# 59
59. The Sole Remaining Maid (3)
"I can't do it! I can't do it anymore!"
Alicia, who had been venting all sorts of complaints since a while ago, finally tore off the cloth wrapped around her head and threw it on the floor. I gave her a brief glance and then focused back on my work.
I survived for a few days on the five most expensive loaves of bread I received in exchange for selling string to the baker. During that time, luckily, I found a job again. It was cleaning up manure at a stable. I snatched it up, thinking even this was better than nothing. I wanted to earn even a single penny more, so I forcefully dragged Alicia out despite her refusals, and this is the attitude I get.
"I said I can't do it!"
"Then don't do it and starve from now on."
"…."
The conclusion was simple. Alicia glared at me viciously at my words. Without even giving her a glance, I shoveled the piles of animal feces in front of me and loaded them onto the cart. In the wide stable, along with various animals, there was a significant amount of dung they had excreted. No matter how much I shoveled and loaded, there was no end in sight. Furthermore, the smell was foul. After shoveling dung all day, the stench of feces radiated from my body to the point of reeking.
A young foal approached in front of me and started to defecate. Alicia was horrified at the sight, and I calmly placed my shovel underneath it. Every time I moved the piling dung to load onto the cart, Alicia feigned throwing up.
"Why is it always this kind of work whenever you bring me along!"
"Because this is the only kind of work there is."
"Don't lie! I know there are decent jobs too!"
"It's because this is the only thing you can do."
"Are you looking down on me? With this much beauty and this great figure, what can't I do!"
"Your head is completely empty, that's what."
I ignored Alicia as she yelled, asking what I meant by that. It was hard enough as it was, and she kept being annoying. I openly displayed that feeling as I shoveled the dung again, but Alicia grabbed the back of my head. Again. I was now at the point where this stinging pain was familiar.
"Say it again! I told you to say it again!"
"Let go."
"How dare you look down on me?! Someone like you looking down on me!"
"I said let go."
Even so, Alicia didn't loosen her grip. I sighed and calmly swung the shovel I was holding toward Alicia. The dung resting on the shovel flew up and poured over her. Alicia recoiled in horror and let go of my head.
"Aaah!"
Flailing, Alicia fell backward. Thanks to that, she fell flat on her butt onto a pile of dung on the floor. She screamed and tried to escape, but the dung had already covered her. With dung smeared all over her hands and clothes, Alicia examined her state and was about to cry.
"You bitch! Wicked bitch!"
"That's why you shouldn't mess with a wicked bitch."
"I won't let you get away with this! I won't let you get away with this!"
"Alright. Let that determination drive you to quickly shovel all this up too."
I shoveled the dung again with the empty shovel and, intentionally shoving it toward Alicia, loaded it onto the cart. Alicia screamed and ran away. It was funny how she tucked her tail between her legs when it wasn't even that scary. I shrugged and continued shoveling the dung.
After shoveling for a while, something caught my eye. A torn piece of newspaper buried in the pile of dung. The newspaper with a large photograph stamped on it fluttered in the wind. My eyes, which had casually read the article's title, gradually widened.
I quickly snatched up the newspaper and read the letters written inside. After reading the very last letter, my hand dropped down. My blank gaze wandered in the air.
[…Princess's Engagement Announced. Partner is Count Belunita?]
It was the title of the article I had just seen. Below it, in the large stamped photograph, a man and a woman stood side by side with their arms crossed. Although taken from a distance, their blurry faces looked familiar. Of course. It was a face I had seen all day five years ago.
"Vincent Belunita."
A name I hadn't brought to my lips for a long time.
The man who remained as a longing.
This was the first news of him I had seen in five years.
* * *
I knew he had broken off his engagement with Violet. At the bakery where I used to work, the women would often chatter about the upper class, somehow bringing in news from nowhere. Among them, very occasionally, there was news about them as well. News about the Belunita family was rare, but one of the things I heard back then was the story of Vincent's broken engagement.
I had wondered if the news of the broken engagement might be a rumor, but this time I confirmed with my own eyes that it was true.
I stared intently at Vincent in the photo. Because his face came out blurry, I couldn't know his exact expression, but he seemed to be smiling for some reason. Then, the first thing that came to mind was his eyes.
What happened to his eyes? I think they said there was a way to cure it back then; did he get it cured? Or is it still the same? Still, it seemed he no longer lived a life cooped up only in his room. Whatever else I didn't know, I could tell he was doing very well.
'I'll bring you to my side. Definitely.'
"It was all just empty words."
Son of a bitch, is it that good?
Grinning just because he's getting engaged to a princess. He's definitely smiling. I violently crumpled his face. The smiling face became wrinkled. I stared intently at it before slightly unfolding it again.
"It's a relief if he's doing well, though."
Honestly, it wasn't my place to be angry. It wasn't even a relationship where I had the right to scream that he was terrible. What was I to him? I just played along because I was the only maid attending to him. It wasn't a tie strong enough that he would search for me again just because that maid disappeared. He said he would send me somewhere else for my sake, but there was no reason he had to look for me just because that maid vanished in the middle of it. Actually, he might have known the reason why I suddenly disappeared.
"Still, if you're a man, you should keep the words you've spat out. You told me to stay by your side, you said you'd protect me, you said you wouldn't abandon me. Words are so easy to say. This is why nobles are like this."
