Cannot Escape the Devil - Chapter 13. Perfect drinking condition

****

It was like a warning to know her place. The warning that  Asaya was only a vulgar commoner outside the wall, no matter how far she flew or crawled, she could be abandoned at any time if her worth of use was lost. And that put a wedge in Asaya’s heart.

 

“Asaya. You are just a substitute for Menefrida. Do you think it will last forever? No, there will be someone else to replace your seat.”

 

“You speak as if you know me and Grand Duke Kabelheider very well.”

 

Menefrida was Edwin’s former priest. The reason why Asaya couldn’t concentrate on the unfamiliar name was probably because Reibene hit the right track. She was afraid that her situation, which could be thrown away at any time, would be seen not only by Reibene but also others. And his warning to know her place came as a painful reminder. Because she knew well that it could become a reality any time.

 

“Asaya, why do you think your family did such a terrible thing but only ended with expulsion, not true punishment?  It was because of our old time’s sake. Are you still not sure that the breath of the Schrandel family could save your life?”

 

“No, all of this must have been your Schrandel family’s plan.  Otherwise, only your family can’t save our lives.”

 

“Your father had sinned so we couldn’t tolerate that. A betrayal is a betrayal. We can’t get involved with your father and die together.”

 

“ Nonsense!”

 

“If you still think that you’re being framed, you should get out of the delusion. The world outside the wall is where you should be.”

 

Reibene looked at Asaya’s pale face and was convinced he had won this conversation. Victory in conversation was a complete breakdown of the other person’s mentality. However Asaya’s face was sassy, rather than frightened, let alone discouraged. Reibene’s words hurt her pride but  Asaya was surprisingly calm. Then she straightened her back.

 

“Yes. Maybe it’s just a delusion like you said. But now that I hear you, you must know the truth of the day. Am I delusional or unfairly accused? We will know for sure if I ask for the case to be re-investigated.”

 

“Do you think people will re-investigate the case which had already been closed for 7 years?”

 

“”That’s something you’ll see. I can’t help it if it works.”

 

“If you don’t want to die, you need to forget about the case immediately.”

 

Asaya watched the angry Reibene silently, then she dropped the teacup she was holding to the floor and it shattered into pieces.  Picking up the largest piece of the glass, she handed it out to him.

 

“You can kill me with this.”

 

“This crazy woman!”

 

Reibene raised his fist.  At that moment, Asaya grabbed his wrist and held it down to the pointed end of the sharp piece.

 

“I decide my own life . A threat would have worked on me in the past, but not now. And in the future, I hope there will be no personal meetings.  You know well it’s frowned upon to meet like this when we are no longer friends, engaged, or anything else. “

 

“You You!”

 

Asaya turned around and tried to leave the room. While holding the doorknob, she turned and looked back at Reibene.

 

“Let’s pretend we don’t know each other even if we run into each other in the future. How would I explain our relationship to others? I’m a little embarrassed to introduce you as a man who was once my fiance.”

 

“ You are shameless!”

 

“Go home safely, no, don’t go home safely, be eaten by demons, be cursed and decayed, or get run over by a moving wagon. We’re not in a relationship to wish each other happiness. If you wish me luck, I wouldn’t take it.”

 

Asaya waved her hand in an expressionless manner.

 

“May you be unhappy.”

 

She left the room coldly. Behind the tightly closed door, she heard all kinds of swearing from Reibene, but she drowned it out.

 

🌸🌸🌸

 

The news of Reibene visiting Kabelheider mansion was delivered to Edwin, who was at the company operating the business. He had just finished stamping and handed over the document with the deadline for the production of the demonic subjugation weapon and canceled the upcoming lunch appointment, expressing displeasure with the news.

 

Edwin’s corner of his mouth rose sharply. As if he didn’t like something, his long stretched fingers tapped on the desk. It was unpleasant that an uninvited guest visited the Grand Duke’s mansion at will, but meeting his wife, whose purpose of visiting was new, would not have been more unpleasant.  [Did you know that he and I were getting married?  Also that I loved him?] Not long ago, when the conversation with Asaya fluttered in his ears, Edwin crumbled his face.

