The Count’s Secret Maid - Chapter 36

The Count’s Circumstances (5)

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Huge thanks to Io for the kofis! (1/1)

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“Sir Lucas?”

 

“Yes. He’ll be staying here for a while, so keep that in mind.”

 

Paula took off his clothes and handed him new ones. Lately, Vincent wore casual clothes more often than pajamas. After cleaning up well and eating properly, she looked at his healthy complexion and couldn’t help but ask the first question that came to mind.

 

“Can I ask you something?”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Are you really okay with Sir Lucas staying in this mansion, master?”

 

Vincent looked at her, fully buttoning up his sleeves. Paula glanced away momentarily. Although he seemed well-dressed, his shirt buttons were misaligned. Paula approached him, fastening all the buttons and correcting them one by one.

 

“Today, unfortunately, the buttons are misaligned.”

 

“…”

 

Vincent remained silent until all the buttons were fixed. Paula wondered if he was angry and stole a quick glance at him, but there was no sign of anything unusual. Instead, his hand pressed firmly against her head. Struggling to break free from the intense force that felt like it could crush her into the ground, Paula screamed, enduring the merciless tugging of her hair.

 

Only after her hair was completely dishevelled did she regain her freedom. Paula was so surprised by this unexpected contact. When she reached up to her messy hair and opened her eyes wide, she could see the corners of his mouth curling up wickedly.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

 

‘Well, that’s a relief, but… why did you mess with my hair?’

 

***

 

“Paula, I see you again.”

 

“Yes. I see you again.”

 

As Paula stiffly bowed her waist, a chuckle floated above her head.

 

“Do you remember me?”

 

“Yes, you are Ethan’s brother.”

 

“I’m Lucas Christopher.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Lucas Christopher, you know.”

 

‘So what?’

 

When Paula tilted her head in confusion, he laughed again. But his laughter was subtly off, as if he were angry. Paula rolled her eyes.

 

‘Could it be that he wants me to call him by his name?’

 

“…Lucas?”

 

“Yes, Paula.”

 

As Paula called his name, he smiled happily. Perhaps it was because he was Ethan’s brother. Lucas did smile a lot too. He was grinning just because Paula called his name. She did it in the morning too, but he didn’t remember that.

 

“Are you going to clean?”

 

“Yes.”

 

So, Paula sent a look asking him to step out of the room for a moment. But he didn’t even flinch.

 

‘Ah, since his face isn’t visible, I guess I have to say it out loud.’

 

“I’ll be sitting here, so make yourself comfortable.”

 

“…”

 

Saying that, Lucas took a seat on one of the chairs arranged at the table. He had a book in his hand, so Paula guessed he did not intend to leave. Well, if that was the case, Paula got permission, so she decided to clean comfortably.

 

First, she changed the bedding and sheets. After that, she swept the floor. The sound of the broom echoed softly in the silence of the room. As she moved around, cleaning different spots, she paid more attention to the corners.

 

But… it was strange. Her back kept feeling warm since a while ago.

 

Paula turned around and saw Lucas reading a book. Was it him? She tilted her head, trying to focus on cleaning again, but once more, her back felt warm. It was like someone was watching her.

 

Around the time “warm” turned into “tingly,” Paula turned her body again.

 

“Do you have something to say?”

 

“Me? No.”

 

Lucas replied casually with a smile. Paula narrowed her eyes. His response was quick, as if he had prepared it in advance.

 

“But why do you keep looking at me?”

 

“I wouldn’t do that.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes. I haven’t been looking.”

 

Lucas replied firmly, and Paula shouldn’t have kept asking after that. Perhaps it was just her imagination. Although suspicious, she felt embarrassed at the thought of being mistaken, so she focused on cleaning again. But then, as she held the mop and tried to wipe the furniture, she sensed a presence behind her.

 

“Here.”

 

At that instant, a strange touch on her hair startled her, and Paula froze in place. The mop slipped from her hand and clattered as it fell to the floor. When she turned around with a jolt, Lucas looked at her with a surprised expression.

