Chapter 84

Chapter 84

“Are any of the handmaids you planted in the past still working?”

“Yes. They wanted to continue working, so I let them go.”

Taylor, who was called by Kentrail, gazed at his master, who had a bad complexion, and answered.

“I see… where is their workplace?”

“I know that they moved out of the Queen’s Palace. Shall I find out?”

“See if there is a handmaid near the King… Or, maybe there is someone who has become acquainted with the chief attendant.”

“I’ll do that.”

As he glanced at the window where the sun began to rise, Kentrail continued, “You must have not even slept. As soon as the work is over, take a day off.”

“I’m fine. Master, how about taking a little break?”

He recommended it to Kentrail as he seemed to continue to overdo it. It was the same with his master, who couldn’t rest or sleep all day.

“There was a time when I worked all night in the Royal Palace.”

After patting Taylor on the shoulder, who was concerned about him, he sat down in his chair and started working again.

* * *

“Marie, is it nice?”

“Yes. Who is doing it, it’s really nice.”

Two small hands rested on Marie’s waist, and chubby fingertips pressed against her shoulder. Her body, lying on her back, was relaxed. The moderate pressure properly loosened her tight muscles.

“Hehe, that’s a relief.”

She used Brielle’s massage coupon.

Brielle, who had instructed her to lie on the bed, gave Marie a massage as she sometimes did to his uncle.

“You can stop now. Your arms and fingers can hurt.”

“No, I can do more. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Brielle’s face was full of smiles, as if he was happy that he had something he could do for her. So did she, whose face was buried in the pillow. As the two of them were talking, Ellie came in. She was holding a bowl full of water with a towel.

“Ellie, what are you going to do?”

At his puzzled voice, Marie’s face turned toward Ellie.

“Because I can’t stand still either.”

“Yes…?”

In response to Ellie’s answer, Briellel asked what she meant.

“Did you finish the massage, Master?”

“Almost…”

As he moved away from Marie, she then told her sister to sit on the edge of her bed.

‘No way…’

Marie knew what Ellie was going to do.

“Ellie, it’s okay.”

“Stay still. I want to give my sister a massage, too.”

Having said that, she took her feet and immersed them in the water. The water was set to the right temperature. Meanwhile, Brielle watched the two of them, too, noticing what Ellie was going to do.

“How is it, sister?”

Ellie, who asked with eyes twinkling, pierced Marie’s two eyes. She felt a trembling feeling.

“How did you come up with this?”

Without thinking of answering Ellie’s question, Marie asked back.

“When you were sick, I told you something. So, I’m keeping that.”

“Ellie…”

She looked at her grown-up younger sister.

As Marie found it unbearable, she jumped down. The water that had been soaking her feet gently ran over the side, gliding over her.

“Sister, why?”

Ellie asked, startled by Marie’s sudden action. The child was soon pulled into her arms.

“Ellie. I love you no matter how you act or think. That will never change. So, if you want something, you can say it anytime. If there is something you want to do, you can do it all. Yes. So, take it easy… okay?”

Skipping her words, Marie hugged the child tightly as if she thought that her words of wishing Ellie to grow up slowly could put a strain on the child.

As if she liked her sister’s arms, Ellie also raised her hand and hugged her sister.

She was always afraid of being abandoned, and the child’s heart, who had been busy watching around, became a little lighter. Her joy that her sister always loved her, no matter how she behaved, raised the child’s self-esteem. It gave her confidence.

Brielle watched them with a satisfied look rather than intervening between them.

[ T/N: A piece of thought, the reason why Marie was more distraught with Ellie washing her feet rather than Brielle massaging her, was that washing feet is an old Asian practice to show respect to the previous generations or to express filial piety. ]

* * *

Derek wrote a letter to Kentrail. He used mail that was five times more expensive than regular mail, but it was worth it.

‘I’m going to go to the market and buy some camping gear…’

From now on, he planned to observe them eating and sleeping near Gideon’s house.

There was also the fear that he might run away, knowing that Derek was from Kentrail. On the surface, they looked like a couple who were unparalleled in kindness, although when he thought that they had harmed Brielle and harmed his Master’s family, he was stunned.

‘After all, people can’t be judged by their appearance.’

It was when Derek was about to leave the post office with that thought.

“Huh? Isn’t that Den…?”

Someone seemed to know him. There was a hand holding him, who had unconsciously overlooked the name Den because he was unfamiliar with it.

“Ah…”

When he turned his head to look, it was the man whom he had seen several times in the hunting grounds, the captain.

“Are you going to send a letter?”

“Yes…”

“A lover?”

