Chapter 19
***
"A walk..................?"
The next day, when Louise asked Miriam if she'd like to incorporate a walk into her class schedule, she hesitated.
Based on Caius' reaction the day before and Miriam's demeanor, it finally dawned on Louise that staying indoors might be her own choice.
But even so, it was clearly not a healthy choice, and Louise decided to try to convince her otherwise. Miriam needed time in the sun, time to get to know the world outside her shell.
"Yes, time for a walk. I heard from Pauline that there are three ponds in the gardens here, and I haven't seen them yet because I always use the main path that leads to the main house. Does Miriam not like gardens?"
Then Miriam answered in a low voice, as if she were sharing a secret.
"The smallest pond has goldfish in it, and it's the prettiest part of the garden."
"Well, wouldn't it be nice if we could take a walk to see it, and when the weather is nice, we could paint a landscape there?"
Louise asked excitedly, but Miriam still seemed hesitant.
"There are animal pens on the way up to the hunting grounds, and I don’t like them."
Louise added, remembering what she'd heard from Caius.
"The garden is too big to see all at once, isn't it? If so, it would be nice if we could go as far as the goldfish pond....................."
"Just as far as ..................the goldfish pond?"
Miriam repeated hesitantly, but then nodded.
"Okay, to the goldfish pond. When we get to the pond, I'd like to ask the gardener to feed the goldfish."
"That's a great idea, Miriam. Then why don't we go out there without procrastinating? It's a beautiful day."
Louise quickly grabbed her coat, just in case Miriam changed her mind. It would be hard to go for a walk in the winter.
Miriam looked at her with a reminder and called for the maid.
Seeing that she didn't seem to mind going out, Louise relaxed a bit.
As they walked with the maids to the goldfish pond, they realized that they had only traveled a small part of the manor.
The trees that formed a circle around the winding path were solid.
The cool breeze and mild sunshine made the gardens look beautiful, even if they were a bit bare for winter.
The pond was just as far southwest as the walk from the front gate to the main house.
Miriam's green pond was peaceful, with cute goldfish swimming in it.
The smaller pond faced another larger one, and Pauline said there was another smaller pond on the other side of the larger one.
But by the look on Miriam's face, it was closer to the hunting grounds.
Miriam sat on the edge of the pond and scattered some goldfish food she got from the gardener.
As the bulbous-eyed, round-bodied goldfish slowly gathered, her surroundings turned as red as a blooming flower.
Miriam muttered to herself, her cheeks almost as ripe as the goldfish, in the unseasonably cold air.
"Verena told me once, their mother brought them back from her homeland."
Louise looked down at the goldfish and smiled.
"Then Mother in Heaven must be happy that Miriam is taking care of the goldfish from back home."
Just then, ducks flew in from somewhere.
At the same time, Miriam's complexion changed, and for some reason she dusted herself off and stood up.
"Did you feed ..................?"
Miriam nodded, and then explained, in a reluctant tone.
"In winter, the ducks fly in, but my brother says they're noisy, so he catches them and feeds them to the wolves."
Come to think of it, Louise had heard wolf howls quite often since she had been here.
Naturally, she thought it was coming from the woods........
Feeding the wolves? Did that mean the Margrave was raising wolves?
Louise, who had thought of pheasants at best at the mention of a cage, looked back at Miriam in surprise.
"Ducks are much quieter than my brother's guns......."
The girl said gloomily and turned away.
Louis could find no words of comfort.
To comfort her, she would have to explain why he did what he did, but she couldn't think of a good explanation.
It was cowardly, but she didn't want to know.
***
"And so, that day, he married the princess."
The next day, Miriam read the last line of the storybook with a very proud face. It had been a week since she had started reading the story about the cat fairy.
It was raining, so they didn't go for a walk, but Miriam's words stuck with Louise. Louise felt like the animal's cry had been buzzing in her ears all day.
She clapped her hands together, hiding her thoughts.
"I really enjoyed that, Miriam. I've read it a long time ago, but I think I enjoyed it even more when you read it to me."
But Miriam didn't seem to respond to Louise's praise, as she was too busy poring over the book.
On the last page, she found a drawing of a boy, a princess, and a cat fairy.
"Do you want to draw a cat again? Or a goldfish?"
Louise asked, and Miriam shook her head. Then, in a small voice, she said.
"A princess.................."
"Alas, Miriam wants to draw a princess."
Louise looked at Miriam, who was already staring at the board, and suddenly had an idea.
"How about a self-portrait instead of a princess?"
She thought that drawing a self-portrait and talking about herself could help build confidence.
"Self-portrait..................?"
"It's when you look in the mirror and draw yourself. It's fun, and you're much prettier than the princess in the picture."
But Miriam's sea-blue eyes narrowed and she stormed off.
"I don't like Miriam............ I want to draw a princess......"
Louise shrugged.
"Okay, then. We’ll do what Miriam wants."
But when Miriam sat down at the drawing board, she looked back and forth between the princess and Louise.
She hesitated, then said.
"I think you're prettier..................."
"What?"
Louise asked, not quite understanding, so Miriam explained again.
"You're prettier than the princess..................."
Louise couldn't help but laugh heartily.
"Miriam is much prettier than me, with eyes like the ocean and hair like the Milky Way."
Miriam sucked in a breath in embarrassment, then added hastily.
"Miriam is, like, dirtier."
Louise blinked her eyes slowly, then said softly.
"Miriam isn't dirty, she just happens to be dirty, and when she is, she takes a bath. You like balm, don't you, and you like to bathe in it?"
In fact, Miriam always smelled like balm.
Sometimes it was so overpowering that it was the first thing she wanted to change. No maid would douse her master, whoever she might be, with this much perfume.
But Miriam merely pursed her lips and fixed her pencil. The whole time she was sketching, she looked back and forth between the illustration and Louise, and never said a word.
Only when she was squeezing the paint did she speak again.
"I want her blonde."
The illustration was in black and white, so she must have been referring to Louise's hair color. She carefully squeezed yellow paint onto the palette.
Louise swallowed a sigh of disappointment.
"Okay, do it."
***
When Louise returned to her room after class, she found a large wooden box sitting on her unoccupied desk. A postcard peeked out from under the slightly ajar lid.
Sighing, she reached in and pulled out the postcard.
She flipped it over and saw an unfamiliar, ornate handwriting:
[Perhaps the butler hasn't made arrangements for your mother's funeral yet.
If you haven't had a proper burial for your mother yet, you can have it in Burg. There's a family grave in a sunny spot.]
She was desperate to bury her mother, even if it was in a ramshackle chapel in Melk Parish, which wasn’t even her hometown, and he was offering to let her use the cemetery if she joined the Burg family.
It was an offer that made her eyes widen and her heart flutter.
Louise pressed down on her excitement and looked at the unfamiliar name beneath it.
-Yours in anticipation, Caius.
Caius von Burg.
The man who was merely her employer, Count von Burg, had such a name, and he was still waiting for her answer.
It was the first time Caius von Burg had been recognized by Louise as a human being, a man.
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Write a comment