Chapter 71
“Hah…!”
Clara gasped and covered her mouth, startled.
“Gorgo! Stop!”
Lucy waved her hand quick to stop the sword aimed at Clara’s neck.
At her words, Gorgo flinched and halted.
“But my lady. That maid just hurt…”
“It’s fine. I’m not hurt, luckily.”
“…”
Of course, Lucy had been startled by Clara’s actions too.
‘But killing her for it is a bit much.’
Swallowing a sigh, Lucy’s eyes swept over Clara, calm.
“Oh no, oh my! My lady! I’m so, so sorry!”
Clara’s face had gone white as paper as she apologized over and over.
As if to say it hadn’t been her intent.
Lucy looked at her scarred hands trembling, and instead of saying it was fine, she touched her collarbone with a quiet face.
What she’d told Gorgo was true, at least.
‘I’m not hurt.’
If she’d been wearing the old clothes from the temple, the pin would have gone straight into bare skin.
But Lucy now wore a fine dress Edward had given her.
Something handed over as a stopgap until her proper duchess’s gowns were ready.
‘…I thought he’d just given it to me at random.’
The moment the brooch’s sharp pin touched the dress.
A strange resistance knocked the pin away.
Like when Edward’s large hand had covered her belly before the priest.
Something hard and thin, a golden film, had blocked the pin.
It seemed a protective spell had been placed directly on the clothes.
‘…He’d prepared for this all along.’
The dresses he’d said to buy up were probably charmed the same way.
‘Honestly, that touched me a little.’
Of course, she was a precious purifier who needed guarding.
But this kind of work took effort.
Edward, busy with so many things, would have found it bothersome to do himself. And yet he’d taken the trouble to put protective magic on even her plain clothes.
‘He always talks so scary…’
Edward really did protect the people in his fold.
She remembered how he’d buried her face in his chest so she wouldn’t be afraid of the sky, and how he’d pulled her close, gentle, before the priest.
Lucy felt that feather-light tickle again.
‘…Anyway, that’s that.’
But that was that.
Lucy set her thumping heart aside and looked at Clara with quiet eyes.
Clara jumped on the spot under that gaze, not knowing what to do with herself.
“I’m so sorry! What if you’re bleeding? Let me see the wound!”
Then she took Lucy’s hand and led her toward one of the rooms lining the hall.
The refusal on Lucy’s lips died when she saw the open door.
‘The duchess’s room?’
She’d been wondering if she could get into such a room.
The room was clearly a noble lady’s private parlor, with a large sofa and an elegant vanity arranged in perfect harmony.
The combs and items sat neat but with signs of use, as if the room had been lived in until recently.
‘…This is even better.’
Lucy’s eyes glinted sharp for a moment.
Clara, not seeing it, brought Lucy to the sofa and sat her down.
Gorgo, following them in, was blocked by Clara.
“I’ll have to open the lady’s blouse to tend the wound. Do you mean to watch, a man like you?”
“…”
Clench.
At the sharp cry, Gorgo stopped at the door.
His hand stayed on his sword hilt, glaring at Clara, but he took a step back, judging he couldn’t see Lucy undressed.
Sophie, about to follow, was stopped too, for another reason.
“What are you standing there for? Go get bandages and things for treatment!”
Click, thud.
Before Sophie could answer, Clara shut the door.
Lucy kept her eyes on the vanity, thinking calmly.
‘So we’re alone now.’
She’d thought it would be terrifying if it came to this.
Which was why she’d brought Gorgo and Sophie along.
But strange.
The moment she realized Edward was protecting her, wherever she was, it wasn’t as scary as she’d thought.
Even in his absence, the things he’d given her kept her safe.
And she’d thought of how to handle Clara in this very moment.
“My lady, are you all right?”
While Lucy settled her heart, Clara came close and studied her face.
Her manner, at least, was truly sorry.
“I’m so sorry, my lady.”
“…”
“I was careless. I’ll take any punishment…”
“Clara.”
Lucy quietly reached out and took Clara’s hand, the one trying to open her blouse.
Then she whispered low.
“It really is fine. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Still…”
“Anyway, you said you wanted to be my personal maid. Do you still?”
“Pardon? Of course…”
“Then keep what I’m about to say, and I’ll take you on, Clara.”
“What is it? I’ll keep it. Please tell…”
Lucy looked into Clara’s desperate eyes and spoke, calm.
“Don’t hurt anyone.”
“…”
“Like you just did to me.”
“My lady?”
“There won’t be a next time.”
At the firm words, Clara’s fingers trembled.
She was being offered the very position she wanted, and yet it felt like a warning.
Even those black eyes that looked so soft and timid now seemed cold and hard.
‘She’s been like this before…’
Hadn’t she?
When Clara had tried to sow discord between Lucy and the duke’s servants, Lucy had shown that same sharp, steady side.
Clara flinched but shook her head inside.
‘No.’
Even so, this person wasn’t scarier than the Grand Madam.
She looked far softer than the Grand Madam.
‘Just look at how she treated Sophie earlier.’
What duchess would ask a servant to teach her?
And she’d praised Clara’s sandwich so warmly.
The future duchess was far more easygoing than other noble ladies.
The coldness just now must have been…
‘My imagination.’
She’d been too tense from the start.
‘Right. Things nearly went wrong today.’
The watch around Lucy had grown tight since the sudden marriage announcement.
Even today.
The plan had been to lead Lucy here as soon as the Grand Madam’s servant pulled Rosendal away.
But the duke’s guard had come instead, delivering word of dinner with Edward.
That had put her on edge and delayed her.
The plan to stall and wait for a chance fell apart, and she’d had no choice but to jab the brooch pin at Lucy.
It was the only way to separate her from the group.
‘Sorry, but I’m desperate too.’
Who else would pay for her family’s medicine?
Clara turned away from the guilt pricking at her chest and pulled her hand from Lucy’s.
The room they’d rushed into happened to be the one the Grand Madam used before being moved out.
The scent of the Grand Madam’s perfume hung in the air, and it felt like she was watching.
Clara wiped her sweating palms on her apron and bowed to Lucy with care.
“…You must be upset. I didn’t mean to hurt you on purpose.”
“Really?”
“I’m truly sorry. Whatever you think, it wasn’t intentional.”
Even with the apology, Lucy’s black eyes stayed quiet and dark.
Soon, Lucy sighed and shook her head.
Then she looked at Clara with eyes that seemed to pierce through.
“If you’re truly sorry, think seriously about what I just said.”
“…”
“I mean it too.”
There won’t be a next time.
Lucy’s voice echoed in Clara’s head again.
Gulp.
Clara swallowed without thinking.
