# 35
35. The Count's Circumstances (5)
"Lord Lucas?"
"Yes. He'll be staying here for a while, so keep that in mind."
He took the clothes he had removed and handed him new ones. These days he wears regular clothes more often than sleepwear. Seeing his face that had gained good color from washing clean and eating well, I voiced the first question that came to mind.
"May I ask one thing?"
"Speak."
"Is it really alright for Lord Lucas to stay in this mansion?"
He, having buttoned even his sleeve cuffs, looked at me. I briefly lowered my gaze. He looked well-dressed, but his shirt buttons were misaligned by one. I approached him, unbuttoned all the buttons, and fastened them again one by one.
"Unfortunately, the buttons are misaligned today."
"……."
Vincent remained silent until the buttons were all fastened. I glanced up wondering if he was angry, but there was no particular change in his expression. Instead, his hand pressed firmly against the top of my head. At the strong force that seemed like it would push me underground, I screamed and flailed about, but he relentlessly rubbed my hair.
I only regained my freedom after my hair was completely tousled. Such contact was a first, so I was very surprised. As I placed my hand on my tousled hair and opened my eyes wide, I saw the corners of his mouth playfully raised.
"It's fine, so don't worry."
Well, that's a relief but......
No, but why bully my head?
"Paula. We meet again."
"Yes. We meet again."
When I bowed stiffly, laughter came from above my head.
"Do you remember me?"
"Yes. You're Lord Ethan's younger brother."
"I'm Lucas Christopher."
"Yes."
"I said I'm Lucas Christopher."
So what? When I tilted my head, he laughed again. But the laugh was subtly off. Almost like he was angry. I rolled my eyes. Surely he doesn't want me to call him by name?
"......Lord Lucas?"
"Yes. Paula."
Then he smiled joyfully. Maybe because he's Ethan's brother. Lucas certainly smiles often too. Just from calling his name once, he's beaming. I called it at dawn too, does he not remember that?
"Are you here to clean?"
"Yes."
So I sent a look asking him to step out of the room for a moment. But he didn't budge. Ah, since he can't see my face, I should probably say it out loud.
"I'll be sitting here, so go ahead comfortably."
With that, Lucas sat in a chair at a table set to one side. A book was in his hand. Judging by his attitude, he seemed to have no intention of leaving. Well, if that's the case. Having received permission, I decided to clean comfortably.
First, I changed the bedcover, pillowcase, and sheets. Then I swept the floor. Only the sound of the broom rustled in the silence. Moving around the room cleaning here and there, I swept the corners more thoroughly.
But...... it's strange. My back has been feeling warm for a while now?
Turning around, I saw the back of Lucas's head as he read. Or not? Tilting my head, I focused on cleaning again, but my back grew warm once more. It felt like someone was watching me.
By the time 'warm' turned to 'stinging,' I turned around again.
"Did you have something to say?"
"Me? No."
Lucas refuted with a calm smile. I narrowed my eyes. The answer was quick. As if he had thought about it in advance.
"Then why do you keep looking at me?"
"I wouldn't do that."
"Really?"
"Yes. I didn't look."
With him being so adamant, it was hard to keep asking. Was it really my imagination? Though suspicious, if it really was my imagination, it would be embarrassing, so I focused on cleaning again. Then, as I picked up a rag to wipe the nearby furniture, I sensed a presence behind me.
"This."
At the unfamiliar hand touching my hair, I was so startled that my body froze on the spot. The rag I was holding fell to the floor with a thud. As I creakily turned my head, Lucas had a startled face.
"Sorry. Were you surprised?"
"A little...... W-what are you doing?"
"This."
A white hair tie was held in his hand.
"You agonized over it and ended up gifting this, I see."
"Pardon?"
"Violet gave it as a gift, right?"
I nodded.
"My sister wanted to give Paula a gift and agonized over it for days. Then she decided on a hair tie, but this time she worried that there were too many that would suit you. She agonized for a long time over the design and color, and finally decided on this, it seems."
He spun the edge of the hair tie around. My gaze was drawn to it.
"For your information, I also added my opinion that this would be good."
"Ah, yes. I see."
To think he startled me like that just to say that. Did he want to take credit for it?
I took back the hair tie from his hand. As I wound it around until its length shortened so it couldn't be snatched again, Lucas laughed at my appearance.
"It suits you after all."
"Thank you."
"I thought pure white would suit Paula."
I laughed haha and brushed off his words as a joke. Lucas laughed along with me. I don't know what's so good, but he's been beaming since earlier. It was distinctly different from his deathly expression at dawn. Come to think of it, why did that man come to see Vincent in the middle of the night?
"Paula is still quite guarded. Is it because of what I said last time?"
By last time, he meant the shocking remark he had made to me. But this time I could act calmly too. Because I know you weren't the one who said it?
"It's a misunderstanding."
"I didn't say it as a joke."
He says scary things while beaming. I don't know what he wants to do even while being misunderstood like that, but I couldn't say that I knew he had lied. Because Vincent having said those words to me could itself be a secret. I also wondered if it was something a mere maid should even know.
Keep your mouth shut, and even if you hear, pretend you didn't.
However, as I showed no particular reaction, the smile gradually disappeared from Lucas's face. Soon after, a grave gaze pierced me.
"Did you hear it from my brother?"
"What do you mean?"