 

“I’m sorry. Did I startle you?”

 

“A little… Uh, may I ask what you are doing?”

 

“This.”

 

He had a white ribbon in his hand.

 

“It seems like Violet gave you this as a gift?”

 

Paula nodded.

 

“My sister said she wanted to give Paula a gift, so she pondered over it for a few days. Eventually, she settled on this hairband, but then she worried that there were too many other things that would also suit Paula well. She deliberated over the design and colour for a long time before finally deciding on this one.”

 

He twirled the edge of the ribbon around. Paula’s gaze shifted in that direction.

 

“By the way, I also added my opinion that this would be great.”

 

“Oh, I see.”

 

Paula wondered why he had surprised her like that just to say that. Did he want to tease her a little or something?

 

Paula took the ribbon from his hand and carefully coiled it around her fingers so that it wouldn’t slip away again. Lucas chuckled as he watched her doing that.

 

“It really suits you.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I thought the pure white colour would match you well.”

 

Haha, Paula laughed and brushed off his words as a joke. Lucas laughed along with her. He had been in such a cheerful mood since earlier. It was completely different from the gloomy atmosphere he had during the midnight meeting.

 

Come to think of it, why did that man come to meet Vincent in the middle of the night?

 

“Paula still seems to be very wary. Is it because of what I said last time?”

 

If he was talking about the last time, it must be about the shocking statement he made to Paula.

 

But this time, she could act nonchalant as well. You know that it wasn’t you who did it, right?

 

“I misunderstood.”

 

“I didn’t say that as a joke.”

 

He grinned while making a scary sound. Paula didn’t know what he wanted to achieve by getting her misunderstood, but she couldn’t say for sure that he was lying. Maybe Vincent telling her that was a secret in itself. It might not be something a mere maid like her should know.

 

Pretending not to hear even though her heart felt heavy.

 

However, as Paula remained unresponsive, Lucas’ smile gradually disappeared from his face. Soon after, a serious gaze was fixed on her.

 

“Did you hear from my brother?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Paula tried to act shamelessly ignorant, but she must have been clumsy. His expression grew even more serious.

 

“Did he really say that…?”

 

‘No, he didn’t say anything?’

 

‘Is there something on my face? Like my true thoughts or something.’

 

Paula touched her face unnecessarily. All she could feel was her hair in her hand. Her face wasn’t visible, so she couldn’t understand why he would look at her like that and think such things. It seemed like he was already assuming that Vincent had told her something.

 

“I understand. Having someone you can trust by your side must be nice.”

 

“What have you been talking about since earlier?”

 

“To be honest, it’s quite surprising.”

 

‘No, I am convinced.’

 

Paula picked up the fallen mop. She decided to finish cleaning quickly and escape. She made up her mind and turned her body around, but Lucas suddenly reached out his hand.

 

“I’ll help you too.”

 

“What?”

 

While asking him about his intentions, Lucas snatched the mop away from Paula and rolled up his sleeves. It turned out that his offer to help was for cleaning. Paula was startled and tried to dissuade him.

 

“Please don’t. I’ll do it.”

 

“I’ll help too. I have nothing else to do, anyway.”

 

“Still, I can’t ask a guest to do such a thing. I’ll get scolded.”

 

“Then just say I forcibly took it from you.”

 

As he said that, Lucas started using the mop to clean nearby spots. Paula quickly checked the door. Luckily, it was closed. She glanced at him and insisted he shouldn’t do that. But he just smiled and focused on mopping.

 

Paula couldn’t understand why he acted this way.

 

In the end, Lucas doing the cleaning on her behalf made Paula feel a heavy burden. And his troublesome behaviour continued afterwards. Every time Paula went to clean, Lucas offered to help, and if she refused, he pouted. Whenever she turned around, he quickly looked away as if pretending to be innocent.

 

He acted like someone who desperately wanted to help her. Paula appreciated his kindness, but not knowing the reason behind it made her uncomfortable.

