“When is the party at Katarina Bisye’s estate?”
“The night after tomorrow.”
“Good. We’re going to find a maid at the Bisye estate who needs money. I know a maid there.”
“Yes……? We’re drawing in a maid? Is that really necessary?”
Henri’s jaw dropped. Olivier smiled, pleased.
“At any rate, it’ll cause a stir for about a year before dying down. If word gets out that I courted a maid like some lovesick fool, I’ll look like an even bigger idiot, and I’ll be able to avoid the marriage market for as long as possible.”
“Of course, your name will be worth dung. Your reputation will certainly plummet, but…….”
“What time does Grandmother depart tomorrow?”
“She leaves on the half past nine A.M. ship.”
“A plan blessed by the heavens.”
Indeed, tomorrow Elenore d’Ampierre was scheduled to take a sailing ship bound for the New World and be away for roughly a month.
Isn’t this too rushed no matter what……? No, it is urgent……. While Henri tilted his head, Olivier snapped his fingers and called a servant over.
“Have a dark-blue four-horse carriage on standby to draw people’s attention. Choose the finest clothes. And have a bouquet prepared at the florist. It needn’t be too large. She is not that great a woman.”
“Shall I prepare a gift as well? Jewelry, perhaps?”
Olivier, who had fallen into thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes. What should he give her?
“There is no need to spend much money. Just prepare a ring box.”
The moment Henri dashed out, Olivier strode into the bathroom and carelessly tossed aside his remaining clothes. Having finally regained his usual composure, a confident smile crossed his sleek face once more.
To hell with you, Mademoiselle R.
To hell with you, Ejon society!
* * *
Since morning, the Bisye servants had been half out of their wits. The closer the day of the social party drew, the more Katarina’s outrages grew beyond all bounds.
The chef in particular would flush bright red at the mere mention of the young lady’s name. Not satisfied with nitpicking every single dish presented as a sample, she had flown into a rampage and even smashed food into the chef’s face.
“Pick it up and eat it! I’m telling you to taste for yourself how much garbage you’ve made!”
Deemed guilty of offending the young lady’s mood, the chef crawled on all fours, ate the food spilled on the floor, and then went out and wept bitterly all day long.
“She wasn’t so extreme in the past.”
“She was spoiled rotten growing up, so nothing is good enough for her.”
“Still, she’s going too far. Why is she being so cruel?”
Wondering just how Katarina had ended up in such a state, the servants would gather in the annex to gossip at every opportunity.
Then Denise, returning from an outing, voiced a reasonable suspicion.
“Olivier d’Ampierre is coming. And to the Bisye estate for the first time, at that.”
The servants let out a collective sigh of understanding. “Ah……”
Yet one question still lingered, not fully resolved.
“No, even so. Honestly, our young lady does not match Viscount Olivier d’Ampierre…….”
“Right, the Bisye family has great influence, but how can they compare to House d’Ampierre?”
As if she had expected that, Denise pulled the others close by their shoulders and whispered quietly.
“Listen. Right now, everyone in Ejon’s high society is watching Katarina Bisye.”
“What?”
“I had lunch with a maid from Count Monceaux’s household earlier, and she said Viscount Monceaux is very close with Viscount Olivier d’Ampierre.”
“That scoundrel? So?”
“Count Monceaux tried again and again, countless times, to bring Viscount Olivier d’Ampierre to social parties, but the viscount refused coldly every single time.”
“Really? That’s unexpected.”
“Right? Unless it was a patron’s gathering in a salon, or some absolutely mandatory occasion, he never attended. Anyway, that’s how it was, but this time, as if some whim struck him, he reached out very abruptly and…….”
Denise’s eyes gleamed.
“He sent word that he would attend ‘Katarina Bisye’s party.’ The first time in years!”
“No wonder the young lady is under so much pressure.”
“Viscount Monceaux has a very big mouth. He’s been muttering that it seems Olivier is finally going to find romance, finally going to find love, things like that.”
“What nonsense. He’s in the papers with some new romance rumor every other day.”
When someone asked, puzzled, Denise snorted and muttered with feigned haughtiness.
“His heart might not have been in it, but his body certainly was. It is House d’Ampierre’s young master, after all.”
“Anyway, everyone is dying of curiosity to see who Olivier d’Ampierre will attach himself to. It’s always been nothing but rumors! Who knows, reporters might even sneak in.”
Indeed…… it was a convincing story! The servants exchanged glances and nodded continuously. Denise, crunching on a pastry, beckoned to Amelie, who had just entered the dining hall.
“Amelie, good work. Come on over!”
