Chapter 127

“Has this woman completely lost her mind…?”

Clatter!

“Are you alright, My Lord?”

“Get in here and clean this up right now!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

With a roaring shout loud enough to carry past the bedroom and echo down the hallway, Noah hurriedly swept up the debris of the shatteringly smashed glass cup.

“She’s out of her mind, completely out of her mind.”

Bam!

“How dare she bare her teeth at me, overstepping her bounds?”

Bam!

Unable to contain his surging anger, Robert slammed his fists down on the desk repeatedly.

“Noah, tell me. Is there anything I haven’t done for Rachel?”

“You have always done your absolute best, My Lord.”

Having neatly cleared the broken glass off the floor, Noah stood up and gave a habitual response.

It was a familiar question to Noah, who had been stationed in the mansion ever since the marital relationship began to drift apart.

Robert always vented his grievances to Noah in this exact manner after a marital fight.

“Right? When I first met her, Rachel was truly beautiful. So much so that I decided to marry the eldest daughter of an ordinary count family.”

“She was genuinely breathtaking in my eyes as well.”

“I truly loved Rachel. Pure, obedient… she was the ideal wife. But look at her now. Is it me? Did I ruin Rachel?”

“That’s impossible.”

“Then who is it?”

As Noah rolled his eyes at the awkward question, he cautiously replied.

“…I believe it is because of the Proiment County.”

“Is that so? Why?”

Seeing Robert look satisfied with the answer, Noah gained a bit of confidence and continued.

“The Proiments mistakenly thought they had the Rubel ducal house to lean on, so they committed acts far beyond their station. They left all the cleanup to the Duchess under the guise of family, so it must have been a headache for her.”

The House of Count Proiment had been a fairly prestigious family in the past, but as successions repeated, incompetent heads of the family plunged the estate into debt and the brink of bankruptcy through gambling-like management.

It was none other than Robert who had saved the crisis-ridden count estate. At the time, Robert had fallen head over heels for Rachel, and paying off the count family’s debts was no difficult task for him.

However, the Count of Proiment, believing he had gained the protection of Robert—the influential next head of the Rubel Duchy—did not stop his greed there.

“Exactly. I paid off all their debts and even hooked them up with connections to the imperial family. I even went out of my way to secure a job for her nephew! You know what? Up until then, I had never asked anyone for a favor in my entire life. Born as the second son of a ducal house, would I ever have had a reason to? Of course not!”

“……”

“Even though I swallowed my pride for the sake of in-laws and granted every single request, those ungrateful bastards just keep endlessly overstepping their bounds! You’re right, Noah. Things became awkward between us ever since then.”

Loosening the tight collar of his shirt, Robert spoke in a calm, measured tone.

“I’m exhausted now, too. Who do you think made me end up like this? If she keeps meddling and getting in my way, well, I have ways of dealing with it.”

“……”

“Noah. You know I trust you a lot, right?”

“It is an honor, My Lord.”

A dark shadow fell over the back of Noah’s head as he bowed to express his gratitude.

“Then, could you do me a favor?”

‘Is everyone asleep?’

When I returned to my room after finishing my shower, the lanterns were mostly blown out, leaving the room dim.

Feeling drowsy all over, I tried to lie down in bed, but Io suddenly jumped up as if waiting for this moment.

“Lita Lita, did you hear too? We’re going to Edin!”

“Jeez, you scared me.”

Isn’t she asleep…?

I had no idea why she had been wrapped up in her blanket like that, confusing people.

“Right? Aren’t you totally thrilled?”

Isabella popped her head out from under the blanket and chimed in as well.

“I’m so excited I can’t even sleep. Did you know, Lita? Edin has the most beautiful ocean among all the ducal private properties! A villa right in front of the ocean, how romantic! Ahh~ Vincent spent his whole life cooped up in the mansion, so he could never even dream of something like this!”

“I heard this family meeting is taking place at the villa, right? Everyone is gathering there partly for a vacation, they say.”

That’s right. Out of nowhere, we were about to go on an untimely suburban trip—no, a provincial business trip.

Setting Io aside, even Isabella was unusually thrilled to the max.

Just as their feelings were represented by the pillow they were hugging, which was getting thoroughly crumpled, I didn’t need to be told how excited they were.

“Ah~ Since we’re going anyway, it would’ve been even better if it were summer, what a shame.”

Actually, for me, Edin was a place I could never forget even if I tried.

After all, that was the beach where I had jumped in.

That’s right. The very beach where I took the oath in the first run to clear my name.

And now, I was heading back to that exact place in this run, too.

“Seriously. Swimming is totally out of the window.”

Even if it were summer, I’d pass on swimming.

I’d already done it plenty of times.

“Of course Lita is going, but I never thought even we would get to go. Isabella, we got so lucky this time, right?”

“Totally. The people left behind in the mansion right now must feel so pitiful.”

Since the majority of the mansion’s staff was accompanying the Duke and Duchess, not being able to go meant you were out of luck.

“By the way, Belita. Did you do something to Bridget?”

Isabella asked cautiously, looking somewhat doubtful.

“I didn’t do anything special.”

“Really? She suddenly apologized and said she was sorry for everything, so I wondered what kind of trick she was pulling. I wonder if I can let my guard down.”

“Actually, I was gathering evidence to report them to the Head Maid, you know? I was just wondering if she figured that out and got scared.”

…I honestly didn’t know… my reporting plan was still an ongoing project.

It turned out I had unintentionally disrupted the two of them, who had been enthusiastically gathering evidence.

“She did look pretty terrified of me, though. Maybe that’s why she’s walking on eggshells around you guys, too.”

