The Count’s Secret Maid - Chapter 25

“Violet. We’re not the only ones here.”

“Oh my!”

At Ethan’s words, Violet quickly straightened her face and covered her mouth with her hand. She quickly blushed and smiled as if she was embarrassed. The change in her was so surprising.

“I must have looked embarrassing, ho, ho”

“…No.”

“What should I do? The bouquet is broken.”

She tried to restore the crushed bouquet, but flowers weren’t something that couldn’t be fixed once it was broken. Violet, who had been fiddling with the bouquet, placed it aside and displayed other flowers.

“There are still some flowers left over that I picked, can I make a new one with this?”

“Yes, would you like to give it a try?”

Paula tried to erase what she had just seen before and looked at the flowers Violet had handed her. There were quite a few varieties, but all were fresh and pretty in colour. Paula could feel Violet’s sincerity.

Paula laid out the flowers on the floor and thought about how to arrange them to make them look good. Violet also came up with various suggestions from the side. Ethan also occasionally added but to no avail. Paula started to make a bouquet by collecting good ideas from them. The centrepiece of it was a purple flower resembling Violet.

“But how old is Paula? She looks young.”

“I am eighteen.”

“Oh!”

Violet clapped her hands.

“We are the same age!”

She laughed happily, as if being the same age was a big deal.

‘Is that something to be happy about?’

“I always wanted to be like this with a girl my age. I am so happy.”

‘As for her, she must have had a lot of girls her age around her.’

At a glance, Violet showed signs of being loved and raised. Besides, her face was pretty, she was polite, and her personality… Then Paula remembered her crushing the bouquet just before.

Paula quietly focused on making the bouquet.

“Oh, Violet. Why don’t you move to a more comfortable place and make it?”

“Huh? Why?”

As she followed Paula to make a small bouquet by mixing gypsophila (Ed./N: baby’s breath) between pale pink and yellow flowers, she cast a questioning gaze. Next to them, Ethan was putting together flowers quite splendidly.

“Is Paula feeling very uncomfortable?”

“No. I’m fine. I’m just worried about letting Miss Violet sit on this filthy dirt floor.”

“I’m fine. The flowers are so pretty, and I don’t even think this is dirty. Rather, it feels good.”

Violet smiled as if she was really happy, and worked steadily with her hands to complete the bouquet. She mixed light pink, yellow, and white flowers around a purple flower, and inserted gypsophila flowers in between. Trimming the flower stem will give it a more plausible shape.

“Will Vincent like it?”

There was a lot of affection in the eyes looking at the bouquet in her arms. Soon after, her gaze reached Paula, and she nodded her head right away.

Vincent wouldn’t know how pretty the flowers look anyway.

“Can Paula deliver the bouquet? I want you to put it next to his bed.”

“I will.”

Paula received the finished bouquet of flowers from Violet. It was quite large, so it seemed like its shape would fall apart if she held it wrong. So Paula undid the string that was holding her hair back and secured her bouquet with it.

“Oh, my. I should have brought something to tie it.”

“It’s all right.”

Paula tied the bouquet tightly so that it would not be ruined and held it back in her arms. Then she looked at another small bouquet she had made and asked.

“Would you like to have that one?”

“Oh, this…”

Violet held out a little bouquet to Paula.

“I’ll give it to Paula. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a reward for helping me make a pretty bouquet.”

‘This is for me?’

As Paula raised her eyes in surprise, Violet smiled and waved the bouquet, signalling her to accept it quickly. Paula opened her mouth, closed it again, and looked at the little bouquet. Somehow she couldn’t accept it. Violet took her hand and gave her the bouquet of flowers anyways, saying thank you repeatedly.

It was unfamiliar to see a friendly smiling face, and it was unfamiliar to receive such a greeting.

The first time.

Something like this…

So Paula wiggled her fingers holding the bouquet for no reason.

“…Thank you.”

“I am more grateful. Thank you, Paula.”

“…”

Paula looked at the small bouquet in her hand.

The small bouquet had an irregular shape. Violet certainly wasn’t very dexterous. All the flowers had large buds, and the colours were colourful and inconsistent. It was overly flashy rather than pretty. Still, Paula couldn’t take her eyes off the bouquet.

She didn’t know how to hold it because having someone’s sincerity in her hand felt unfamiliar. After hesitating, she held the bouquet in her hand with only a little bit of strength so as not to damage it.

“Come on, Ma’am. I want to give a present, too.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Ethan abruptly put the gorgeous and large bouquet he had made into her arms. Paula handed over a formal thank you in return. Then Ethan complained that her emotions were too dry.

Paula’s arms were full of flowers. Especially Ethan’s, which were too big. She staggered and struggled to hold onto it until she dropped what Ethan had given her. She glanced over at him. Fortunately, he was looking elsewhere. She quickly dragged it with her foot and tucked it somewhere on the side.

“When am I able to meet Vincent? I’m tired of just waiting.”

Violet’s melancholic voice made Paula turn her head. She was greeted by the sight of Violet crouching down again, looking up at the sky. She put her arms on her lap and rested her chin on it, soaking in her heartache. A dark shadow fell upon her.

