Chapter 4
The next morning, Richard suddenly felt a sense of crisis and opened his eyes.
“……”
Sleeping on the big bed, while barely hanging from the edge. Furthermore, the blanket that draped over his body was cold.
‘Have you been struggling too much?’
I used to spin in my sleep when I was six or seven years old. But now, I’ve been sleeping late.
Richard, wondering about his sleeping habits, stretched his hand with the blanket hugging his back.
The bed sheets were soft on his fingertips.
‘The blanket is… soft?’
Something was strange.
He opened his eyes with astonishment at what he saw.
It was a person’s arm.
I looked back in a hurry, and I saw Elisha sleeping on my back.
“Huh?”
Now that I’m awake, the blanket’s on the floor.
Richard took Elisha’s arm off, as if stunned.
Last night, Elisha and Richard slept on the large bed. Of course, with a reasonable price.
But when Richard woke up, Elisha was getting close to him and was trying to push him out of the bed.
‘…How many times did you roll over in the bed?’
I’d be sick if I rolled around this much.
“You said you’d only sleep with our hands being held.”
Richard sighed and got out of bed.
When his warmth disappeared, Elisha, who was in a chill, murmured.
“Hmm… it’s cold.”
Even so, her small body became smaller.
Richard looked down at Elisha, then casually paced around and left the room.
But the door reopened as soon as it was closed.
With an expression of annoyance, Richard walked to the bedside and stood beside Elisha.
Elisha was still huddled up in the cold.
“…What a nuisance.”
I didn’t know I was struggling so hard for a few days of not sleeping in a bed. It would have been nice if I pretended not to realize it today.
When Richard said so, he took a blanket and covered Elisha with it.
He didn’t spread the blanket around her as he thought simply covering her with the blanket should be a great honor.
Only then did Richard turn around, shaking his hands.
***
After taking the class in the morning, Elisha had nothing to do. She spent the rest of her time reading books in the library.
Elisha, who was bored as always, came to get various books and read her in the room. But there was something in her eyes that was irritating.
Elisha took a glance at the busy maid over the bookcase.
‘Her name… it was Ann, right?’
Ann was extraordinarily younger than the other maids. The butler said that she was the child that Albert had in mind, along with Elisha.
But there is one strange thing.
Usually, maids are dedicated to one thing that they are good at. It’s much more efficient.
But today, Ann did all the work by herself. From bed arrangement to laundry, meals, dusting, mopping, everything.
‘Why is this kid doing all of this alone?’
As far as Elisha knows, Ann was in charge of beddings until a few days ago. Something was strange.
Elisha looked at Ann, pretending to read a book.
I thought you were good at everything, but you weren’t.
She was struck by the water from the mop and was embarrassed. She couldn’t notice Elisha, and she almost fell out of her chair as she tried to reach the area that her arms couldn’t reach.
Elisha guessed one possibility.
‘You’re being bullied because you’re a kid!’
Confidently, Elisha closed the book and approached Ann.
“Ann, why are you mopping?”
“P-Pardon?”
Ann, who was mopping, looked up at Elisha as if she were a sinner.
“I asked why you were mopping. You’re in charge of the beddings, aren’t you?”
“Ah… Oh, I said I’d do the mopping today.”
“What about carrying the laundry and dusting?”
“Y-Yes!”
“Why did you say that you’d do all the work? The laundry is Luna’s job. You’re in charge of the dusting, aren’t you?”
“Oh, it’s…”
Ann writhed but couldn’t speak.
Elisha urged the answer by staring at Ann.
Ann, who hesitated for a moment, began to speak with a shrill voice.
“The other day, they asked me to do all the work for a day, but they scolded me for not doing it well. So, I apologized, and I decided to take care of them again today. But….”
Ann stopped talking and her tears began to drop.
“What if they get scolded tomorrow because of me?”
Elisha was dumbfounded.
‘You’re making her do extra work, yet you’re scolding her for the work you’re supposed to do because you got in trouble? No, it can’t be true that the maids got scolded. Rather, isn’t that just a blatant lie?’
Apparently, Ann was also in trouble the day after that and was ready to take responsibility.
Elisha took the mop from Ann’s hand, brought her to the table, and gave Ann half of the sandwich she was eating.
“That’s enough work. Eat this.”
Elisha left the room and headed for Albert’s office, bewildered, leaving Ann staring at her from behind. There was a certain weight on Elisha’s steps.
Elisha took a breath and knocked at the door of the office.
“Come in.”
I was immediately granted permission.
Elisha opened the door and entered the office.
Albert raised an eyebrow at the unexpected arrival of Elisha.
“What’s the matter?”
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
Elisha demanded politely, but with determined eyes.
“Please replace my dedicated maid.”
Albert’s eyes blurred at that remark.
“Replace your dedicated maid… Why?”
“Can you replace her with a maid who is good at arranging the beddings, serving meals, cleaning, and laundry? The maid in charge is only good at the first one.”
“There should be a maid in charge that can do every chore.”
“One person was doing it all by herself today, it was so slow, and it wasn’t organized properly.”
Albert called Elisha, who spoke so clearly of her demands, to Aaron, an aide who was next to him.
“Aaron, go find out what’s going on.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Aaron went straight out of the office. Albert’s fixated gaze on the office door returned to Elisha.
“There shouldn’t be any inconvenience in the life of the Young Duke’s wife.”
“…”
“I’ll take care of this. Go back now.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Elisha smiled and left the office.
The Duke needs me. I can throw it away at any time but it’s too close to a delusion without my responsibility.
So, I am going to use my position as much as possible.
Elisha hid in the hallway near the office and waited for Aaron to return.
After a while, Aaron returned and reported the situation to Albert.
“Your Excellency, the maids are currently shopping in the plaza.”
“It’s time for work, but they are shopping in the plaza?”
“What should I do?”
“Call the butler.”
A smile crept on Elisha’s face when she heard the conversation.
Since they went out without finishing their work during their assigned working hours per day, the Duke will certainly not let this go.
Thereafter, Elisha walked towards the room silently.
***
The Duke of Rubelin was rich.
Albert didn’t care whether Elisha took the money to buy something or how much she spent.
Thanks to this, Elisha was able to study the laws of the world at ease and her plan after divorce.
In particular, I was able to try all the business ideas that came to my mind when I was in the position of a Duchess.
Elisha, who studies by herself, said she wants to take a finance class instead of a bridal class. Albert was not pleased, but he was very easy to persuade.
“I want to take this opportunity to get close to Richard by taking a finance class with him.”
Albert immediately gave her his permission. Richard just recently started his financial career, so it wouldn’t be too much of a hindrance for them to take the class together.
‘Learning this will help me get alimony and do business later.’
Elisha arrived in the room with her new notes and abacus.
Richard, who arrived in the room, entered with a commanding presence and looked at Elisha with a suspicious look.
“Why are you here?”
“The Duke’s reputation is on the line, shouldn’t I learn finance, too?”
Elisha pulled an extra chair from the side of the room and sat next to Richard.
I’ve been speaking quietly for a few days, but Richard doesn’t seem to mind.
“And if I know finance, you’ll be able to save yourself a little bit of work.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Then someone knocked at the door.