Victoria is scheming, Beth tells Tara what she saw, and Kyle is on the move.
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Episode 232. About 10 months (109)
It was around 10 o'clock, not yet past Tara's birthday.
Victoria looked around and gulped when she saw her dedicated maid draw closer with short, quick steps.
"I have it, My Lady."
Her dedicated maid secretly showed her a silver key in the inner pocket of her skirt. Scylla, a fairly old maid, was quick-witted, she had a silver tongue and was easily convinced by a small sum of money.
Nevertheless, there was only one reason why Victoria had kept Scylla by her side for so long. She couldn't afford to abandon Victoria for money.
"Put it in the room. Check the tray when it comes. When the work is done... I'll double it. So you'll have to keep your mouth shut."
Victoria whispered so quickly and quietly that only Scylla could hear it. She answered right away.
"I certainly will, Madam. I've never talked about it before. So don't worry, Madam. Then, I'll take my leave."
Scylla, who had been silently laughing through her nose, blinked, retreated and disappeared.
Victoria watched her until the end, smiled again and then followed the people leaving the grand banquet hall from a distance.
***
I looked at Beth for a moment, squeezed her hands without saying a word, and went to the backyard with her.
Beth's hands were freezing cold, and trembled slightly.
Coming out of the grand banquet hall, people stood on the terrace, sat at patron tables or benches by the circular fountain, waiting for the fireworks to go off.
After the fireworks as the final exhibit, all official events prepared for today would come to an end. The fireworks display was scheduled to last about 10 minutes.
"Beth, explain it to me."
But as soon as I had finished speaking, Dixon loudly addressed the audience.
"Now, let's wrap up the first day of celebrations for the 19th birthday of the Elias' family's fifth daughter, Lady Tara, and start the fireworks show!"
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
The moment Dixon's words ended, firecrackers were launched into the sky.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
People around me constantly congratulated me, saying things like, 'Oh, how beautiful... Congratulations, My Lady', 'You must have a good mother since she’s spending so much money. Hahaha. Congratulations.' And so on.
While I was busy responding to people's congratulations, the fireworks became brighter.
Shortly after the crowd's eyes became fixed on the sky, Beth approached me and quickly explained.
"About 15 minutes ago..."
***
About 15 minutes ago, Beth noticed that Tara hadn't properly eaten at the party, so she went to her room with her favourite beef steak, mushroom soup, and homemade orange soda on a tray.
All the servants of House Elias had been utilized for today's party. In addition, there were servants who had accompanied the guests, so the stairways at the back of the mansion were as crowded as the mansion itself.
Many servants followed people upstairs, and many other servants were coming down the opposite way.
Beth was climbing the stairs slowly in order to deliver the food as safely as possible.
[Excuse me?]
When she had just arrived at the landing of the second floor, Beth, and several other people, turned around at a large man's voice.
[Yes, you with the tray going up right now. You dropped this.]
A servant she had never seen before stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Beth and waving a white handkerchief.
[Oh, hold on a second.]
A personal maid basically always carried one or two handkerchiefs for her master. So, naturally, Beth turned around and went down to retrieve the handkerchief.
However, another servant who was descending from above suddenly halted and bumped into Beth's forearm, startling her.
For a moment the plate and the cup rattled, which caused Beth's body to stiffen in surprise.
[Ah, ah, ah!]
[Oh, my! Phew... Here you go.]
The servant who had bumped into Beth was also surprised and reflexively grasped a hold of Beth's tray.
[I'm leaving it here.]
[Yes... Alright!]
The servant who was holding the handkerchief at the bottom of the stairs impatiently draped it over the handrail and left.
Beth couldn't move because her legs had frozen. Then, the servant who had grabbed the tray pointed towards the table on the landing.
[If you can't move right now, why don't you put the tray here for a moment?]
[Ah, you're right. Phew... There's a table. Hahaha.]
[I'll place the tray down, so go get it. Hahaha.]
The man spoke while easily taking the tray with one hand.
[Yes, thank you.]
Seeing as he was not a servant of the Elias family, Beth didn't know him, but she liked his kindness very much. And his brown skin, which was hard to find in this area, was impressive. Having had a good look at him, Beth went down to where the handkerchief was hanging and picked it up.
She could see the letter A embroidered in a unique handwriting. It was a handkerchief that had been made in the Elias laundry room.
She put it in the pocket of her skirt and turned back towards the top of the staircase. The servant who had taken the tray and placed it on the table was standing there, and when he saw Beth climbing the stairs, he smiled and walked past her.
Beth thanked him once more and took the tray. She arrived safely at Tara's room on the third floor, left the food on the bedside table and turned around.
Then, she took out the handkerchief that she had randomly shoved in and tried to fold it back in a nice way, but she paused on the spot.
[Three...?]*
She tilted her head and muttered.
[Did someone else drop it and think it was mine?]
She shrugged and took a step forward, but suddenly, goosebumps travelled down the back of her neck.
Beth slowly turned around and looked at the food on the tray.
Nothing had changed at all.
Even so, considering the situation where she picked up the handkerchief earlier, she felt that something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what was wrong. Then, a scene flashed through her head.
The brown man who bumped into her forearm, and the servant holding the handkerchief.
Beth clasped her trembling hands and took a deep breath. And an incident from the past came to mind as a vague memory.
Beth muttered involuntarily.
[Both of them are brown... And it's similar to last year...]
***
"..."
