CH 18

Translated by EunEun

Edited by Zil

“Damn it! Damn it! Shit!”

While everyone went outside to secure the Tuberosum that is replacing the military supplies.

Inside the office room, Count Zealot chewed on his lips roughly while his mind wildly went back and forth.

“How did the plan that I’ve prepared…!”

Thud!

The Count couldn’t beat his own temper, so he smashed the office desk with his fist.

The smile that had always been maintained well without a trace and the face that always looked good became distorted.

‘Damn it! That tiny Young Miss ruined everything!’

The Count grinds his teeth with a nervous face and there was not even an ounce of his used-to-be leisure self in his ordinary days.

At that time, the communication device on the desk flashed.

Blink. Blink.

The repeated light was a signal that a communication had arrived.

Different from the Duke’s signal that was out on the battlefield, it was a greenish-yellow light.

“….”

It was a contact from ‘that place’, who came to ask for his report.

The Count stared at the flickering light for a moment, and as if he had decided, he reached out his hands.

Ssk.

Instead of the communication device on the desk, the Count picked up the coat he threw next to him and went out of the office, turning his back at the communication device that was emitting signals.

“Ah! Acting Proxy!”

The Count was passing the corridor at a rapid pace and ran into a group who returned to the castle to take more collection tools.

“You’ve worked hard today!”

“When you were talking earlier, it looks like the Count also worried a lot….”

“Fortunately, as the Young Miss has said, Tuberosum is scattered everywhere, so now I can put aside the supply concerns.”

The Count’s insides once again twisted when he saw the people chat and giggle with each other, praising the Young Lady’s wisdom with a happy face.

Among them, a man of his age approached the Count and grabbed his hands then patted it as if he were comforting him.

“Count Zealot, you’ve been through a lot.”

“N-no.”

The Count flinched at the sudden contact and consciously humbled.

“Anyhow, the battlefield’s situation is urgent… because Your Excellency the Duke, and also all the people who wanted to be worthy of use ran to the military camp.”

“….”

“How hard it must have been to take care of the family’s housework from the back with insufficient manpower… I know how you feel.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“When Your Excellency has come back, I’ll tell him about how much the Count has done to protect the house!”

The Count’s face hardened at the next word of the nobles who were laughing cheerfully while saying, “Just trust this person!”

“Just hang in there a little more, because now, Your Excellency will be back soon, so you’ll be able to put down your heavy job as an acting proxy.”

For a moment, the Count almost made a face that shows his loathness.

“Then, the Count will also say goodbye to the hardships! Haha!”

“Haha ha….”

The Count smiled with pretense, he then turned around and took his steps.

Step. Step.

Going out of the people’s sight, the Count took out his handkerchief and roughly wiped his hands.

Kwak!

Then he threw his wiped handkerchief on the floor and stepped on it.

“Damn it…!”

The Count muttered lowly and his face became horribly distorted.

***

Meanwhile,

Somewhere with the walls that were covered with some fancy gilt decorations.

Tok. Tok.

The woman tapped on the greenish-golden communication device with her fingernails, then she stopped her finger and opened her mouth.

“I should have heard some good news by now.”

Ssk.

Following her hand that was pulled back, the fancy sleeves that were covering her arms stretched elegantly.

“Not enough by only skipping giving a report, but he also dared to not receive the contact from the Royal Family.”

Thud!

To express her refined anger, she pushed out the armrest of her redwood chair as if she’s throwing it and got up.

“Anyhow.”

Step. Step.

Wearing her pearl-decorated shoes, she stopped in front of a person who was quietly waiting with her head down.

“It seems like the hounds had forgotten their place after getting complimented for a few small things.”

“….”

The woman looked satisfied at the face of the person who quietly closed her mouth with a slightly frightened expression. Then she commanded.

“You should intervene directly.”

Tak.

The woman folded her fan and using it she raised the chin of the municipal person.

“This time, you won’t make a mistake, right?”

The woman stared at her face with snake-like eyes and called her name warningly.

“Firina Seaulus.”

The face that was lifted by the woman’s fan.

While screaming very sharply from behind of Beatty, who ran away from the capital mansion,

“… Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was the face that cursed on her niece.

