Chapter 5

The Beautiful Child Hidden by Earl Gordon and Her Secret Birth

Last week, Pisca Weekly Magazine obtained an anonymous tip with information.  According to the informer, in the Gordon family, there is a beautiful little girl but her existence is unknown to the world.  The reason behind the secrecy is –

Earl Gordon’s hands trembled as he held on to the Pisca Weekly edition.  He  wanted to know who would do such a terrible thing.  He called out to the head maid who had gone to buy the weekly at the bookstore.

“Do any of the maids who are assigned to that thing know to write?”

“To my information there are none, Elder Master.”

“Also, among the maids, there are none who took long term leave.” she added.

Pisca Weekly Magazine had many branches in several regions but none were in the vicinity of Earl Gordon. The nearest branch was in the Fief of Baron Hyde.  So if one wanted to report a tip in person, they would need at least 3 days of leave.

Claire lived secretly in the mansion for years and something like this had never happened. No one even talked about her existence.

Which desirous thing did this….

When one saw Claire, they would assume that she was the illegitimate daughter of Earl Gordon.  He felt relieved with the fact that the truth of her birth was not revealed completely. Then, his face paled again as he thought about the Emperor’s reaction when he would hear this news.

Earl Gordon raised his head with clenched teeth and said to the head maid.

“Bring all the maids who were recently recruited.”

“Yes, Master.”

The soldiers escorted a total of 12 maids into the office.

Four maids were recruited for three months and eight of them were recruited for one month.

Unlike the anxious faces of eleven people, Beth had a calm expression on her face,  since she had already expected that the Earl would call upon the maids.

“The reason why I called, you all should know.”

The Earl stared at the twelve maids with cold eyes. Even if they didn’t know how to read or write, they still knew the reason behind their summons. It was because some maid who was close to the head maid spread the rumor.  Earl suspected that one of the maids that stood in front of him was the culprit who informed the news to Pisca Weekly.

Though he was spot on with his suspicion, he would never have expected that the real culprit would stand straight shamelessly with an innocent look.

“If you are to confess now, then I will at least spare your life.”

Such a white lie.

Beth scoffed in mind and raised her hand. Julia, Anne and Catherine who stood beside her looked at her with bulging eyes. The head maid who stood far away looked at her with surprise. Even Tom who was behind her was stunned.

The Earl’s face was flushed red as he glared at the culprit with anger. But before he could even open his mouth, Beth beat him as she spoke first.

“Before any accusations are made, am I allowed to inquire about something?”

When the earl didn’t object, she continued.

“First of all, I am not the one who published the abusive article on Pisca Weekly.”

Beth didn’t include that Claire was the said child in the abusive article.

“I swear upon God that this is the truth.”

Beth was an atheist.

Earl stared at Beth as he barely covered the anger in his eyes. He made a hand gesture towards her as he gave her the permission to ask. But inside he thought, what can a low-born bitch like her ask for?

Even after receiving his permission, she looked at her co-workers and stood there without saying a word.

“Is it something you can’t say before others?”

“Yes, what if this also becomes another rumor? As a lowly person myself, how will I dare to speak up before such a big audience? It is possible that it could reach the person who dared to backstab the respectful Earl.”

These were the shameless words from the same person who wanted to insert a knife on his back.

“Respectable Earl, Beth is the most reliable person among the newly hired. It may not be bad to give your ears to her words.”

The Head Maid, who had a good impression of Beth, also put in a word to Beth’s aid.  The head maid was someone the Earl trusted the most amongst his employees and thus listened to her words. After he heard her words, he dismissed the other maids.

The Earl, who sat on the sofa, gestured towards Beth for her to sit across from him.

“Sit there.”

In usual circumstances, this was not a place where a maid could sit. Beth saluted him and sat down.

“So, what is it that you want to talk about?”

“First and foremost, I am of no help in the matter of the harsh news published on Pisca Weekly.”

It was something that only the real culprit was aware of and Beth was not stupid enough to confess it herself and get caught.

“But I can help you take care of this issue.”

“Huh…Is that so?”

Yes, the reason why the respectable Earl was discontent about the gossip which spread far and wide was because of His Majesty, The King…

Thomas Basil Inomore.

The current King hated the concept of the Concubine. In the reign of the previous King, other than the Empress, there were at least 10 concubines in the palace.  The Harem Palace was splendid in looks compared to the palace of Empress.

The Empress was only favored by a small number of people, so Thomas had a lot of threats before he became the King. After he ascended the throne, he left the concubines and their children alone.  But later he came to know that one of those illegitimate children had prepared a rebellion.

After that Thomas’s goal was, in simple words, to kill all those women and the illegitimate children with the blood of the previous king.

“It is like this… Sir, you may suspect how a new maid like me is aware of such information, correct?

