Chapter 6 - Crazy Bastard

Chapter 6: Crazy Bastard

“Who are you?”

“E-Estelle.”

“Who’s that?”

A bit annoyed by his remark, I replied, “Someone who doesn’t have to follow your orders.”

“No one in this mansion can disobey my orders.” He said as he furrowed his brows.

“I… I can… I’m not an employee.”

He then let go of my wrists as I then gently rubbed them. His red eyes shone in the dark.

“Not an employee…” He muttered as he deeply contemplated, but I took this chance to quickly run away from him. I shuddered as I ran through the dark corridor in fear that he would chase or yell after me, but there was only silence.

Breathing heavily, I reached my room as I then quickly jumped into my bed. At any moment, the mansion would come alive so that he may soon find me.

However, the only thing that could be heard was my breath inside the blanket. There was no commotion outside whatsoever.

‘Is he alright…?’ 

Deathly nervous, it was a while till I had finally fallen asleep underneath my soft blanket.

The next day, Annie’s tender hands and soft voice woke me up. “Lady,” Annie said as she was changing my clothes.

“Yes?” I replied back.

“You have a brother that lives in the mansion.”

My heart stopped at those words. ‘I have a brother?’

“You have only one brother. However, the Duke hasn’t officially introduced you two yet, so you might want to keep your distance for a while.” Annie added.

“My brother?” I asked again to which Annie nodded as she buttoned the back of my dress. “So, the Duke has a wife?”

Annie froze and was quiet for a short while. “No, she passed away when you were younger.”

“Oh…” I quietly said.

So, the boy that I saw last night was not only a relative but the duke’s son. Suddenly, I felt as if my strength started to slip out of my body. 

‘What do I do now? Should I go and apologize? But it is true that I’m not an employee…’

No, I might actually become an employee. If the Duke tells me to become a maid, then I would be an employee from then on. Then, the master’s bullying would start from now on. 

Fear settled in my heart.

‘Let’s go and apologize.’

After I made up my mind, I hugged tightly onto my rabbit doll. After spending some time in the garden in a daze, I felt like I should bring a present with me when I go apologize. It might make him feel better, too.

But what kind of gift would be good? I thought about it for a while, but I didn’t have anything to give as a present.

‘Let’s just pick some flowers out.’

Thinking that the garden has plenty of flowers, I started to pick out flowers and place them inside my apron. I was only going to pick one or two flowers, but after I finished collecting them, I realized that there were quite a few, so I hid my apron and put them in another room.

As soon as evening approached and everyone was asleep, I sneaked out of my room barefooted. I crept to his room with my apron that I had left in another room earlier.

‘It’s nighttime. Would he be sleeping already?’

His room was dark, and so I hesitated before entering. I was going to hold my breath as I placed the flowers in a vase, but he got out of his bed.

“Wha-” I jumped in surprise as he grabbed me yet again and covered my mouth. He coldly looked at me as my eyes widened from the shock.

“Are you going to yell and wake everybody up?” He said with a cold expression.

I quickly shook my head from side to side as he then took his hand off my mouth. Because I was so startled, I dropped my apron and all the flowers fell on the floor. He didn’t let go of my hand, so I couldn’t run away as I did then.

“I asked around about you, but no one answered. Who the h*ll are you?” 

“Estelle…” I sheepishly replied.

“Why are you here?” 

I didn’t know what to say, so I started to mumble quietly. “The Duke bought me.”

“What?” 

“The Duke… bought me…” I said a bit louder than previously.

A low curse left his mouth. “Crazy bastard.”

‘Huh? I think I must be hearing wrong.’ I thought to myself.

“Then why is a whore wandering into my room?”

His words burned my cheeks.

A whore.

He’s not wrong. After all, a whore’s daughter is a whore.

“I was just walking around the mansion. I found your room by accident, and you looked sic- Ah!” When I was going to pick up the flowers from the ground, I realized that he was still gripping on my wrist. “Please let go…” I said.

He gently let go of my hand. I then gathered the flowers and placed them on the table. He frowned at the flowers.

“I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry that I came into your room without permission.”

From the darkness came the sound of his sigh. Suddenly, there was some sort of clicking sound and then the candle was lit. When he saw me under the light, his eyes immediately widened. His hands brushed around my eyes as I shuddered.

“You-”