# 23
23. Tea Time with the Count (5)
"Isabella, how is Vincent's condition lately? Ethan won't tell me anything. When I saw him earlier, he seemed fine though..."
"His condition has improved significantly."
"Oh! Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness."
Violet let out a sigh of relief. I looked at her in puzzlement. I had heard she didn't know about Vincent's condition, or was that not the case?
As if reading my inner thoughts, Ethan explained in a small voice.
"Violet knows that Vincent suffered a major injury and is recuperating. We told her that similar incidents happened several times after that, and that the wound was too deep to heal well, leaving aftereffects that he's struggling with."
"But what is Sir Christopher's relationship with her?"
"Friends. The three of us have known each other since we were young."
So that's why he came along. I nodded and looked at her beautiful face that seemed earnest about something.
"Could I see Vincent's face?"
"I'm sorry, Lady Violet."
"Ah..."
Her face, which had been bright, became soaked with disappointment.
"When will I ever be able to see Vincent's face properly."
"The Master is doing so out of concern for you, Lady Violet. He doesn't want to show his struggling self to his fiancée and cause you worry. Please understand his feelings."
"I know. I know very well. Still..."
The depressed voice cut off abruptly. She clenched both hands resting on her knees, her expression distorting as if about to cry. Her face was steeped in worry for her fiancé.
"Still, still..."
Then suddenly her gaze pierced through me.
"Paula, I have an earnest request!"
She suddenly stood up and grabbed both my hands. I was flustered by the sudden closeness. My eyes darted around.
"Could you tell Vincent that I want to see him, really, really want to see him, and that I don't care what he looks like, so please let me at least see his face?"
"Huh? Uh, yes?"
My flustered face turned quickly from side to side. Behind me, Isabella was calmly sipping her tea, and beside me, Ethan was biting into a cookie. I looked back and forth between the two of them. And I realized. The two people with their peaceful faces had no intention of helping me at all.
The purple eyes before me sparkled radiantly. Not knowing what to do under that sparkle, I scrambled about and eventually nodded reluctantly.
"Master."
Even at the creaking sound of the door opening, he didn't stir. Despite my approaching with loud footsteps, he still showed no particular reaction. The round form lying turned toward the wall was still. Was it my imagination that I felt a strange killing intent from him?
"Master. Are you sleeping?"
"......"
"Lady Violet asked me to relay her message. I will recite it as I heard it. I want to see you, really, really want to see you, I don't care what you look like so please let me see your face, that is all."
He still showed no reaction. I recalled his face turning pale white when he heard the news of his fiancée's arrival. While I was hesitating, Ethan suddenly stepped into the room.
"Yo, Vincent."
At that moment, a pillow flew and hit Ethan's face. Vincent, who had sat up without me noticing, was glaring toward the door.
"Get out."
Ethan picked up the pillow and grumbled.
"Don't be mad. I couldn't help it either."
"You said if I just wrote back to her letters, she wouldn't come."
"I knew you'd say that. But Violet suddenly said she was coming here and bolted out. Both her nanny and I tried to stop her, but it was no use. You know how she is. Once she sets her mind on something, she goes through with it. That's why I told you to write back to her letters properly."
As Ethan grumbled, Vincent this time picked up the cup placed on the bedside table. Seeing that, Ethan clamped his mouth shut and quickly hid behind my back. I looked back at such a pathetic Ethan with disdain.
"Maid. That was really cool just now. I was moved, I tell you. I was so moved that I just watched as you grabbed Vincent's hand and ran away. Run, Master! Ugh. So cool."
"Please stop."
I knew very well without anyone telling me how rude my action just now had been. Moreover, a mere maid grabbing her master's hand and running away. I tightly covered my flushed face with my bangs out of embarrassment.
"Why. It's so cool. Maid."
"I said stop it."
"Don't be shy. I almost fell for you, I tell you."
"That's enough."
Vincent put down the cup and snapped at Ethan. Ethan stopped talking. As the chattering noise disappeared, a dark tension flowed through the room. Vincent swept his face with one hand. Haa. His appearance as he let out a deep sigh looked miserable.
I observed his condition and continued with the remaining words.
"Lady Violet said she will wait in the garden."
"Tell her nicely... and send her back."
"She won't go back. She seems to have made up her mind firmly."
"You, get out."
Vincent waved his hand as if he didn't want to hear any more and lay back down on the bed. I glanced at him and pushed Ethan's back. Right now, there was no one who could comfort him. Ethan left the room reluctantly with a regretful face.
A sigh came out as soon as the door closed. Ethan seemed to be thinking deeply about something for a moment. Seeing him like that reminded me of the conversations I had with Vincent, but the immediate matter came first.
"What are you going to do?"
"Maid, I feel wronged too. I really didn't know."
Ethan made a face that said he was truly aggrieved. I sent him a skeptical look.
