Just a Simple Effort
“I just wanted to do my best.”
“Do my best?”
The butler’s neat forehead creased at the enigmatic reply. Until Adeline had been banished to the countryside, there had been no secrets between them. Adeline had always obeyed him like a little uncle. Now, heart sinking at the thought that something terrible might have happened, he felt as if it had dropped straight to the ground.
“Young miss, did you cause some kind of accident?”
“An accident?”
“The kind that requires money to hush up….”
The butler spoke in a roundabout way. He knew his pure young miss would never do such a thing, but if not, then why would a sum that large be necessary?
“This villa, moreover, was passed down through the late madam’s hand. You know that, don’t you?”
“That much is true….”
“If money is what you need, how about selling this painting?”
A famous painter’s lake scene. The moment he saw it, Miller Duke’s name surfaced. At this point it was already serious.
“It’s not enough.”
“There really is something wrong.”
“I’ll tell you everything later. So, trust me and sell it.”
“But your Grace’s approval….”
“If Father finds out, it will never do.”
The butler looked troubled and adjusted his glasses. Adeline felt guilty for troubling him, but she could not back down now.
“I’m sorry. I really need money urgently. I’ll take full responsibility later. I won’t let any harm come to you. Please. Please?”
The always gentle, proper young miss had now begged with a tearful face, and the butler sensed something truly unusual was happening. If he did not help, she might fall into even greater trouble, so he had no choice but to nod.
“I’ll sell it secretly.”
* * *
After a long time returning home, Adeline felt utterly out of place. The road from the main gate of the mansion all the way to the courtyard had been transformed. The garden she and her mother had lovingly tended together now bloomed with flowers of every color. The white-painted swing had become an antique one.
Everything was so different from her childhood that she could not adapt.
“Would you like to eat something?”
The butler’s brows lowered in obvious displeasure as he saw her off.
Adeline smiled apologetically. The butler had always treated her kindly and was almost like a parent. She knew he cared for her just as much as she cared for him.
“Where did you hear that foul odor?”
The instant she opened her mouth to refuse, a sharp voice rang out. Adeline turned to see Silvia approaching in a bikini, as if she had just come from swimming.
“Silvia.”
She had never wanted to meet her, but now it was too late. Just looking at her made her head spin, yet Adeline barely kept her balance.
“Where did you come from?”
Again. The one who treated Adeline as the biggest stranger. In truth, Silvia had just crashed into the mansion, yet she acted as if Adeline had never mixed a drop of Billet blood.
“You’re just as you always were.”
Adeline could not smile at someone who hated her. She, too, hated Silvia. Every time the Billet Duke and his second wife and daughter gathered as a family, Adeline would feel an uncontrollable rage rising. She knew Silvia sensed that.
“Calm down. I’m not staying at the mansion. I only stopped by to greet you. I’m leaving soon, so you don’t have to worry about losing your place.”
Adeline’s blunt words made Silvia’s lips twitch upward. Her hand holding the bottle trembled violently.
Splash—
Yellow liquid splashed across Adeline’s face. Eyes squeezed shut in reflex, she exhaled slowly after a few seconds and opened them. Silvia had poured orange juice over her.
Such humiliation was rare. Instead of raging and screaming, Adeline kept her emotions in check.
“Young miss Silvia!”
The butler shouted in her defense, but Silvia’s face twisted even more. Her sharp eyes glared at him.
“You want to be fired?”
“Silvia.”
“Why? You already fired the head maid who was my nanny. Are you saying you can’t fire a butler?”
Whatever she said, Silvia always got her way. Adeline stepped in front of the butler. Without any one in the mansion to stand up for her, the butler’s absence would make returning here unbearable.
Adeline fell silent. Silvia’s lips curled in satisfaction.
“Keeping the butler was my leniency. You should have noticed.”
The mother-daughter duo had cut Adeline’s supporters one by one. Not only the head maid, but every maid who had served her since childhood had been replaced with their own people. The gardener and stable hand were the same. Thus the long-serving butler had been isolated. Adeline had always resented it, but there was nothing she could do.
“On my birthday Father is hosting a splendid party. You always spent your birthday in that provincial place. Did Father give you a gift?”
Someone who receives no protection from family can never have power.
“Father never mentioned a birthday party for you?”
“……”
The first she had heard of it.
“You really feel sorry for me. That old hag was always tending to me, and all good times have passed. I couldn’t even have my debutante. I’ve been searching for a good husband lately. Father said he won’t marry me off unless it’s the best family.”
It was strange that the blunt Billet Duke acted like a doting father only to Silvia. It was something he had never done while his mother was alive.
“New cage, new bird, perhaps.”
“Speaking of which, if I miss my birthday party it will look odd. You should come. Come and enjoy a peaceful family gathering. Ah, of course Father only loves me.”
Silvia’s words struck Adeline’s heart like stones. She wanted to scream and throw them away, but her arms had no strength left. Adeline had always lost to her.
“Then go well, sister.”
Silvia turned away without waiting for an answer and left. Adeline received the handkerchief the butler handed her. Her grip was so tight that the cloth was crumpled beyond recognition.
* * *
The instant Adeline stepped down from the carriage, dizziness hit her. Her body swayed, and the coachman quickly steadied her arm.
“Are you all right? Your complexion is…”
Adeline shook her head, unable to speak. Even though she had ridden, walking that long distance had left her out of breath.
The coachman drove on, clearly worried. Only after crossing the Miller estate did her breathing ease.
Strange. The mansion she had lived in all her life now felt suffocating, while the completely unfamiliar Miller estate felt comfortable.
“Haa…”
Adeline stared blankly at the sky. Sunset was falling. The time had passed so quickly.
The moment she took another step, the world spun again. ‘My body isn’t well….’ She thought it was simply lack of sleep and continued walking.
Once inside the Miller Duke’s residence, Noah’s worry filled her mind completely. Habitually thinking of him, she saw a figure approaching from the lakeside, gradually blurring.
“Eh?”
Noah’s face twisted. Her vision began to whirl around that point. Adeline’s knees buckled and her head snapped back. Consciousness floated away like it had left her body.
“Adeline!”
Footsteps thundered as someone caught her waist. Even though she wanted to open her eyes, her eyelids grew heavier than a thousand pounds, and Adeline lost consciousness.
* * *
“Damn it. What the hell is this?”
Noah held the fainted Adeline in his arms. The repeated blows to the back of his head left him unable to regain his senses. The instant he saw her, Adeline’s face had turned deathly pale and she had collapsed. Her body in his arms was far too light. Could a person really be this light?
“Wake up, Adeline!”
Whatever he said, even if he showed his hatred, her body that had endured everything had finally shattered.
Biting out curses, he carried her back to the mansion. His heart raced with anxiety, blood turning cold.
“Doctor.”
The moment Noah entered the mansion he grabbed the nearest servant. The servant, confused, blinked blankly and asked, “Yes?” Noah glared at him sharply, something he would never have done before.
“Where’s the doctor?”
“Eh?”
“I said, where is he?!”