Hakushaku to Yousei Vol 11 Chapter 4

“Lydia, you knew Earl Ashenbert right?”

“Eh… um, I guess…”

Mi--mistress….?  

“What a pity, was that why you were fired? How could he fool around with a maid? Although these things happen quite often, it’s why undisciplined maids aren’t welcome in any household wherever they go.” 

“No need to hide it, you know.  I won’t report this to my aunt. ” 

Since she specifically said that she wouldn’t tell anyone, this meant that Lucinda had a plan. She smiled as she drew closer to Lydia.   

“You see, my father doesn’t approve of my engagement with the Earl. That’s right, it seems that he won’t forgive the Earl as he wrote a letter to him, that I secretly received, saying that he proposed without his permission.”

“So that’s why my father doesn’t want to meet him. He didn’t even want to sit and have a meal on the same table with him. Besides, I can’t depend on my Aunt because she’s ill.”

“So in saying that, Lydia, can you please explain to my father how much the earl adores me?” 

“It’ll be good if you say something like that. If he listens to someone else, maybe his viewpoint will change. ” 

Lydia fell silent and this time, even she felt unconvinced.  

Was it because of her current identity as a maid?

But Madame Oughtred also wasn’t here.

Moreover, she wanted to save Virginia the gardener and was also concerned about Madame Oughtred whose whereabouts were unknown. At any rate, since fairies were related to that situation, she can’t simply leave. 

“He said that I’m the only one in his heart…” 

As Lydia is now, she could only rely on Edgar’s words. Regardless of whether she should believe it, as long as she held onto this, she will not allow Lucinda to do as she pleases. 

“You’re just a maid, remember that.” 

Then, Lucinda and the silent maid left.

“Are you alright, Miss Lydia?” 

“…. Raven, you’ve been watching?” 

Since he said that, it must be true. Besides, he must have seen her getting slapped.

“I will not return.”

“The dangerous person could perhaps still be inside the mansion. We don’t know if someone, who pretends that there is nothing against you, may unknowingly attack you. ” 

“Miss Lucinda also has black hair. ” 

Even though Lydia remembered her saying she wanted to borrow the Regard necklace or something, there is no reason for her to steal it.

“If that’s what makes him so afraid, it’s alright for both of you to return. ” 

Raven thought this sincerely.  Edgar… if he felt that way, then Lydia was very happy despite the stinging pain that lingered from Lucinda’s slap. 

Even if she wasn’t a maid, entering noble society will surely be difficult the way Lydia is now.

“Then, please at least quit your job as a maid and reveal yourself as Lord Edgar’s fiancée. ” 

Lydia believed that as long as she was silently diligent, despite how she was unfamiliar with the work of a maid, she would will be able to overcome obstacles once she entered the unfamiliar noble society.

“The Madame isn’t here. I can’t just quit my job as a maid.” 

Furious, Lydia stopped in her tracks.

“This is what Edgar wanted, as long as I accept Madame Oughtred’s education to behave as a lady, will he be satisfied? Now he wants me to stop this, what does even that mean!” 

“Let go of me. ” 

“I’m very busy.” 

The person who appeared from the courtyard was Billy. 

“Who are you? You’re not a servant here, are you?”

“So that’s how it is. The Earl who has a reputation for being a womanizer, even his servant is a playboy, unexpectedly pursuing the household’s maid.”

“Let’s go. ”

Billy casually seized Raven’s shoulder. 

“Raven, stop!”

But Billy lifted his knee to kick as a counterattack.

The tension between them was relieved at last since the housekeeper appeared. 

“Ah… I’m sorry, Mrs. Boyle. ”

“Please Raven, don’t report this matter to Edgar. ” Lydia whispered and quickly left with the housemaid, so Raven no longer pursued her again.   

“Remember that!” Lucinda had said that, not as a mere parting shot. 

It seems that the rumour was, “She was fired because she had licentious relationships with men.”   

“Since I have no authority to fire a maid, I’d have to keep you hired you until the Madame comes back. But I will not allow you to dishonour the dignity of this household.”

Lydia only nodded. 

