Chapter 9
I had been with Dalton for only a short time, but I was already exhausted. And I thought I was the only one, but it seemed like the servants were tired as well. Shocked by my messy appearance, Donna quickly turned me back into a proper human being again.
Donna seemed to have dealt with Dalton while I was away, maybe that’s why she especially looked more tired than the rest. When I asked what happened, Donna listed down all of Dalton’s strange activities while he was waiting.
He stayed in front of the castle for a long time and asked about the weather, and it didn’t seem like he was interested in unloading his carriage. Donna said it was like he was looking for something.
Maybe he was looking for any trace of Leon. Going by the gossip alone, which I’m sure had spread out of control already, it would have reached Dalton’s ear already. He might be waiting to get me arrested or confined, call the quack doctor, then they’d tell me again that it’s my fault for the treatment not going well…!
I might be being too hasty with thinking this, but I really don’t know what to expect from Dalton’s facial expressions.
Just the fact that I had to go to the charity party with him was horrible enough because I had to approach Redcliffe at the party. There was more than one thing for me to do, and now I even had to be mindful of Dalton’s sharp surveillance.
Next to me, Donna was brushing my hair, and I asked her, “Is Dalton still practicing swordsmanship these days?
My tactic nowadays was to absorb as much information as I could by answering vague questions like this. The question could be interpreted in two ways: first, that I was being sarcastic and I was accusing him of not practicing for a while, or second, asking if there was still a nobleman like him who practiced their swordsmanship on a daily basis.
Donna sometimes answered my questions the way I wanted, so the results of my new tactic were pretty good.
“Yes. I’m not sure if the Young Master is preparing for an examination… But I heard that he’ll need to practice even though there’s no test to take.”
His specs were better than I thought. He’s older than Tess was, but he’s still younger than the rest, so did he really need to go above them? I thought that Lena’s older brother might have been given more buffs.
Well, if he wasn’t the main character, then who was it? He was the kingdom’s best swordsman, a psychopath, and he was the man who’ll eventually go against the villain. I honestly don’t know what to think of him.
“From that day on… the Young Master never stopped practicing.”
“That day…”
“Yes, the day the Madam passed away.”
Huh? Did she mean the von Cador Madam? The angel-like biological mother of Lena who adopted Tess after she saw her on the streets?
No details of how she died came up in the game. It was just mentioned that she was murdered by an unidentified person. She wasn’t a significant character in the narrative in the first place.
Donna stopped talking, startled by her own words as she was lost in thought.
“I apologize, Milady. It was a slip of the tongue.”
She stopped brushing my hair and politely bowed down. It looked like she wasn’t going to move until I told her to, so I spoke.
“What are you doing, Donna? Get up.”
Rather, it was me who got embarrassed, so I quickly pulled Donna up. She was acting as though she had uttered a taboo. Was it a terrible thing for Tess that the von Cador Madam was murdered? There was no such detail in the game…
After bowing, Donna still looked at me with remorse. I don’t think she’ll give me a straight answer even if I asked, so I’ll have to find out about this later. It might be a good opportunity to learn more about Tess.
The time had come for what I’d been dreading. I need to eat dinner with Dalton. It’s the second meal I was going to have with him. The first one was completely ruined, and it was only because of the red-haired John. That meal ended horribly.
Even if I saw a ghost, I should never let other people know. Dalton might send me to that quack again.
I hadn’t encountered a lot of ghosts yet, but I managed to figure out some of their characteristics after reading about them in Tess’ diary. At first glance, they looked exactly the same as people, but if you look at them closely, the differences would become obvious.
Their movements were too little, they repeated certain actions, and they did anything that was opposite to humans.
For example, there was one ghost that Tess wrote about in her diary. He was eating with a fork and knife, but he was holding them in the wrong hands, and he was pretending to eat while cutting something up on an empty plate.
There was also one time she saw a ghost that was supposedly dancing a spinning waltz, but all she could see of that ghost was his back.
She also saw this one ghost that was clapping with the back of his hands.
Perhaps it was hard to tell unless it was a very obvious, creepy difference.
According to the diary, a ghost could be seen in the mansion through an illusory day, but she’s never seen them at the Dark Castle except when the Crimson Moon rose. Perhaps this was the effect of the technique?
I could see now why Tess was obsessed with this Dark Castle.
“How was Marvin?”
Dalton suddenly initiated a conversation, as if rebuking me for not paying attention to the meal. Marvin was the dresser who came to the mansion and saw Leon. Did he hear something from? I had no idea if this was about Leon…
“Yes. Did Brother leave Marvin in charge of the clothes for the charity party?”
“No, I haven’t seen her for a long time because I’ve been busy.”
Well, finally, some good news. That meant Marvin hadn’t told him any unnecessary things.
