The First Step of No Return
Maeve deliberately tried to regulate the pace of her steps. Walk too quickly and she would look like someone fleeing; walk too slowly and the unnaturalness would be obvious.
Recalling her usual gait, she feigned a leisurely air and wondered, Did she fall for it?
Lost in thought as she descended the second-floor stairs, her eyes met Hagen’s where he stood concealed behind them.
Maeve rolled her gaze sideways just enough to track the other man walking past the first-floor corridor into the opposite room.
The white-coated man’s retreating figure moved with light, untroubled steps, as if he had noticed nothing amiss.
Without betraying a flicker of expression, Maeve lightly finished descending the stairs, turned her back at the entrance, and surveyed the interior of the mansion.
As though he had overheard the conversation just now, Hagen gave a slight nod and approached the entrance with the unhurried manner of someone seeing a guest out. Maeve stopped before the door and waited for him.
“Teacher, how was today’s lesson?”
Hagen asked in the gentle tone of a man who had lived many years. Maeve smiled faintly and glanced up at Hilda, who was watching them from the top of the stairs.
Curling her lips into a light smile, Maeve turned her gaze back to Hagen and answered.
“To be honest… it wasn’t easy. I spoke so confidently to His Grace, and now I’m in a rather awkward position.”
“Pardon?”
“I didn’t want it to come to this after only a single day, but I believe I ought to resign.”
The smile vanished from Hagen’s face in an instant; his expression shifted to one of clear dismay.
“…Young Master doesn’t seem to take to me either, so I doubt further teaching would do any good.”
Paying no mind to Hagen’s fluster, Maeve bowed her head firmly and turned as if to step outside. Hagen reached out as though to stop her and crossed the threshold with her.
“W-wait just a moment, please! Teacher!”
Through the smoothly closing gap of the door she turned her head and confirmed the wet nurse’s figure walking down the corridor.
The door shut without a single sound. After pressing it firmly to make certain it was fully closed, Maeve whispered to Hagen in a low voice.
“Prepare the hyacinth in the room. A preparation period of four or five days would be ideal.”
People’s judgment grew clouded the less time they had to deliberate.
Maeve knew full well her acting was far from perfect, so she had to force the wet nurse to choose before the woman could sense anything odd about the situation.
At the same time, rushing the plan too hastily would not do. If it looked overly contrived, suspicion would only rise.
Hagen did not ask why it had to be four or five days. He merely nodded, confirming he had understood clearly.
“Then, take care on your way. I shall contact you soon.”
Maeve received the letter from the duke exactly four days later.
Following the instructions written in it, she set out for the townhouse early in the morning. The cold felt distinctly different from daytime, as though the lingering dawn still clung to the air.
Walking alone down the already quiet street, Maeve came to an abrupt halt and squeezed her eyes shut. Once she stepped inside, there would be no easy way out. She knew that fact all too well.
People always said it was too late to regret what had already passed. Maeve was one who agreed. Time never returned, and late regret left only emptiness behind.
Like anyone else, she believed she had committed many faults in her life. In truth, she had.
Yet now the chance to set those wrongs right had come. She still did not know the reason or the how, but the single fact that everything could still be reversed was what moved her. Today was the first day.
Maeve opened her eyes and steeled her resolve. Once decided, she must not look back. The choice was hers, and so was the full weight of responsibility. She drew a deep breath and set her feet in motion again.
The plan she had devised was, in fact, extremely simple. The cooperation of only three people would suffice, and if she could momentarily cloud the wet nurse’s judgment, everything would proceed smoothly.
What Maeve had asked of Selber were three things.
First, prepare an oil containing Tarbec and present it to Aern as a gift. The Tarbec content had to be higher than the sample she had shown, and it had to be the genuine article used in the North.
Second, after the lesson, secure a physician who would overhear the conversation between the wet nurse and herself and later testify to it. The man must not be known as someone of the ducal household, yet must possess enough professional standing for his words to carry weight.
Third, place a hyacinth flower inside the room. A single bloom would be enough.
Maeve walked slowly along the road. By the time she came to herself, she was already standing before the mansion.
Instead of the main gate she usually used, she circled around toward the garden side path and found the small side door the servants employed.
Knock, knock—
After two light raps the door slid open. Enok, looking as though he had risen with considerable effort at this early hour, stood holding the door in neat attire. He peeked out, confirmed who stood there, and opened the door wide with visible relief.
“Ah, Teacher. I’ve been waiting.”
