Chapter 27
***
lody knew the water was scalding hot. By now, Claude’s skin must be feeling like it’s peeling off in pain.
“Cold, cold water! Water…!”
lody stamred, panicking in place as his hand turned increasingly red. It needed to be imrsed in cold water quickly.
But while lody was at a loss, Claude was relatively calm.
“Miss lody?”
“I’m sorry! I’ll get water right away. I’ll run for it!”
lody scread frantically and ran past Claude into the hallway.
However, she couldn’t get far as her arm was suddenly grabbed.
“Just a mont, Miss lody!”
He bent down slightly to gently look into the young girl’s face.
Clearly terrified, she was sweating profusely and her complexion was pale.
Was this sothing to be so alard about?
Of course, the water was hot. But since it was cooled adequately for the tea leaves, it would just be painful for a few hours.
“If you need cold water, just ask a servant to bring it.”
“But, I…”
“Answer , Miss lody.”
He called her again in a calm voice, and her wavering gaze finally t his and stopped.
“…Yes.”
As she gave a faint response, he said, “Right. Good girl,” and smiled a bit.
As they looked at each other, lody felt her confused mind slowly clearing up.
Maybe her current panic was a mix-up with a past mory.
“Miss lody.”
As Claude called her na from up close, she slowly nodded her head, feeling terribly sorry for the mishap.
“Do you know how to count?”
“Yes.”
“Good, stay like this and count to 50.”
“But…”
lody wanted to protest, but he advised her with a stern face to count to “50.”
“Panicking like that won’t solve anything.”
lody reluctantly started counting from zero.
anwhile, Claude began to manage the situation.
First, he called a passing servant to bring cold water.
Then, he placed the kettle back on the tray.
After the servant brought cold water, he asked them to clean the ssy floor.
The floor was quickly dried, spotless before lody even reached 40 in her counting.
Now, Claude imrsed his hand in the cold water on the stool.
“47, 48, 49… 50.”
Just as lody finished counting, she approached Claude and bowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
He took his hand out and dried it with a white towel. Fortunately, apart from being slightly red, it was fine.
“Have you cald down a bit?”
At his question, lody just nodded, her face still slightly tense from the nerves.
“You keep lying to .”
“That’s because…”
What else could she do? Anyone would be this flustered after spilling hot water on the son of the house where they are staying.
“I’m sorry too. I thought I should return before you arrived, so I hurried a bit.”
“Why…?”
“It was ti for you to visit.”
“Not that.”
lody fiddled with her hair nervously.
“After all, you don’t really pay attention to .”
“Uh…”
Taken aback by her directness, he hesitated unusually before slightly bowing his head.
“I’m really sorry. Please forgive .”
“…?!”
“I’ve always thought I should apologize, but sohow, it was hard to do it in person.”
He sounded sincere, but lody remained guarded, having been on the receiving end of too much from him.
“What was so hard for you?”
“Well, obviously.”
He averted his gaze, seemingly embarrassed.
“I’m jealous. You and Loretta are so close.”
“…”
“Do you think I’m being childish?”
Well, considering that he’s naturally a doting younger brother, she couldn’t help but nod.
“Well, it can’t be helped. You’re just too fond of Lady Loretta.”
“The n of the Baldwin family tend to fall hard for those they are smitten with.”
“I know. Completely.”
lody unintentionally responded, recalling the original story.
“You know? Completely?”
But he pointed out just that. Only then did lody realize her slip of the tongue.
How could she claim to know so much about the family when she hadn’t been there long?
“No, that’s not what I ant. I don’t really know, it’s just that…”
As lody started to panic again, he chuckled lightly.
“You’re not one to take advice from others, are you, Miss lody?”
“?”
He tapped lody on the forehead.
“Panicking doesn’t help solve problems.”
She rembered hearing the sa thing just a mont ago. lody quickly gathered her hands and cald her excited feelings.
“That’s a good posture.”
He complinted her again with a smile.
“Dealing calmly with mistakes is important. As if you never made them in the first place.”
“Is that also a part of noble behavior in the capital?”
In the village where lody lived, if soone made a mistake, they were always taught to apologize to the other person.
“Maybe it is.”
His light response carried a hint of amusent.
Watching him, lody felt that perhaps Claude didn’t completely dislike her. If he really disliked her, he wouldn’t have cald her down or talked to her in a soothing way.
“Anyway, I’m glad to see that you’ve cald down completely, Miss lody.”
See, he’s concerned again. Truly a gentleman, as the Baldwin family boasts.
“Yes, I’m much better now. Thanks to you.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He approached her, closing the gap between them significantly.
“So now.”
Once again, he asked a question with a kind smile.
“Is it okay if I bother you a little?”
It was a question that didn’t match his tone or expression at all.
Naturally, lody was taken aback, but the smart girl quickly rembered Claude’s advice.
Panicking and fussing doesn’t help resolve situations. She promptly replied.
“You shouldn’t bother .”
“But look at what happened to my hand.”
He imdiately showed her his reddened hand. How wicked! To exploit a weakness like this!
As lody frowned deeply at him, he started laughing in a strangely delighted manner.
It was a mistake to think he was a good person.
Claude Baldwin was nothing but a white, kindly devil wearing a gentleman’s mask.
***
Claude tornted lody. She was trembling with rage at his wickedness.
And no wonder, his way of tornting her was too intelligent.
After that day, he allowed lody to enter his room by keeping the door open. In exchange, he handed her a notebook and asked her to copy its contents for an hour each day, in his room.
The contents were ‘travel records’ of emissaries traveling from the dukedom to the capital, listing weather conditions and minor events in the regions they passed through.
lody couldn’t see how this was related to ‘the education of a capital noble,’ but she couldn’t refuse this tornt(?).
When a tired lody started dozing off at the desk, he would swiftly co to the desk and show her his hand, as if saying, ‘You’re not working after what happened?’ with his expression.
Even though his hand was completely fine after just two days!
Once, lody narrowed her eyes and pointed out the truth to him.
“You’re perfectly fine.”
But when he looked at her aningfully and asked, “Oh, does it seem so?” she couldn’t bring herself to respond.
Really, it was terrible.
Moreover, there was another thing that irritated lody.
It was about those ‘envoys’ who had arrived at the Duke’s house. So of them were loyal to the Duke, but others were closer to the Elder.
Even from the original story, these people did not welco Loretta, so lody already disliked them.
Now, whenever they saw lody, they looked at her as if they had found so filthy rubbish.
It seed they had heard about her background from the Elder.
This was evident from the whispering she overheard, where the term ‘slave trader’ was ntioned.
The more this happened, the prouder lody held her head.
If she let such talk get to her, it would be like disregarding the kindness of the Duke who had reached out to her in prison.
Perhaps noticing this atmosphere, a maid brought lody surprising news after she returned from Claude’s room.
“Miss lody, the Duke is waiting for you.”
“Now?!”
lody hurriedly ran and opened the door, and astonishingly, the Duke was indeed standing in her room.
“Duke!”
Despite her surprised call, he calmly nodded his head.
“Have you been waiting long… Oh, I should offer you a seat first, right?”
“Just a brief visit. Don’t worry about it.”
The Duke then took sothing out of his pocket. In his hand was a green ribbon.
It was the sa as the one the Elder had arbitrarily taken away so ti ago.
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