 

“Did he want to meet Asaya, and not me?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“What did they talk about?”

 

“I don’t know that either. It was because the two of them

were talking in the guest room.”

 

“Only the two of them, that’s great. My future wife, who promised to marry me, was talking with an outsider alone over a tea in the parlor. It is also in my house.”

 

Edwin clapped his hands and spoke ironically. As Marshall looked at Edwin’s expressionless face, he felt goosebumps all over his body. That was a bad sign.  Marshall knew it from his long experience. Edwin’s cold face was showing now was the look of being in a bad mood. Recognizing that it was an emergency, Marshall somehow rolled his brains to wrap up the conversation nicely.

 

“I do not know the details of the conversation, but the atmosphere was very harsh. Lady Asaya casually left the parlor, and Bishop Schrandel was very angry. When I checked the room, one of the teacups was broken. Miss Asaya said she accidentally broke it. She added that she almost made the mistake of hurting the bishop’s face with a glass piece, but she held back her anger.”

 

Marshall didn’t know why the focus of  Edwin’s anger was on “only two of them” part, rather than the rude visit of Reibene Schrandel.

However, Edwin Kabelheider was not a man anyone could easily understand in the first place, so Marshall quickly brushed aside his doubts. Perhaps Marshall’s efforts worked out, Edwin seemed to send out a notice of dismissal right away but in a harsh voice.

 

“I don’t know when my house has become a market for anyone. Today, you have to pay special attention to cleaning. I don’t want to see any rat tracks. And make sure Asaya and that man never meet again.”

 

“Yes sir”

 

Edwin didn’t think the bishop would be able to control his feelings, even if he bet on it. Edwin shook his head briefly and thought Reibene Schrandel seemed to be more pathetic than he thought.

 

“We need to be careful not to leak the fact that Reibene Schrandel and Asaya were betrothed. Don’t let the manuscripts of the two meet scatter on the street. What would I be if my wife got caught up in rumors with that idiot? It’s terrible just to think about it.”

 

Marshall nodded at Edwin’s casually spoken word ‘wife’. Then he turned and tilted his head thinking to himself “I think the Duke is serious about this marriage deal.” Marshall scratched his head in a very strange and unfamiliar feeling.

 

******

 

Asaya lay alone on an empty bed and blinked her eyes. She couldn’t sleep because she was worried that Edwin, who always came home on time like clockwork, was getting later than usual.

Asaya thought the night without him was lonely somehow, she felt strange to be lying on the bed alone. She’d rather felt awkward. The emptiness lasted several hours. Time had passed midnight. Asaya, who had her eyes closed, opened them immediately to the clicking sound of the door.

 

“Have you come?”

 

Edwin looked pretty tired in his business suit. Then he looked at the clock.

 

“What have you been doing, not sleeping?”

 

“I can’t sleep. I was worried because you didn’t come back.”

 

Worry? Edwin glanced up and down Asaya, and laughed.

 

“I don’t know who should worry about who.”

 

“What’s about me?”

 

“Do you ask because you don’t know ? I know everything except you. If I push you with one hand, you will crash on the floor. Seeing your skinny and small body, everyone will think the same as me.”

 

“I am not that weak.”

 

“That is not very convincing when it’s coming from a person who fainted a few days ago. Stop worrying about the uselessness and try to sleep.”

 

Edwin took off his coat and went into the bathroom. Asaya, who was sitting blankly listening to the sound of the pouring water, suddenly remembered that he always drank hot tea and read before going to bed. Then she looked at the teacup on the table.

 

‘It must have already cooled down.”

 

Edwin would certainly order to bring a new tea as soon as he came  out of the shower. So while he was washing, Asaya thought it would be better to have the hot tea ready in advance, then she stood up and quietly left the room. Asaya headed to the tea room where the refreshment ingredients were kept. Even though it was late, there was a maid waiting in the tea room. As if she was tired, dozing off, and woke up in a hurry when Asaya appeared.

 

“You need something, my lady?”

 

“The tea for Grand Duke is cold, so I came to make a new one.”

 

“Ah! Then I will prepare and bring it up right away.”

 

“No, I’ll do it, so go in and rest.”

