# 15
15. The Strange Guest of the Count's House (5)
But I couldn't say that as it was.
"You are doing well."
"That's unexpected. I thought you would be in despair."
"Knowing that, you still made such a threat?"
"Did it feel like a threat?"
"Forcing someone to do what they don't want is no different from a threat."
I knew it was audacious, but to speak straight, that was indeed a threat.
"You're right. It is a threat."
But Ethan shamelessly admitted the fact. Bad guy.
"I am a bad guy, yes."
"……."
He, who had seen through my mind, widened his eyes. I pretended not to notice and wiped the window.
"Miss Maid, I am serious. I came to this mansion for that very reason. I cannot stand by and watch my friend, Count Belunita, ruin himself any longer. To be precise, he is becoming useless."
I sighed and looked back at him. Ethan continued.
"It may sound cold, but Vincent is in a position where he has no choice but to make such a judgment. And this is an issue I cannot tolerate even before considering Vincent's safety. Because I don't want Vincent to act like that. We are tied together by the interests of our families even before we are friends."
Ethan smiled thinly. He didn't seem like the person who was just observing Vincent's state and grieving. He had the face of a real bad guy. Then did that mean he did it on purpose?
"I wish you would coax Vincent well. So he can come out of his room."
"I don't have the power for that."
"Well. From what I see, it seems you have great power."
"You overpraise me."
I bowed my head and focused on wiping the window again. Laughter came from behind me. I pretended not to hear and just did my work.
After finishing even the floor cleaning like that, I organized the cleaning tools. Then I checked the time and headed to the study. It was to choose a book to read to Vincent today.
Ethan followed right behind me like a tail.
Why does he keep following me. Is he free? Even when I showed discomfort, he didn't care. Eventually, Ethan followed me into the study, looked around, and asked.
"What are you trying to do here?"
"I'm going to choose a book."
"Are you going to read it, Miss Maid?"
"I'm going to read it to the Master."
Ethan widened his eyes. I went to the bookshelf where the fairy tale books were inserted and scanned the titles. Last time, I deliberately took all the books in one shelf, and he had already read them all. The content was short, so it didn't take long to read.
Fortunately, Vincent left me alone to read the book. This was also one of the changes so far. He didn't just say it was unconditionally boring like he did at first, nor did he act like he didn't want to listen. He just listened calmly and occasionally pointed out my pronunciation and breathing.
'Too fast. From the listener's perspective, I can't keep up.'
'Ah, I'm sorry.'
'You have to read every single letter clearly for me to understand. I have to be able to imagine it in my head to comprehend it. Make it so I can picture the scene.'
'I will be careful.'
Reading by myself and reading to someone else were definitely different. My eyes read the letters faster than my mouth, drawing pictures in my head and imagining. But he didn't. He had to gather the pieces through my voice and imagine like putting a puzzle together.
I volunteered simply because I could read books, but this too was not an easy task. Bringing a fairy tale book to tease him was rather a good choice. Because I had to be pointed out dozens of times by him just to tell that short story.
"You're going to read to Vincent?"
"Yes."
"Vincent quietly listens……?"
"He refused at first, but lately he listens quietly. Until now, I read him fairy tale books, but this time I'm thinking of doing a book with some thickness."
"……."
I was thinking of slowly moving away from fairy tale books. So I was looking at the books on the shelf right above the one where the fairy tale books were inserted, when my cheek stung. When I looked back, Ethan had a strange expression on his face. His face gradually distorted into a crying face, and the corners of his mouth twitched. At that moment.
"Puhahaha!"
A loud burst of laughter erupted.
I opened my eyes wide and observed Ethan. He was holding his stomach and laughing uproariously.
"With that pride, puhut, fairy tales, hehe. Pfft."
Ethan curled up his body and chortled. He didn't stop laughing even under my questioning gaze. I didn't know what made him laugh so much, but I just shrugged my shoulders and lost interest. What I felt while watching Ethan so far was that he was a really strange person. And the inner thoughts of a strange person are originally hard to understand.
More than that, the book to read to Vincent today came first. I carefully chose a book by opening one by one the books with thickness and dense letters.
"I think this one would be good."
Ethan, who had stopped laughing at some point, took out a book and held it out. Looking at the title, it seemed to be some kind of adventure story. The thickness was neither too thin nor too thick, so it seemed fine to read to Vincent.
"It's a book Vincent used to enjoy reading when he was young."
"Ah."
Until just now, he was talking about being entangled in the interests of the family and whatnot, but I guess a friend is still a friend. Seeing that he knew Vincent's taste well. I bowed my waist to give my thanks and respectfully received the book.
