If I Can’t Be Your Wife - Chapter 109

The handmaiden frowned for a moment, sent her a glare, then resumed explaining.

“That means you can’t date the employees who work inside the Duke’s residence! If you have any objections, come out and say it now. The nanny will handle your resignation right away.”

The surroundings became quiet in an instant. Satisfied with the response, the maid nodded her head and left the dining area.

“What’s going on, all of a sudden? What’s with that rule?”

Emily muttered as if it was absurd. The other maids around them were also buzzing and looked surprised. Some employees who were already known to be dating each other burst into tears, and some left in a hurry.

“It’s like we’re in the age of tyranny.”

“Shh! They’ll hear you.”

Kathleen was horrified and tensed up as she tried to stop her friend. Brady indeed acted rashly, but that was a problem with one person only and shouldn’t be blamed on all employees. And thinking about it, the reason Brady did it was for her.

‘And really, Brady and I weren’t even dating.’

Kathleen contemplated as she took the potatoes out from the water and peeled them with a spoon in the kitchen. The more her fingers tingled, the stronger her determination became.

Kathleen cleared the chef’s mess in the kitchen and finally finished her task. She slowly left the kitchen and headed towards the main building.

‘I have to ask the butler to reconsider.’

Perhaps this was her responsibility. Kathleen roamed around looking at places Alsdorf might be. However, as he was the butler in charge of the employees, he could not be found easily.

Not giving up, Kathleen looked for him the next day.

‘If the nanny finds out, I’ll be in trouble.’

It would be a big deal if she was caught wandering around in an area she didn’t work. She was not a newcomer and had been working for the duke for four years so getting lost would not be an excuse.

“Oh!”

After one last look around the garden before going back to the kitchen, Kathleen exclaimed in shock when she saw a black figure at the entrance to the garden. Upon a closer look, it was actually the gardener. He sat depressed beside a folded up ladder.

Kathleen reluctantly walked over to him and lowered her body to sit down.

“Mister!”

“Oh, it’s you Kelly.”

“Mister, I heard that Mr. Brady was fired. Are you alright?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Was Mr. Brady not hurt?”

“He’s fine. They even gave him his severance pay. Sigh, I was going to have him clean up the new tree that comes in tomorrow. I don’t know how I’ll be able to do it alone.”

The gardener took a deep breath and cleaned his pruning shears.

“That id*ot, I thought he had gotten his act together and didn’t expect he would do it again in Meyer.”

“Again?”

Kathleen grabbed onto the odd part of his words and asked. The gardener also had a slightly different reaction from what she had expected.

“That guy, whenever he finds a girl he likes, he just rushes in without looking back. He was left behind by my brother in our hometown, so I figured he was bored and brought him here. He seems to have made trouble again this time, trying to catch the eyes of a certain woman. I clearly explained about the gate but he pretended not to know…… Oh well, what can I do? I made the wrong decision.”

The gardener, who grumbled with an attitude, seemed rather relaxed. Kathleen originally thought that the gardener would be saddened over the loss of Brady, and intended to comfort him, but her head went blank at the words she hadn’t anticipated.

I thought he acted without knowing, but he did it on purpose to look good for me?

Kathleen’s expression showed that she found it strange. She thought he was innocent when he broke the lock, but it was deliberate, thinking that she would be moved finding out that he broke the rules to court her.

“By the way, Kelly, do you need anything? Why are you here?”

“Oh. No, I was just walking.”

Kathleen answered vaguely and got up from her seat. The gardener said that he had to find another successor, told her to go back then disappeared. Fortunately, the man did not seem to have been punished.

‘……I shouldn’t side with Brady when I talk to the butler.’

She seemed to be better off talking only about the prohibition on dating between employees.

Luckily, when she left the garden and was looking around the stables, she saw Alsdorf in the distance.

“Mister Butler!”

Kathleen ran to him in one breath. Alsdorf looked at her and made a puzzled expression.

“Who is this?”

“This is Kelly who works in the kitchen.”

“Yes, what’s going on?”

“Yesterday I heard from the handmaiden that one more item was added to the employee rules. I wanted to speak with you about that.”

Alsdorf nodded his head, urging her to continue. Kathleen took a deep breath and carefully opened her mouth.