Amelie smiled brightly and stepped into their midst; the servants gradually shifted to make space for her.
“That was tough. Good job.”
“I’m fine.”
She had just finished sorting through mountains of napkins, spreading tablecloths, and cleaning up various places around the mansion.
“Amelie, eat this.”
The chef quickly took Amelie’s hand and pressed honey pastries into her palm that she had furtively pocketed before heading to the main building.
“Thank you, Madame Marie.”
Perhaps because they had both suffered humiliation at Katarina’s hands, the chef had grown especially affectionate toward Amelie lately. Denise asked, her eyes full of concern.
“Amelie, aren’t you tired?”
Amelie smiled faintly.
“I’m truly fine. A tired body is far better than a tired mind. And I can take a short break with everyone like this.”
“Good. Katarina will be more careful next time. I heard the mistress found out and gave the young lady a severe scolding.”
In truth, an enormous, unpayable debt plagued her far more than Katarina Bisye’s cruelty, but Amelie, unable to reveal this, bit fiercely into the pastry.
As the other maids patted Amelie’s small shoulders, continuously exclaiming how relieved they were.
That Amelie had been able to get away from Katarina’s room, even briefly, was largely due to Madame Maxine’s doing.
She had greatly exaggerated the crime—“The maid dared to vomit in the young lady’s room; the sin of soiling the master’s clothes is great”—and with grandiose talk about how Amelie had been too impudent and stripped of the glory of becoming the young lady’s close attendant, she had managed to pull Amelie out.
“So, what were you all talking about?”
“Ah, Amelie. We were talking about Viscount Olivier d’Ampierre. He’s attending a social party for the first time in ages, and it’s tomorrow of all days. That’s why Katarina is rampaging like that.”
Having finished the summary, Denise crunched on a cookie and smiled.
“Olivier d’Ampierre?”
At the sound of that name, Amelie’s face immediately darkened. The contempt she had felt in the alley. Those terrifying eyes that had shoved her against the wall and snarled at her.
The memory of that day when she had been forced to lay her most sordid depths bare before the man who considered himself above all others churned through her mind again, throwing it into turmoil.
To him, it was probably nothing but a fleeting misunderstanding, a trivial incident he would soon forget. But to Amelie, it was a matter of pride.
She had clearly been the one humiliated on the street. That terrible, humiliating moment when she had had to prove her own innocence without receiving a single word of apology.
Was it not all because she was a maid?
Recalling Olivier d’Ampierre’s contemptuous gaze, Amelie shuddered with a sickened expression.
“What on earth did you do to incur such a massive debt, far beyond your station?” “What a worthless father you must have, to send a daughter to prison”…….
Even without uttering them through those haughty lips, his arrogant gaze looking down on her as if she were an insect had said it all.
Her hands trembling as she accepted the wad of bills. The moment she had been unable to hide her fingernails stained black by filthy sewer water and had revealed them…….
“Amelie, Amelie?”
Amelie jolted from her reverie and raised her head sharply. Denise and the other servants were looking at her with worry.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yes. So he’s coming?”
Amelie quickly composed her expression and smiled.
“Yes, they say Olivier d’Ampierre is coming. To find his love.”
Amid the tittering servants, Amelie made a face of revulsion.
“What love nonsense.”
“It’ll be a sight to see. Who will he get involved with?”
“Maybe he’ll dance.”
“We should tail him secretly. Carry a silver tray and pretend not to watch, peeking under whose skirts that haughty face goes. I simply must see.”
Denise snickered, crunching on a pastry.
“Amelie, come with me. We’ll pretend to fix the tablecloth while peeking under the table.”
“I’ve never seen him before. I’m dying to know how handsome he is.”
“I saw him twice from a distance. He’s not human. He literally glows.”
“He’s incredibly tall, too. He glows because he’s so statuesque, but the short nobles beside him looked so ugly. Like pigs with big bellies poking out…….”
Laughter erupted. As the chatter continued and time passed, more explicit remarks began to pop up one by one.
“Honestly, if it were Viscount Olivier d’Ampierre, I think even spending one night with him would be rapturous.”
At the bold confession of one thoughtless maid, the other maids all raised their eyebrows in unison.
“Just live off that memory. I slept with Ejon’s greatest man! I saw his face panting like a dog!”
“You actually get to see his face?”
Amid the raucous laughter, Amelie sat stiffly, awkwardly playing along. She kept recalling that gaze looking down on her, wanting to flee to a quiet place.
“Well, it is Olivier d’Ampierre. Somehow, he seems like he’d be gentlemanly about it.”
Just then, someone slammed their hand down on the table. Bang.
“Shut your trap!”