It will eventually come to end if she ignored the rumours. 

However, that wasn’t always true since the rumours were being spoken behind her back. Several maids would gather together and as long as Lydia was nearby, they would openly gossip about it.

“Will she behave the same way here?”

“Is she seducing the Madame’s younger brother?”

Edgar, don’t you dare interfere!

“What! And yet, she’s seducing him. What is Miss Lucinda going to do?”

But the work actually involved serving Lucinda. Lydia’s mood turned melancholic again. 

It was because her work as a maid was too little, since the Madame was missing. 

Was it raining?

Immediately, Lydia smelt a pungent scent of perfume and frowned. Someone seemed to have sprinkled perfume down from the window. 

As soon as she walked into Lucinda’s room, Mrs. Boyle was there, glaring at her. 

“Yes. ” 

Mud was spread all over the sheets. 

“Other than you, no one else had entered this room. ” 

“Lydia, tell the truth!” 

This girl... 

Lydia had to endure even if she was being provoked by that girl because it would mean that she would be acting as Lucinda had wanted of her. However, Lucinda grinned as she drew closer to her. 

What?

“No, I did not.”

Don’t be ridiculous.

Shifting her line of sight, Lydia discovered mud remains in her nails. 

Realizing this, Lydia didn’t intend to refute. 

“Oh, forget it! Mrs. Boyle, get someone else fix up my bed.” 

With the housekeeper motioning to leave, Lydia silently left the room. 

She washed off the stifling perfume from her nose and using the running water, she washed the tips of her hair. 

Catching sight of fairies in the garden wasn’t rare. However, it wasn’t easy to find the Danish fairies.

Taking a break from work by strolling around the garden, even if she seemed to catch a glimpse of the Danish fairies,  they would immediately hide as they are wary of her. “Nevertheless, I’m hungry.”

Some bugs crawled into the oatmeal dish that day.  It must’ve been someone playing dirty tricks, however she failed to have the meal replaced. 

Instead, what happened to enter her vision was Nico walking towards her.  

Nico trudged towards Lydia with his two hind feet. 

Lydia was stalling for time through her bluff on the Danish fairies and within that period of time, Nico was also helping Lydia in prying on their secret but this seemed to be of no avail. 

Lydia was silent as she looked up at the sky. 

“ ...No. ” 

She laughed at Nico who didn’t understand the feelings of others. 

“What!” 

She stood up, flustered as Edgar’s face drew closer to her. Even if she wanted to step back, the fountain was behind her.

“Finally, we’re alone together.”

Nico rested his chin in his hands in disgust.

Edgar seemed irritated as he was deliberately getting rid of Nico.

Although Nico was cold, he left.

“Why are you avoiding me?” 

She was clearly avoiding him, but Lydia still said that.

It seemed that Raven didn’t report to him so Lydia felt relieved, even she can’t say anything. 

She had always been interacting with fairies, therefore she was bad at relationships with with humans. However, if she married Edgar, she has no choice but to be in contact with humans. She had to remain in noble society, therefore she doesn’t want others to think that she can’t interact with humans as they expected.  but she didn’t want to people to think she wasn’t able to get along with others. 

Lydia struggled and finally separated herself from Edgar. 

“If you won’t return no matter what, I intend to stay and protect you. But if you avoid me, I won’t be able to do anything.”

“That is a concern, but I’m more afraid you’ll do work that you’re not familiar with. If you ever feel distressed or anxious, or anything else, I want you to talk to me about it.”

“Lydia, I want you to come here, but I don’t want create a misunderstanding about us here.” 

Lydia hurried to maintain the distance with him, hearing footsteps coming from the other side of the shrubbery. That person turned out to be Billy. 

“Huh, we often see each other, don’t we?” 

“Hello. ” 

“The waiter seems to be idling about.”

Billy looked at Lydia and smiled, holding up a small paper package. 

“Oh, then can I have it?” 

However, as Billy approached to hand over the biscuits to her, Edgar stretched out his leg. 

Billy tripped over and fell into the shrubbery, along with the biscuits. The package opened up, and the contents scattered onto the ground.