“Did Vincent come to hate me?”

“That can’t be.”

“Even so… he just keeps avoiding me…”

“If Vincent had felt that way, he wouldn’t have avoided you like this. He would have cut you off right away.”

“That’s true.”

Her drooping shoulders caught Paula’s eye. But Violet’s sadness quickly turned to anger. She crushed and plucked the buds in the flower garden.

“It’s as if he’s asking me to break up the marriage by doing this. But I’m not going to let him go.”

“…”

The gnashing of teeth was audible. Paula was speechless for a moment, then came to her senses.

“He will never do that.”

Violet’s bloody gaze was fixed on Paula. Paula swallowed dry.

“Really?”

“Yes. He told me that he was very sorry for making you worry.”

The sharp purple eyes filled with anger turned round. Paula darted her eyes away. Of course, he never said that. But for the safety of her master, she could tell a white lie, it was better than spitting out the truth. It was unfamiliar compared to what she had in her hand.

Besides, now was the perfect opportunity to appease.

“How about pampering yourself?”

“Pampering?”

“Yes. Sometimes, I think it is necessary to ignore the other person’s feelings very slightly.”

“I… may I?”

“Sure. You are his fiancée. You’ll be a married couple someday, so you can be spoiled.”

‘Asking me to write a reply to the letter, wouldn’t it be okay to behave like that?’

It seems that this also started with Vincent ignoring her letters, so Paula thought she could do that much. Of course, he couldn’t write it himself.

Paula was going to ghostwrite for him, she was able to write a little bit after all. Actually, doing so was a bit of a bother, but she wanted to do it in return for the bouquet Violet gave her. Violet had told her it was a reward for helping her make a bouquet of flowers for Vincent, but Paula was more grateful to her for praising her and being kind to her when she didn’t do anything in particular.

So, just as Paula was about to tell her different ways to pamper herself, specifically by asking her to demand a reply to the letter, Violet jumped to her feet. She clenched her fists, determined to do something.

“Paula is right. I’ve made up my mind!”

“What?”

She flashed her eyes at Paula, who was puzzled.

When Paula looked at her face, she felt ominous.

‘Don’t tell me…’

“I, until I met Vincent, won’t go back!”

‘Oh, I made an accident.’

Violet said she wrote a letter every time she came here, and she gave Paula one of her letters. The letters were filled with the words that if Vincent keeps on not meeting her, she will continue to wait here forever.

“Paula, cheer me on!”

When Paula saw the heavy burden on both sides, she was dizzy as she imagined what would happen in the future. She looked at Ethan asking for help, but instead of answering, he shook his head.

She was ruined.

***

Paula cried and went back to Vincent’s room. He rarely sat on the bed. As if he was waiting for Paula, he followed her footsteps and immediately turned his head.

“How did it go? Is she saying she would go back?”

“Ah, that… first of all, Miss Violet asked me to deliver the letter.”

As always, she handed him a thick letter full of sincerity. His eyes widened for a moment, then relaxed again. He stretched out a hand. Paula placed her letter in his hand. After that, she carefully put the vase she had brought on the bedside table.

But this time he didn’t even open the letter.

“Can I read it to you?”

“It’s okay. I know what it’s about.”

“It seems that Miss Violet loves you very much.”

“I said this last time. It’s not that kind of feeling. We grew up like brother and sister.”

“Have you known each other for a long time?”

“Since I was born.”

Oh, he said the three were friends. They were really old friends. If so, the friendly attitude toward each other was understandable.

But, on the other hand, doubts arose. Aside from Vincent, Paula felt Violet’s feelings for him were… well… weren’t those of a sibling love? It was a more passionate colour than that, the emotions you would feel for someone of the opposite gender.

“I think Miss Violet is a really nice and kind person. She treats people like me with kindness. It will be very nice, Master.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I think you both look so good together.”

“…”

Vincent stopped talking. The thin, drooping pupils have a rather sharp light. It was as if he was guessing what her intentions were. Paula swallowed.

“Yes, yes, Master.”

Paula was so nervous that she stuttered without even realizing it. She clenched her hands tightly. She was hesitant about how to save herself, but Vincent tilted his head as if he felt something strange.

“Why did you stop talking?”

“You know… I mean… Miss Violet wrote…”

“What about her?”

“Miss Violet…”

Paula licked her jagged lips and opened her mouth to say something she never wanted to say, but the door burst open and another voice came in faster.

“Violet says she won’t go back until she meets you.”

“What?”

Vincent turned his head in that direction in surprise. Paula also looked back at Ethan in surprise. Seeing her shocked face, Ethan laughed mischievously.

“Ma’am made an accident.”

Vincent’s face creaked back to Paula’s. She closed her eyes tightly. There was silence for a while. Soon after, the bouquet filled with sincerity was thrown to the floor faster than one could expect.

Crackle!

‘Oh, I’m sure I heard that. The sound of all the efforts I’ve made so far being broken into pieces.’

***