 

The same was true when he accompanied Vincent.

 

Except for early mornings, he was mostly in Vincent’s room. Paula wasn’t sure if he came to visit or for some other reason, but he was always there whenever Paula went to tidy up the room. She wondered what he was doing by Vincent’s side. He just seemed to be observing them.

 

Sometimes, they had meals together, but it wasn’t as if the two had engaged in any conversation. They simply stayed together. Paula had to be careful about being caught between them.

 

But when it was just the two of them, it was different. When she saw through a slightly opened door, they had serious expressions. Vincent might be the same, but Lucas was different. While he usually had a smiling face when interacting with Paula, behind the door, he had a solemn demeanour. The conversation was cautious, and his voice became heavy.

 

And when he wasn’t in Vincent’s room, Lucas would roam around the mansion. He would walk through the corridors, take strolls near the estate, and sometimes Paula even saw him coming out of the study with a book in hand. If he happened to run into her by chance, he would greet Paula warmly as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

 

Though Paula didn’t know much about Lucas, one thing was clear – he seemed to have a lot of free time on his hands.

 

As Paula became more accustomed to Lucas’ presence, with him constantly displaying the appearance of a man with nothing to do, Vincent suddenly spoke after finishing a meal.

 

“Shall we take a walk?”

 

What was going on? But there was no reason to refuse his suggestion.

 

“Sure!”

 

“Then get ready.”

 

They decided to combine the walk with tea time. So, Paula prepared a tea kettle, cups, and some snacks, and even brought along a book to read.

 

But then, one more person joined in.

 

“It looks like it’ll be fun.”

 

Lucas stood beside Vincent with a big smile. Paula glanced at Vincent. He didn’t say anything about Lucas accompanying them.

 

In the end, the three of us walked side by side on the sidewalk. Well, there weren’t many places to go anyway, just the garden behind the annexe or the nearby forest. Paula held Vincent’s hand, and Lucas walked beside her. Suddenly she had the honour of walking between two grown-up men.

 

They decided to have tea first. Throughout the way to the garden, Lucas seemed busy looking around, and Vincent looked straight ahead. As Paula supported Vincent, she brushed past Lucas lightly. A strange tension filled the air. Of course, it might have been just her imagination.

 

Then, their gazes met directly.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“I’m not. I haven’t been looking at you.”

 

Without hesitation, Paula pointed her head forward and stared ahead.

 

As they arrived at the table, they sat down side by side. She spread a clean tablecloth over the table and placed the tea kettle and cups on it. However, there was one cup missing. She hadn’t thought Lucas would join them, so she only brought two cups.

 

Paula reluctantly placed the two cups in front of Lucas and Vincent, respectively.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Lucas pushed the cup toward Paula.

 

Even so… Paula hesitated, thinking maybe he didn’t want to have tea, and politely declined. That was probably the case.

 

Today’s dessert was a sweet cake covered in sugar, Vincent’s favourite. She cut the cake into slices and placed them on each plate. Paula put Lucas’ plate down first, hoping he would at least have some.

 

But the reaction came from Vincent. He was already holding the fork, ready to eat. As Paula set the cake plate down, Vincent elegantly cut a piece and put it into his mouth. He handled the fork with ease now, no longer awkwardly fumbling. After chewing a few times, he cut another piece of cake.

 

While Vincent continued to eat without pause, Lucas took one bite and made a displeased expression.

 

“…It’s too sweet.”

 

He seemed to be asking how anyone could eat something this sweet. Paula took a bite herself. It was sweeter than the desserts she usually ate, but it wasn’t too much for her to handle. She happily devoured the cake, while Vincent calmly but quickly enjoyed his piece.

 

Lucas looked back and forth between Paula and Vincent.

 

“Do you both find it delicious?”

 

“It’s not too much for me to handle.”

 

“It’s delicious.”

 

Their answers came immediately, and while answering, they kept eating.

 

Paula and Vincent focused on the cake as if they were betting on who would eat it faster.

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