133. Meeting the Count Again (2)
I grumbled softly.
"I might quit if I keep working here."
"No."
"Why? Afraid I'll go around telling people what I experienced here? I'll keep my mouth shut and live quietly."
"That's a given."
"……."
"Still no. I won't allow it, so don't even dream about it."
"Isn't that too selfish of you?"
Even without some grand reason, couldn't one quit simply if the job didn't suit them? I tried to rebel in my own way, but Vincent was firm.
"Among the things here, there is nothing I cannot have my way with."
"……."
I lost my words at his confident tone, which felt like something I had heard before. Judging from past experiences, arguing further would only hurt my mouth. I quietly led the way down to the dining hall.
Only the sound of a broom sweeping the floor echoed in the room. I gripped the broom as tightly as I could and focused on cleaning. The gaze sticking to my back was stinging, but I tried my best to ignore it.
Because Robert kept nodding off even during breakfast, the nanny and Robert went outside for a short walk to wake him up. Even while drowsy, it seemed he still wanted to go for a walk, as Robert rubbed his eyes and quietly followed along, holding the nanny's hand.
In the meantime, I returned to Robert's room with cleaning tools, intending to do at least some light cleaning. I scanned the room and put the items the nanny had roughly organized to one side back in their proper places.
Then, after throwing all the windows wide open, I changed the bedspread, pillowcases, and sheets to new ones, and began sweeping the floor.
In the meantime, a persistent gaze stuck to me. I tried to ignore it, but my patience hit rock bottom first. Eventually, unable to bear the pressure, I spat out a word.
"Stop looking."
I asked as nonchalantly as possible. But there was no reply. I glanced back.
Vincent was sitting squarely on the sofa, watching me. When I declined his offer to go for a walk after eating together, he had insisted on following me and was doing just that. Seeing him relaxed in a way unlike his usual self, it didn't seem like he would leave his seat easily.
"I'm not going anywhere. You must be busy, so go do your work."
"I don't have any."
A lie. I heard from Ethan before that he was a very busy person. That's probably why he couldn't come to see Robert often.
I slammed the broom against the floor and narrowed my eyes. As our gazes met, Vincent smiled slightly, as if he had read my mind.
"I'm very free. So play with me."
His playful attitude made me feel uncomfortable. I just scratched my innocent neck awkwardly.
"How should I play with you?"
"What have you been doing all this time?"
Was this a suggestion to have a conversation? I let out a sigh and swept the floor again with a swish.
"I just got by."
"You weren't in Filton. Where did you stay?"
Did he even look in Filton? If he was trying to find me, he might have gone there first.
"I stayed in a small village next to Nobelle."
"Ah, that village. That's why you weren't there when I searched Nobelle."
"Why did you look for me in Nobelle?"
That was a bit unexpected. When I asked in surprise, Vincent motioned with his eyes toward my head.
"I found that hair tie there. To be exact, Violet sent it to me, saying she found something amusing."
"Lady Violet?"
"Yes. I wondered why she sent a letter after such a long time, and she had enclosed it."
I had wondered how he possessed a hair tie he had never actually seen, but it turned out Violet had found it for him. I thought that if Violet had been in Nobelle, we might have bumped into each other on the street at least once.
"A street bread vendor had it. I thought you would have cherished it, so it was unexpected."
He was talking about exchanging the hair tie for bread. I meaninglessly swept the floor with a gloomy face. For a moment, I felt so sorry toward Violet.
"Why did you sell it?"
"I didn't sell it... I traded it. Because they gave me bread..."
I muttered softly and pretended to focus on sweeping. At the time, I never imagined I would come back like this. It was a precious item, but hunger came first, so I traded it for bread, and thanks to that, I was able to survive for a few days. The bread I ate that day was so soft that it melted as soon as I put it in my mouth, and it tasted just as bitter.
I thought he would ask why I gave up the hair tie for bread, but surprisingly, Vincent didn't ask any further.
"After hearing the story from Violet, I thought you might be in Nobelle, so I immediately dispatched my men."
That topic was a bit intriguing. Dispatching men probably meant those strange men. Only then did I voice the curiosity I had been holding in all this time.
"Why did you look for me in that way? The hiring method, and the employment criteria were a bit strange, you see."
"Because finding you wasn't as easy as I thought."
Vincent cast his eyes down and tapped the back of the sofa with one hand. He pondered deeply as if immersed in memories for a moment, then continued speaking.
"I thought it would be enough to just look based on what I had heard, but that wasn't the case. Instead, strange rumors circulated, and women impersonating you came forward. I even met a few people whose voices were more plausible than yours. Of course, none of them were you, and they only needlessly inflated the rumors. That's why I couldn't have immediate certainty about you. I was burned a few times after believing them."
