The Story Is Not Over Yet Chapter 49

Chapter 49

“…Ma, Madam.”

A voice calling her from somewhere could be heard in her ears.

Azela, who frowned her brow, tossed and turned her body, and a smile crept across her lips. It can't be. After Irene disappeared, the employees became afraid of Sylvia and did not enter her bedroom until she called. Because of that, only after she had woken up from sleep and rang the bell did they find her.

So, there would be no one to wake her up from her morning sleep.

'Am I starting to hear hallucinations now…?'

As she began to fall into a deep sleep again, thinking like that, a strong sunlight fell on her face, accompanied by the sound of the curtains being pulled. Startled by the sound and the senses, Azela opened her eyes and lifted her upper body up.

Did Zagnac come this morning…? She thought it was.

“Oh, you're awake!”

However, it wasn't Zagnac that was smiling in front of her, it was the handmaid, 'Lina,' whom she had asked Daniel for last night.

Lina, who was tying the curtains with her tiny hands, smiled brightly at Azela who got up.

“…Lina.”

Azela frowned and glanced at the handmaid standing in front of her. Daniel seemed to have kept his promise.

As she tried to get out of bed, Lina quickly supported her and put her slippers on.

“Did I wake you up too early? They said that Madam previously woke up early in the morning…”

Asking that, she looked up at her with worried eyes. Yes, she used to wake up early… while Irene was here.

Azela, unfamiliar because it had been a long time since someone woke her up, stared at the rolled-up curtain instead of answering Lina. It had been a long time since the morning sun had dazzled her eyes.

“…You don't have to come to wake me up in the morning.”

“Yes?”

Azela nervously lifted her body up and tugged at the rope hanging by the bedside.

As soon as the bells rang in the bedroom, the handmaids who were preparing came rushing in. They wiped Azela's hands and feet with the warm wet towels they had prepared in advance and massaged her by pressing on her temples.

In the meantime, Lina was just standing in the corner.

“The reason I asked you was to take responsibility for what I did yesterday. It was because of the fact that I started it, so I have to take care of it in the end.”

“I don't expect anything from you, so just show up when I need you like these people now. If not, you can clean somewhere in the mansion without having to be seen.”

Saying in a cold voice, she took off her slip and plunged herself into the wooden bathtub carried by the maids. Meanwhile, Lina blushed and said nothing until the maids washed Azela's hair and body before drying it all.

Azela, who glanced at Lina through the mirror, exhaled heavily.

She had no intention of bringing that girl and staying with her in the first place. She just didn't want to see a girl who looked just like Irene swung around by Sylvia's hands.

She didn't want to have anything precious in this mansion anymore… No, she vowed not to make any more precious things in this mansion and in her future life because she knew the pain of losing it was so hard that it was difficult to stand up again.

If she didn't want to feel that way, she didn't have to start it in the first place — that was Azela's conclusion.

…If she felt the pain again… This time, she might really choose death.

However, the next day, the next morning, and after several days had passed, Lina still went to her bedroom to wake up Azela in the morning.

“I clearly told you not to.”

Again today, Azela quietly lowered her gaze as she looked at Lina as she entered the dark bedroom with a candle. The girl, startled by the sudden voice as she was unaware that Azela would be up, opened her eyes wide and stopped.

The room with curtains closed was as dark as midnight. Azela, who sat on the edge of the bed, crossed her arms and legs and stared fiercely at her.

“That, that…”

“Are my, your master's words, just a passing wind?”

“It is not!”

“Then, maybe it's hard for you to understand what I said?”

“N, no.”

“Then, you are looking down on me.”

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With Azela's growling voice, she hurriedly shook her head. Lina moved the candle she was holding, and carefully set it down on the table before walking in front of Azela.

“…Whatever the reason was, Madam saved me.”

“Yes. If you want to repay the kindness that saved you, you must listen to your master.”

“I-I heard that Madam has not had a dedicated handmaid since the last one. So…”

A dedicated handmaid…

With it meaning Irene, Azela furrowed her eyebrows. She lifted her index finger and pressed it against her temple. Talking with Lina like this made her feel uncomfortable and hurt her head.

A dubious smile was drawn on Azela's lips.

“Therefore… Did you think you could fill that position? You are dreaming big.”

“I-I never thought she could fill that position! I just wanted to be helpful to the master…”

“You didn't listen to me even when I said back and forth that it was helpful to me for you to be invisible in front of me.”

Her face turned red at Azela's sneering voice though the little girl never backed down. Tears welled up in her eyes at the humiliating words, but she didn't stand back.

“If you're doing this out of fear that I'm going to send you back to Sylvia, I can tell you it won't happen, so don't worry.”

“It's, it's not because of that!”

“I don't need a dedicated handmaid in this mansion. You can just do what you're doing, and you don't have to worry about me anymore. Are you thinking of me as a 'lost cause'?”

“I-I have never, never thought of the master that way.”

“No, you think of me that way because I'm a lost cause. There's nothing I can give you. No matter how good you show me, I won't write you a letter of recommendation. It would be better to wash your hands early and find a way forward.”

At that, she got up from bed and walked directly to the window and rolled the curtains. Bright sunlight shone through the dark room. Azela, who looked out of the window, did not turn her body.

What she had said so far, Lina would have understood enough no matter how childish she was.

As she glanced at the girl that was reflected in the window, the handmaid bowed her head down, trembling with pity on her slender shoulders. Perhaps, she would soon turn her body and leave this bedroom, and she would never set foot in this bedroom again.

Azela clenched the curtains, which were rolled into her hands.

“I-I…”

However, Lina did not turn her body. The little girl clutched her own skirt tightly and lifted her head. The stout girl's eyes met her through her window.

Lina's orange hair was shining in the bright sunlight.

“I-I looked at the Madam's portrait hanging in the hallway and cleaned it every day.”

“…The Madam in the portrait, she was smiling brighter than anyone else and she was more beautiful than anyone else.”

Azela traced her memory listening to Lina's words.

As she climbed the stairs to the first floor, she remembered a portrait of herself sitting with Daniel and smiling. It was meant to be shown to the guests.

Irene also cleaned the portrait every day. She carefully wiped it every day to leave no dust on it. Though after she disappeared, the portrait began to get dirty. It was simple, neither Daniel nor Sylvia cared about the portrait and didn't want it cleaned up.

Then, one day she thought that it had become clean.

Nevertheless, Azela thought that she had mistaken it because, in this mansion, nobody cared about her.

“I-I… I want to see my current Madam smile so brightly.”

Lina blushed her cheeks and whispered softly.

The moment Azela listened to the girl, she couldn't do anything as if she had been slapped in the back of the head.

“Madam… I want to see you smile.”

Because the words Lina spit out were the last words Irene said. Because it was Irene's last wish…

…Because it was the wish of a child that was just like her family that she couldn't make it come true.

Azela raised her trembling hand, covered her own mouth, and turned her back. Her trembling blue eyes turned to Lina. Tears that she didn't know were running down Azela's face, which had turned white.

“Ma, Madam! Are you okay?”

Lina, startled by the sight of Azela sitting down, covering her mouth with a trembling hand, hurried to her side. She was surprised to see her crying and was at a loss, confused as to whether she should stay beside her or bring a handkerchief.

Chapter end