Having conveyed such uncharacteristic consideration, Cider now turned his attention to the estate steward. Dylan Shersby couldn't quite hide his curiosity about the lady's identity, but tactfully asked no questions.
Since he had said he would do the work himself, he would do it, but he felt it was ti to settle this once and for all. It would be troubleso if Dylan thought he could dump his own work on his employer like this. He could not tolerate having an entire day stolen by estate managent twice.
Cider propped his chin on the desk and asked while roughly skimming through the ledgers.
"What do you think will happen if I can't finish this today?"
"...Then I'll co tomorrow too!"
"I never said I'd make ti for you tomorrow either."
The lazy Count said, closing the ledger.
"Shersby, I hired you at double the average salary. I could pay you more if necessary. The money I pay you is the price of my ti."
The Count, who had been rolling his gray eyes while propping his chin, tilted his head at an angle.
"There are plenty of people just waiting for you to be fired. Principles are good, being diligent and honest is good too. I hired you precisely for those qualities. But if you can't deliver value, it's all useless, isn't it?"
Dylan bowed his head with a creak.
"Do everything you can. I think I'm paying enough for that level of performance."
Cider shrugged and began skimming through the top ledger. The study beca so quiet you could almost hear dust settling. Dylan swallowed dryly.
The sound of pages turning intermittently broke the silence, but that was all—a quietude where even breathing sounds seed intrusive.
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And in the corridor separated from the study by a single door. A woman in a white dress with long braided side hair and curly locks tied together and hanging down stood blocking the door.
Esperanza, who had been gripping the study door handle and lost in thought for a while, smiled weakly.
'When I don't even have anything to say.'
She had definitely intended to go downstairs, but she couldn't understand why she had bothered to co all the way to the study, which was in the opposite direction from the stairs. Still, having co this far, she was about to knock on the door when she dropped her hand.
He would be busy right now, so it would be better not to disturb him.
'Miss, Count Avondale said you should go to the laboratory alone today.'
Millen's flat words echoed in her ears. Strangely, those words had made her feel pushed aside.
' alone? What am I supposed to do there by myself?'
'Count Avondale only said you should go to the laboratory. If you prefer to remain at the mansion, I'll convey that.'
There was no coercion in Millen's tone. If anything, it was only polite. Yet she had felt that way—was it just her own delusion?
Esperanza had never been excluded from Cider's work, that is, his hobby activities. She knew roughly what kind of work he did, even if she couldn't understand it all. The subjects of his important research, the technologies he was developing, the inventions he was interested in.
But estate matters were a different issue. It would be presumptuous to ask carelessly. Co to think of it, Cider had never shared parliantary business with Esperanza either. Though there was no reason to share it.
Still.
'He'll be here while telling
to go to the laboratory alone. He's completely trying to separate .'
She felt strange, as if being excluded. From what Millen had said, there would be guests to entertain and plenty of work to do. She could help with that much... Esperanza gripped the door handle tightly again, then let it go with a sigh. It would be even more ridiculous to insist on helping when the other party hadn't even asked.
She knew it. Right now they were excessively close. And regardless of whether she liked the current distance, if Cider tried to push her away, Esperanza couldn't narrow the gap.
'When you can't even take responsibility, are you trying to cross the line first?'
She had no words to answer her own reproach. Esperanza pulled her thin outer garnt closer and moved away from the study.
The weather was nice. Her hair swelled and subsided repeatedly in the wind. Esperanza chose a horse she hadn't ridden before from the stable and headed toward the forest. The refreshing forest air washed away the uncomfortable thoughts that remained like dregs.
Though she still hadn't found an answer...
Instead of heading to the laboratory where Cider's touch was embedded everywhere, Esperanza decided to explore the forest a bit more. Just going to where the private property signs were would take all day, so there was nothing better for killing ti.
"Why is the weather so nice?"
While Cider Claiborne was stuck at the mansion dealing with backed-up estate business. Knowing it wouldn't be fun without her, yet telling her to go stay at the laboratory. It wouldn't have been this annoying if he had asked her to help with work instead.
It was just as she was grumbling like this. Sothing appeared hazily through the leaves swaying in the wind at the edge of her vision, far away. The distance made it hard to see clearly, but it caught her eye because it was a color rarely seen in the forest.
When she first ca to the laboratory, she had climbed a tree to look down at the entire forest. She vaguely rembered—there was definitely another building in this forest. If you could call sothing that was falling apart a building.
Co to think of it, was it Boyle? He had definitely ntioned there was a 'ruin' in the forest. She had ignored it thinking he was drunkenly calling the laboratory a ruin, but was that building what he ant?
It should be fine to check it out, right?
Whatever was there wouldn't be a threat to Esperanza, but if it was a building Cider had used, there might be machinery she shouldn't touch. So she needed to be careful.
Esperanza decided to move by climbing trees. Even if there were security devices, it didn't seem likely that Cider Claiborne at the ti of making them would have anticipated enemies approaching from above through trees.
He's conventional in these aspects.