 

“ But…..  ”

 

” It’s alright. I’m also very knowledgeable about teas.”

 

The maid hesitated for a moment, but since she was very tired, she nodded, and thought Asaya was a woman whom the Grand Duke loved, so there was nothing wrong with her making the tea.

 

“Thank you my lady.”

 

Asaya had learned many things before being thrown out of the wall. Refreshments, cooking, embroidery, dancing, etiquette training, walking, accounting, etc. The list was endless. It was a normal learning process for anyone who was born in a noble family. While making the tea, her memories came to mind.

 

“Long time no see.”

 

As Asaya put the tea leaves in the boiled water, a soft scent passed over her nose. When the tea was finished, Asaya left the tea room and headed to Edwin’s bedroom. Upon arriving in the bedroom, the tightly closed bathroom door opened. Edwin came out in a white gown with a click. After gently brushing off the moisture from his hair as usual. Edwin paused when he saw Asaya lay down the teacup on the table.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Your old tea seemed to be cold so I prepared a new one.”

 

Edwin sat across from her silently. Then he looked at the cup of tea.

 

“I heard that Reibene Schrandel came to see you today.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why did you meet him? You should just kick him out. Could it be that the past affection still remains unbroken?”

 

“I was just curious what he came here to say. He’s not the kind of person to act emotionally like that.”

 

“So what did he say? Did he belated penance or confessed his love?”

 

“No. It was more like a threat for me to get out of this house and this land right away.”

 

At Asaya’s words, Edwin spoke with an expressionless face.

 

“Did he come to a house without an owner to say such pathetic words? His head is more serious than it looks. Why didn’t you just send him back after hearing that? You could just throw it in the trash.”

 

“No matter how much I hate him. If I harm those sent by the church, the Duke’s situation will become more difficult.”

 

“I will be in trouble? Me? I still haven’t caused enough problems for them. Consider themselves lucky.”

 

It was the church that put spies disguised as priests in the territory and sought for  Edwin’s life. All the assassins sent by the church to play tricks on him died mercilessly in his hands. In fact, Edwin had been thinking about killing Reibene a little while ago by disguising it as an accident.

 

“But you don’t have to work up about it because I gave him a piece of mind.”

 

“So what did you say? Did you decide to turn it off finely according to his wish?”

 

“Never. I wished him to die by a wagon on the way back.”

 

“That’s a wonderful curse.”

 

Edwin sighed and put the tea in his mouth. Then he frowned subtly.

 

“By any chance you boiled the tea yourself?”

 

“Yes, I prepared it. Does it not fit your taste?”

 

‘’Nonsense.”

 

Edwin preferred his refreshments were either too hot or too cold, whether it’s coffee or tea. The maids who prepared his refreshments were experienced and had already been accustomed to serving the temperature that suited his taste. They always provided refreshments in the most perfect condition.

 

The tea that Asaya brought this time tasted good, but it was a lot hotter than usual. If others had made this mistake, they would get fired immediately. Because he wasn’t a philanthropist to spread money to unsatisfied employees who couldn’t even do the job of making tea.

 

Unlike usual, instead of nagging,  Edwin put the teacup down.

 

“It’s a good tea.”

 

“That’s fortunate.”

 

“Don’t meet him even if he comes in the future.”

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“He will leave in a few days. We will be patient until then.”

 

Asaya slowly nodded. That was the end of the conversation. The hot tea had cooled down to Edwin’s perfect temperature preference. Only then Edwin drank tea satisfactorily. He was in a bad mood all day, but thanks to the efficacy of the tea that Asaya boiled, his sharp nerves softened a little. When Edwin emptied the cup of tea, Asaya smiled contentedly. It was only a brief moment of laughter, but Edwin paused and looked at her. Then, he went to bed casually as he always did.

 

“Why are you standing there absent-mindedly, but not coming?”

 

Asaya hurriedly climbed onto the bed and lay down next to him.

Then the deep silence fell. The silence was comfortable.

 

“Have a nice dream.” Asaya said softly.

 

The quiet dawn came upon the man and the woman who had never slept comfortably, soon turned into a comfortable rest. Only the sound of even breathing remained in the room.

 

🌸🌸🌸