Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The smell of oil vibrated in the mansion.

“Wow.”

Brielle sniffed his nose in front of the strange food he had ever seen. There were green onions on the yellow wheat flour dough and mussels of medium to large size.

“Marie, it smells delicious. Is this pizza?”

Seeing the flour shaped in a circle, the child thought of his favorite food.

“This is called flour pancake.”

“Flour pancake?”

The child asked with his round face tilted. Smiling, Marie used two forks to tear it apart, and Brielle ate a piece with a fork, his eyes lit up.

“It’s delicious!”

“That’s a relief.”

In particular, Marie asked the chef to give her chopsticks instead of a fork, but the Count, Brielle, and Ellie thought the fork would be comfortable, so she decided to tear it off herself.

“Uncle, try it, too.”

Kentrail, who was far more reluctant than the child in front of the unfamiliar food, took the courage at his nephew’s words and took one into his mouth. The most tense person at that moment was not the chef, but Marie.

“It’s delicious.”

Then, she sighed in relief, picked up the pancake, and put it in Ellie’s mouth as well.

“Delicious.”

A good response followed out from the child’s mouth as well. Marie grabbed a few pieces on the plate, and they ate well after she blew it. Only after seeing everyone enjoying it did she tried the flour pancake herself. It tasted just as she remembered, the memories from the past flashed through her mind, and she felt emotional.

‘What’s happening…?’

She pushed the flour pancake into her mouth while enduring the overwhelming feeling that crept up to her from the nostalgia. Though Marie’s lips were smeared with grease, she had no time to think about it.

Slowly, she was eating while feeling melancholy.

Suddenly, something touched her lips. Marie lowered her eyes to check, and it was the handkerchief that Kentrail normally carried around. When she, surprised by his action, lifted her head, he gently wiped her lips. However, it was almost as if he could feel her depressed feeling and was trying to wipe away her tears.

‘It wouldn’t be obvious. He shouldn’t know how I feel.’

Little by little, as her feelings rose, Marie’s ears began to blush. She quickly accepted the handkerchief. ‘I was accepting the wipe as if it was normal.’

“Thank you…”

Brielle suddenly tilted his head when the nanny stuttered and spoke, while Ellie looked at them profoundly. The maids who were peering at them from afar started to exchange glances with each other.

‘Is it that delicious?’

‘If there is some left in the kitchen, can I get that?’

The maids, who had a certain distance and did not sense the unusual air currents between the Count and Marie, just wondered how delicious it would be.

When they finished work, everyone quickly headed to the kitchen and saw the chef had already tasted and admired it himself. Thankfully, he had made a lot of shares with the servants.

However, can they really be satisfied with the delicious food they were going to try for the first time?

All because of the Count, who was generous enough to order the chef to make the food for the employee, too, that they had an oil feast. Everyone’s mouth flashed with oil, but they didn’t even think about cleaning up amidst experiencing the new flavor they tasted for the first time.

***

Jayden came to play at the County after a long time.

Unlike her normal behavior of recklessly playing with the young master, when Ellie saw Jayden, she quickly bowed her back to greet him and headed to her room.

Ellie had been thoroughly ordered by her brother, who had left for the academy some time ago, in his letter. Though the young master doesn’t know about it, the main content was telling her to be careful and polite to the nobles around him.

She recently realized that when she was a small child, her actions would be covered so people wouldn’t get upset. So, Ellie dimly felt that it was time to grow up now, therefore, that was why she decided to slip into her room.

Frustrated by Ellie’s sudden change, Brielle and Jayden glanced at each other with confused faces, not knowing what was going on. She said there was an urgent matter to take care of and headed to her room, though they didn’t wholeheartedly believe that was all. It was as though she was avoiding them.

Eventually, the two children, whose hearts were upset, came to Ellie, with no hearts to play.

“Ellie.”

“Young master?”

Jayden asked if he had done anything wrong. No matter how much he looked at it, she was playing well with Brielle, and he seemed to be the cause of her behaving like that. It hasn’t been long since he came into this mansion and had a relationship with Ellie. She was a pretty youthful kid, but he suddenly found it unfamiliar for her to behave like that.

Worried, Jayden asked if he had done anything wrong. No matter how much he looked at it, she was playing well with Brielle, and he seemed to be the cause of her behaving this way. Brielle also thought he was bothering Ellie after being left with Jayden.

“No, no.”

Ellie shook both her hands and denied rapidly, but the two of them still stared at her with suspicious eyes.

Then, suddenly, Brielle asked despondently.

“Is it because I’m bothering you? Are you doing this because it’s not fun to play with me anymore, Ellie?”

Brielle knew that the older Ellie was always adjusting to him. Worried she was forcing herself to play with him. Thinking so, he began to cry tears.

Ellie was the most startled after seeing the tears flowing down the white cheeks. She quickly lifted the sleeves of her clothes and wiped his cheeks.

