# 123
123. The Maid Stands Before the Secret (2)
What kind of nonsense is this now?
"It's just a rumor."
When I cut him off coldly, Johnny protested, insisting it wasn't.
"Hey, listen. It's quite credible. Everyone who was offered a job at this mansion was exceptionally beautiful. And that was all to find that woman."
"What does that have to do with the rumor?"
"The woman he's looking for is such an incredible beauty, one who could bewitch a man into selling his entire kingdom, and she's nowhere to be found in this world."
"What? Hahaha!"
I threw my head back and burst into laughter. Half of it was a dry laugh. I've heard all sorts of strange things in my life.
Johnny patted my heaving shoulders.
"Hey, hey, it's true."
"Yeah, right. It's just a rumor anyway. It gets exaggerated as it passes from mouth to mouth, and lies get mixed in. If he killed people, why is there not a single witness? If rumors are circulating to this extent, an investigation would have started already. He'd be behind bars by now."
"Still, the second rumor sounds pretty plausible, doesn't it?"
"No, not at all."
"Then why does he hire people based on their looks? A Count who owns such a huge estate, no less."
Johnny pointed the end of his hammer toward the forest. I stopped laughing and looked around the forest. Only after taking in the endless landscape did I look back at Johnny.
To be honest, I also thought the hiring criteria were strange before coming here. But still, a rumor about him being obsessed with women is a bit... Even rolling it over in my mind only brought out a scoff.
"It's just a baseless rumor."
"Even so. Listen, there's more to the story."
"Hey, that's enough. Just hammer quickly. The sun's going to set at this rate."
"Ah, alright!"
When I urged him to hurry, Johnny hastily drove the rest of the nail in. It was a spot where he had to bend all the way down, so he struggled. I chuckled as I watched him.
Just then, a rustling sound was heard, and someone popped out from around the corner. It was Lennika, a round-bellied woman holding a bouquet of white flowers.
"Oh my! Here you are."
Lennika approached, looking delighted. I straightened up, feeling puzzled.
"What brings you here again?"
"They said another flower order came in. I'm killing two birds with one stone this time too. The flowers will arrive a little later, and I came first."
Lennika said with a cheerful laugh. It seemed the flowers that filled the dining room last time had pleased Joelly.
Just then, Johnny shouted for me to hold the board. I bent my back again and held the board that kept tilting slightly with every hammer strike.
Lennika, who stopped behind Johnny and me, watched us work and asked curiously.
"What are you doing?"
"The wall has a hole, so we're temporarily blocking it."
"Ah, that's tough."
Saying so, she tilted her head and stared intently at the mansion.
"Come to think of it, living here must mean this sort of thing happens often. It must be quite run-down here and there."
When I looked at Lennika, who seemed to know something, she lowered her head, noticed my questioning look, and opened her mouth.
"This mansion in the forest, when the Master was young, it was a place the previous Count and his wife occasionally used for vacationing. Then, when the Count and the Madam suddenly passed away, it was left abandoned for quite a long time. When I worked here, I was curious as to why there was a lone mansion sitting in the middle of the forest, so I asked someone who had worked here for a long time. Back then, they jokingly said that if you come at midnight, ghosts appear."
She looked around the mansion again as if it was fascinating.
"I thought it was amazing that they were using it, but I guess it really is quite old."
Listening to her, I finally understood. I thought it was falling apart in a lot of places, and it really was an old mansion. While I was surprised by the suddenly revealed fact and feeling disgruntled about why they used such a dilapidated mansion to make things harder for the servants, Johnny, who had been listening, chimed in with sparkling eyes.
"Wow, then you worked here?"
Lennika gave a short laugh and nodded.
"Yes, in the past."
"Do you happen to know the rumors here?"
Rumors again? I flicked his arm to stop him from saying useless things, but Johnny just swatted my hand away. He doesn't seem entirely clueless, but I guess satisfying his curiosity comes first.
"Rumors? What rumors?"
"The rumor that the Master here once went crazy. They say he killed people and buried them in the forest."
"That's a false rumor."
Lennika dismissed it immediately. Even after that, Johnny told her all the various rumors he had heard—he must have heard so many—but Lennika continuously laughed and firmly declared them to be false rumors. Thus, all the rumors Johnny knew turned out to be baseless stories.
When I gave him a look saying 'I told you so,' Johnny smacked his lips in disappointment.
"Then the rumor about him going crazy over a pretty woman is also fake, I guess."
"Ah, that one..."
As if she knew something, Lennika started to speak, then suddenly clamped her mouth shut. Johnny's eyes sparkled again as if asking her to tell him, but she just glanced at him once and laughed it off.
"That's also a false rumor. Our Master has outstanding looks, doesn't he? People like that are sometimes enveloped in strange rumors. More importantly, shouldn't you hurry up and finish this?"
When Lennika pointed out that he had stopped hammering, Johnny resumed nailing with a gloomy face. Then, Lennika offered some lukewarm comfort, telling him to hang in there a little longer, and patted his shoulder.
After driving in the last board, Johnny wiped his sweat with a dazed face, finally seeming to feel the strain. But before he could even feel the relief of finishing the job, Lennika poured cold water on it.
"There's a hole here too."
Looking in the direction Lennika pointed, there was a round hole just the right size for a mouse to go in and out. Johnny caught his breath, brought a small board, and blocked the hole. Then, Lennika pointed in another direction and told him there was another hole.
