# 53
53. The Count's Secret Maid (6)
"I heard you're leaving soon, is that correct?"
"Yes. Just for a while."
"Is it really just for a while?"
When I gave her a look asking what she meant, Renika sniffled.
"Paula. I haven't known you for long, but I know you're a good person. At the very least, I can tell you're diligent in your work and not someone who acts spoiled."
"Why would you say that..."
"What I'm trying to say is, don't trust anyone in this place."
Her resolute voice echoed in my ears. The truth that would dye her hardened pupils was about to be revealed. Even though I couldn't understand her words, a strange fear arose in one corner of my heart. Instantly, chills ran through my entire body. I grabbed both my arms.
"As you know, this is the Count's mansion, a place where servant management is strict. Originally, male and female servants shouldn't have personal contact with each other. That's one of the rules you must follow while working here. The reason is that frequent contact might lead to immoral thoughts. Such things actually happened often, and this time was no exception either."
"......"
"Do you understand?"
Understand what? I mouthed the words without making a sound. She noticed my question and contorted her face as if about to cry.
"That our every move as servants is all under surveillance."
"......"
"If you act against the established rules, and during the grace period given as a result, there's no sign of returning to how things were, that's the end. I just said the two didn't disappear by choice, right? Because during the grace period the butler gave them, the two secretly met again."
She said the one who reported the two meeting secretly was a servant sharing their room. If you report someone during their grace period, the reporter receives a reward. Then what about the reported person?
"The two suddenly disappeared."
"......!"
"And yesterday, a maid sharing their room said that one of the servants, while returning from a brief errand for the butler, saw suspicious people near the mansion. Their faces were covered so she couldn't tell who they were, but they looked like a group of burly men. They were carrying something, and she said it looked just like... a person."
Renika paused and caught her breath. There was no need to ask what that meant. Her burst of crying that followed gave the answer instead.
"The maid who disappeared was someone who helped me a lot. She was a good person. She said she came to work as a servant in this mansion to pay off her family's debt. She always wore a bracelet knitted by her mother, and because of its unique shape, everyone knew about it. But that... was rolling on the ground where those people were standing."
"......"
"Who made them like that—you can figure that out without me saying it."
She's right. Hearing the end of the maid and servant who secretly cultivated their love in the middle of the night, a few figures crossed my mind. Vincent isn't one. He doesn't concern himself with managing the lower servants.
"Paula, listen to me carefully. Never stand out. Don't become special. Live quietly following the rules, no different from the other servants. That's the way we can survive safely in this mansion. Because we're the lowest class—beings no one would notice even if we died and disappeared."
She lifted her apron and wiped her face. But no matter how much she wiped, the tears kept flowing down, covering her face.
"Don't forget. If people like us, the lower servants, fall out of favor with the high-ranking people of the mansion, there's no more peace. I'm not talking about the Master. Rather, the Master has no interest in servants like us. Be careful of someone even lower than that, but who can wield power equal to the Master."
Renika warned me with her tear-stained face. Looking at her, I couldn't say anything.
* * *
I ended up leaving the Bellunita mansion earlier than originally planned. It was because a stranger had infiltrated the mansion. It was late at night when everyone was asleep, and security had been further strengthened recently, but there was no way to know where they had entered from.
Late at night when everyone was asleep, I couldn't fall asleep and tossed and turned all night. Eventually giving up on sleep, as I got up to at least drink some water, I was startled. A black shadow flickered on the transparent curtains.
At first, I thought I had seen wrong. I wanted to believe I was dreaming. I had left the window open because it felt stuffy tonight, but I never imagined someone would come in through the balcony. The moment the dark figure of a person became clearly visible through the fluttering curtains, my hand groping the bedside table knocked over a cup.
Crash! The shattering sound echoed through the room. Taking that sound as a signal, I immediately jumped from the bed and ran toward the door. But before I could take a few steps, my shoulder was grabbed by the dark figure. I struggled but it was useless.
Dragged by strong force, I was shoved against the wall. The intruder choked my neck. And the very next moment, something flashed before my eyes. Even in the darkness, I recognized it as a knife. That thing would pierce my flesh and spill my blood. I was so terrified that tears swirled in my eyes.
So this is how I die.