"Vincent likes things like adventure novels. Since he was young, if it was an adventure story, he read like a madman. He mainly read adventure tales about adventuring in distant countries. What he hates is love stories. He says they're boring and doesn't even look at them."
"Thank you. I'll refer to it when choosing."
"I'm more thankful."
Pardon? When I raised my head, Ethan smiled warmly, which was rare for him. It wasn't the greasy look he sent when he said he would seduce the other person, but a gaze of relief containing pure joy.
"I'm glad someone like you is by his side, Miss Maid."
What could that mean?
"Even reading fairy tales to that Vincent."
Fairy tales, why? I tilted my head, but he covered his mouth with his hand to hide the laughter that was about to burst out again.
"What do you think, Miss Maid? Will Vincent be able to come out of his room?"
"Well. How could I dare to fathom the Master's deep heart."
"Shall we make a bet?"
It was a sudden proposal. A bet? When I asked in surprise, Ethan continued.
"If you can get Vincent to come out of his room even one step, I'll grant you one wish."
Ethan took a step closer and held out his hand. I stared blankly at that hand and shook my head.
"Lord Christopher. I don't know why you're saying this to me, but as I told you just now, I have no power. I am merely a maid, how could someone like me make the Master come out."
To him, the room was the only sanctuary right now. He hated stepping even one foot out of the room. No, he doesn't even get off the bed. Of course, he couldn't live like that forever, but for him now, it wasn't easy to have such expectations.
"That's why this is a bet between you and me."
He snatched my hand and lifted it up. Even holding my lowly hand, he didn't change his complexion once. No, rather, he gripped it tightly as if he wouldn't let go.
"I want you to accept. If it's for Vincent's sake."
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because you seem like the easiest person here?"
What, you son of a bitch? I got annoyed and tried to shake off the captured hand, but he gripped it tighter and didn't let go. The strong grip crushed my skin and made my hand go numb. I narrowed one eye and glared at him.
"Please let go."
"I want to place my expectations on you, Miss Maid."
"What if I refuse?"
"I hope you don't. I want to remain a good person to you."
Now it's outright blackmail. Even as I was dumbfounded, he smiled as if it was nothing.
"Since it's a bet, there should be an assumption that I win. Hmm, if I win, then……."
His eyeballs rolled to the side. He seemed to think for a moment, then pierced back into me. With roundly curved eyes, he left a kiss on the back of my hand, just like when he first came here.
"You'll have to give me your neck, Miss Maid."
Swish. His hand made a gesture of cutting the neck. Smiling mischievously, it was a face of a villain that sent shivers down my spine.
Why, me. Why me. I'm just a maid who came to serve the Master.
Ethan just laughed happily even after seeing my disgusted face. Now his smiling face approached me as terrifying. Who said he was a kind person. He only pretended to be kind, and in reality, he was a person whose insides couldn't be known. Coming all the way here to threaten Vincent to announce his blindness, and proposing such a nonsensical bet to me, I couldn't understand any of it.
Whether he was trying to help Vincent, or asking to help himself.
And that confusion extended to Vincent.
"Master."
Throughout reading the book, Vincent was silent. Sitting with his back against the wall, listening to my voice, he was especially quiet today. His drooped face was covered by his hair, so I couldn't observe what expression he was making. His slumped shoulders looked lifeless, though.
The book I went through the trouble of bringing became useless. Seeing him looking so deflated, I lost my energy too. To observe his face, I bent my waist and lowered my face, calling out "Master?", but he still said nothing.
"Cheer up. There will be a way."
"……Don't say nonsense."
Finally, a reaction came. But the voice I heard was so gloomy. That sight was unfamiliar. It would have been better if he shouted or threw a temper like usual. If he stays like this, my heart weakens.
"Why is it nonsense? You just have to show that you're trying."
"How do I show that? Are you telling me to show the pathetic sight of falling down and groping the floor? Then I'll show you as much as you want."
"Master."
"It's forcing it. I'm just saying I'll state my condition."
He covered his face with both hands. His fully shrunk body perceived his own state and suffered. Sadness swallows him again.
"Don't cry."
"I'm not crying."
"Your heart is crying."
"……."
Vincent exhaled rough breaths. I was anxious that he might have another seizure like this. He is vulnerable to shock, so it was true that I was worried at times like this.
'You'll have to give me your neck, Miss Maid.'
Moreover, the bet that was realized by Ethan's stubbornness also weighed on my mind.
Eventually, after groaning in pain, I turned his face this way and that and observed his condition in every corner. Then, when I gently grabbed the tip of his index finger and pulled it down, it smoothly fell from his face. A shaded face was revealed. He wasn't crying as he said. But that dry face approached me more pitifully.
"Let's think of a way together."