“No, why do you think that way, young master?”

Even though she said so, it seemed that to Brielle’s ears, it was only an excuse.

“Just…I thought the young masters are playing, so I don’t think I should get involved…” In the end, the two were surprised when she told the facts with a gloomy face. Brielle was so surprised that his tears stopped flowing.

“Why would you think that?!”

Angry, he got mad and spoke in a loud voice. It seemed that Jayden knew why she had such an idea. However, even though he knew that Ellie’s presence was different than usual, he thought nothing of it. In addition, for someone at Ellie’s age, it could be annoying for her to play with two kids, but she always laughed and played well, so he was rather grateful.

“Ellie. I like playing with you so much so you shouldn’t think that way. And Ellie is like my sister, but why do you think that way. Barry is my brother, and Ellie is my sister.”

At that moment, Ellie’s heart was twitching. Even though she was with him since childhood, she didn’t know the young master thought that way. Something warm jumped into her arms. It was Brielle. She raised her hand and gently hugged the young master.

‘My youngest brother.’

When she recalled what he said, even though it was blasphemous, she felt warm in her heart.

“I like…well… playing together, too.”

Though Jayden couldn’t speak his mind straightforwardly like Brielle, he said that it would be better if they all play together as well.

“That’s good…”

Ellie, who spoke quietly, smiled wide and looked at the two.

***

Brielle has fallen in love with hide and seek these days. So, he and Ellie sometimes hang out with other maids, and Marie felt more comfortable since there were other adults as well. He was wandering in search of many people, so it took some time for Brielle to find her.

While wondering where to hide today, she reached the library. The Count’s study was filled with books from generations. So now, the value of the various printed books that were lined up was immeasurable.

Not long ago, because Brielle came in and out of this place, she was allowed to enter as well. Marie opened the door and entered without much thought. As the smell of the well-preserved books immediately drowned her nose, she, in sentiment, wandered around with light steps.

‘Will he find me if I hide here?’

In fact, her plan was to let him find her rather than to hide discreetly. If he took too long to find her, Brielle could be discouraged, and she was worried about him.

After observing the place, she stopped behind the bookshelf with a diagonal line that can be seen when the door is opened. Marie also didn’t forget to stick out her skirt. She then looked at the books in front of her.

The book here was no different from where she lived before, but she saw a book with quite interesting content, so Marie unwittingly tried to pull it out without realizing.

“If it were that book, there would be another copy at the bottom.”

Surprised by the sudden sound, Marie almost collapsed with her legs as she was losing strength momentarily. Thankfully, she was supported by Kentrail.

“You scared me!”

He laughed at her protest.

“I thought you were pretending not to be able to see me when you glanced around here and there.”

“That’s not true.”

Why would she not greet him if she saw him?

With that in mind, Marie lifted her head up and saw him, and she realized that the distance between them was too close. Worried, she took a step back but was blocked by the bookshelf. Kentrail asked if she felt uncomfortable and stepped back himself.

“But, are you interested in the history of the kingdom?”

He lowered his back and grabbed one of the books she was reaching for earlier.

“Because I can’t be unaware of what the young master would want to know…”

Marie was struggling every time Brielle asked more and more as he grew. She was particularly vulnerable in the history of the kingdom.

“That’s a good attitude.”

He smiled and pulled out one more book next to her.

“Starting off, this book would be better. It’s well explained.”

“Thank you.”

As Marie, who quietly accepted, looked at the cover, she could see the part that mentioned it was for beginners.

“You don’t have to overdo it.”

She knew he was saying that out of consideration, but when she recalled her school days when she burned herself with the SAT, that was way more stressful.

“At least, I’ll know more than the young master does.”

Kentrail smiled as he gazed at Marie gathering her hands that were much smaller than his, as if she had made up her mind on a big decision.

‘Cute.’

And he was amazed at the momentary thoughts he didn’t realize and just looked at her silently with his eyes wide open.

‘I think she’s cute…’

He couldn’t believe that he was feeling this way.

“…Did you come here to find that book?”

The Count asked, trying to turn away from his own mind.

“Ah…”

Not knowing his thoughts, Marie realized she was being stiff since she was worried by the Count’s sudden silence and recalled the reason she came. Marie was trying to hide from the young master.

“I’m playing hide and seek.”

“Then, the tagger?

“The young master.”

He smiled and laughed as Kentrail saw how long had passed. Not being able to find her yet, Brielle still had a long way to go.

His smile relieved Marie’s tension. ‘I guess it was just a momentary silence.’ She thought, feeling reassured.

“I have to find the young master.”

“Now, you’re finding the tagger yourself, huh?” He laughed with an intrigued expression.

“Then let’s go find him together.”

“All right.”

Marie took the lead and walked to the door of the study, and Kentrail followed her closely. However, suddenly, they were crouching on the floor with him covering her head.