***

Chirp. Chirp.

Beatty opened her eyes at the morning bird’s crying sound.

“Oh my, are you already awake, Young Miss?”

Beatty woke up after her first night in the Duke’s Castle and she was distracted early in the morning by the hand of the maids who immediately flocked.

Her face was wiped with face wash at just the right temperature, and another door from the dressing room that she saw last night where she took out her nightgown was opened.

“Now, what kind of dress would you like to wear today?”

“How about this chiffon dress? I think a light milky skirt would go well with Young Miss!”

“No, it doesn’t! Young Miss, please look at this. This dress have a white lace just like Young Miss’ cheeks—”

“That’s not enough! In order to enhance Young Miss’ cuteness, this red satin dress—”

“U-um….”

Dress here and dress there.

Beatty’s head spun round and round at the feast of the wave of dresses that she had never seen before.

“Oh! This celestial blue… is the perfect color for the Young Miss!”

“This one too! Kyaak! How could someone look so good in yellow? Even if you said you’re a chick shapeshifter, I’ll believe it!”

“Move away! Ack! Right! This is the one. This blue color is born for the Young Miss to wear!”

They looked half-eyed and enthusiastic as they said that she looked good in all kinds of dresses.

‘By any chance, is this a torment?’

Was it a kind of territoriality…? And to the point of her doubting it for a moment, the procession of dresses didn’t stop easily.

“So cute!”

“Hup…! For a moment, I couldn’t breathe because of the excessive cuteness!”

“Oh my, our Young Miss… even her wide-eyed face is so cute!”

While wearing those many dresses, the maids kept saying ‘cute’ all the time.

‘These people….’

Beatty wondered.

‘Do they don’t know what ‘cute’ is?’

Beatty recalled about the “cute” that she had been hearing about.

“Hehehe. These cute things.”

It was the words that the butler in the capital mansion used to say while counting gold coins in a box.

“Oh, this is cute.”

It was the words that the maids in the capital mansion used to say as they put props from the room into their pockets.

She’d inferred from these memories, but perhaps ‘cute’ is—

‘Doesn’t it refer to something valuable that is in your own hands?’

Specifically, the more gold it contained, the more cuteness it seemed to increase.

Anyway, the cuteness that people usually say was not what they say to a person, but to what they put in their hands.

“….”

After thinking for a while, Beatty spoke carefully.

“I… But, I’m mine.”

Just in case there would be a misunderstanding, she made it clear before there was a problem arose, but.

Somehow, the maids who used to say ‘cute’ all the time, this time they gasped and covered their mouths.

“??”

The moment a question mark raised above Beatty’s head, the maids’ voices popped out again like a flood.

“Kyaak! Oh my! Holy Cow!”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

“Our Young Miss is surely our Young Miss’!”

“Ah, so cute….”

Even until those who stumble as if they were dizzy.

“Where did you learn that kind of word?”

“Well done. If the other bastard guys talk to you impertinently while saying things like that, just kick him out right away!”

The maids talked for a long time, praising her out-of-the-blue, and even recommended some ways of doing strange behaviors.

‘Something is weird….’

She only changed her clothes once, but somehow she felt exhausted already.

After a fierce debate that was reminiscent of a war between the maids, today’s dress was designated as a navy blue satin dress.

‘It feels so soft.’

Beatty curiously grabbed the hem of her skirt. She was going to head to the restaurant now, but.

“Um, Young Miss Beatty.”

Before leaving the door, the beige-haired maid shyly called her.

“Thank you.”

“?”

Seeing Beatty’s puzzled expression, the maid hurriedly added an explanation.

“Ah, my lover is out as a soldier, too. And, I was really worried when I saw the fire in the warehouse yesterday, but….”

The maid had dim eyes for a moment as if she had recalled the hopelessness of that time, and soon she smiled broadly.

“Young Miss solved the problem.”

“….”

“I saw earlier that the cart is already full. No matter how piggy my lover is, it was so full that I thought to the extent that he couldn’t eat it all?”

Oink. Oink.

The maid tried to make the child laugh and acted like a pig in a ridiculous way.

“Thanks to you, I think I’m going to sleep well without any worry.”

She smiled so widely that her teeth showed.