment she vanished from sight, Edwin demanded an explanation, his voice trembling on edge.

"I asked what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that meant! She was punished just for serving me food?!"

For some reason, Edwin's voice was sharp with acute panic. I could not fathom the exact reason, but the boy seemed thoroughly terrified.

"Why aren't you answering me?!"

Only then did I realize that Edwin had been clutching the hem of my dress the entire time. The young prince's small hands were pale from gripping the fabric so tightly, and his small face was completely drained of color. Instead of answering, I gently pried his trembling fingers away.

"...It is nothing of concern. Your Highness, please take Princess Emilia and head up to your chambers first."

"What? What about you?!"

"There is somewhere I must stop by."

"Hey! Aren't you going to stop?! Hey!"

Handing Emilia over into the young prince's arms, I turned and quickened my stride, deliberately ignoring the desperate gaze clinging to my back.

After interrogating several maids in the kitchen, I finally arrived at the food storehouse.

Its heavy wooden door was firmly bolted and padlocked.

"Catherine, are you inside?"

"...Nanny?"

After a moment of dead silence, a faint, muffled voice drifted out from beyond the timber. It was Catherine without a doubt.

"What happened?"

"Well... the head maid found out that I brought a meal to His Highness on my own."

"..."

When I offered no immediate reply, Catherine, likely unsettled by the quiet, forced an upbeat tone. "Still, the head maid was very lenient with me! She said she would let me out after just one day of reflection here. Isn't that a relief?"

Hearing the tremor beneath her forced cheer, my brow furrowed deeply.

I was the one who had asked her to go against the head maid's decree. Therefore, this burden fell squarely on my shoulders.

"Nanny?"

"Wait just a moment."

"Pardon?"

Rattle, click, clank—

The heavy iron lock fastened to the door gave way with a sharp metallic clatter and tumbled to the stone floor. As I shoved the heavy door open, I found Catherine bound tightly in coarse ropes, staring back at me in disbelief. Her hair was tangled and loose, her lower lip split and stained with dried blood. Judging by the swollen redness on her cheek, she had taken a vicious blow to the face.

"Nanny...?" Catherine murmured, her features slack with shock. "H-How did you...?"

Gazing down at the broken chains and lock scattered across the threshold, she stammered in confusion, "The head maid holds the only key..."

"A key is not the only tool capable of opening a lock."

When I tossed a bent hairpin onto the stone floor, Catherine gasped in horror.

"W-Wait! Nanny, if you do something like this, you will be punished too...!"

"Be still."

"N-No, ah—!"

Paying no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heed to her frantic protests, I began untying the rough knots, only for an agonized groan to tear from her throat.

"What is wr—"

The question died in my throat, my vision freezing upon the back of her frail frame. Dark crimson blooms were soaking through the torn fabric of her uniform.

This is...

Visible through the shredded cloth were countless lacerations carved deep into her flesh—whip marks. In an instant, the rage inside me went cold and still, like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

"...Do you not find this absurd?"

"Pardon?"

I continued in a muted murmur, as if speaking to the empty air. "Who do you believe is the master of this palace?"

"Why, His Highness Edwin, of course..."

"Yet you were whipped and locked in this cellar solely because you dared to prepare a meal for Prince Edwin."

At my words, Catherine pressed her lips tight, entirely lost for words. She was not ignorant of the truth. She knew full well how utterly irrational this was. To be brutally punished for feeding the master of the palace? It was sheer, unfathomable madness.

Yes, it makes no sense at all.

Unless, of course, Edwin was nothing more than a powerless, penniless prince.

I pushed myself up from the floor.

"Allow me to ask you one thing."

Catherine lifted her head tentatively.

"Why did you help me when you knew you would face this if discovered?"

Catherine forced an awkward smile, trying to brush it off lightly. "I didn't really help you, Nanny, I just..."

"I am asking you in all seriousness."

Faced with the quiet weight of my voice, she hesitated, her eyes drifting downward.

"...ful."

"What did you say?"