I ended up saying the phrase, 'This is why nobles are like this,' which the women I worked with used to always say. As I let out a deep sigh again, Emily, who had just opened the door and come in, widened her eyes.
"Did something happen?"
"Ah, no. Nothing at all."
"That is…."
Her gaze landed on the crumpled newspaper in my hand. I realized my mistake and quickly unfolded the newspaper. Seeing the article with the same content as the torn newspaper I had coincidentally picked up at the stable here again, it finally felt real. That this content was true. Then, getting angry, I crumpled the newspaper without realizing it.
"I, I'm sorry. What should I do."
"It's an old one, so it's fine. But be careful from now on. Did you finish the transcription?"
"Yes, here it is."
When I handed her the letter, Emily checked it and smiled with satisfaction. She didn't hold back her praise, saying I wrote it well. I smiled shyly and shrunk my neck.
In this place that looked like an ordinary house from the outside, I did transcription for daily wages. Sometimes I transcribed books, sometimes love letters, and sometimes newspapers. Being able to read and write was this useful. Thanks to that, I could work sitting comfortably inside a safe building.
"Young ladies these days are so cute. They request transcription like this, asking me to write the reply letter for them because their handwriting isn't pretty."
"They are."
"Have you ever received something like this too?"
Emily smiled mischievously. I avoided her gaze, fiddled with the quill, and forced a smile.
"I have. Not a love letter, though."
"My. With a man?"
"Yes. With a man."
"Must have been nice."
Emily patted my shoulder. I couldn't say anything. It was such an insignificant matter that I couldn't even judge whether I liked it or not. It was only after looking back that I understood the feelings contained in that insignificant letter and felt sad.
Recalling that time, my mood sank again. Because of the newspaper I had just seen.
I shook my head and shook off useless thoughts.
"Right. The workload has increased lately, so it seems like it'd be too much for you alone, so I found a new person. The two of you will be working together from now on."
"Yes."
"They should be here soon."
Just as Emily said, a short while later, a tapping sound of someone knocking on the door was heard. She smiled happily and went downstairs. Soon, the sound of the door opening was followed by noisy voices. I listened to the sounds and looked out the window.
Two sets of footsteps approached, and the door opened. My gaze naturally turned toward the door.
"Here, say hello. This is the person who will be working with you from now on."
"…."
"…."
Emily introduced the newcomer with a cheerful voice. But we couldn't even exchange a greeting that responded to her words. Because the moment the other person and I discovered each other, we both froze.
"Hey, hey."
"…."
"Hey, hey. I'm asking if you're listening to me."
"…."
I lowered my eyes and calmly rolled my pen. The scratching sound substituted for my answer.
The man, who tried talking to me a few more times, eventually couldn't hold back and snatched my paper. I sighed and looked up at the man.
"What. What's wrong with you."
"Why do you keep ignoring what I say."
"Because it's worth ignoring."
"Hey!"
"Stop saying hey, hey. Do you want to get hit again?"
I swiftly twirled the pen I was holding. I sent a warning that I'd stab him with it if he provoked me. The man, who had experienced it once, flinched. A bruise dyed the corner of one of his eyes was noticeable.
"What kind of woman always……."
"You're the one, what kind of man is always this persistent. If someone says they don't like it, you should know to give up. Are your feelings the only ones that matter? You need to consider the woman's feelings too."
"…No matter what anyone says. It's because it seems like you're lying!"
"She said she doesn't like you. This time it's real."
"Then was it a lie last time?"
"…."
When I abruptly stood up, the man covered his face with one hand and cowered. It was a face saying, 'Come at me if you dare.' But his body was already in a defensive stance.
I scoffed and leaned over to snatch the paper in his hand. And as I sat back down on the chair, the man regained his senses and uncowered his body.
"Really? She really doesn't like me?"
"Yeah."
"Why…… because I'm poor?"
"Yeah. And because you're short and ugly."
"T, with this much, I wouldn't hear that I'm ugly anywhere!"
"I guess you're ugly to her."
"…."
The man, in shock, had a blank face. I swept my eyes over him.
I didn't expect to see him here again. He was the man who had a crush on Alicia and pestered me to introduce him to her. He got hit by me with a shovel last time, and he's acting like this again. I couldn't understand how he could talk about falling in love at first sight and being in love when he had only seen her face once from afar.
He seemed to be around my age, but his dirty appearance, always covered in soot, was not a good sight. Even now, black grime, whether dirt or dust, was smeared on his face, making him look filthy. His clothes were equally dirty. There was also black dirt under his fingernails.
Dressed like that, he wouldn't have a chance no matter how many times he confessed to Alicia. No, not just Alicia, but it seemed like other people would avoid him if they saw him too.
"If you like her that much, do something about that appearance first."
"W, why should I."
"Because it's dirty. Your face, your clothes, your hands, all of it."
"This is…… t, this doesn't wash off well……."
He examined his fingernails and muttered depressingly. What kind of work does he do. The situation was pitiful, but it seemed difficult to win the favor of Alicia, who placed great importance on a person's outward appearance.
I shook my head and focused on transcribing again. As I didn't say anything more, he also picked up his pen with a gloomy face.
The scratching sound echoed in the room. I was transcribing a book, and he was transcribing a newspaper. Glancing over, his handwriting was quite excellent. Although the hand holding the pen was smeared with black grime and dirty, the ink flowing from the quill drew beautifully across the paper. The face doing the transcription was also quite serious.
"You write well."
I let out a remark of admiration without realizing it.