Even though he was embarrassed by the man’s personal question, Derek calmly replied that he had just sent it to his family.

“Well… you live far away from your family. It must be hard… Yes, we decided to have a drink today, but I’ll let you join us as well.”

A man who judged his own mind kept urging Derek to go out for a drink.

“I am fine.”

“Hey, there’s no need to feel burdened. These are the faces you’ve seen as well.”

Hearing his rejection from one ear and letting it out through the other, he pulled Derek’s arm. It could have been shaken off by force. Still, he followed along to ask about Gideon.

“That’s a good idea. Hoho.”

He smiled excitedly, wondering if the number of heads at the party would increase, and led Derek into the tavern near the post office. The usual odor entered his nostrils as the noisy people clinked their glasses and shouted at each other.

“Hey, are you here?”

Derek found the faces he had seen at the hunting grounds in the spot he followed to.

“Oh, did you bring Den, too?”

“I met him in front.”

They welcomed Derek warmly… Again, Gideon was not here.

“Come on, drink, I’ll pay your share today.”

Since he came, the hunting profits have changed, so they have become more generous.

Nodding, Derek melted into the conversation.

* * *

The knights gathered in a circle in the training hall and were doing something. There were cheers and boos.

And, from within, a triumphant voice was heard.

“Then the next challenger!”

It was Brielle’s voice. And, Ellie was standing next to him holding the ddakji. The children who had come to Berry began to fight other knights nearby as well. It got bigger, and all the knights flocked to see it.

“Oh! That’s a miss!”

Of course, when Ellie performed well in a match they thought they would have an advantage, the knights booed fellow knights who had lost to the child. The children jumped in excitement that they were winning against the knights.

The knights who saw it had a smile on their faces.

“What are you doing?”

Taylor, who returned from carrying out Kentrail’s orders, shouted at the knights gathered in a circle without training. Then, he turned his head and found the children. With their eyes wide open, they could see that they were worried that other knights might be scolded because of them.

“We were playing ddakji.”

One of the knights, who is usually close with Taylor, approached and asked,

“Ddakji?”

After seeing the children, he decided that this kind of atmosphere should be there from time to time, so he applied for a match as well.

“Oh!”

Shouts continued all around. The atmosphere of the Knights, which had been stagnant since they had recently missed Jaz, had become more lively.

“Are you going to bet anything?”

The knight who had spoken to Taylor earlier shouted. They around them fussed and shouted for snacks.

“Let’s do that. If I lose to Ellie, I’ll treat everyone to a snack.”

“Wow!”

Shouts filled the training hall.

“We have nothing to bet on, what should we do?”

Brielle and Ellie glanced into each other’s eyes and discussed.

“I know…”

“If the two of them lose, I’ll give you the snacks.”

Kentrail’s voice resounded through these children’s worries.

“Master…!”

After all the knights returned to their standing posture, they greeted him. They were afraid they might be scolded, though Kentrail encouraged the game. Seeing that, Everyone was excited to watch Taylor challenge Ellie.

‘Thanks to the two children, the knights are smiling.’

It was Kentrail who thought that was good.

“Ellie, use this. This is harder to flip.”

With Brielle’s advice, Ellie used the ddakji. There seemed to be something different from the outside. Taylor struggled with what would be best for his first play. He picked the one that looked next best to Ellie’s.

The match between the two began. And, after only two battles, the winner was decided…

It was Ellie.

“What do you mean, showing off all those muscles?”

“Losing to Ellie, what disgrace is this?”

The knights surrounded Taylor and booed.

He laughed as he heard those boos. It was because this atmosphere was joyful, and he met his Master’s eyes that had the same look.

However, when Taylor saw the bill for the snacks paid later, that smile vanished.

* * *

“Didn’t the man named Gideon come?”

The atmosphere in the bar was ripe, and Derek finally opened his mouth. They all glanced at each other with awkward faces. The man who brought Derek opened his mouth first.

“It seems like you got close after seeing each other for a few days…”

He recalled Derek, who was talking with Gideon at the hunting ground, and he blurted out his words.

“He wouldn’t have come even if we called. He has never been to a gathering like this before.”

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

“Honestly, if we hadn’t been helped, I wouldn’t have included it in hunting.”

The men complained to Derek that Gideon had no profit, as they had seen on the hunting grounds. They say that they put him on a hunt because they were helped when they were injured in the woods a long time ago.

“He seems to be living separately in the forest…”

“That’s right. At that time, the prices of houses near the market and that place were similar. He dared to live there.”

The more he listened to the story, the more he couldn’t shake the feeling that Gideon had ostracized people in the first place.