CH 37

*(- Tira; “” Odette)

– How do you feel about being a new bride? How are you?

Tira suddenly asked an odd question while chattering about her dorm life and new friends.

“Yes. I’m doing well too.”

Odette fixed the handset and gave a calm answer.

-That’s all?

“Comfortable and enjoyable.”

At the explanation that Odette added after much thought, Tira burst into laughter.

-Where’s the new bride who describes her newlywed life so badly? Anyway, sister is really strict. You’re just like the dorm president.

Tira’s voice softened as she calmed her excitement.

– Hey, sister.

“Huh.”

– Thank you.

“What?”

– Just. All of it. I think I understand now that we live apart.That sister loved me a lot. So thank you and sorry again.

The child who was excited and happy just a moment ago began to sob.

– Are you happy?

“Yeah. I’m happy.”

– How’s the captain? Does he care and love sister a lot?

Tira continued with an unusually serious question.

Odette slowly opened her closed eyes and turned her body to stand. The white summer sunlight pouring in through the windows facing the sea was shining on the walls of the small study, which were still undecorated. It was the very place that Sandrine had requested to hang a landscape painting.

-Sister?

Tira’s anxious voice awakened Odette from her thoughts.

“Yes, Tira.”

Odette raised the corners of her mouth and smiled brightly. As if Tira was standing right in front of her.

“I’m grateful to him.”

Odette soothed Tira with the truth as it was.

At times, she was hurt by the man’s heartless words, but she was grateful to Bastian Klauswitz nonetheless. Because he had reached out to her as she was at the edge of the precipice and saved her entire family.

Even if it was only a means to an end, it was a favor of a kind she had never received before. That fact alone made Odette deeply grateful for this marriage.

– I’m so glad. My mind is at ease now.

Quickly regained her former cheerful voice, Tira now started talking about her plans for the weekend. A picnic with her friends. Tour of the city, tennis lessons. It was a life that was unimaginable just a month ago.

– I have to go now. I’ll call you next time!

Tira’s surroundings became noisy. It seemed that her friends had come.

– Bye sister. I love you!

Tira hung up after shouting at the top of her voice.

“Bye, sister. I love you.”

Odette whispered the words she hadn’t had time to say before putting the phone down. After hearing Tira’s voice, the place felt even more unfamiliar and desolate.

Not wanting to indulge her performance, Odette rang the bell and summoned her maid. After she handed her the mail that had to be sent out today, she received many new letters.  

Most of them were invitations for parties.

Odette sat down at her desk and opened the first envelope. It was a letter from the wife of Admiral Demel, Bastian’s superior. She wanted to invite them to their summer home.

“This is a letter of introduction from the maids who had an interview a few days ago. You can make a decision after reviewing it.”

When she put the letter down, the maid held out the next pile of papers. 

“I think the manpower at the mansion is still sufficient. Is it really necessary to increase the number of servants?” 

“Master has given that order.”

As soon as her question was finished, the head maid gave her a decisive answer. Odette did not object further.

The servants of this family were very loyal to their master. And the greater their love and respect, the more dissatisfied they were with the hostess.

Rather than hatred for Odette as an individual, it was more of a sense of rebellion against her status and lineage. They seemed to regard it as a great insult that their master, who had lived a good enough life without it, had married a woman who had only it. They thought their master had overcome the order of the old world, but it had returned and brought Bastian to his knees.

Odette partly understood their antipathy. In aristocratic society, he was the grandson of an antique dealer and was ostracized, but to the majority of the public, Bastian was the hope and idol of the new era.

“I’ll have a simple lunch here.”

After making a polite request, Odette finished reading the remaining letters. As the hectic days of serving the influx of guests passed, the time came for a return visit. When this task was finished, summer seemed to have passed.

Around the time she finished selecting the invitations to ask Bastian’s opinions, the head maid returned. Two cucumber sandwiches and chilled tomato soup. And a neatly arranged tray of lemonade, sparing no ingredients, was placed on one side of the desk. It was a lunch that featured careful selection of foods that Odette would not normally eat.

“Thank you, Dora. Go take a break.”

After briefly thanking the maid for her hard work, Odette opened the catalog with the hand that had placed the sandwich she had bitten into. It was left by the interior decorator she met yesterday.

In order to decide on which painting to hang in the library within the promised period, it seemed that she would have to visit the artist she was introduced to in the near future. It was impossible to choose an expensive painting without seeing it in person.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

To the head maid, who still remained where she was, Odette asked a question imbued with quiet power.

