Chapter 32
Even after the conversation that had felt like a dream in broad daylight, Venya continued working as the maid in charge of cleaning Giselle’s room without any change.
She had been worried that Giselle might tighten the noose around her neck from behind by expelling the spies Raven had sent, or reveal that she was Raven’s person in front of others and isolate her, but nothing of the sort happened, making her own anxiety seem foolish.
Venya’s daily life was peaceful, as though nothing had happened. Just like Giselle’s profile as she turned the pages with an indifferent face, as though she had forgotten all about trying to win her over.
Venya spent each day as though walking on thin ice. It was because she didn’t know when Giselle might expose the fact that she was a spy.
If she at least knew Giselle’s heart clearly, she might have been able to guess what she was thinking when she made such a proposal, but for Venya, even Giselle’s feelings toward Raven were difficult to grasp.
Giselle had said she loved Raven. She had said she wanted Venya to help so that their love could be connected. But her words had no credibility at all.
‘Where in the world is there someone who wants to break off an engagement with the person they love?’
No matter how much she thought about it, it was far too absurd.
Even setting aside the desire to be possessed by the person she loved, it was difficult to understand the claim that she had to break off the engagement in order to be connected with the person she loved.
‘I would rather she had just honestly said she hated Master. Then I could have understood and thought, I see. I don’t know why she lied and said she loves Master, only to confuse people.’
Venya did not report the conversation she had shared with Giselle to Raven. She herself found it hard to believe what had happened that day, so there was no way she could tell Raven.
Besides, honestly, even now she was uncertain whether the conversation she had shared with Giselle had really happened.
The only people who had been in the room that day were herself and Giselle. The other sole witness to the conversation, Giselle, was treating the whole matter as if it had never happened. She even left Venya alone despite knowing that she was someone watching her.
In this situation, it was only natural that it was hard to be certain about what had happened that day. There was no way to confirm that she truly had spoken with her.
Rather, it was far more plausible to think she had dreamed with her eyes open.
The words that she loved Grand Duke Barietsch, and the words asking Venya to help her break off the engagement so that their love could be connected, could be understood if they were thought of as a conversation that had happened in a dream.
Because in dreams, one usually said contradictory things naturally.
But the conversation that day was far too vivid and realistic to believe it was entirely a dream. Venya’s body also kept shouting that what had happened that day was not a dream.
While Venya’s nerves were slowly being worn down as she walked the line between dream and reality, something happened.
Giselle, who had been shutting herself in her room and passing the time by turning pages as usual, called her.
“Venya.”
“Did you call for me, Miss?”
“Will you come closer for a moment?”
It was the first time her name had been called from Giselle’s mouth since that day. Venya answered with a tense face. Then Giselle smiled softly and beckoned.
For some reason, the slender, long hand fluttering in the air looked like the hand of a ghost trying to drag a living person to the underworld.
Even so, Venya set aside what she had been doing and approached Giselle.
“Is there something you’d like me to do?”
She asked while wiping her hands on the snow-white apron around her waist. Unlike the ordinary question, her palms were drenched in cold sweat.
It was then. In a manner unlike her infinitely elegant face, Giselle roughly snatched Venya’s hand and placed something in it.
When an unknown object entered her hand, Venya’s ash-blue pupils trembled faintly. She stared blankly at Giselle with shaking eyes.
Facing those eyes that demanded an explanation from her, Giselle smiled leisurely. It was a cunning smile that concealed what was inside.
“It’s nothing much. It seemed the candlestick placed on top of that display cabinet over there had gathered quite a lot of dust. I’d like you to clean it later, would that be alright?”
“…Ah, yes. Understood, Miss.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for calling you when you were working hard.”
“Ah, no. Then…”
Unable to hide how flustered she was, Venya hurriedly bowed her head to Giselle. Then, as soon as she turned around, she quickly slipped the object Giselle had placed in her hand into her pocket. Her heart beat loudly, as though she had secretly stolen something.
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