# 64
64. Paula of the Strange Count's House (2)
Audrey signaled us with her eyes.
"Please greet her."
"It's nice to meet you."
I bowed. Fortunately, this time Alicia caught on and followed my lead, bowing and greeting. The man who had been facing away also hastily turned around and bowed. But he still couldn't even look properly at Joelly.
As soon as the man finished greeting and turned back around, Joelly immediately looked at the male servant. The corners of her eyes curved even more playfully.
"What's the name of that cute one there?"
"Lady Joelly, please wash and dress up first."
"Really, Audrey. So clueless."
"If you stay like that, you'll get sick."
"Alright, alright."
Waving her hand, Joelly stood up from the bed and scanned me and Alicia.
"I prefer pretty ones."
"Excuse me?"
Her smiling fingertips touched Alicia. I was puzzled, and Audrey pushed Alicia in front of Joelly. Alicia looked back at me in panic. I was also flustered. But there was nothing I could do. Audrey showed me and the male servant out the door.
I found out after coming outside. That Joelly had chosen Alicia as the servant to attend to her. The man could have been chosen, but I was kicked out.
To think I'd be discriminated against based on looks even here. Looking at the closed door, I secretly sighed.
"You two wait here for a moment."
Leaving only those words, Audrey left saying she had other business. Thanks to that, only the man and I remained in the hallway.
Staring blankly at the door, I glanced at the man. He somehow looked dazed. The earlier event must have been quite a shock.
"You seem quite surprised."
"Yeah. A little. Ac-actually, a lot..."
Seeing the stuttering man, it seemed the earlier situation was truly flustering. I could tell just by looking at his face how much shock he'd received. His slightly reddened face flushed crimson again as if about to catch fire.
"Your face..."
"N-no! I wasn't thinking anything!"
What were you thinking? I was just trying to tell him his face was so red it looked like it would burst, but he preemptively panicked and shook his head vigorously. Even waving both hands around. That reaction was somehow quite funny.
"A-anyway, why are you being so polite to me?"
"I'm always polite."
"No, why do you keep saying that. It's awkward."
"What do you mean?"
Then his red face contorted.
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Who are you?"
"Hey, it's me. Johnny!"
What?
"Johnny... the one who asked me to introduce Alicia...?"
"Yes! That's me!"
My jaw dropped. Johnny? That grubby man?
I quickly scanned him up and down. The neatly dressed man looked perfectly normal. That is, his face, without a single trace of dark, dirty grime, was clean.
"Good heavens! Are you really Johnny?"
"That's right! It's me!"
"You're really that grubby Johnny?"
"That's right, I was that grubby— oh, no. Wait a minute."
Johnny, who had been responding enthusiastically, suddenly stiffened his expression.
"Grubby?"
"..."
I immediately closed my mouth and turned away. I pretended I hadn't said anything, but I couldn't take back the words I'd already spoken.
"You're too much! What do you mean 'grubby' to a person! Was I that dirty?"
"Well... a little?"
Honestly, he was quite a lot grubby. At my answer, Johnny's expression became sullen. Even at his reaction, I didn't take back my words. Because facts are facts.
"You're still the same even here."
"You've changed a lot. I didn't recognize you."
"That much?"
"Yeah. You look like a different person."
Johnny felt his own face. He was asking if it was really that much. I nodded firmly. I hadn't known when he was covered in grime, but seeing his neatly arranged hair and clean face, he made a very good impression. I felt like I could believe he was a different person.
I scrutinized Johnny's face again. With that appearance, might he have a chance at succeeding in his one-sided love?
"How did you come here? Did you get an offer too?"
"No, someone else got the offer but I said I'd go too. They said they'd pay a lot. Did you come after getting an offer?"
"Not me, my younger sibling."
"Ah, of course."
What's 'of course' supposed to mean? His reaction was unpleasant but also familiar.
"They said they pay well."
I shrugged and stared blankly at the closed door. Johnny asked from beside me, "Right?" and quickly regained his cheerfulness.
"But you cut it here. It's gotten shorter."
He pointed at my bangs. Then a question arose.
"How did you recognize me?"
"Hmm?"
"I was covering my face with my bangs. Normally people can't recognize me."
"Don't you remember sweating while roasting because of the heat? Back then, your bangs were parted strand by strand and stuck to your face. I've seen your face thousands of times more."
So that's how it was. I thought I was covering it diligently, but I must have been helpless against the flowing sweat. I smiled awkwardly and turned my head. Johnny, saying he was glad to see me, slapped my back hard. I scowled and kicked his calf. Johnny screamed and grabbed his calf.
"Ow!"
"I hurt too. Stop hitting me."
That was when.
Suddenly the door opened and Alicia burst out, then fell to the floor. Johnny and I hurriedly approached Alicia.
Supported by Johnny, Alicia raised her upper body and fiercely glared straight ahead. There stood Joelly wearing only her undergarments.
"You're not much."
"..."
Joelly flipped her blonde hair back with an annoyed face. Even the gesture of flipping her hair oozed with irritation.
What could she have done so wrong. When I looked at Alicia, she was still glaring at Joelly with fierce eyes. For a moment, a strange tension flowed between the two women. I looked at Johnny in bewilderment. He had hastily turned around with a face red enough to burst. The most pitiful victim was right there in the midst of all this.