And in these aspects, it was Esperanza who was unconventional. She moved freely through the dense trees with a broad smile. Her eyes burned with interest as if her earlier gloom had never existed.
The building wasn't far from the laboratory, but it took so ti for Esperanza to approach it since she had to co by climbing trees.
It really was a building falling apart. It looked like a warehouse in shape, but it was so miserably crushed that it didn't seem like anything could be inside. Vines covered not only the walls but also above the door, and finding intact bricks on the outer walls was more difficult.
It didn't seem like there would be anything here. Rather, it was unclear why such a building hadn't been demolished yet.
Esperanza gave up on entering the building. Even if she tore away the vines and opened the door, what would she et but a swarm of rats?
Instead, what captured Esperanza's attention was a small wooden cabin right next to that collapsing building. Unlike the building, vines didn't cover the walls, and it was clean as if used recently.
A hunting cabin?
But there was no hunting ground in this forest. The previous Count had last used the hunting ground, so that was at least five years ago. Who was maintaining it? But leaving the building next to it in that state while only maintaining this place—wasn't that also ridiculous?
Esperanza approached the cabin while muffling her footsteps. It didn't seem to be a place Cider used—no magical items were visible. In a place this close to the laboratory, if not Cider, who could be maintaining this small cabin?
The cabin was modest to put it nicely, and shabby to be blunt. One post for tying horses. A door locked with a single thin locking device. If it were a private ho, thieves would have already stolen everything down to the last grain of millet—it was that poorly secured.
She looked inside through the window. It didn't seem like a place where people lived. There were no household items, only various hunting equipnt lined up. It was nothing more or less than a place to rest during hunting.
Honestly, it just looked like a warehouse, but anyway, thanks to a certain Count ordering her to the laboratory, she had nothing to do. Esperanza took out wire from her inventory and quite skillfully inserted it into the locking device. Thinking that the last ti she had used wire to open sothing was the door of Avondale Mansion.
She floated several small spheres of light to illuminate the interior. The well-organized interior still didn't feel lived-in. That was because there were basically no cooking utensils, and not even a single common chair could be found.
Well-worn hunting equipnt. Taxidermy and animal fur pelts. A yellowed old journal. And a heavy, high-quality wooden bookshelf standing proudly out of place. What particularly caught the eye on the bookshelf was a small notebook. On the cover of the leather-bound notebook was written in elegant handwriting:
It was a na she had seen in a portrait. It was a notebook that Cider's mother had used. Esperanza hesitated, then put the notebook back down. It didn't seem right to open it carelessly. Though she had already entered the cabin without permission.
The hunting equipnt was well-cleaned without dust, and though there were no traces of fire being lit, the fireplace was also clean without ash. Even if not in use, soone seed to be carefully maintaining it. So, who exactly?
Esperanza lifted the sofa covered with dark brown cloth and the old cushion placed on it. There weren't many clues.
Then she heard footsteps through the wind. Esperanza quickly headed to the window.
"Coleman?"
The old butler carrying a sack approached with a sway. Esperanza felt like she should hide, so she went inside the long curtains. When she put wind under her feet, even her shoes were completely hidden.
Coleman turned on a grass-cutting automaton outside and entered the cabin. Esperanza watched Coleman while completely eliminating any sign of her presence. The butler ticulously swept the not-so-spacious cabin. He dusted non-existent dust and wiped a small angel statue on the luxurious bookshelf that didn't match the cabin with a handkerchief.
All of this seed more like so kind of ritual than an act with the practical purpose of cleaning. His wrinkled eyes gazed at the collapsing building outside the window and muttered.
"When will the young master stop that foolishness? I have no face to et the late Count."
Coleman, who sighed deeply enough to sink the ground, approached close to the curtain where Esperanza was hiding. Surely he wouldn't pull back the curtain. She stood still while holding her breath.
"Now that it's ti for him to marry, he's still doing devil's work."
While lanting, Coleman diligently organized the cleaning tools. Then he took out a toolbox from a drawer and opened the sack he had brought. Esperanza's eyes also widened.
'Deer taxidermy...'
Seeing the deer taxidermy with magnificent antlers that looked like it would co alive at any mont, Esperanza slightly shrank back. Actually, Esperanza didn't like taxidermy. She didn't quite understand what emotion one should feel about turning animal corpses into decorative items.
But what surprised her wasn't the existence of the taxidermy, but that it was the sa one she had seen at the mansion before. The antlers were large and unusually shaped, so it didn't seem like it could be a different deer.
'Cider seed to dislike it.'
Though it wouldn't be for the sa reason as Esperanza, discomfort had been evident on his face when he covered the deer taxidermy.
So he's moving it here? Esperanza thought as she watched the old man nail and hang the taxidermy on the wall alone. The deer taxidermy that Cider had roughly covered with dusty cloth was reborn in Coleman's hands as clean with gleaming antlers. Affection could be felt in his careful touch.
Moisture gathered in Coleman's wrinkled eyes as he gazed endlessly at that sight. The old man held back and held back, then whispered as if bursting out.
"Count... I do not resent the young master."
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