Chapter 23

Chapter 23

“Welcome.”

The wood factory that displayed the furniture had a different taste.

It was a different person from the one who came to deliver the other day, but Marie noticed the style of the store and realized that the Count had listened to her opinion.

[ It looks gorgeous and classy, ​​but I don’t think it would be suitable for the young master. It would be better if it’s a place that uses a suitable material, such as cypress wood, for a design that provides comfort. ]

‘He still remembers that.’ A little impressed, she stood next to him and peered at the Count, who was glancing around.

“Do you like anything?”

“The young master should like it more than me…”

“You still don’t know him? If it’s something that you choose, he would undoubtedly be excited about it big time.”

Marie, conceived by his words, bit her mouth. ‘You can’t laugh too loudly in front of the Count.’ She opened her mouth and suppressed the laughter.

“I like this.”

Marie pointed to the furniture that stood out from when she entered the store. It was a piece of furniture in a light brown color, somewhat beige in a way.

“You have a good eye. If you touch it, you’ll know that the finished texture is safe in case they hit the corners and hurt themselves.

Marie nodded as she listened to the explanation. Looking at the furniture, she could see the small details the carpenter focused on.

“Then, I’ll order a desk, a bed, and a chair with this material. Do we need anything else?”

“No.”

When she answered, Kentrail asked the owner about the price.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be bringing it to the mansion as soon as they are done.”

It would take about two weeks, so it was faster than he thought.

“Shall we go, then?”

“Yes.”

Choosing her favorite furniture, the Count and Marie left the shop with pleasant steps.

***

One by one, shadows appeared on the heated ground. It started to rain enough to create pools of water.

“What do we do now?”

The Count, who hated the hassle, had left all his servants, so there wasn’t anyone with an umbrella for him. Though because it was a sudden rain, even if there were a servant, he would not have known to bring an umbrella.

“It looks like it’s just a shower, but let’s avoid the rain here for a while, then leave.”

They had already passed two blocks, so it was too late to return to the store.

“I don’t want you to have a cold.”

Marie, standing in a tent in front of a store, brushed off the water from Kentrail’s shoulder and spoke in an upset tone.

“Who should you be caring about right now?”

“It’s fine… because I’ve never caught a cold.”

Kentrail, who had suffered from a cold not too long ago, couldn’t say anything back.

“But I also got better quickly.”

“Yes~ yes. It’s okay. You know that I care a lot for everyone, right? Especially, when you were sick, so let me at least do this.”

It seemed that the atmosphere around them had subsided a lot because of the rain, so Marie jokingly teased to raise the atmosphere.

“That’s right.”

However, she wasn’t expecting the Count to easily accept this.

“No… Don’t say thanks to me… The Count healed quickly because you are strong.”

“I just said that because it’s true. I don’t see what’s the problem.” He replied, casually tucking Marie’s finely braided, which was damp hair behind her ear.

“I can do it myself.”

“Are you able to reach the back?”

“Ah…”

It was true since she had to turn her head in order to shake off the water, but Marie couldn’t think of anything to say because she was embarrassed.

“There’s some more water here…”

There could be no sensation in her hair, but for some reason, the place where the Count touched was so hot.

Maybe it was because Marie decided to keep her mouth shut instead of revealing her mind, a sudden silence fell between the two. And before someone broke the silence, the dark clouds that drove the shower passed by.

For some, the rain would have seemed annoying, but for some, it remained regrettable.

***

Time passed, and it was the day for furniture to be delivered. Though Brielle smiled quite often normally, his smile did not disappear from his face at all today.

“Hehehe~”

“Do you like it that much?”

“Of course, I’m getting taller, so I get to change beds!”

Seeing Brielle’s cute response, she stroked his hair once gently.

From now on, she would be busier than anyone else arranging the room, so Marie decided to clean the child’s room with the maids while removing the furniture he had previously used.

“I think I have to go clean up the room now, but would you be reading a book here?”

While removing the old furniture, Marie and Brielle moved to the playroom.

“I want to follow you, too.”

He insisted on going with her.

“Okay. It might be dusty, so could you wear a mask?”

“Hmm.”

Marie prepared him a child mask. Although it was too loose for Brielle, whose face was small, and it was about to run down. So, she pulled the string to his ear as far as she could, while doing so, she was twisting her body around, and Brielle tickled her.

Waves of laughter filled the room. When they finally arrived at his room, she saw Ellie diligently helping the other maids.

Marie quickly grabbed the broom and dustpan from the maid, and Brielle grabbed the duster from the maid, saying he would help.

‘Even if he likes it that much, I can’t let him do anything.’ That said, Marie, who couldn’t let Brielle clean, sighed.

“Leave him be.”

And at that moment, the voice of the Count, who just arrived, came from the door. The maids and Marie gazed at him, but it didn’t seem as though he was upset.

“This could be an experience for him.”

Rather, Kentrail had an easygoing expression. He allowed the young master to walk around here and there with the duster. With his uncle’s permission, the exhilarated Brielle followed Ellie, mimicking what the maids were doing.

“I have to start cleaning soon.”

When Marie tried to grab the brooms, leaving the Count alone, he took it away.

“…Uh?”

At that moment, she was embarrassed to the point that she didn’t realize she spoke informally. ‘No, why did he take the broom…?’

Kentrail spoke with a casual look to the people in the room.