“Oh, no, madam. Call me if you need anything more.”

Dora quickly changed her expression, bowed her head politely, and left. When the door closed, Odette finished eating the rest of the sandwich. The soup was also emptied.

If there was one important fact that the head maid overlooked, it was that Odette was very good at tolerating things she disliked.

Although she was a little fed up with the overly sweet and sour lemonade. 

After the short meal, Odette again immersed herself in the work of the hostess.

The weekend was drawing near. She didn’t want to cause any trouble.

***

“You ran faster than usual today.”

Butler Lovis greeted Bastian with a smile of joy.

Whenever he had free time, Bastian went out for a run in the park. Since he always ran the same distance, the time required was also constant. He had slowed down a bit since returning from the Trosa, but recently he had been running faster than before the injury.

Bastian smiled and entered the front door without responding. Lovis followed him with a cup of lemon water he had prepared in advance.

“I have given instructions to replenish the manpower of the Ardennes Mansion. With the addition of the servants here when the master moves overseas, there will be no shortage of staff.”

Lovis followed him as quietly as a shadow, reporting the affairs. Bastian nodded his head and placed the glass of water he had emptied in one gulp back onto the tray.

“Thank you for your effort. Out in about an hour. I’ll drive myself, no driver needed.”

“Yes, master. I will have it ready. Are you leaving for Ardennes right after dinner?”

“No. I will be staying in Lutz this weekend.”

“My madam must be waiting for a long time.”

Lovis’ eyes widened.

Since he didn’t give a word in advance, preparations to welcome him in Ardennes must be in full swing. 

But Bastian didn’t seem to care, and Lovis didn’t interfere anymore.

“Then I will inform the madam that the master will be staying in Lutz this weekend due to workload.”

Lovis managed to clear the surprise situation by offering an appropriate alternative.

Bastian nodded the tip of his chin and gave him a look that said he could retreat now.

Lovis stopped there and watched the back of his master as he strode up the stairs. No matter how busy he was, he should meet his new bride on the weekends.

It was a shame, because Bastian looked good as a young married husband, but Lovis swallowed it deeply. He would not get any kind of response anyway.

****

She wore his favorite clothes for the first time in a long time. It was the very light blue dress that Bastian was displeased with.

Odette finished her decoration by wearing small pearl earrings. Her little-to-no make-up face had a bright smile and life for the first time in a while.

It was a weekend without her husband.

For a while, Odette felt bewildered by the unexpected luck, but soon came up with a solid plan.

First, she was going to Lutz to choose some paintings, then have a private tea time.

It seemed that a quiet outdoor cafe would be better than a luxurious hotel lounge that seemed to have been transformed from a social gathering place.

She was thinking of picking out books to read  from a nearby bookstore.

“Madam, it’s Hans.”

As she turned around with her handbag and parasol in hand, she heard the voice of an attendant who also served as the driver.

“Which car would you like to use?”

The attendant greeted her politely and asked an outrageous question.

Odette was deep in thought with her brow slightly furrowed. There were many incomprehensible languages in this mansion. In her experience, it was best to be honest at times like this.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve figured out this mansion yet, can you explain it in a bit more detail?”

“Of course.”

The attendant nodded vigorously and smiled kindly.

“The cars that had been stored in a separate warehouse were moved to the garage of the new mansion. The cars that the master mainly uses are in Lutz, so you can choose the ones here according to your taste. Would you like to see it for yourself?”

“Ah… yes. I’ll do that.”

Odette gave a slightly awkward smile.

It was as if she had fallen into a Wonderland. When the door to the garage, guided by the attendant, opened, that thought became stronger.

Cars of various shapes and colors were lined up in an orderly fashion. It was a sight that baffled Odette, who had thought of two cars at most.

“If you do not prefer a car, we will prepare a carriage.”

“……no. I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Odette inspected the vast garage with dazed eyes. 

Classy hostess.  

Bastian’s request once more registered in her mind, but the shock of the scene unfolding before her did not easily dissipate.

“Which car does my husband use the least?”

Odette found a suitable answer after the servant struggled to answer.

“hmm… I think it’s this one, madam.”

After thinking for a while, the attendant pointed to the car at the very back of the garage. It was a shiny yellow convertible that looked like new.

“Then I’ll take that one.”

Odette replied with the feeling of completing a troublesome homework.

It seemed that she really needed a little more time to adapt to the world in Wonderland.