The Opposite Of Indifference - Chapter 4

****

Five days before the long-awaited banquet, an unexpected stroke of luck came.

The target suddenly approached Millicent first, even though she didn’t seek it out.

“Are you the maid named Millicent?”

Millicent was trimming the plants and bushes on a garden path.

The royal gardeners had been working hard to prepare a perfect garden for the noble guests attending the banquet. Somehow, however, she was assigned to help with garden work.

“I am Her Majesty the Queen’s maid.”

Millicent also recognized at once who the opponent was.

Charlotte Brennan.

The woman looked like a starving squirrel. She was very small in stature. The hem of her pink gown dragged on the dirt trail, despite the fact that she was wearing very high heels.

Still, her body proportions were nice. From a distance, she might appear to be quite a pretty lady. Millicent quickly stood up from her squat position.

“I heard you can read destiny cards,” said Charlotte, who was holding a spotted wolfhound cub.

The cub was raised by Queen Jadalin. Perhaps Charlotte had taken the beast out for a walk.

“Come on, go over there and play. Jaybee. No, Gravy. ”

She let the cub go in annoyance.

“Whatever your name is, don’t come at me, you stupid beast.”

Charlotte brushed her skirt  while the wolfhound cub sniffed at the strange world.

“I hate hairy things, but the Queen keeps putting me in charge of it,” Charlotte grumbled.

Millicent, on the other hand, liked dogs. She watched the cub as he paddled around on his short legs. The animals were simple and never did her any harm.

Unlike humans who were too complicated and too often harmful.

“I had my cards read before.”

Charlotte snapped her fingers in front of Millicent’s eyes.

“I’ve met all the astrologers in the capital, but they weren’t good.They all said so many similar things that I get tired of it,” she said, her pink-painted lips pouting like a spoiled child. “You seem kind of interesting.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Luck in love. Luck in career. Maybe the combination of the two.”

Rumors of the King’s selection of a Royal Mistress were already circulating in the court. Charlotte’s brown eyes glowed with desire.

“Have you ever met His Majesty?”

“No.” (Millicent)

“He is a truly wonderful man,” said Charlotte in a dreamy voice. “Of course, the things he can give me are much nicer.”

And she concluded her admiration with a practical calculation.

“Come to the Queen’s Palace later, after dinner.”

She did not even wait for Millicent’s reply.

“That’s where we’ll practice the dance for the masquerade ball.”

Charlotte took the liberty of declaring her acceptance. Still, it was not a bad suggestion, Millicent thought. It would be an opportunity to plan, even if spontaneous.

“One more thing,” Charlotte added as Millicent resumed her work.

“Can you tell me what will be served as the main course at the banquet?” She smiled cunningly. “Don’t you have access to the kitchen and food storage?”

“I was told in advance not to start any rumors,” Millicent replied in a roundabout way.

“I want to know,” Charlotte’s attitude quickly turned coercive. “Tell me at once if you don’t want to get beaten.”

But who would be afraid of a spoiled noble young lady in a gaudy pink gown?

Millicent chuckled. That was a bit of a mistake. It seemed that even ignorant noble ladies had animal instincts. Charlotte faltered and looked frightened.

Millicent’s mother had stressed that she should be more attentive, especially when smiling, and moreover, that she should look normal if she used her eyes and mouth at the same time. Millicent still had trouble following her mother’s advice.

“If you really want to know….”

Millicent quickly settled, trying  to spread the word everywhere that there was a strange-looking maid.

“I accidentally lost my weekly pay last week.”

Charlotte was quick to catch on. “Ha, the maids!”

She was relieved when Millicent  appeared much more conventional. She handed Millicent the bracelet she was wearing. It was thin but gold-plated and studded with small sapphires.

“I might give you more if you’re good at reading cards,” Charlotte said, trying to lure her in.

“It’s a lark dish.”

She wondered why what they ate at the banquet was such valuable information, but Millicent answered honestly.

“Lark? That’s tragic,” Charlotte said, though she did not look sad at all. “Don’t forget to come later.”

And then she walked away, having forgotten even the simple common sense of taking the cub back with her.

Millicent picked up the wolfhound cub that was soiled with dirt in the process due to an outburst. The other day she saw Queen Jadalin bury her nose in this guy’s fur. And so Millicent copied the action. It was soft and warm.

“Hey, what are you doing, not moving quickly? We’re busy,” cried the royal gardener, seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Lady Charlotte has left the Queen’s dog,” Millicent quickly tossed the disgusted sapling. “I must take it back.”

The gardener could not even argue, only growl. It was refreshing to see the place where winter had passed. When the first signs of life became rare, Millicent freed the cub that was squirming in her arms. Together, they sniffed the grass and trees that greeted spring.

But the cub, who had been quietly walking ahead, suddenly broke away from the path. He ran down the hill where a beautiful forest was created inside the palace. Millicent followed suit.

It was not bad business, since the more time the queen’s dog took up, the less maid work she had to do.

“Are you…?”

Eventually, the cub stopped when it met an unexpected person. It was the very man who said his fantastic good looks made people swoon every time they saw him. He was sitting in the grass. He didn’t seem to worry about getting dirty, even though he was wearing some pretty fancy clothes today.

The queen’s cub circled his feet and wagged its tail. It was as if it was happy meeting someone it knew as well as its master.

“If it isn’t the impostor I met a while ago.” (Millicent)

“At first, you said I was a hunter, and now I’m an impostor?”

The man laughed incredulously, tucking the gorgeous gold locket necklace around his neck into his linen shirt.

“Then you’re a cheater! I lost all my last week’s pay because of you.”

They just met but Millicent argued like a storm.

“You charged too much for two just deer. And you didn’t even write me a receipt! No, you didn’t even give the right meat in the first place!”