“But I heard that you don’t like the dress that you’ll be wearing.”
“Oh, that’s…”
Because it was a bubbly outfit that didn’t match Tess’ image at all. I wondered if it was him who recommended this dress just to bother me, but it turned out that pastel-toned frilly dresses were actually the trend these days.
Before that, I thought about wearing another dress because I didn’t want to stand out, but if this was something I could use to gain Redcliffe’s favor, then by all means, let me wear that dress,
“Father won’t be upset if you wear something you like instead. I sent you the dressmaker so that you can pick what you like in the first place.”
I was almost fooled by that friendly way of speaking again despite his cold demeanor. Sending a dressmaker to make me feel better was proof enough that he didn’t know Tess’ tastes at all.
It would be better to just send a huge block of salt to make Tess feel better. It could either be used for cooking, but it could also be used to chase away ghosts.
“No, I didn’t like it at first, but after looking at it more, I realized that it’s pretty. I’m going to wear that dress.”
“Alright…”
After we ate dinner without any incidents, it was decided that we’d ride the same carriage tomorrow. I’m already tired just thinking of sitting in the same enclosed space as him.
I looked up at the dark sky. There, the light red moon was hanging.
“There’s a red moon, Milady. It’s already been this long.”
Somehow, it felt strange when Donna mentioned it because she didn’t mean it to be related to me or the passage of time I’d come here. For me, the night the Crimson Moon rose was the same night I’d have to risk my life.
Once the moon was full, I would have to proceed with the ceremony. But before that, I had to meet Redcliffe as soon as possible.
The next day, I called for the maids and commanded them with determination. It was like a commander making a resolution before her soldiers before invading the enemy bases.
“Today, I have to stand out more than any other young lady. Use all the abilities you have at your disposal.”
My tone that carried the grave spirit of life and death stirred the maids. I bet Tess never made any such request before. While it’s true that I used this method as something like shock therapy to them, it seemed to have a greater effect than I expected.
Their eyes shone like the sharpened blades of a knight’s exam taker who was sharpening the blades after it had rusted over a long period of time. Ah, I think I overcompensated with the shock therapy.
“Milady, I’ve been waiting for this day ever since I stepped into this castle to serve the Young Lady of von Cador. When I was active, my nickname was ‘Debutant Killer.’ No one will have more beautiful hair than Milady. Please leave it to me.”
While on active duty… did she mean when Tess wasn’t a recluse?
Her ostentatious handiwork smoothed out my hair so expertly, so she might not have exaggerated. My hair, which hadn’t been taken care of for so long, became silky in an instant. And unlike the usual hairstyle, she put my hair i
nto curlers, like the ones I’ve seen pictures of from ancient times, but somehow I got a bit scared.
“My makeup skills used to go beyond the realm of makeup artistry to the point of perfect disguise. Some people clamored for my techniques for a lot of money, but after I was scouted at the Dark Castle, I gave up my greed and cared for only you, Milady. I’m confident.”
You’re saying you even got scouted? If we were in the world I lived in before, she would have made a lot of money, so somehow I felt like it was a waste.
I thought she would put on heavy makeup on me since she mentioned ‘disguise’, but she was putting on a natural look instead. The maid, who was being so careful to apply each product to come up with a seemingly bare-faced look, generously showed me the secret to her techniques.
“Milady, I struck a deal with the butler.”
As expected of Donna. With a determined face, she brought out a small box.
“This… This is…!”
Our Debutant Killer maid recognized the small box and gasped. There was a small glass bottle inside the small box, but it seemed pretty simple.
“It’s probably not being sold anymore, but…”
“A lot of money was paid for this.”
“I can’t believe you won against that cheapskate butler!”
It didn’t look like an expensive perfume, so I was confused why the maids were buzzing around in delight. How much was it? And I never heard about the butler being stingy with money…
“Did you have to go through a lot to get it?”
The innocent-looking maid asked secretly. What… it’s not like they’re dealing with an illegal substance, right?
“It’s a perfume called Potion of Love, right? Does it really work?”
“I know of it by another name! It’s called Pheromone Essence.”
“I heard it’s absolutely perfect. Especially to women who are expecting proposals.”
Now the maids were more excited about the perfume instead of me. Of course, I wasn’t even interested in it, anything would work fine. It’s not too important.
But a few hours later… I regret not taking it seriously. It wasn’t me who had done all the work, it was the servants, but I still felt so drained. They do look a lot more tired than me, but they still had that sparkle of determination in them. And so, I stumbled out of the room smelling of that perfume.
I walked slowly thanks to the shoes I was wearing, so as I went down the stairs, I had to be supported by my maids on both sides. I was so distracted that I didn’t notice it, but as I descended the steps, Dalton was staring at me.