Chapter 286
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
The maid had originally been hired by a minor noble on the outskirts of the capital. By sheer luck, she received a letter of recommendation that allowed her to move into service in one of the most prestigious estates in the heart of the city.
Because of that fortune, she approached everything with enthusiasm and diligence. She was determined to serve her new mistress—the Marchioness, now the Duke—with all her heart.
A woman becoming the head of an entire noble house—how incredible was that?
Every time the maid looked at Agatha, she felt genuine respect welling up inside her.
In the world she had grown up in, a woman could accomplish very little through her own will. The highest status most women could hope for was merely to become someone’s wife.
But the woman she now served was the head of the Kristin family—one of the four great houses of the empire.
The maid felt a quiet pride in that fact.
During the few months she had spent in the Marquis’s household, she had only recently begun to notice something strange: the relationship between the Marquis and his wife was… different from that of ordinary couples.
Yet no one would tell her why they remained so distant from one another, even though they had a child together.
Well, she had seen plenty of aristocratic couples bound by political marriages, forced to have children together whether they wished to or not. Perhaps it was simply something like that.
Still, these days she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of sympathy for the Marchioness she admired so much. After all, the Marquis rarely even showed his face, always claiming to be busy.
And yet here he was, appearing suddenly late at night, asking about his wife’s condition.
Something about his expression felt… strange.
The Marquis had always seemed cold and intimidating, his lips perpetually set in a rigid line. She had assumed he was simply a stern, distant man.
But now?
As he gazed past her toward the room beyond the door, there was something distant in his eyes—something soft.
Yes. The emotion on his face was unmistakable.
Longing.
She had seen a man give that exact expression before.
There was a gray-haired deliveryman in the marketplace who often snuck glances at Anne, a brunette girl who worked odd jobs at the salon. Whenever he turned away after stealing a look at her, his face had that same wistful look.
Maybe the Marquis and his wife weren’t as distant as they seemed.
The thought made the maid oddly excited.
She had always heard that the higher a person’s rank, the further they had to distance themselves from ordinary human emotions. Surely nobles of such stature couldn’t afford things like love.
And yet the expression on the Marquis’s face now looked less like a fearsome nobleman and more like a man hopelessly, painfully in love.
A noble couple who truly loved each other! The maid clasped her hands together over her stomach and fidgeted quietly with excitement.
“Very well. May I go in for a moment?”
At first, the man blinked in confusion, not immediately understanding Cain’s question. Then she quickly stepped aside.
“O-of course, Your Grace.”
She had no idea that something like this had happened once before.
After all, how could a mere bedroom attendant possibly stop the master of the house from entering his own wife’s chambers? They had a child together, there was no reason for distance between them.
“I’ll open the door.”
Even after she stepped aside, Cain didn’t move immediately. Though he had said he would go inside, he seemed to hesitate, lost in thought.
What could he possibly be worrying about?
The maid secretly glanced up at him. It looked as though the Marquis was struggling with the decision of whether or not to enter. The deep conflict on his face was unfamiliar.
Anyone watching might think he was a young nobleman about to confess his love for the first time.
So the terrifying Marquis had a shy side too? The maid knew exactly what men like this needed in moments like these.
A good excuse.
If someone lacked the courage to act on their own, all they needed was a convenient reason to blame their actions on someone else.
Perhaps it was presumptuous, but the maid suddenly felt a strange sense of responsibility to push Cain toward Agatha.
“Um… Your Grace. If you don’t go in soon, I won’t be able to return to my post.”
She barely managed to say the words, yet her heart pounded wildly in her chest. In truth, her remark was terribly bold. A lowly maid daring to hurry the Marquis of all people…
But it worked.
“Ah… right. You need to remain at your post.”
Muttering to himself, the Marquis finally slipped through the open doorway. Once Cain entered, the maid quietly closed the door behind him, careful not to make a sound.
At first, she thought he might come out soon. But nearly an hour passed with no sign of movement.
Standing guard outside the door, the maid eventually began to nod off. It was hard to fight the overwhelming drowsiness.
Morning shift change was still some time away.
“I wonder when His Grace will come out…” she murmured sleepily to herself.
In the end, she nearly toppled over where she stood.
Only then did she jolt awake, hurriedly looking around to make sure no one had seen.
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