Perhaps because of her experience working in the mansion, Lennika's field of vision was quite broad and sharp. She pointed out every spot that was broken or looked like it was about to break, and each time, Johnny made a strange "Ugh" sound and frantically hammered nails. After filling in the visible holes to some extent, Johnny's face was drenched in sweat.
"Good work."
"Uh, yeah."
When I patted his back, Johnny, who had slumped on the floor, nodded with difficulty.
"Oh right, I came to give you this, but I forgot."
Lennika, who had been meticulously inspecting the wall plastered with boards, approached me and held out the bouquet in her arms. It was a lush bouquet of bundled white flowers. When I looked at her with a face asking 'Why me?', Lennika smiled broadly.
"Since I was coming anyway, I wanted to make one for you. It's a gift."
"Ah, thank you."
As I took the bouquet, the flower blooms tickled my chin. My whole body was covered in sweat and dust, but the scent of grass tickling my nose was fragrant.
"I'm quite good at making flower arrangements. Aren't they pretty?"
"Yes, they're pretty."
"Do you like flowers?"
"I do."
I wouldn't pay for a bouquet, but I liked looking at them. Seeing the fresh flower blooms swaying in the wind made my exhausted heart soften.
"It's about time for the flowers to arrive. Want to go together since you're done?"
"Ah, I'll tidy up here and then go."
"Alright, then."
Lennika left first, and I approached Johnny. He was still slumped over with his face buried down.
"Hey, get up. Hurry up and clean up so you can go rest."
"Uh, I should."
Johnny caught his breath for a moment before getting up. He gathered the scattered tools and put them in the box. I also helped him by collecting the wood chips that had fallen from the boards and placing them to one side.
After roughly finishing the cleanup, I looked around the floor for a final check, took off my gloves, and handed them to Johnny. Looking up at the sky, the sun was slowly setting. I thought it was a simple task, but once I started, quite some time had passed.
As I was lightly stretching my stiff body, Johnny, who was carrying the box, suddenly looked back and said with an exhausted face.
"Hey. But about Alicia."
I wondered why you hadn't brought up Alicia all this time. I looked at Johnny listlessly. I felt like I was about to hear another useless story about Alicia, so I considered just walking away.
"Has she ever worked here by any chance?"
An unexpected question came out.
"Why do you ask that?"
"Just. I'm curious."
I pondered for a moment before answering.
"Does she look like she's ever done this kind of work?"
"No."
"Then that's all you need to know."
He asks the strangest things. At my answer, Johnny frowned, thought hard, and asked again.
"She's really never done it?"
"As far as I know? Even if she worked somewhere else, she wouldn't have lasted long."
Because she's really terrible at pleasing others. She might have tried this kind of work after her father died, but she wouldn't have lasted long. Thinking about Alicia's condition when we met again, that possibility was high. So her quietly serving Joelly right now is truly unbelievable.
"I see."
Johnny nodded, then waved his hands saying he should go wash up now. I stared blankly at Johnny walking in the opposite direction when a thought suddenly crossed my mind. For some reason, Johnny didn't ramble on about Alicia today. Had he finally given up? I watched his retreating back, shrugged my shoulders, and turned around.
Turning the corner and heading towards the back door, Vincent was walking towards me from the opposite direction. I'm meeting a lot of people today for some reason.
"What's with your appearance?"
He frowned as soon as he saw me and scanned me up and down. Only then did I look at myself. Contrary to the bouquet I was holding in my arms, my clothes were covered in dirt and dust, and one side of my skirt was rolled up. I smiled awkwardly, fixed my skirt, and patted the dust off my clothes.
Vincent looked at me with a displeased face, then took a handkerchief out of his pants pocket, held it out, and approached. I backed away and waved my hands.
"I'm fine. Don't come close, the dust will fly up."
Vincent then stopped. I glanced at him, tucked the bouquet under my arm, and patted my hair and clothes once more. Perhaps the dust and wood powder from the boards had transferred over, but no matter how much I patted, the dust kept coming out.
Fearing that dust might settle on the white flower blooms, I set the bouquet down on the ground. Then, I put more distance between myself and Vincent before dusting off my entire body again.
The dirt and dust on my clothes were also a problem. Looking at my apron, stained black, I thought I needed to wash it quickly when a smooth sensation touched my cheek. Before I knew it, Vincent had approached and was rubbing my cheek with his handkerchief.
The white handkerchief was getting dirty with the dust on my cheek. It looked like a handkerchief made of fine material, so it was a waste. I took another step back.
"Don't. Your handkerchief will get dirty."
"I'm fine with it."
Taking a step closer, he insisted on wiping my cheek with the handkerchief. I vehemently declined, saying I was fine, but he kept trying to wipe it for me, so I quickly took off my apron and aggressively rubbed my face with it. My hair got tangled everywhere, and I ended up rubbing dirt and dust into my face, but I didn't care.
"What are you doing?"
"I can wipe it with this."
A large hand grabbed mine as I said that and rubbed it wildly. Gently holding my hand and pulling it down to remove the apron from my face, a very displeased face came into view. He scanned my face once, then rubbed the tip of my nose with the handkerchief.
"You didn't wipe it off at all."
He even cupped one cheek with his hand and rubbed it with the handkerchief. Not only was his face filling my vision, but the sensation of the handkerchief gently rubbing my nose was also incredibly ticklish.
"I, I'll do it myself."
I hastily snatched the handkerchief from his hand. I hurriedly backed away, covering my face as if wiping my nose with the handkerchief. For some reason, I felt so embarrassed I could go crazy.