"Because I was grateful." Feeling the piercing pressure of my gaze, she bowed her head even further before whispering, "I've been tormented by the maids of the main palace for so long... but until now, you were the only person who ever stepped forward to help me. That's why... that is why..."

I remained motionless in that dimly lit cellar for a long time.

"Catherine."

"Yes?"

"I despise complicated nuisances more than anything."

"I-I'm so sorry! I promised you that the head maid would never find out..." Misinterpreting my words as anger at her incompetence, Catherine's face crumpled into tears.

Watching her tremble, I added in an even, emotionless voice, "However, there is one thing I despise even more."

"Pardon?"

"Things that defy all rational understanding."

Leaving the bewildered Catherine behind, I turned toward the doorway. "For now, let us return to your quarters."

"Nanny! Wait, ah!"

Attempting to scramble after me, Catherine collapsed back onto the cold stone floor before she could even find her footing.

"What is the matter now?"

"Th-That is... my legs have gone numb..."

She was truly a handful. Yet, when all was said and done, it was my doing that had brought her to this state. Furrowing my brow, I stepped back to her side and wrapped an arm around her to support her weight. She stared up at me, her eyes glistening with sheer awe.

"Do not look at me with those ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes."

"Pardon?"

"This came to pass because of my request, so helping you is nothing more than my obligation."

Catherine blinked blankly, looking entirely unable to digest what I was saying. Releasing a small sigh, I clarified my point.

"I am telling you not to feel indebted to me."

At that, a soft giggle slipped from Catherine's lips.

To think she could still laugh after being flogged within an inch of her life.

"Why are you laughing?"

When I questioned her in genuine bafflement, she merely flashed a playful grin. "No reason. Does one really need a reason to smile?"

"If you possess enough breath to laugh, use it to walk."

"Nanny." With her arm draped over my shoulder as she stood, Catherine spoke out of nowhere. "You really are peculiar."

Her remark abruptly brought back what Edwin had said to me earlier.

'You're really strange.'

It seemed I had become both strange and peculiar in the span of a single day.

"I seem to be hearing that quite often lately."

"And I think you are a wonderful, kind person."

A kind person. A dry, humorless chuckle broke from my throat.

"Nanny?" Catherine tilted her head, confused by my reaction.

"Every decent person in this world must truly be dead, then."

To call an assassin a good person—it was hands down the most absurd thing I had ever heard in both my lives. Catherine, however, seemed to write my words off as nothing more than dry modesty.

"Oh, you're impossible, Nanny!"

A bright, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠innocent smile lingered on her battered face.

When I arrived at the annex while supporting Catherine, the maids of the outbuilding rushed out in a frantic wave.

"Catherine!"

"Good heavens, what happened to you?!"

"Are you all right?"

"Did the head maid release you?"

Without exception, every single one of them wore expressions of genuine, unfeigned anguish for Catherine.

"No, it was the nanny who freed me."

"What?!"

At Catherine's revelation, their collective gazes snapped toward me. Feeling slightly out of place, I offered them an awkward nod. The maids of the annex appeared equally ill at ease; they observed me with immense caution, as if laying eyes upon 'Rachel Brown' for the very first time.

"This lady is the new nanny...?"

It seemed the real Lady Rachel Brown had never once deigned to set foot in this ramshackle outbuilding. Shrugging off their inquisitive stares, I spoke in a clear voice.

"Catherine's injuries are severe. We need to move her somewhere comfortable immediately."

"Ah, right this way—!"

Only then did the maids snap back to their senses. Supporting Catherine, I followed them deeper into the servants' quarters. The moment I laid her down onto a worn, threadbare mattress, the women sprang into action, scurrying back and forth with basins and bandages.

They look familiar.

Watching them scramble about frantically just to nurse Catherine back to health reminded me vividly of the comrades who had once followed me in my past life.

Recalling the distant voices of the comrades who had stood beside me for so long, I quietly lowered my gaze.

For some reason, a bitter taste spread across my tongue.