It was the moment when tears were about to burst from despair.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Both I and the assailant looked toward the door. Groping his surroundings with his hand, Vincent stepped into the room. Then he immediately raised his hand toward us. In his hand was a gun.
The moment I realized that, I didn't even think about how he would shoot when he couldn't see, or whether he could hit accurately. My only thought was that I had to escape from the assailant's grasp. So I grabbed and twisted the fingers choking my neck. The assailant groaned and loosened his grip. Not missing that opening, I escaped and curled up on the floor.
'Aaaah!'
Gunshots rang out right after. Not just once, but consecutively. I trembled violently with both hands covering my head.
Eerie gunshots and sounds of something crashing were heard in succession. The noisy commotion continued for a while, then suddenly stopped.
I didn't have the courage to check the situation. Curling up and trembling was all I could do. A moment later, the sound of footsteps approaching grew closer and stopped in front of me. Then something lightly touched my head. I flinched.
'It's okay.'
'Ugh!'
Hearing Vincent's voice, I finally let out the tears I had been holding back. Fear and relief stirred my heart simultaneously. Without even thinking of getting up, I sobbed while curled up. He stroked my head as if to soothe me.
The guards who heard the gunshots came running to my room. At the sound of them asking what happened, I stopped crying and raised my head. The guards mustn't notice Vincent's condition... Fortunately, the room was dark, and Vincent skillfully reported the intruder.
Other servants who heard the gunshots might come too. I steadied my heart and headed to Vincent's room with him.
As soon as I entered the room, I flopped down on the bed. Unlike the confusion of just moments ago, my mind went completely blank. What had happened to me felt like a dream. But as if to prove it wasn't a dream, a stinging pain throbbed from my choked neck.
While I was sitting blankly, touching my neck, I felt busy movement beside me. Glancing over, he was pouring water into a cup. But unable to find the direction, he poured water onto his hand instead of the cup. Seeing the gushing water drenching his hand and arm brought me back to my senses.
'I'll do it.'
'It's fine.'
Having insisted on pouring water by feeling with his hands, he handed me the cup and sat next to me. I gulped down the water that was brimming precariously to the edge of the cup. Drinking the cool water seemed to calm my heart a little.
As I sipped the remaining water, I glanced at Vincent groping for his gun. It was a familiar object. It was what he had shoved at me when we were in the midst of our power struggle.
Recalling the situation from just now, I realized that his action had been extremely dangerous for me too. A person who can't even see ahead shooting a gun. What if he hit me? I had screamed to reveal my position, but thinking about it again, it was too dangerous.
But Vincent shot the gun without a hint of hesitation. He said he was confident in his shooting—it didn't seem to be an empty boast.
I looked at him and sniffled.
'How did you know to come?'
'I heard a sound.'
'Didn't you say there were no bullets?'
'I never said that.'
'Then why didn't you shoot before?'
'If I shot you just because I was in a bad mood, I'd really seem crazy, wouldn't I.'
At such a perfectly reasonable statement, I was surprised in a different way this time.
A while later, Isabella entered the room. She checked Vincent's condition with an urgent face.
'Are you alright?'
'I'm fine. Feeling the wind, it seems they came in through the balcony beyond the open window. There should have been guards around, though.'
'The guards are currently inspecting the rooms. I'll immediately check the situation with the guards protecting this area as well.'
But those guards had already been killed. The guards protecting the area around the annex where Vincent stayed were said to be the most skilled among the Count's household. Seeing that they had been eliminated to enter, I thought the assassin must be no ordinary skilled person.
The assassin who was hit by Vincent's bullet and fled was found in the forest not far from the annex. Having failed the assassination, it seemed he had committed suicide by taking poison. In the end, they couldn't find out who had hired him. But there was no need to search for who would go so far as to hire an assassin to kill me, a mere maid.
In the end, as soon as dawn broke this morning, Vincent ordered me to leave the mansion immediately. During the morning hours, I cleaned his room as always, attended to him, and then prepared to leave. After that, I said goodbye to the servants I was at least acquainted with. When the carriage arrived, it was a little past noon.
Vincent didn't see me off. He said he didn't want to act like someone parting forever when we'd meet again. I agreed with his words.
Instead, Isabella accompanied me. After I boarded the carriage first and sat down, Isabella followed and took the seat across from me. Seeing her, Renika's words from a few days ago came to mind.