CH 17

Richard would crush the precious potatoes, but I decided not to say anything.

When Argen was mentioned, anger would have soared.

It must have upset him that Richard was imprisoned here, but Argen had his heart twisted in the idea of taking care of the bedroom leisurely. 

But why did Argen call me?

A lot of things happened during my Richard’s meal duty, but I managed to get through it and clear the dead flag—.

“I’ll bring dinner later, so peel all the potatoes.”

“….”

“Understand?”

“Will you give me a reward if I cut them all?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“…Okay.”

He smiled as usual.

Emily looked at us with strange eyes. Soon the door closed and Emily grabbed my shoulder and interrogated me.

“You, what’s your relationship with the monster?”

“Don’t you see it? It’s a relationship between someone who fed him.”

“—I know that. That’s not what I’m saying. Why are you two so close?”

Close? 

In fact, it seemed that Richard was pretending to be kind and pushing his opponent. 

“It was originally like that.”

I simply defined Richard’s behavior. But Emily was not convinced.

“I’ve never seen any of the servant to be so close—”

“….”

“It felt like he was drawing a line, but for you—”

Emily frowned as if it were complicated and pushed me to the front of Argen’s room, as if she had given up thinking. 

“Cheer up, Rosie!”

She cheered for me as she did when I first went to Richard’s room for meal duty. 

I nodded my head tremblingly. Argen is calling me.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I was so nervous that I was going to die.

“Who is it?”

As soon as I knocked, I heard a sound inside. It’s Argen.

“My name is Rosie. I heard you called me.”

“Ah. Come in.”

I pulled the doorknob and entered the room.

The moment I saw Argen’s long-awaited face—I froze as it was. 

“Hello, Rosie?”

You said you weren’t a Marquis! You said it wasn’t Argen!

But it’s right!

I was so upset that I went crazy, but unfortunately, I couldn’t express my feelings. 

“I see you again.”

Should I laugh or cry in this situation?

“Last time, I made a mistake because I couldn’t recognize the Marquis—”

“Ah. That’s fine.”

Argen was pretty cool. I was relieved by the attitude that he would just let it go.

“I heard you turned down the offer as an exclusive maid, is that correct?” 

“…Yes. That’s correct.”

“Did you refuse because of the rumor about the monster?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then, why did you refuse?”

Was this why he called me?

Argen has been in need of an exclusive maid for Richard.

Therefore, I, who informed Richard’s attempt to escape and discovered Marie’s crime, may have seemed suitable as an exclusive maid in his eyes.

I passed his reference point.

When I realized that, I became infinitely depressed. I was trying to avoid the dead flag and ended up in Argen’s eyes.

“I refused because I am leaving this place soon.”

“You’re going to leave?”

Argen’s head tilted in my words.

“I was lucky enough to work for the Marquis. And now I’m going to have enough money to fulfill my dreams since I was young.” 

It was a very standard answer.

“What’s your dream?”

Unlike a while ago, when I answered smoothly without any hesitation, I couldn’t say anything now. 

I don’t have any dreams.

“…It’s marriage.”

I came up with a story that came to mind in a hurry awkwardly. I really just said it.

“Marriage?”

“Yes.”

“If you want it, name the person you want in this mansion. Then I’ll attach him to you.”

Are you asking to mate pets—?

I knew it because I read the novel, but he was a crazy person who couldn’t communicate.

“…I want to marry someone I love.”

“You want something useless. Things like love don’t last long anyway. In a while, the love will wither and become unhappy.”

That reminded me of Argen’s past.

I remembered his past, which appeared briefly in the original.

He had never been loved.

Of course, parents should take care of their children, but his parents did not play that natural role.

Argen was not loved.

He thought he was not worthy of being loved and tried to give his parents reasonable behavior.

Argen, a child, did not know it was not his fault, and the poor head concluded that he was “not pretty.” 

But Argen was beautiful.

However, it was meaningless beauty because he didn’t think so.

That was the first time Argen became obsessed with beauty.

“I know. As the Marquis said, it may wither.”

“But?”

“But humans are not so rational, so I want to make a foolish choice.”

Argen clicked his tongue as if he didn’t understand me at all.

“When are you going to leave the mansion?”

“Soon—”

“I asked when the sooner or later was.”

“It looks like I’ll leave in a week or so—”

“Is that so?”

Argen held his chin and tapped the wine bottle in front of the table.

“How do you know that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You were the first to notice that the chain was broken.”

I had to take a moment to think about what he was saying.

Is he talking about discovering the chain that Richard had cut off on the first day of the meal duty? 

“Actually I cut it off.”

At the unexpected words, I opened my eyes wide.

Then, why did you twist Richard’s ankle?

‘What a crazy bastard personality.’

“Anyway, it’s full of magical restraints, so it’s hard to run away just because the chain is broken. Besides, he’s not in good shape— Come to think of it, he doesn’t look for medicine at all these days.”

Argen’s green eyes shone eerily.

“Why?”

It seemed to ask me for an explanation.

I was contemplating whether I should tell him that I gave the medicine on the first day, but then I told the truth because I was afraid that it would be bad for me to be caught lying. 

“On the first day—I gave him medicine about nine days ago.” 

“Anyway, that’s a small amount. It’s hard to get better with that amount—”

Is it because of the scent that Richard said? Really?

In fact, I half didn’t believe what Richard said.

“What is the reason—”

It’s a moment of crisis.

I thought it would be better not to inform Argen about this. 

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Really?”

“How can a maid like me know?”

“That’s what I think.”

I don’t feel good, but I thought I should change the subject before he brings this up again.

“Marquis, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The gatekeeper used violence against Richard. Besides, he is said to be a spy.”

I laid out the secrets of the gatekeeper one after another.

This is because I thought there was no other story that would catch his eyes this much.

Originally, I was going to tell the butler, but ugh, I don’t know.

Arzen, who listened to my story to the end, narrowed his forehead. I briefly talked about how I found out.

“As expected, you’re useful. It’s a shame that you’re retiring.”

Don’t be sad about that.

“…Thank you.”

Argen didn’t say anything more. 

Are we done talking?

“I— May I go now?” 

“Where are you going? Haven’t you heard that you will be the bedroom attendant?”

—Was the real purpose really that? 

Today’s fortune seemed to be the worst.

While talking to Argen, I had forgotten that I had to be the bedroom attendant. 

No, it was close to the side I wanted to forget.

‘The bedroom attendant is not really bedroom attendant is it—’

I don’t think so—.

Even if it were true, there would be many people next to Argen who could take good care of him, so why do I have to—.

‘You’re just asking me to clean the bedroom, right?’

—I think so. I guess so. 

“I apologize, Marquis.”

I nodded and approached Argen. Argen crossed his hand with a satisfied smile.

I looked around him and opened my mouth pretending not to know.

“Should I change the bed sheets for you?”

“—What?”