Maeve carefully stepped inside. Enok, who had briefly moved aside, quickly shut the door and led the way ahead of her.
Even if she used the back route, it would do no good for a governess who had already resigned to be discovered inside the mansion.
Above all, if the wet nurse found out, everything afterward would become difficult—hence Maeve’s deliberate choice of this predawn hour for her visit.
The place she was guided to was a small room right beside the dining hall. Hagen, already waiting inside for her arrival, smiled at the sight of her.
“Was the journey inconvenient?”
“It was fine. I haven’t arrived too early, have I?”
Hagen shook his head. He glanced lightly at the clock standing against the wall and continued.
“Any later than this and the risk of discovery would only grow.”
As he fell silent, the footsteps of servants moving about outside drifted in naturally.
Indeed, once the mansion’s day began in earnest, servants would soon be bustling through every corner. Maeve nodded.
“This morning His Grace and the young master will take breakfast together. Naturally the wet nurse will accompany them as well.”
Maeve lifted the teacup to her lips and inhaled the fragrance. A rich bergamot scent pricked her nose. She smiled softly and nodded.
“They’ll be here soon, then.”
The moment the words left her, the sound of a door opening came from the adjacent room. Maeve carefully set the cup back on its saucer and turned round-eyed to Hagen. He smiled faintly.
“I have served faithfully since the days of the late duke. If I cannot even manage this much, I would be unfit as an aide.”
There was pride in the resolute words spoken with a touch of laughter. Maeve smiled with him.
For all the grim rumors that clung to him, it seemed the duke still had good people around him.
The duke’s firm footsteps sounded steadily from the next room. Neither hurried nor slow, they crossed the floor. Around the time a chair scraped, Aern’s footsteps followed.
They were the sound of shoes dragging. The friction against the floor was far from pleasant. Set against Selber’s solid heel strikes, they sounded all the more forlorn.
The sluggish pace seemed to speak for the boy’s state of mind. That attitude alone made it clear how rare shared meals usually were.
Aern hesitated before the door, gripping it, and stood still for a while. The sweet floral scent drifting through the crack made him furrow his brow.
Recalling that no one in the mansion ordinarily kept flowers, he felt a flicker of puzzlement and pushed the door open.
“Ah, um…”
The child who entered stammered awkwardly at the sight of Selber seated directly opposite. The corners of his eyes itched faintly.
At the boy’s shrinking voice Selber raised his head. He waited a moment with a slight frown for the boy to finish, then swept an indifferent gaze over him.
“F… Father.”
“There is no need to force the address.”
“…Yes.”
Whether from nerves or not, Aern’s voice trembled finely. Listening from the next room, Maeve barely suppressed the sigh that rose at the still-distant relationship between the two.
The sound of the wet nurse taking her place against the wall reached them, followed by the clink of dishes being set upon the table.
Save for the occasional rattle of cutlery, the atmosphere was utterly silent. As though the air itself were stifling, Enok standing beside Hagen lightly thumped his own chest.
“I hear the new governess quit after only a single day.”
Selber broke the long silence first. The faintly interrogative tone made the air freeze; even breathing seemed to vanish. The faint clatter of dishes halted as if doused with cold water.
“…Yes.”
Startled by the sudden voice while poking at his salad, Aern lifted his head. Confronted head-on by Selber’s face that seemed to demand an explanation, the boy hastily turned aside and fidgeted.
“What happened?”
Though a simple question, the tone was imposing enough for a child. Unable to answer, Aern only fretted with the hem of his clothes beneath the table. Seeing this, Selber turned his head toward the wet nurse who had been watching from the wall.
“You tell me.”
As if she had been waiting, the wet nurse stepped forward one pace and opened her mouth without the least hesitation.
“How could that be? It seems this particular governess simply set her expectations far too high.”
Her tone was soothing, as though outside rumors or a governess’s resignation were no concern of the young master’s. Then, as if inviting reflection, Hilda fluently recited Maeve’s credentials.
“People who live solely on their own self-regard are always like that, are they not? It is not Young Master’s fault, so please do not take it to heart.”
The very career she had praised so highly last time was now being used as proof that the woman lived only for her own vanity. The reaction was so transparent that Maeve had to bite her lip lightly to keep a hollow laugh from escaping.
If she had always handled Aern with this attitude, it was a wonder she had never been found out until now. Ah—but the duke had noticed her suspiciousness and accepted Maeve’s proposal, so perhaps she had been found out after all.
Maeve shook her head and pulled herself free of the thought. It was unnecessary.