“It is true that casual meetings between employees can make us lax and cause mistakes at work, but I think banning it as a whole is excessive. Rather than a permanent ban…… How about setting an example with a temporary measure?”

“Hmm.”

Alsdorf pushed one side of his glasses as he seemed to ruminate about something, then asked.

“Were you in a relationship with the fired apprentice gardener?”

“Oh, no. I just thought it would be unreasonable for the other employees to be negatively affected by what he did.”

“It is unreasonable…….”

“As the butler knows, when employees find a partner from inside and marry, their loyalty and tenure tend to increase. If this is hindered, I don’t think it would be the right way for the butler to manage the labor force, so please reconsider.”

Usually, noble families tended to encourage companionship, especially marriage among employees. The same was true in the Winston estate. Typically in the case of maids. This was because there were often cases wherein aides who knew all of the family secrets married an outsider and leaked information unknowingly.

It was like that in the Winston estate, a House at the border, therefore it would be terrifying if this were to happen to the Duke of Walten, who was at the center of Meyer and the highest-ranking noble connected to the imperial family.

Kathleen, who was a young lady of a count, thought that it made sense.

But Alsdorf followed with an unexpected answer.

“You’re not wrong, but it can’t be helped.”

“What?”

“Prohibiting dating is his will.”

“Th-Then…….”

“It means it won’t change.”

Her spirits dropped.

No matter how generous the butler was, he was not in a position to overturn the decision of his master, Duke Walten.

Kathleen dropped her head in dismay.

“But don’t worry.”

Alsdorf gently patted her on the shoulder.

“Since it was an impulsive order from His Grace, it is not that there is no possibility of changing it. If the mistress of the mansion comes one day, it may be overturned.”

“Is that really true?”

“It is. So there’s no way you won’t be able to get married.”

Her marriage didn’t matter, but Emily’s marriage was definitely a problem, so Kathleen forced a nod.

‘Yes. The Duchess might have a different opinion, right?’

Seeing that the rule on prohibiting dating among employees is being enforced, it meant that the nanny did not object to the Duke’s decision. Then, in the end, it will be the Duchess who arrives that can defy the nanny.

‘I don’t know when that will be, but I hope she comes sooner.’

Otherwise, Emily might fall asleep every night complaining about not being able to be with her knight.

Kathleen bowed her head, thinking that she should bring this hopeful news to Emily.

“Thank you for your understanding, Mister butler.”

“Then go back. Oh, by the way, do you have someone you like right now?”

Startled by the words she never expected, Kathleen quickly waved her hands.

“Oh, no. There is none.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Pardon?”

“Go on. You’ll be late.”

“Yes…….”

Kathleen suddenly wondered why the butler was asking her such a thing, but she turned around without saying more.

Meanwhile, Alsdorf calmly waved her off and patted his beard as he looked at the back of the kitchen maid who was leaving.

It occurred to him that the master, who didn’t even care about his employees, suddenly gave such an order and it might have something to do with that child.

“The kitchen…….”

A kitchen maid was a servant who worked in a place that had no contact with the owner. The Duke of Walten was far from being a gourmet, and didn’t mind having anything to fill his stomach except for poisoned food.

‘Then why did the child suddenly stand out?’

What did she say her name was?

Although he had just heard it, he couldn’t remember it as it was a common name. Katie? Casey?

‘My forgetfulness is getting worse with age.’

If his guess was correct, he figured that he would find out again someday. Alsdorf hurried to the main building. He had to report on the new rules he had decided to implement.

He reached the front of his office and knocked lightly on the door.

“Duke. This is Alsdorf.”

“Come in.”

Entering, he saw the master scribbling the quill in a frenzy without raising his head. Alsdorf walked over to the desk and coughed.

“I have something to report, Your Grace.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the rule you talked about yesterday.”

Then Duke Walten raised his head. The cold eyes seemed to be asking for more details. Then, a memory suddenly flashed in Alsdorf’s mind from four years ago.

– Where did that one come from?

The Duke of Walten had a brief interest in the child who had just become a maid of the Duke’s mansion.

A faint smile appeared on Alsdorf’s lips. Perhaps this wasn’t a coincidence.