"That's what happened, My Lady. It was when I, you know, ah. I suddenly can't remember the name. Where was it? I know I left your cloak there... And you were struggling with a hangover... at that time..."
Beth was so startled that her voice was trembling. I stroked her arm.
"Yes, it's the same as back then," I replied.
"Yes. That place again. That's right!"
"Would you recognize the servants if you saw them again?"
Beth vigorously nodded.
"Yes, My Lady."
"Did you enter my room and leave right away?"
"No. I stayed for a few more minutes. My hands were shaking and my legs were weak, so I came out after I calmed down. Should I have left immediately?"
"No. Someone might have been watching. Really, truly, good job, Beth."
"Whoa. What did they do to the food?"
"Well... It's true that the servants are suspicious."
At the same time as my answer, the last firecracker exploded, and my father approached me with a chuckle and greeted the distinguished guests.
"Alright... That's it for today. There are simple refreshments and entertainment prepared at the back of the banquet hall, so if you want to make some more friends, you can go there. Of course, going back to your accommodation and resting for tomorrow is good as well. Hahaha. I'll see you tomorrow then."
At my father's words, the guests applauded and walked towards the mansion. I said goodbye, and Aria, Chloe, and my mother also went to their rooms. The Countess followed the group, saying she would have a little fun with the noblewomen.
Looking at the Countess heading to the mension, dressed to the fullest, I was lost in thought for a while.
What should I do... What is the most efficient way to do it?
I was standing still on the terrace where the number of people was gradually decreasing when I suddenly heard someone calling me.
"Uh... My Lady?"
The servant who had moved the flower pots aside so that they wouldn't interfere with the fireworks started talking to me.
"What?"
When I turned around, I recognized him. It was Toby from the 2nd Imperial Palace, who was undercover as a gardener.
"Uh... It took me longer to find the seeds you needed back then than I thought. I have them now, should I give them to you?"
Being deeply immersed in other things and absent-minded, I didn't immediately understand the words. Toby was hunched over, holding the flower pot and waiting for my answer.
"What seeds, My Lady?"
At the same time as Beth's question, the voice of the Second Prince passed through my head. A smile crept up my face without my knowledge.
'You understand this metaphor, right?'
After all, there was no way Kyle wouldn't think of what I was thinking.
Kyle had been preparing for work there in advance since Reese Castle.
***
Three hours ago, the sound of a horse's hooves echoed in the outskirts of the Capital.
In the Empire, the East and the West were far from each other and the North and South were close to one another. Therefore, it was possible to move between the south and the Capital in about 30 hours by horse without taking a break. However, if you changed horses and ran at full speed, you could arrive in 24 hours, but nobody would do such a crazy thing.
Until now. There was one person here who would do such a crazy thing.
Kyle, the Second Prince of the Empire, changed to his fifth war horse and reduced the 24-hour distance a regular knight would take to 12 hours. A Sword Master could do it. The newly organized security guards followed him when the war horses were replaced.
The new security guards continued to sprint with all of their strength, but they were tongue-tied at the posture and speed of the Second Prince. He wasn't a Sword Master for nothing.
There were only two reasons why Kyle ran at full speed.
One was the ledger that bothered him.
He had already told the Capital's Security Department to investigate the ledger shortly after departure from Reese Castle.
Even with that, he was uneasy, so he planned to go to the Elias family as soon as he arrived to look into the situation.
And the other was the desire to see her.
He had suppressed his feelings the entire time, but last night, it burst at once, like a dam that was built with great effort and collapsed because of a rough current.
As soon as he had arrived in the South, he had investigated the rumours and worked late, so his short sleep he could only enjoy for a few hours was very deep. Therefore, he didn't dream of anything.
But last night, no, last dawn, he jumped out of bed from a dream that had seemed real.
He narrowed his eyes in embarrassment.
[Crap.]
Kyle violently tousled his hair.
An empty laugh unconsciously leaked out. He let out a big sigh, astonished by the uncomfortable and damp feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.
At this age, it was beyond astonishment.
And a scene from a dream came to mind again.
Do you want me to take care of these?'
Kyle nodded slowly at the quiet voice. With her small hands, Tara slowly and suffocatingly unbuttoned his shirt.
She took off his shirt and pulled him close. And he couldn't stop her lips...
What he couldn't bear to do in reality, he did very fiercely in his dreams.
Even after waking from the dream, the scene that was clearly etched into his mind did not leave.
[Damn... Stop.]
It was embarrassing because the heat didn't cool down easily.
Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, then he got out of bed and doused himself with cold water for quite some time.
Kyle burst out laughing as he recalled what had happened last night. Meanwhile, the scenery in front of him quickly faded away.
'Crazy man. In the middle of all this... Ha. I can't believe it.'
Tightly clasping the reins, he leaned close to the horse's back and put a lot of pressure on his thighs. The horse, noticing his owner's intentions through the senses of his back muscles, sped up with all his might.
Kyle, galloping wildly, was glad that the cold wind cooled the heat in his body.
----
Editor’s Notes:
* The original phrase is 세 개네 and it was translated to ‘three’. Rina pointed out that 개네 can mean for weather to clear up or to fold laundry and 세 can mean ‘to influence or be used to denote ‘age’ or ‘give out a room to rent’.
I initially thought that it was about the one or two handkerchiefs that dedicated maids already carry around for their master, and that Beth suddenly found that she had three handkerchiefs instead of two, but don’t quote me on that cause that’s just a guess.
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