Truly, life was unpredictable; Shada thought that described her current situation perfectly. Unpredictable. Unexpected. Nerve-racking.
Her hands and feet twisted in anxiety as she stood in a new maid uniform.
Heavy silence weighed down on her shoulders.
The man crossed his long legs and watched the distressed maid right in front of him.
His expensive pants, one aristocrats could only afford, was well-tailored and drew a slender line leading up to smooth leather shoes.
He spoke to her with his fingers crossed in front of him. It was a soldier-like voice with a sweet yet monotonous accent.
“Name?”
Little shoulders jumped. Shada politely bowed her head, trying to conceal the pounding of her beating heart and her trembling fingers as much as possible.
“It is Shada.”
“Shada.”
Count Kirchner rolled her name again with that elegant tongue. Although he was a famous knight, at a glance, he looked like the type that had nothing to do with bloody or brutal battles.
In the eyes of Shada, all she could see were occupational hazards in the Count’s cold, hard eyes, and unknown facial expressions. Alarms went off, sensing danger in every corner.
The worst thing for a maid was an unreadable master.
He didn’t even don his usual mask with a languid smile since he took Shada to his mansion.
She recalled a nasty sight that terrified her in her childhood, a cold snake slowly dislocating its jaw to accommodate the whining mouse it was crushing.
“Do you know why I brought you?”
“No?”
Was there any way to know?
Regardless, she was rescued by his hand and stood here, but Shada had no gage of the current situation. She tried to ignore the sweat on her nose and recollected the series of events that occurred before she came into the mansion.
***
“What was that… … ?”
The Count was calm in front of his fiancee, whose face hardened in an instant and cracked.
“My mansion has recently run out of maids. This is great.”
“… Ho ho ho. If that’s the case, a maid other than this defective would be better. I am a capable person.”
“No.”
The Count languidly cut off the Princess’s reply. The voice that followed was firm.
“I want her.”
Shada was stunned even amid her haze when she spotted the Count’s usually cold and refined visage suddenly sporting such a sweet smile that it elated the heart and melted reason.
Princess Julia, the direct target of his alluring smile, turned red.
Barely cognizant, she shouted angrily. “Why that girl?”
“It is a matter of course.”
The Count grinned.
“I think she will do well if she works.”
His remark left the crowd’s mouths open in surprise.
Meanwhile, the Count hugged Shady, lifting her up and raising her head.
“I thank you for your favor. Well, then.”
He left without an opening to stop him.
While being held by him, Shada stupidly gaped, not being able to grasp her situation.
‘I don’t know what the hell is going on… one thing is certain though, I’m alive right now.’
She gingerly lifted her head over the back of the Count, and when her gaze met the Princess’s distorted expression and murderous glare, she bowed her head in fright. Thanks to this, she had dug into the arms of the strange Count. She was preoccupied with soothing her palpitating heart vibrating in her ears.
If Shada had been sharper and registered her reflexes, she would have died a hundred times.
But she was dizzy with the extreme emotional turmoil that happened within the span of minutes.
Just a moment ago, she had crossed the pit of death, rebelling for the first time in her life, but now the frightening Princess’s fiancé saved her. And took a maid personally in his arms!
What was going on?!
“Miss maid.”
“Yes. Yes?!”
Shada asked back, trembling at his low call.
“How about stopping the shakes? I don’t think it’s very good.”
“Sorry!”
Shada replied a little too loudly.
Count Kirchner looked down at her frozen form, barely daring to breathe, and curled his lips.
“No, I don’t mind,” but it wouldn’t do you any good, was the inferred rest of the thought.
Shada couldn’t figure out what his unsettling words meant.
After putting her in the carriage, the Count’s face was expressionless, watching Shada.
He suddenly laughed.
With his rapturous smile reappearing again, Shada openly gawked.
“I’m glad we have a lot of time.”
The door closed with a finality.
Shada had no clue what his mysterious words meant.
***