“Oh my. I didn’t think you were careless.” 

Billy angrily retorted while brushing off the leaves on his coat.

“It’d be better to not have to invite those guests.” 

“I refuse. ” 

Unable to eat, her feeling of hunger suddenly grew. 

This was Edgar’s fault.

“That's enough, why couldn’t you let me have these! The biscuits are wasted! They were precious biscuits…. Ugh, you always have to be one-sided, you don’t understand my feelings at all! Moreover, you’re always initiating meaningless quarrels against other kind men! Please don’t do that again! You’re the worst!”

                                *

Later that night, the moonlight’s reflection was shining on the roof while Nico walked. From the edge of the building, he then slipped into the attic from the skylight. 

Lydia was curled up and sleeping on the bed.

When Lydia was a child, they used to sleep on the same bed. But because of Lydia’s terrible sleeping position, Nico was repeatedly kicked off the bed as she grew older. He intended to never sleep together with her again. 

Because whenever Lydia overworked herself, Nico was very anxious. 

Clearly she loved the Earl, but seems like she can't open her heart to him simply because they are engaged.

He initially thought she was asleep but noticed her shoulders were shivering, so Nico decided to ask. 

Did she really fall asleep? 

He picked up the red-brown hair scattered on the bed sheets. No matter how much he pulled, Lydia did not respond. 

She can’t have shoved her head into the water again.

Even if Nico comforted her, Lydia wouldn’t stop crying. 

In the future, only one person can lift the dark haze in Lydia's heart.

                                *

While Edgar was listening to Raven’s report, he had been constantly worrying over as to why Lydia was so angry yesterday, since this morning. 

“The three people with the exception of Billy are janitors, but the four of them seem to be acquaintanced from the beginning. They also knew that Madame Oughtred had disappeared since that evening, as they have been frequently contacting each other. ” 

“They wanted to inquire the maid who had worked for years, many questions regarding the Regard necklace. It is not clear whether they were simply acting as detectives as a pretension or not.” 

He really wanted to kill that man.

“What? Ah, the Madame’s Regard necklace is missing? I heard it’s a the key to unlock the her jewels.” 

“The possibility that Billy is part of the group of thieves, nor whether or not there is more than four in the group of thieves cannot be dismissed as there is no such evidence to demonstrate this.”

If this was the case, Lydia wandering around should’ve also had a purpose. 

“Raven, can you temporarily watch over Lydia and keep her from danger?” 

“Good, I’m counting on you. ” 

It seems that she did not want to be seen working as a maid. Moreover, after the matters with Lucinda were revealed, perhaps she suspected Edgar. 

She said that she believed in Edgar, but if her feelings had faded from that, then it was painful for Edgar to bear.

While Edgar was depressed, Nico had yelled out and ran here.

“Lydia was crying all night. Why is she being like this!” 

“She hasn’t been in a good mood since coming here, I think something must have happened. Even if her fairy doctor work was laborious, she never cried. She also urged me to look for clues regarding the Madame, to find out about her whereabouts. Hey Earl, have you done anything to cause her pain?”

“Then, go apologize. Hurry and apologize to Lydia, tell her that you will never be fickle again.” 

“Then, what else could have happened?”

Raven interrupted timidly, which was unexpected.

Raven revealed that Lucinda was jealous of Lydia, harassed her and had been subjected to the backstabbing gossip.

Startled, Edgar stood up.

“I happened to see only at breakfast time...” 

“...I am sorry. I did not know what to do. ” 

Until now, Raven had always simply obeyed Edgar’s commands, but now he also wanted to respect Lydia. 

“No, you are not the one to blame.” 

He was only worried of the danger that will fall upon Lydia. Now, however, rather than being harmed by jewel thieves, she was in a position to even be hurt from small, malicious harassments. 

Besides Edgar, no one else knew that Lydia had no reason to suffer such ill treatment. 

“What! Lydia must have wanted to eat them, then...” 

“Ah, what to do? Earl, resentment because of food is very terrifying! 

“Lydia is also like this!”  

“If it was me, I would never forget it.” 

However, now was not the time to be depressed. 

