Chapter 16
****
Louise's gaze lingered on the silver fur.
The fox that had been circled by the large man the day she met him in the hallway.
A silver fox that would have run free in the fields, but instead had become a handful of fur, regardless of her wishes.
If only she hadn't seen it, if only she hadn't remembered it.
Louise cursed herself for seeing the beautiful fur and being reminded of that fox.
Pauline, oblivious to her feelings, continued to chatter on.
"What's going on? The master must like you! I've never seen anything like this in all my years here..................."
Louise took the basket she was handed and set it down in the corner.
She didn't bother to unwrap the fur, or to examine the flowers or search for any cards that might be hidden inside.
She had tossed and turned all night at his sudden behavior. How desperately she had hoped that the man's lighthearted proposal meant nothing more than a one-day prank.
But the man had shattered her expectations this early in the morning with a kindness that was as unexpected as it was unwelcome.
He told her that he wouldn’t change his mind, so she must choose the answer he suggested. A basket of flowers wouldn't look as pretty without him.
Pauline's lips stopped chattering in surprise at Louise's behavior.
"..................Don't you like it, Miss?"
Louise pressed a palm to one eye, feeling a faint headache, and then pulled it away, squeezing out a smile.
"Of course not. It's very pretty."
No one was supposed to know that Margrave had proposed to her, even jokingly. She was just a tutor who had received a precious gift from her employer, and she should be grateful and happy.
"It must have been heavy.................. Thank you, Pauline. I was just wondering if I should accept such an undeserved gift from His Excellency."
Pauline's lips, which had been pressed together nervously, parted again.
"You must have dozens of fox furs like this one, and thousands of flower baskets to decorate your walls."
The corners of Louise's mouth twitched slightly as she forced a smile.
It was easy for even the young maid to see that these things meant nothing to her.
It was sad to have it confirmed, even though she knew it all along. She should have laughed at his easy favor.
Louise left the basket and turned away. Pauline approached cautiously, watching her expression.
"I'll leave the fur............... untied for now, Miss. We don't want any moisture to get into the basket."
Once the furs were untied, she gingerly picked up the basket and set it beside her desk. It was in plain sight when she opened the door.
"That............... is pretty, so maybe I should put it where I people can see it, right?"
Haha, Pauline smiled awkwardly, and it was clear that her owner had noticed. Of course, she has to work according to the wishes of her employer.
But Pauline's worries were for naught. She tore her gaze away from the basket of flowers, but the man's playful question buzzed in her ears.
"If I don't regret it tomorrow, I’ll propose again, and will you accept?"
No way. Surely this basket had nothing to do with the words. Louise shook her head. She could only hope she didn't stray too far from her own common sense.
***
"Then the partridge..................."
Miriam cringed again as she read the storybook.
She was so surprised at the slightest mispronunciation that Louise couldn't even point out her mistake.
"It's okay to make mistakes, just keep going."
Miriam stroked her thigh nervously every time she got it wrong, another bad habit that, in Louise's opinion, was worse than reading a book slightly incorrectly.
But that, too, could not be corrected just yet. While Louise waited patiently, Miriam resumed reading.
"Then two partridges flew into the sack, and I pulled the string and let them both out at once..................."
Anyway, over the next four days, Miriam got halfway through the storybook with the cat in it, and she's pretty good at drawing, so she was able to get a pretty good approximation of the cat in the illustrations.
"Is that enough for today?"
When the reading was over, Miriam let out a big sigh of relief. Louise felt bad that books had been so overwhelming and intimidating to the girl.
"Teacher."
Miriam called out first.
"If study hard, and keep quiet, I’ll be a good student....................."
How many times had she been told to be quiet? The girl, who had been quiet the entire time Louise had been watching, seemed to think she was making a lot of noise.
"Yes, someday, we can go see the cat..................?"
Louise paused, her turquoise eyes barely concealing her anticipation. Ah, the cat..................
She'd obviously been the one to bring up the idea of going to see the cat. She hadn't realized that Miriam rarely went out.
She’d just been trying to pique the girl's interest in books, but she hadn't expected this kind of anticipation, or perhaps she'd spoken too soon.
She had seen the cat at the local general store, but it occurred to her afterward that it might not always be there.
Moreover, she hadn't mentioned the outings or walks to her brother. Whenever she met him, she felt a little intimidated and said only what she needed to say and ran away.
She was very reluctant to meet him at the moment. She couldn’t imagine it, but he had asked her to marry him the day before.
As Miriam waited for an answer, she grew impatient and asked again.
"My brother, he won't let me, will he? If I go out and about, it will be too...................."
Embarrassing.
Louise asked, startled by the last word the girl added like a breeze.
"What do you mean, Miriam, how pretty and lovely you are."
"But......"
Louise interrupted, not wanting to let Miriam finish.
"I haven't had a chance to ask your brother yet, and His Excellency is busy, you know that, don't you?"
Miriam nodded weakly.
Louise closed her eyes tightly and opened them. Then she had to speak.
"I'll be sure to ask him next time I see him, but that's the reward you'll get for your hard work, okay?"
Miriam hesitated, then asked without enthusiasm.
"What if I finish reading the cat book?"
Louise replied sternly.
"One cat book isn't enough, you have to read at least the three books your brother gave you this time."
The girl let out a small sigh, but then nodded again.
"All of them. I'll read them, because you're not scolding me, and I really want to go see the cat..................."
Louise blamed her illness on the scary teacher, who was probably partly to blame for Miriam's stuttering and timidity.
The young girl had a strict father and brother, and a terrifying tutor.
Louise felt sorry for Miriam; if the general store didn't have a cat, she'd search all of Burg for one.
***
But when she returned to her room at the end of another day, Caius had once again disappointed Louise.
A small piece of paper, folded in half, lay on the pristine desk.
Too recognizable to pretend not to notice, Louise couldn't help but unfold it.
[The master invites you to dine with him.
-Martin]
The butler had written it down exactly the same as last time.
In other words, the Margrave, who had proposed to her the day before, could send a maid to deliver a basket of flowers, but he hadn't bothered to handwrite a note.
Louise looked bitter and folded the note back in half.
She opened the drawer and looked inside to see her reality. A small pouch of money.
Since she hadn't spent money on food since coming to Burg, the money had been accumulating. Her weekly salary had risen so much that she now needed only one more paycheck to put her mother in the mausoleum.
She squeezed the pocket once and put it back in the drawer.
But the coin's comfort was fleeting, and relying on it to steady her heart left her with a deep sense of self-doubt.
Her feet felt heavy, like they were rooted to the ground.
Louise took down her mother's urn from the window and hugged it.
"Mother..................."
She called it out, small as a secret.
"Is the pearl really that precious to you? As precious as you?"
No answer came, of course.
***
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Write a comment
Seayon (Wednesday, 17 July 2024 20:11)
Thank you for translating! <3