I tried to act shamelessly as if I didn't know, but it must have been clumsy. His face grew even more serious.
"I never thought he would say even that......"
No, I didn't say anything?
Is something stuck to my face? Like my inner thoughts? I needlessly felt my face. All that touched my hands was hair. Since he couldn't even see my face, I had no idea where he was looking to think such things. He seemed to already suspect that Vincent had told me something.
"I understand. Having someone trustworthy by your side must be a good thing."
"I don't know what you're talking about since earlier."
"Honestly, I am a bit surprised."
No, he was certain.
I picked up the dropped rag. I'd rather just finish cleaning quickly and escape. Having decided that, I turned around, but Lucas suddenly reached out his hand.
"I'll help too."
"Pardon?"
Before I could ask again, the rag was snatched from me. And he even rolled up his sleeves. By helping, he meant cleaning. I was horrified and stopped him.
"Please don't. I'll do it."
"I'll help too. I have nothing to do anyway."
"Still, I can't have a guest do such work. I'll get in trouble."
"Then I'll say I snatched it by force."
With that, Lucas started wiping nearby decorative items with the rag. I quickly checked the door. Fortunately, it was closed. And after needlessly surveying the surroundings, I tried to dissuade him from doing that. But he smiled saying it was fine and focused on wiping.
I don't know why this person is acting like this again.
* * *
In the end, Lucas, who did the wiping for me until the end, only gave me a heavy burden. And his burdensome behavior continued after that. Every time I went to clean, he would offer to help, and if I stubbornly refused, I could feel his gaze burning into the back of my head. Then when I turned around, he would immediately look away and pretend to be doing something else.
He acted like someone anxious to help me. The kindness was appreciated, but not knowing the reason only made it burdensome.
It was the same when attending to Vincent.
Except for early morning, he was mostly in Vincent's room. I don't know if he came to hang out or had other business, but he was there every time I went to attend to him. I wondered what he was doing beside us, but that wasn't it. He just watched us.
Sometimes he even ate together with him. But that didn't mean the two of them had any conversation. Just being together was all. I was the only one caught between them, having to read the mood.
But it was different when it was just the two of them. Lucas always had a smiling face when with me, but occasionally when I peeked into the room through the cracked door, the two had rather serious expressions. I don't know about Vincent, but Lucas was like that. Unlike when he dealt with me, he erased his smile and took on gravity. The sound of their conversation was cautious, and even their low voices were heavy.
And when he wasn't in Vincent's room, he wandered around the mansion. Sometimes walking the hallways, sometimes strolling near the mansion, and I've even seen him coming out of the study with a book. Then if he happened to meet me by chance, he would approach me happily like someone meeting after a long time.
I don't know about other things, but I know one thing. He must really have a lot of free time.
Around the time when Lucas's presence, showing the very image of a man with nothing to do, was gradually becoming familiar, Vincent suddenly spoke after finishing a meal.
"Shall we go for a walk?"
What's gotten into him. But it was a proposal with no reason to refuse.
"That sounds great!"
"Then get ready."
They decided to have tea time along with the walk after a long time. So I packed a teapot, teacups, snacks, and also a book to read.
But one more person butted in.
"It looks like it'll be fun."
Lucas was beaming as he stood beside Vincent. I glanced at Vincent. He had no particular objection to Lucas accompanying them.
In the end, the three of us set off on a walk side by side. Even so, the only places we could go were the garden behind the annex or the forest. I held Vincent's hand to support him, and Lucas walked beside me. Suddenly I had the glory of walking sandwiched between two grown men.
We decided to have tea time first. All the way to the garden, Lucas was busy looking around, and Vincent only looked straight ahead. I supported Vincent while glancing at Lucas. A subtle tension flowed. Of course, it was probably just me feeling it.
Then my eyes exactly met Lucas's.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, I didn't look."
I immediately shook my head and stared straight ahead.
When we arrived at the place with the table, we sat in the chairs side by side. I spread the clean tablecloth I had brought over the table and placed the teapot and teacups. But there was one cup missing. Since I hadn't thought Lucas would accompany us, I only brought two cups.
With no choice, I placed one each in front of Lucas and Vincent.
"I'm fine."
Lucas pushed the cup toward me. Still...... As I hesitated, he refused, saying he didn't want to drink tea. If that's the case.
Today's dessert was a sweet cake drenched in sugar, which Vincent loved. I cut the cake into easy-to-eat pieces and placed them on each plate. And I placed it first in front of Lucas. At least eat this.
But the reaction came from Vincent. He was already holding a fork and standing by. As I set down the cake plate, Vincent elegantly cut the cake and put it in his mouth. His clumsy fork handling had now become quite proficient. After chewing a few times, he cut the cake again.
Unlike Vincent, who moved his mouth without resting, Lucas frowned after one bite.
"......It's too sweet."
He had a face as if asking how one could eat something this sweet. I also cut a bite and ate it. It was sweeter than the desserts I usually ate, but not to the point of being inedible. I buried my nose in the cake and gorged on it. Vincent also feigned composure while rapidly devouring the cake.
Lucas looked back and forth between us.
"Is it delicious for both of you?"
"It's not to the point of being inedible."
"It's delicious."
The answers came immediately. Even during that time, we didn't stop eating. He and I focused on the cake as if competing to see who could eat faster.