But unfortunately, just as Edgar was stepping out of the room, he saw the stature of a corpulent man coming from the other end of the corridor.  

It's already widely known across the nobility that Lucinda is the daughter of a governess. Nobles wouldn’t hesitate in proposing to her if they were to aiming promote their status.

This is why that, although he felt insulted by Edgar, he still thought that Edgar must take responsibility. 

“Earl Ashenbert, you and my elder sister’s maid seem to be acquainted.” 

“She really is a horrible woman. To steal Lucinda’s brooch is truly outrageous!” 

"She insisted that she doesn’t know, but since you know her, could you please tell her to return the brooch?" 

“An unjust accusation? The maid should know that Lucinda’s ivory jewelry box is under her bed. ” 

Edgar was stunned, as Lord Constable kept on angrily talking non-stop.  

Therefore, he came in order to call for Edgar in this matter. 

To even go as far to search her room without any evidence, they had to be joking. Had Madame Oughtred been present, she would’ve prevented this from happening as Lydia’s guardian. But as long as the Madame was absent, the housekeeper was in charge. 

Needless to say, Edgar intended to stop the search in her room. Due to the Madame’s absence, Lydia’s guardian would be himself. It was impossible to keep silent while his fiancee was being insulted. 

There was Lucinda and Lydia, the butler and the housekeeper. 

Lucinda wiped off tears in her eyes while clinging to her father. 

“Rest assured, it will be found immediately. ” 

However, she did not look in Edgar’s direction. He was expecting her to reveal an expression as a plea for help, however Edgar felt a sharp pain from her indifferent attitude. Such attitude to others made Edgar feel sad. 

Edgar was the one who called Lydia to the Oughtred residence. He thought it was his fault that he provoked Lucinda’s jealousy towards her. Perhaps there was still resentment due to the biscuits. 

“Please stop this at once. What evidence is there that induces the need to search her room? You should not do such thing to innocent people. ” 

“Lord Constable, you can say more, but I cannot allow it. She is...” 

Lydia’s sharp voice interrupted Edgar.

Neatly turning down Edgar, there was only silence. 

It filled his heart with feelings of despair and disappointment, but at the same time, Edgar tried to suppress the feeling of wanting to forcibly take Lydia away from that situation.

In the end, Lucinda’s brooch was not found. 

Lucinda said that it was impossible for it to not be found and blamed the butler and the housekeeper for their searching methods. Even though, Lord Constable was comforting Lucinda at the time, there was not even the slightest consideration to apologize to Lydia.  

As she was about to follow the housekeeper out of the room, Edgar immediately caught her arm. 

It was as if she considered Edgar as someone who wanted to expose her crimes to others therefore, Edgar felt impatient at the thought of that.

“Please talk to me.”

“...later.”

Knowing Edgar, Lydia probably thought that he was going to commit a crime. Lydia considered this and informed him of the time she finished work.  

After Edgar exited the room, Raven called out to him. 

There was a brick red cameo brooch on his palm. 

“Yes, I’m glad you found it on time. ” 

“As I expected.” 

After motioning to beckon, he was led by Raven to the end of the corridor. 

A voice was heard. 

“What is the meaning of this, Annie? Did you truly place the brooch in Lydia’s room?”  

“It wasn’t there. You’re hiding it. Hurry up and return it to me….or do you intend to say that you don’t care?”

Then, for a while, only Lucinda’s scolding of her maid was heard. However, a slap on the cheek noise resounded, and she left. 

Then, it looked like she was unable to endure as she opened her mouth. 

Supposedly a mute maid, those words were indeed muttered from her.

                                *

Right when Lydia was assigned a job, it was washing dishes from the back of the kitchen near the well.

“I’m sorry, but you must wait again. I have to finish washing all this.”

The kitchen lights were dim and the maids have returned to their rooms to rest. Lydia slightly pushed the side of the illuminating oil lamp away from her, as if to hide from Edgar and sat down.

Although he was right, this punishment was in result of the morning’s disturbance. Lydia wasn’t the person who stole the brooch, but it turned out like this because Lucinda expected Lydia to be punished. 

