Chapter 21: 18

I went to the hot water room and sure enough, there was a female employee preparing tea. She noticed me and stuttered, but as soon as I told her what had happened, she prepared a tub of water and a towel.

 

「I’ll take it, will you bring the tea?」

「Eh, but…」

 

She understood that I was an aristocrat, dressed in simple plain clothes, but still in the finest clothes for a commoner, and she was incessantly apologetic, but I held the bucket.

 

「Please.」

 

After saying that, I quickly leave the kitchen. I felt bad for her, who was probably upset, but I didn’t want to waste time arguing with her. I want to bring the food as soon as possible, judging from Gaspar’s condition.

 

「What was that…?」

 

As I hurried my feet to the reception room, I noticed that one of the stores was noisier than the other. A high pitched, kinky voice could be heard. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I knew immediately that it was a woman’s screeching voice.

I stop for a moment at a bad premonition, and then I quietly peek through the glass door in the partition that separates the storefront from this side of the building.

 

「Uwaah…」

 

Bad feeling, dead on.

What I saw through the glass door was Countess Cierleifi Bower, her bright red hair shaking and glaring at the store employees, and Viscountess Alia Bolellan hiding behind her. They were both cronies of Her Royal Highness Princess Priscilla, whom I had met in the corridors of the palace. I felt sorry for Gaspar, but I was still glad to have entered through the back door.

 

In front of the ladies, the shoulders of an employee are shaking as she covers her face with her hands and lies face down. She is a young employee who looks more like a girl than a woman. The other customers either looked at him from a distance, as if they didn’t want to get involved, or they left the store in a hurry.

 

I saw Miss Cierleifi saying something to her. Perhaps because they have calmed down somewhat, or perhaps because they are not as screechy as they were earlier, I don’t hear any voices.

As I did so, a familiar man appeared. It was Neil, the manager of this jewelry store.

When he spoke to Miss Cierleifi and then to the employee girl, the girl nodded her head down, gave a small bow and walked away from the place. Rather, it came toward me.

I was holding the tub in my arms, and just as I moved away from the glass door to avoid bumping into it, the door opened.

 

「Oh no, watch out!」

 

Although she didn’t hit it in time, the water in the tub splashed on her clothes.

 

「…! I’m so sorry…!!!」

 

A girl looked up, her eyes widened when she saw me, and then she seemed to come to her senses and hurriedly lowered her head. I was about to say to her, “It’s okay,” when I saw the girl’s face in my eyes, and I couldn’t speak.

 

「…Hiek, I’m, so, so–rry…!」

 

The girl is beginning to sob at the sight of me, and she is visibly shaking all over.

 

「It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.」

 

The bad guy was me for peeking and not being able to avoid it.

 

「Come on, look up. See?」

 

I try to speak to her in a gentle tone of voice so as not to provoke her fright.

 

「…Y–Yes…」

 

Still, I can’t help but be frightened. I look at the girl’s cheeks as she looks up fearfully with her trembling body and know that I was not mistaken after all.

 

「That cheek got smacked, didn’t it?」

 

What’s wrong? I don’t ask. The girl’s cheeks were bright red and swollen. Moreover, there was a further swelling, three centimeters wide, at what was probably the center where he had been struck. It was clearly a mark made by being struck by a fan.

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「…Hiie… kku…」

 

The girl doesn’t answer, only sobs. She is probably too scared to answer. She was struck on the cheek by a noble, and I, a noble, am standing in front of her right now.

 

「It’s okay. It’s okay, so don’t cry.」

 

I set the tub down a little, squeeze a towel, and gently place it on the shivering girl’s cheek. With a jerk, the girl’s shoulders shook.

 

「I’m sorry for interrupting you here.」

「…T–Thank you… very… much…」

「It’s okay. Here, hold the towel tighter. You need to cool down.」

 

I take the girl’s hand and have her hold the towel against her cheek.

 

「It’s nice to meet you. I’m Marshallie Gracis. I’m a friend of the owner. You must have stuttered because you suddenly had no idea who I was. Sorry about that.」

「No, not at all…!」

「I see, thanks. What is your name?」

「…My name is Karie…」

 

The girl answered as she peeked at me, leaving her sobbing.

 

「I see, your name is Karie. That’s a nice name. Karie is still young, but you must be very talented to be working here.」

「No, that’s not true…」

 

At my line, Karie shook her head as if she was afraid and turned her head down again. She must have thought my words were flattery.

 

「That’s true. I know how hard it is to work here. You have to learn a lot just to stand at the counter, don’t you?」

 

It means that in order to stand at the counter where commoners need to serve the nobility, they need to learn the etiquette that is acceptable to the nobility. It will also be important to have knowledge of the many other types of gemstones and metals, and to train the eye to guide each customer to the right piece of jewelry. Standing at the counter means being the face of the store.

 

「That’s true… but… the truth is, I’m… still an apprentice…」

「Apprentice?」

「Yes… Normally, it would be too early to go out to the store… but we’re short on staff… so…」

 

Indeed, the employees in the store and the one who was in the hot water room earlier were people I did not know. None of them were veterans from when the store opened.

 

「I see. Perhaps today was your counter debut?」

「Yes…」

 

Karie slowly began to have tears in her eyes again. She remembered the shock of being struck on the cheek. She was still learning, an apprentice, and it would’ve taken courage to stand at the counter in a hurry. I could feel that she was so nervous that his heart was almost bursting with anxiety and anticipation. I could relate to it even more because I had had a similar experience in the past.

 

「Well, congratulations on that. Good for you.」

 

For whatever reason, he was recognized for his ability to stand at the counter. That is something I should be honestly happy about.

 

「…urk, there’s… not good…」

 

Not good on that! And with a sob, Karie began to cry in earnest.

In her sobs, I could see the regret of not serving customers well, the fear of being struck on the cheek, and the despair of the job of standing at the counter, which I knew I longed for.

 

「Yeah, that was tough. But you know…」

 

The moment I released my next words, Karie looked up with a pout.

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