“Is that so? Because she thought you’d snitch to the Duke? Was our Lita that formidable?”

Pouncing onto my bed from across the room right next to the wardrobe, Io pinched my cheek in admiration.

“We’ve got great friends. We even get to taste a bit of power!”

With Isabella joining in, the three of us ended up huddled together on the narrow single bed.

“Thanks, Lita.”

“We never thought you’d even look out for us. You must be busy with the Duke’s work, too!”

There was no need to thank me. I only did it to stack up shop points.

And while I felt a bit bad for Io and Isabella, honestly, I hoped Bridget wouldn’t crack over something this trivial.

I’d be bummed if one of my shop point farming spots disappeared.

Still, I couldn’t voice those inner thoughts, so I just answered vaguely.

“…If they bother you again, tell me anytime.”

Couldn’t I just use that as an excuse to go back and say a word to earn more points?

“Lita…!”

“Since when did you get so sweet?”

Io and Isabella sent me eyes full of emotion.

And thus, the night of different dreams came to a close…

A few days later, we arrived at the Edin villa.

It wasn’t all that far to begin with. Walking there only took about a day.

It had been a forced march without even staying overnight, but no one voiced any complaints. Resting for a day and dealing with packing and unpacking for it was far more exhausting.

Fallen leaves scattered by the wind and bare branches. A dark sea with rough waves churning.

If it were summer, it would have been a splendid resort, but visiting in the wrong season just made it feel eerie.

If we had come at the very least in early autumn, there would have been some charm in seeing the fall foliage, but right now it was late autumn.

A chill was slowly starting to creep in with the brisk sea breeze.

Thinking I might catch a cold if I wasn’t careful, I hurried and closed the window. Then I stoked the fire in the heater.

Warm heat began to circulate through the room, and only then did I take off my outer coat, neatly fold it on the bed, and look around.

A small room of barely three pyeong. Decorated in bright blue, it felt fresh like a summer cottage.

Though the only things in it were a rattling window proving its advanced age, a small heater, a rotting wardrobe, and a creaking bed, I couldn’t possibly have been more satisfied.

‘Just how long has it been since I had a room to myself?’

That was because I had been granted a single room at the Edin villa.

Complying with the order to attend closely upon the Duke, it was a tiny single-room dwelling tucked right next to Robert’s bedroom.

Strictly speaking, having your boss right next door was beyond inconvenient, but it was only for the villa anyway.

If I just thought of it as being out on a business trip, it wasn’t weird at all.

As a side note, the protagonist and the Saintess’s group had arrived at the county and were diligently subjugating the magic beasts.

The mother body’s roots stretched out relentlessly, targeting the knights, but they were being systematically cleared away by the fired-up knights.

They hadn’t reached the count’s mansion just yet, but that would be very soon, too.

The countess of this route would probably find herself headed for the holding cells, too.

Well, I’d just wait and see for now.

I turned off the broadcast screen and stretched.

There was no need to keep watching things I already knew.

Of course, there might have been some changes. So I had asked Mo Je-won to handle the monitoring separately.

Once the broadcast ended, he would summarize the contents and send them via chat.

‘I was told to help pack Robert’s luggage.’

To do that, I first needed to change back into the maid uniform I always wore.

A black dress with a white ruffled apron.

At first, I shivered in discomfort from the breeze down below, but now I was used to it.
I tied my headband properly, stepped out of the room, and opened the door to the dressing room attached right next to Robert’s bedroom.

“I’m here.”

Noah was already unpacking Robert’s clothes. I also opened a suitcase the size of a person and started organizing.

Since Villero was nowhere to be seen, it seemed he was attending to Robert elsewhere.
The suitcase I unpacked contained shirts, pants, and belts.

Even though it was only a four-day schedule, there were thirty shirts alone. Truly, there was no such thing as moderation with this guy.

‘Villero definitely said to divide and organize them neatly by category.’

Choosing a clothes hanger suitable for the shirts, I spoke to Noah.

“I’m hanging the shirts over here.”

“……”

Despite speaking quite loudly, Noah gave no answer. I repeated myself, injecting a hint of annoyance.

“The shirts, I said I’m hanging them right here.”

“……”

“What on earth are you thinking about so hard?”

“Ah, Lita. Sorry. I was just… a bit…”

Noah had been acting strange since a few days ago.

Before, he would endlessly strike up conversations first, but lately, even when we were alone, he was eerily quiet to the point of being startling.

Even on the way here earlier, he had a dead serious look on his face and hadn’t said a single word.

It was convenient, but it was starting to get worrisome.

‘Did his love fade?’

I wasn’t feeling hurt, but objectively speaking, that didn’t make any sense.

Not even a month had passed since we started dating, so there was no way a slump could have hit us, and affection points only ever went up, never down.

That meant there was some other reason he had checked out.

It couldn’t be family issues, and if it was something else…

I could narrow it down to work or social relationships.

‘Did he commit a massive blunder while working?’

However, essentially Noah’s duties and mine overlapped, so if something happened, there was no way I wouldn’t know. Friendships, then?

Could that really cause a person to droop this much in front of someone they liked?

…I was curious. And my gut was screaming that something unusual was going on.

Whatever it was, to find out, I first needed to talk to Noah.

How could I spark motivation in someone whose willingness to communicate had hit rock bottom?

…I thought it over carefully, then opened my mouth.

“Are you sick of me already?”

“Huh?”

That was a PTSD-inducing line I’d heard from an ex-girlfriend.

As expected, no experience goes to waste.

Noah reacted immediately.