Ch. 42 …The Only Time (2)
The first thing Mirabelle did when she woke up the next day was ask about her mysterious savior.
“Sister, where is the man who looks like my teddy bear?”
“…What?”
“I mean the dark-haired man. Didn’t you see him yesterday?”
Elena feigned ignorance about Kuhn. There was no explanation she could give her sister. She was unable to explain that he was a man assigned by the crown prince to her, much less say that an outsider stayed in her room late last night.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
Mirabelle’s face crumpled in disappointment. She already looked quite sickly, but with her sullen expression on top of that Elena could not help but feel a pang of guilt in heart.
“Why are you looking for someone like that?”
“…”
“Did you want to thank him for helping you?”
“…I told him not to go, but he left.”
Mirabelle clutched at the coat jacket around her. It wasn’t until she woke up, free from the fog of pain, did she remember what he looked like. Before Mirabelle suddenly lost consciousness, she recalled the last few words she had with him.
“I’m not a teddy bear.”
Anyone would be embarrassed if they were suddenly asked if they were a teddy bear, but he replied with such a strange calm. Mirabelle might have giggled if it weren’t for her condition.
The man’s blue-black hair was astonishingly similar to the color of her teddy bear’s. It was not a common color among the population. Perhaps in her feverish haze she was desperate to see her bear come to life.
“Let go of me, please. I need to bring someone else in.”
“It’s okay…Just stay here, please. It won’t be any good if the doctor comes anyway.”
“You need to see a doctor.”
Kuhn made to pull away from Mirabelle’s grip several times, but each time Mirabelle pulled his coat even harder. She didn’t want to be alone. She hated being left alone while in pain.
Kuhn could have easily pulled himself out of Mirabelle’s grasp, but he seemed to be debating with himself with what to do. Kuhn looked rather distant to Mirabelle, but it was somewhat comforting compared to the looks of pity or sadness she was often given.
“Don’t…leave me alone.”
“…”
“When I’m sick…I hate being alone.”
“…”
“It’ll be fine if you stay a little bit…so please stay here…”
Each wave of pain that hit her was like the pain of death. At that moment, she thought that she did not want to be alone when she died.
But the man responded in a way that no one had responded to her before.
“…Young Lady, the world is lonely.”
Those were the last words Mirabelle remembered. When she woke up again, she wondered if it was dream. A man who looked like her teddy bear was surreal indeed.
However, the coat clutched in her hands was not from a dream. She had asked him not to leave, but her words had no effect. She felt a small pang of sorrow.
*
*
*
In the home of Marquis Selby.
Helen frowned at the woman who had been brought in. She had heard that this woman, who had been dismissed by the Blaises, had had a hard time on the streets, but she didn’t realize she would be this filthy.
‘If I had known she would look like this, I would have had her bathed first.’
Helen quickly pulled out a perfumed-scented handkerchief and covered her nose, and regally stood before the woman who was lying prostrate on the floor before her.
“Is your name Sophie?”
“Yes, yes, My Lady! I am Sophie who worked at House Blaise.”
“But you were dismissed?”
“Oh, I…”
Sophie’s voice trailed off. She was forced to leave House Blaise as punishment, and didn’t dare say anything in case Elena came for her neck.
Seeing that Sophie was mute with fear, Helen tossed something from her pocket. The tinkling of gold coins echoed loudly on the floor, and Sophie lifted her head in surprise and looked up at Helen. Helen furrowed her brow upon seeing Sophie’s dirty face.
“This will be your reward depending on how you do. Now, I would like you to answer whatever I ask in detail. Why were you suddenly dismissed from of House Blaise?”
“I–I was kicked out because I learned that Elena would sneak out to meet men every night. So she fired me to keep my mouth shut!”
Hearing Sophie’s indignant rage, a cruel smile twisted on Helen’s lips. She already knew the rumors to some extent, but she had to find Sophie, the witness to the event. Otherwise, she would not be willing to pay such a large sum to the maid.
“Can you tell me everything later?”
“Oh, anything. You saved my life.”
“Ho ho ho, I’m looking forward to it.”
Helen already plotted how to exact her revenge on Elena in her head. How dare Elena embarrass her with the salty tea? Elena would repay the humiliation Helen had suffered in the most severe way possible.
“Stand up. I don’t think there’s enough time to tell me everything you know about Lady Blaise.”