A white arm suddenly shot out from behind Johnny's back and wrapped around his body. Joelly pressed her face right against Johnny's back.
"Looking again?"
"Gasp."
Johnny made a face like his heart had stopped. At that reaction, Joelly laughed sweetly. Then she raised one hand and gently stroked Johnny's hair.
"What's your name?"
"Uh, um, uh, I, uh."
"Is your name Uuuuh-I-uh?"
"N-no. No sir. That's not it."
Johnny shook his head hastily.
"Then what is it?"
"J-J-J-Johnny. It's Johnny."
"Okay. Johnny. Nice to meet you. Wanna come to my room tonight?"
"What?"
"Hehe. Your surprised face is cute too."
Joelly tapped the flustered Johnny's face with her finger. At that gesture, Johnny stiffened rigidly. Joelly blew a warm breath by Johnny's ear. Suddenly coming to his senses, Johnny screamed and instantly escaped from her embrace, running to the opposite side.
At his incredible speed, no one could catch him as he left. I watched regretfully as his retreating figure grew smaller and became a dot in the distance.
"He's really my type."
Ecstasy could be felt in Joelly's voice. It felt like an innocent village youth had caught the eye of a mischievous noble lady. I sent words of comfort in my heart for the pitiful situations that would unfold.
After gazing for a while at the spot where Johnny had disappeared, Joelly looked at me this time.
"You, follow me."
She pointed at me and turned around. I was flustered by the sudden command but quickly collected myself and followed her.
Walking ahead, Joelly suddenly stopped and looked at Alicia.
"You can go."
Then she slipped into the room.
I helped Alicia to her feet and brushed off her wrinkled clothes. Then I glanced at the face that had been glaring at Joelly since earlier. Her eyes were going to pop out. Seeing her lips pressed tight, something must have happened.
I sighed and followed her into the room. When the door closed, Alicia's gaze also disappeared. How dare a servant stare so boldly at their superior. I should warn her later that she shouldn't do that.
When I turned around, Joelly was putting on a robe. She tied the sash wrapped around her waist and headed to the wardrobe. I blankly scanned her back.
She said her name was Joelly, was she the master of this mansion? Or the Count's wife? I leaned more toward the latter. Elegance could be felt in even her simple walking and small movements. I thought she must be a well-educated noble lady.
Standing in front of the wardrobe, she looked back at me. Only then did I quickly approach her side. And opened the wardrobe.
"Choose one."
"Me?"
"Yes. Something bright."
Something bright... I pondered for a moment at the difficult command. There were quite a lot of dresses hanging in the wardrobe. The colors and designs were diverse. It felt like every dress in the world was in this wardrobe.
I examined them one by one and considered quite carefully. Since she said something bright, wouldn't a light color do? So I chose a light blue one. Even after choosing, I wasn't confident. I glanced up at Joelly, and she pulled the corners of her mouth into a smile and shook her head. Meaning she didn't like it.
I put that back in the wardrobe and took out the white dress hanging next to it. But Joelly shook her head this time too.
After that, I picked out and offered dresses several more times. But they were all rejected. When I put back the light pink dress that was rejected again and took out a yellow dress to offer, Joelly seemed tired of rejecting and waved her hand, going to sit on a chair behind her.
Flustered, I examined the inside of the wardrobe again. Having everything I offered rejected, I didn't know what to take out this time.
"What's your name?"
"Po... Ann."
"Alright, Ann."
A voice mixed with laughter could be heard. I could feel her looking at me. However, without looking back at her, I continuously examined the inside of the wardrobe.
"Where did you come from, Ann?"
"I came from a small village. It's so small it doesn't have a separate name."
"Is that your hometown?"
"No. I have a separate hometown."
"Filton?"
At Joelly's question, I stopped rummaging through the dresses and turned around.
"How did you know?"
"The girl who was in my room until just now told me. She said you two are sisters?"
Ah. I nodded and went back to rummaging through the dresses. She must have asked Alicia the same questions she asked me. Thinking so, I diligently examined the dresses. Being continuously rejected made me even more careful in my choices. Perhaps bored of waiting, Joelly kept asking me questions.
"Is this your first time doing this kind of work?"
"It's not my first time."
"Hmm. Then have you done it somewhere else?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Not really anywhere worth mentioning."
As I was struggling to choose a dress, I answered roughly without knowing what I was saying. But sometimes when I received deeper questions, I did choose my answers carefully. Even during that time, I quickly examined the dresses with my eyes. Would this be good, or would that be good. After rummaging through countless dresses and pondering for a long time, I finally chose one.
It was a white dress with a design that clung tightly to the body. There was no noticeable pattern, but floral embroidery at the hem made it not simply plain. It seemed like it would be good to wear neatly.
Alright, it's decided!
"How about this one?"
I turned around with a bright smile. I showed Joelly the dress I had carefully chosen. If she says she doesn't like it this time too, I should ask if she'd rather choose herself. Thinking so, I looked at her, but her gaze was fixed not on the dress but on my face.
But that gaze was sharp. It was a piercing gaze enough to make the smile disappear from my face. Strange. I'm clearly smiling, so why does it feel like I'm being observed.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Ann is quite small and petite."
"Excuse me? Oh, yes. I am a bit small."
"Yeah. You'd be the smallest among the servants here."
She scanned me from top to bottom.