“I used to work at an inn. There, I heard something like this from the gathered customers.”

This was a fib. She just repeated word for word what was written in the original novel.

“The inn is a place where rumors and gossip are abundant.”

The rumors really did fly at the inn, but Beth never had even a little bit of interest in them. Strictly speaking, she was mostly unaware of what happened around her.

For the aristocratic government officials, it was a common occurance to have illegitimate children. This was something that the current King very much hated and thus only had one woman by his side – the Empress. Even though he hated this practice – there was still no particular law against having illegitimate children. This achievement was the work of Arthur and Cecil.

Earl Gordon had always wanted to attain the King’s attention, so he didn’t want the King to hear such rumors. But unfortunately for him, the current King was someone who was very concerned about his courtiers so he must have already been privy to the news.

Beth looked at the restless person before her.

“Since the Pisca Weekly published news regarding Miss, by now the other newspapers and weeklies must also be considering publishing the news. So in a time like this, what is most appropriate for my master to do is start with admitting the fact of having a hidden child.”

“You want me to admit having an illegitimate child?”

She is not an illegitimate child though.

Beth became tongue-tied because of stupidity and shamelessness of the person in front of her. He truly was stupid. How? How could this a stupid person maintain a proper family?

“Not at all. Master can state that she is your child but couldn’t show her face to the public because of her weak health. Just grant the top floor of the tower to Miss.”

“What?”

“If you were to buy new products, the record would be left behind and it would be easy to follow the lead. You can select usable and quality goods among the discarded goods in the store house. They can be sent to the top floor.  Even if the things are expensive, would a child like her be able to use them?”

Beth smiled slightly.

“If Master can give that young child a little consideration now, she will feel grateful and follow your words as you wish.”

She felt her words disgusting as she had become more attached to Claire as she took care of her for a month.  She hated this mansion which harassed and abused Claire. Even if she criticized and lied to the Earl for the sake of the Claire, she felt disgusted.

“Please do consider this. The items that you give should be good ones – especially ones that were not used by others or gifts from other nobles.”

He was about to question her rude implications, but closed his mouth due to her deceptive words and cold gaze. Her light green eyes which didn’t show any expression, persuaded him.

Yes. Those eyes – I’ve seen them before.

Long time ago, he had a chance to meet the Emperor in person.  The Emperor was a man who patiently listened to the words of others and made wise decisions. Her eyes were just like his.

Eyes which can make others believe easily.

Beth’s eyes revealed her thoughts, ‘now what should I say to convince him? ‘ For the Emperor, he won’t have such sympathy towards others – especially those who had illegitimate children.

“I also have another proposal to present.”

Beth looked at Earl with her back straight.

From then onwards, for a time, Earl Mansion became noisy each daybreak.  A small number of selected servants cleaned the dimly lit top floor of the tower and moved expensive goods to this floor. Though Beth was unable to look after Claire since she was assigned to supervise the work, still she was relieved. She could tell with one glance at the food that was now served to Claire that it had increased in quantity and quality.

It took three whole days to finish the cleaning and move the items to the top floor.  A large blanket made of golden thread was spread on the huge bed. Dolls, dresses, and fancy ornaments were on full display. In addition, there were a lot of expensive art pieces hung on the walls. Even Beth, who didn’t even know a single thing about art, felt quite elated.

This is good. 

Right now, Claire must have been attended to when she took a bath in the tower. Beth secretly transported some dresses which looked very beautiful.

“Oh…?”

She heard a very familiar voice. As she pulled down the draped curtain, Beth slowly turned around.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss.”

Seeing the maids behind her, Beth acted like she had met Claire for the first time.  Claire looked at Beth with a panicked expression. Rather than the smiling face that Claire was accustomed to, Beth looked at Claire with a calm face.

“I am Beth, who from now on, I will be serving Miss.”

*     *     *

News spread very rapidly about the return of Claire to the Earl’s Mansion. Though the Earl was unhappy about what had transpired, he thought about the greater good and  gave a bright smile.

“Beth, right – that girl has ambition.”

He thought about Beth, who had opened her mouth for another proposal.  It was nothing much –  she just recommended herself as the personal servant of Claire. He recalled what she had said.

I am the one who shared this option with Master. Though Master has a bright mind, I can be of use to Master.

How can you be so confident?

Because I want to become rich – more than anyone.

The underlying meaning of her words was that he was a worthy master that she would be willing to serve wholeheartedly.  This might have been because she was well aware that she wouldn’t be able to achieve a higher position without the backing of a nobel – like Earl Gordon. He found that he didn’t have much repulsion towards that ambitious commoner who dared to make a deal with an aristocrat.

“She seems like a useful horse.”

The Earl smiled brightly as he thought that he had struck a good bargain. But he was unaware of the actual situation –  he was being used by the girl he thought of as a bargain.