“I was just going with the flow.”

The man replied brazenly. She was annoyed. Should she just kill him? Millicent seriously pondered. Reflexively, she checked to see if anyone was around and the hidden knife in her pocket.

“My God, the look on your face is terrifying,” the man said, clicking his tongue at the look in her eyes, which had quickly turned cold.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never met anyone as strange as the lady at that time, so I was carried away,” he said, taking out a watch with a thin chain from his  pants pocket. “I was afraid you might be in trouble, but I am glad to have met you again like this. This should be sufficient compensation, don’t you think?”

Millicent’s eyes widened as the man handed her the watch. It was a luxury item, elaborately crafted in gold. It was more than enough to make up for a maid’s weekly wage.

“The people here seem to have no sense of money.” She clicked her tongue, remembering the bracelet Charlotte had given her earlier. “They don’t carry money, but only trade items, tsk…”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll forgive you,” Millicent stopped complaining, having no reason to refuse the expensive item. “Wait, what’s wrong with your face?”

For the first time, the man’s face came into view. As handsome as he was, like the first time they met, but strangely today, his mouth was covered in something red.

“You must be very hungry,” Millicent said understandingly. “But that doesn’t mean you should eat the hunted animals raw. It will upset your stomach. You look ugly, too,” she clicked her tongue.

“Oh my God, I wouldn’t do that…”

Of course he had tried it. Even though it ended in failure after hearing a lot of nagging.

“It’s not like that.”

The man understood after a pause and laughed.

“This is not animal blood ……,” he said, wiping his face with his handkerchief. “Umm…”

He seemed to evade a truth more terrifying than having blood on his face.

“It’s pudding.”

“What?”

“I had pudding. I put some plums on top and there was so much juice and so…”

Millicent shook her head.

“Why are you hiding here to eat pudding?”

“Because I don’t want people to see.”

Millicent didn’t seem to understand so the man added.

“I mean, pudding is not a dessert that a man like me can enjoy…”

“What does looking and eating have to do with anything?”

Millicent, who had the confidence to eat a whole grilled chicken on the Grand Bridge, didn’t understand what the man’s problem was.

“Ah! You stole it from the royal kitchen, didn’t you? Is that why you’re embarrassed?”

Instead, she came up with a much more plausible guess.

The man mumbled to himself as he tried to refute her, “Not exactly…but I guess you’re not so wrong, since I did sneak it out…….”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell on you.” Millicent didn’t care. “I steal sometimes too. Because I’ll starve to death if I only eat what I’m given.”

She showed the man a bunch of grapes in her apron pocket that she had secretly stolen this morning. Of course, she had no intention of sharing them with him.

“Anyway, Miss Smith…”

“Who is that?”

“Didn’t you say your name was Millicent Smith?”

Even though she made it up herself, that name was so bad, she completely forgot about it.

“Let’s just call me Millicent….”

The man chuckled.

“I guess it doesn’t mean anything if it’s a made-up name anyway.”

Millicent shrugged. “Well.”

“Anyway, Millicent, please don’t tell anyone that I’ve been sneaking around here eating pudding.”

“I don’t know anything about you except that you’re a hunter and your name is Phineas, and who am I going to tell that to?”

“My name is not Phineas and I am not a hunter…”

The man sighed and was about to argue with her, but he suddenly stopped speaking.

“I wanted to ask you the other day….Aren’t you afraid of me, young lady?”

Millicent didn’t know why he kept saying things she didn’t understand. He was remarkably handsome and he had a cold impression, but that was no reason to be afraid.

“No, not at all.”

“I’m glad.” The man smiled. “My name is Freddie and it’s the name that no one uses because it doesn’t match my looks.”

Millicent belatedly remembered.

“Are you a hunter?”

“That’s also wrong. The young lady misunderstood, so I just let it go.”

“You didn’t originally have a mustache either, then?”

“…mustache?” The man asked curiously.

Millicent didn’t answer because she was too busy thinking about the real hunter who would have his mustache peeled off viciously by the old maid Tracy.

“Wait. Then who are you if you’re not a Hunter?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. The next time we meet.”

The man smiled a smile that made no sense to her. Then, with one hand, he lightly lifted the wolfhound cub that had been clamoring for attention.

“I will take Tevi to the Queen myself.” (The man)

“Tevi?”

“The cub’s name.”

Millicent pointed to the puppy.

“Lady Charlotte called him Jaybee or Gravy, until she went away and forgot to take him with her.”

“I’m not surprised since Charlotte Brennan hates animals.” The man spoke as if he knew the court lady very well. “She would rather wear the animals’ fur.”

A somewhat displeased expression crept over his face.

“That’s too bad. I like animals,” Millicent said whatever came to her mind. “Though I’ve never raised one. No, actually, I haven’t been around many.”

“Why not?”

“My uncle didn’t allow it.”

Uncle Mulally, a butcher shop’s owner, forbade her from getting close to any dogs or cats.

He reasoned that it was because they had so much  meat in the store and he didn’t want the animals to eat them…but Millicent vividly remembered the worried look in his eyes.

“…I think he was worried that maybe I was going to kill them.”

It was a safety measure that Uncle Mulally reasonably ensured.

“Why is that again?” The man raised his eyebrows.

“He was a worried person.” Millicent blurted out as she tightened the string of her hat.

“It sounds like the lady usually makes trouble.” The man understood, truly carefree. “I will see you next time, Millicent.”

By the time the man with the dog disappeared into a distance, it dawned on her that she would soon find out who he was.

But she didn’t ask how he was able to take food from the palace kitchen, or how he knew it was the Queen’s dog, and why he would take it to the Queen as a matter of course.

***