"……."
"Looking back now, looking for you based on what you told me was wrong in the first place."
The tapping sound pricked my conscience sharply like a needle. I secretly rubbed my chest.
"Actually, there were times I thought about giving up looking for you. That was when I met Joelly."
"……."
"Coincidentally, she had no intention of marrying at all, but the people around her kept pressuring her to get married, so she was in a difficult spot. I asked her to announce our engagement to quell people's interest, and in return, to help me out. She and I wanted the same conditions. So she gladly accepted the offer."
"What were the conditions?"
"You must have served her for a short while, so you know well about her lifestyle, right?"
Ah. I realized what he meant. I nodded slowly. My first meeting with Joelly was such a huge shock that I still remembered it vividly.
"She needed a place to catch her breath for a while, and I needed a suitable place to look for you."
"So that's why you used this old mansion."
"That's right."
So that was the reason he announced the engagement. Hiring both men and women without gender discrimination was because of Joelly. Choosing a mansion in the sparsely populated forest was probably because it was appropriate to hide a secret lifestyle.
The carriages that brought the servants here had no windows, so I didn't know the exact route. Moreover, we had to live in a restricted space, and going outside wasn't easy.
Many people came and went from this place, but few stayed. Occasionally, some might have come after hearing the rumors, but since almost all of them left, it wasn't easy for new people to know the circumstances of this place.
The men who enjoyed nights with Joelly must have simply thought it was a one-night stand with a noble lady. Who would have thought that a princess was enjoying a secret life in a place like this? Ethan's words about staying here 'for her true life' must have meant this. I realized that Ethan had unknowingly told me a lot.
"Externally, we used the pretext of hiring servants for a noble household, and we searched for people who fit the conditions she and I had set. And when we brought someone in, Audrey checked them and assigned the ones who met the conditions to Joelly. Then Joelly observed them for a while and let me know whether it was you or not. For reference, Audrey is Joelly's personal lady-in-waiting whom she brought with her."
O-Oh, I see. The questions I had so far swirled in my mind all at once. I recalled the things I experienced since coming here. Since I had described Alicia's face as if it were my own, she must have been the most fitting match. I thought anew that it was a wonder I met Vincent. If Alicia hadn't been tempted by the offer to work here, or if I hadn't followed Alicia, we might never have met again.
But why did I catch Joelly's eye too?
"Still, was it necessary to recruit so haphazardly? No matter how much you tried to hide it, someone among the people who worked here and left could have spread strange rumors, and a dangerous person could have come in. It was too reckless."
"I couldn't help it. I wanted to find you so badly."
At those words, my jumbled thoughts came to a halt. I stared at him blankly. Vincent, blinking his unfocused, dazed eyes for a moment, slowly met my gaze.
"Why are you looking at me like that."
"Why?"
Why did he want to find me so much that he would take such risks? Last night, I was so surprised by the reunion with him that I didn't have the leisure to think that far.
But listening to him now, the process was by no means an easy feat. I just spewed a single lie, but I knew full well he had gone through all the real hardship. So I was even more curious.
"I told you, I tried to keep the promise I made with you."
"Is that really the reason?"
"Can it not be?"
Rather, he asked back. It wasn't that it couldn't be, but I still couldn't understand. Back then, I had jokingly said that he shouldn't throw me away, and that if he forgot me, I would follow him around as a ghost for the rest of his life, but it wasn't entirely serious. I could have been regretful, but even if he broke or forgot his promise with me, I had no right to say anything.
I had expectations, yet on the other hand, I didn't. The reason I had these conflicting feelings was because of my position, and because our relationship was at that level.
However, Vincent, sinking deep into the sofa, said casually.
"I looked for you because I wanted to. Don't overthink it."
"I didn't."
I swept the floor and fell into thought. My curiosity was resolved to some extent, but a lingering discomfort remained. I frowned, feeling inexplicably displeased, and I felt that stinging gaze again. When I raised my head, Vincent, with his arm resting on the back of the sofa, was looking at me with his temple propped against the back of his hand.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because it's amusing."
I opened my eyes wide.
"I feel like I know you a little now. Even when you don't understand what's going on, the moment you feel wary, you argue back first. And then you churn all sorts of thoughts around in your head. It's amusing to just watch you."
"……."
Is that a compliment or an insult? Seeing that it didn't sit well with me, it was definitely an insult. Afraid that if I said another word, I'd end up fulfilling his amusement, I chose silence and swept again. Then I realized I was sweeping the exact same spot over and over.
Flustered, I frantically swept all over the room. Hearing a faint chuckle, it seemed my behavior was quite funny to him.