“Everyone get out.”

Confused, everyone stood still and looked at each other after the Count finished his words. ‘Why should they all leave?’

“Can’t you hear me?”

At the butler’s gaze, the maids ran out.

“Then, me too…”

Thinking so, Marie thought she should take Ellie out as well, but the butler closed the door and left. She stared blankly at the closed door in front of her.

“Let’s do it together.”

“Y-yes?” Her eyes grew widened.

“B-but… How can the Count…”

“That’s why I sent them all out.” Kentrail then skillfully swept the floor with the broom.

‘Was there such a setting in the novel? Wasn’t this world imitating the old Middle Ages?’ A wave of confusion rattled in Marie’s mind.

“Why? You don’t believe me?”

“That’s not the problem right now. How can I make the Count clean this.”

“What’s the problem? It’s only the four of us here, anyway.”

After all, there was no culture here where the Master would clean up like this, but she lost her words after seeing him sweeping so naturally. Although this wasn’t the place where she lived originally, it was natural for her not to be certain about some things.

‘But the Count said it was okay…’

And that was how the four people cleanup began.

Diligently cleaning, the four of them didn’t know how surprised the scene was to the butler when he quietly opened the door to check in on them.

“Wow, you’re really good at this.”

“What did I say?”

Marie spitted out a tone of admiration as she glanced at the Count moving his hands as if the broom was familiar.

“When did you learn this?”

“Uh, when I ran away from home.”

The moment she heard that, Marie’s eyes went round, and Brielle’s sharp ears perked up.

‘I thought that he’d only been walking the path of the chancellor since he was young…’

‘My uncle ran away from home?’

Both were shocked by Kentrail’s remarks, but only Ellie was calm. It was a reaction as though she had predicted that might be the case. Brielle eventually left the duster he was carrying and ran to embrace his uncle.

“Uncle, when? When did you do that? Please tell me quickly.”

She peered at Brielle and frowned, wondering if the Count had made a hazardous statement right now.

‘Maybe the young master will…’

She shook her head at thoughts flooded in at that moment and tried to shake them off.

‘No, he won’t.’

Surely, there was no reason for that. She doesn’t know exactly why the Count ran away, but she firmly believed Brielle wouldn’t do the same.

***

She barely soothed Brielle, who kept asking for Kentrail to continue his story. Indeed, she was nervous that the Count would tell such a story and inspired useless curiosity.

“Count, please refrain from talking about that.”

When Brielle finally left for class, and there were only the two of them left, Marie said in a warning tone.

“Haha. Okay, okay. You know what, though?”

“Yes?”

“It seems like it’s been a while since I got scolded like this.”

That’s right. After Brielle grew up, there was no such thing as scolding, and all the nagging she did to the Count was when he was sick.

“Tell me, when did I scold you again?”

“Hmm… Are you trying to run away when there are so many witnesses?”

“That’s because the Count doesn’t have a talent for parenting.” The two continued to grumble and cleared up the messy room.

“After cleaning this up, let’s have lunch together.”

“Do you have time for that?”

She knew because he usually had lunch in the office.

“I’ve done everything urgent, so it’s all right.”

Truthfully, it was far from being okay. The officials would grab his neck if they heard such a thing.

“Then, let’s eat together.”

Not knowing that, Marie just laughed as she went on about what would be on the lunch menu.

***

“I should wait to eat with the young master when he’s done.”

Marie, who was awkward at the first meal the two had, opened her mouth.

“You don’t even know when it will end.”

Taylor, Brielle’s swordsmanship teacher, said he could never let him go until Brielle finished practicing. To cultivate his persistence, he said he had to do that, so Marie couldn’t stop him anymore. The Count, of course, had no intention of stopping from the beginning.

Ellie had an appointment with a friend, so as soon as the cleaning was over, she went outside.

“These are the young master’s favorites.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Kentrail memorized Brielle’s favorite cocoa and candy, but he couldn’t remember the vegetables in detail yet.

“What about you? What’s your favorite food? I’ll tell them to prepare that for dinner today.”

He didn’t really know much about Marie’s favorite food since she always accepted the food the chef gave her. Kentrail asked, wondering if there was anything she would like to eat that wouldn’t normally appear on the mansion’s menu.

“No. I can’t bother the chef for nothing because of me.”

“Rather, I think he would like it.”

The chef really loved food. So, he always enjoyed developing new menus and feeding them to other people. After the hard work, she thought that it may be fine if she added at least one item to the menu.

“If so…”

She momentarily rubbed her head, grabbing the countless menus that had passed, and fell into trouble.

Focusing on the menus, Marie didn’t realize the Count was looking at her. Perhaps, he may not even know it himself either if it hadn’t been because of his expression reflected through the glass. He was embarrassed by the unfamiliar expression he had for the first time.

‘…I had this expression…’

Kentrail quickly corrected his face, but the appearance that seemed as though it was a self-portrait was visibly embedded in his memory.

‘Have I ever made this expression even when I was with other people?’

Not knowing that the Count’s thoughts were deepening, Marie was busy choosing her menu. ‘I want to eat spaghetti. I also want to eat sour salad…’

However, what she wanted to eat the most was the green onion flour pancake, which she sometimes ate on rainy days.

‘Is that possible?’

Marie was in doubt. Even so, since she had nothing to lose, she decided that she should write down the recipe and hand it to the chef.