"What should we do now?"
"For now, let's try to soothe Violet. She may seem resolute, but she's actually soft-hearted and simple, so if we coax her well, she'll go back. She's always been like that."
"What if she still doesn't go back?"
"Then, hmm... I'll have to think about it."
In the end, that meant he had no plan at all.
I headed to the garden alongside Ethan. Violet was kneeling in front of a flower bed lush with purple flowers. Her soft, long fingertips brushed against a flower bud.
"Violet."
The gaze that had been on the flowers turned and reached us. Her face immediately brightened, and she quickly scanned the surroundings with her eyes. I didn't need to ask who she was looking for.
"Vincent?"
"He says he won't see you."
"...I see."
She became downcast. As she glanced at me, I shook my head.
"I tried telling him several times, but he asked me to convey that he wants you to go back."
"I see. I expected as much. ...It's okay. Thank you for passing on the message."
Despite the obvious signs of disappointment, Violet tried hard not to show it. Instead, she smiled warmly as if to comfort me. She was such a beautiful person.
She looked over the purple flower bed again. I looked down at her.
"Ethan, if you don't mind, could you help me? I want to make a bouquet. I thought it would be nice to put it in Vincent's room."
An angel! To make a bouquet for someone who doesn't even properly reply to her letters and won't see her when she visits—her heart is truly like an angel's.
While I was admiring her inwardly, she snapped off a flower. Various colored flowers were held in her arms. Ethan said he understood, rolled up his sleeves, and crouched beside Violet. Then he started plucking flowers following her lead, but it looked so half-hearted. I slightly frowned and joined in picking flowers.
"You shouldn't pick them like that."
"Hmm?"
"It's better to break them off near the end like this. You should leave the stem as long as possible so it's easier to trim nicely when arranging later. Though cutting with scissors would be neater."
I explained the method to Ethan and skillfully plucked a purple flower. Both of their gazes fell on me.
"These kinds of flowers are nice too, but if you only have large buds like this, it'll look rather cluttered. Mixing in smaller flowers makes it prettier. Right here beside, with flowers like these."
I plucked a few sprigs of baby's breath and arranged them around the purple flower I had just picked. A small but quite presentable bouquet was created. When I handed it to Violet, her eyes sparkled.
"My, you make it so well. It's so pretty!"
"Th-that is excessive praise."
Violet looked at the bouquet as if it was amazing, and beside her, Ethan clapped his hands. I didn't expect to be praised just for making a bouquet.
The place where I lived was a small village, but occasionally there were events. They were infrequent, but when they did happen, they were held on a fairly large scale. So when an event was held, people would come out to the streets to sell food and goods.
Of course, making and selling bouquets like this was also quite profitable, so the flower sellers had the women make bouquets as a side job. Side jobs were mainly the women's domain, but I was a workforce that never missed out on such side jobs.
The money I earned from Uncle Mark's bakery was far from enough to cover living expenses. It was because of the third-born who indulged in luxury and my father. The third-born's entertainment was living extravagantly with the money I earned, and my father had long quit tenant farming and lived immersed in gambling and alcohol.
In the end, doing household chores and earning money were both things I had to do alone, so side jobs were essential. Thanks to that, making things like bouquets was very easy. Even simply making bouquets came with competition. Depending on how much more gorgeous and less shoddy they were made, the price paid also varied. Fortunately, the bouquets I made were quite popular.
As I didn't know what to do out of shyness, Violet carefully received the bouquet and looked at it from various angles.
"It's pretty. So pretty."
Her enraptured gaze made me shrink my neck even more.
"How do you make it so well?"
"You're overpraising me."
"No! Paula, you seem to have good handiwork skills. I'm jealous."
Violet became downcast again and buried her face in the flowers. I widened my eyes.
"I actually don't have good handiwork skills. I've learned and tried making various things since I was young, but I had no talent for it. Even my tutor gave up on me."
"True. You're hopeless at that kind of thing."
Ethan chimed in insensitively. In an instant, Violet, whose eyes had sparkled, punched Ethan's side with her fist. The hand movement was so fast I didn't even know what had passed by. I blankly watched Ethan clutching his side and groaning.
"I'm a very inadequate fiancée to Vincent. That's probably why he won't see me. Because I'm not reliable..."
I took my eyes off Ethan and observed her. Her worried face was turning into a crying expression. I was at a loss, not knowing what words of comfort to offer, when suddenly a crunching sound was heard. In that instant, the purple bouquet in her hands was cruelly crushed.
What did I just see? I rubbed my eyes thinking I saw an illusion, but the bouquet remained destroyed.
"You bastard."
At the curse that suddenly burst from her beautiful lips, I thought I was having auditory hallucinations this time and dug at my ear. Hmm. I must have been overworked from attending to the Master lately.