Chapter 51
“Young master.”
The Nanny bowed at the waist toward him. Behind her, the maids and Luirene did the same.
“I thought you would be in the middle of preparing for the ball.”
“My father and I finished early. We were waiting for my mother to finish dressing. I was heading down to the hall when I heard loud noises from this direction, so I came to look.”
“I see. It’s nothing of consequence.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing of consequence.”
Hitaon leaned his arm on the stair railing, his gaze fixed on Luirene—her hair tangled into a mess, her left cheek red and swollen with nail marks still visible.
Shame she hadn’t felt before arrived as a late, unwelcome guest, scorching the back of her neck.
“It seems there was some commotion among the young ones. I was just about to hear the full story of what happened—”
“Is that necessary?”
“Pardon?”
“Just punish them all.”
“Young master. But that’s—”
“After hearing the whole story, will you exclude from punishment whoever seems most pitiable? And you’d be the one deciding who that is? Anyone who starts a commotion in the workplace should have been prepared to pay the price. Spare them your generous fact-finding and settle this by punishing everyone. If it gets any louder than this, it won’t sit well with my mother’s mood either.”
“…Understood. It will be done.”
Hitaon’s intervention spared anyone the spectacle of favoritism, but thanks to him, they were stuck cleaning the dust-caked storehouse for days.
The quick-witted Nanny kept Miya’s group far apart from the other two to prevent anything worse. She assigned Miya’s group to the main building, and Eneka and Luirene’s area to the annex.
After finishing the day’s work and arriving at the annex to clean, Eneka said nothing. They rustled about, each absorbed in their own task, when Eneka suddenly hurled her rag to the floor.
“Damn it! I’m so pissed!”
“You startled me.”
“Aren’t you pissed? Why are you cleaning so meekly?”
“I got punished too.”
“When are you going to treat that cheek?”
“I’ve been applying ointment. The wound seems to have gone pretty deep.”
Eneka, her face far more battered than Luirene’s, stood with her arms akimbo, fuming. She looked like she didn’t know where to even begin.
“First… first of all, fine. That. Let’s start with that. Was it you who reported Miya and the others to the Nanny?”
“Yes.”
“I told you clearly not to get involved.”
“But I was pissed.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t understand why they were so desperate to mess with you when you were just staying quiet.”
Eneka scratched the side of her head vigorously, an odd expression on her face. Luirene was seeing for the first time what she looked like when embarrassed.
“Why did you have to jump in there? You should’ve run off and called the Nanny right away!”
“My hair got grabbed too. I didn’t have a choice.”
“This is… well, fine.”
“…….”
“What are you going to do from now on? They’ll bully you just like they bully me.”
“Right. I hadn’t quite thought that far.”
At Luirene’s casual reply, Eneka let out a disbelieving laugh. Their eyes met, and the laughter spread. Alone in that space, the two of them clutched their stomachs, peals of laughter ringing out one after another—as if there were something so funny about any of it.
When they’d finally calmed down and sat, Eneka whispered softly.
“I told you not to give me any more reasons to apologize.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Eneka. I stepped in because I wanted to.”
“…Well, true. The one who really needs to apologize is someone else.”
Eneka grumbled as she wiped the window frame.
“Besides, the young master was so unfair. Handing down punishment to everyone without even hearing what happened.”
“Was he?”
“Yes! You just got dragged into it—aren’t you upset?”
“Actually, I thought it was a fair judgment.”
“What? How?”
“You said it before. Miya is my lady’s personal maid, so she gets a lot of favor. If the young master hadn’t stepped in, Miya’s group would’ve leaned on my lady and dodged punishment. Then the areas they’re cleaning right now might’ve fallen on us too.”
“…Hearing it that way, I suppose so.”
Her softened attitude meant she’d been persuaded. Luirene shrugged with a smile and gripped her broom.
“Eneka. Have you ever thought about doing work other than being a maid?”
“Why?”
“You don’t seem suited for this. I don’t mean you lack the skills for the maid’s position—”
“No need to explain so carefully. I understand why you’re saying it. I even agree, to some extent.”
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