“Someone needs to do the work. ” 

Although Edgar intended to protect Lydia, she thought that she cannot attract attention and  involve Edgar in a situation where everyone suspected this wretched girl was his fiancee.

Even now, Lydia was suppressing these feelings from him as she was unable to look in Edgar’s direction.

Lydia staggered and was caught from behind. 

“Please, don’t force yourself. ”  

Edgar’s strength was different than usual as a hot kiss pressed against the nape of her neck. Lydia with her hoarse voice told him to stop, but he refused in a whisper.

Edgar relaxed his strength and sighed.

“My current identity is a maid here. ” 

After Edgar said that, this time with very gentlemanly movement, he helped Lydia sit on top of the barrel. 

It was exuding an aroma of butter cookies. 

“If you mean the matter with the biscuit yesterday.... I wasn’t myself.” 

Although Edgar squat down in front of Lydia, she was still looking slightly away from him. 

She was always feeling anxious about that.

No one would have doubted that she was a maid because Lydia was originally a commoner. Lucinda was falsely claiming to be Edgar’s fiancee and everyone believed it. However, if it was Lydia, no one would believe that she was his fiancee.  

“Even I am utterly lacking, apart from being your fiance. My name and my Earl title, are lies. However, I believe you are an irreplaceable person to me because only you wish to support me, who is utterly lacking.”

Perhaps it was because Lydia felt disappointed in herself more than anyone else.  She wanted to work hard, but she was only disappointing everyone as her efforts were fruitless.    

However, Edgar took off his coat and hung it on a nearby tree branch. He then started cleaning the barrel using the brush he took from Lydia. 

“Isn’t this great? You rest until I finish the work. ” 

“Perhaps, I’ll do it even better than you. ” 

He boldly poured water into the pot, paying no heed to his spotless shirt and polished shoes that got wet. 

Was he skillful in this because of his experiences of distress? 

In those days, his experiences were certainly far more difficult compared to the matters that Lydia was experiencing now.

Edgar’s tall and slender appearance always gave an aristocratic impression but besides that, he unexpectedly had a broad back, strong shoulders and supple muscles in his arm. This gave others a masculine feel to him as Lydia stared, captivated. 
If Edgar was not an aristocrat, perhaps she could’ve felt him more personally as her fiance.

However, in spite of what he was doing or whether he was working in silence, he made people think he was pondering other matters. But the matters he thought about were how to promote his own status, definitely wanting to make a huge profit. 

“Edgar, even if you plow the fields, you don’t even look like a farmer.”

“It’s like no one would even notice that I’m your fiance.”

“We’re going to get married. Regardless whether others believe it or not, is it not real to us?” 

Lydia was only here because Edgar wanted her to stay by his side. Therefore, she wanted to respond to it with the attitude of accepting his marriage proposal, but her awareness and feelings in becoming a countess were too weak.

She thought about how she couldn’t just let Edgar do all the washing and wanted to at least lend a hand. Therefore, Lydia dragged away the cauldron that he was washing. 

“I’ve had enough rest.”

“Ah!” 

Ah, what are you doing! You can’t even do the assigned work. 

“Is it a sprained ankle?”

“It’s a little grazed isn’t it?” 

But compared to that, Lydia was suddenly frightened when he looked up and caught her eyes which expressed a hint of resentment.

“I’m sorry....”

“It’s impossible for me to enter the nobility.  Therefore... there is still some time to annul the engagement...” 

She was afraid of reactions such as disappointing him, disgusting him, truly cancelling the engagement and after feeling regret from speaking of it, her body became tense.

Suddenly, the hand touching her ankle slid upward.

Edgar’s warm hand wrapped around her knee and stopped. 

He stared at Lydia. 

Edgar lowered his head, laying a kiss on Lydia’s knee across the fabric. Then, he painfully whispered, “Do these hands only bring you unhappiness? No matter how many times we’ve kissed and touched, I don’t understand how you feel. Although I hope to have more of you, you would not think so, right?” 

Lydia was still unable to withstand the same passion that burned inside her, even if she breathed with all her strength. 

He gently withdrew his hands.

Chapter end