Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Edgar wasn’t going to tell the truth to anyone. To tell the truth, he would have to reveal the dirty truth of his parents’ death. And that he had been cursed by a nymph.

Nymphs were immortal beings who lived on their own island on the other side of the wide ocean. They would come to the continent from time to time and teach people the teaching of the gods.

The nymph of fire taught how to use iron, the nymph of love taught wedding rituals, and the nymph of water taught how to purify water for drinking. They also delivered the holy books of the gods and that allowed humans to be different from monsters. All the kingdoms in the continent, including Seritos, thought of them as sacred.

However, what if the world got to find out that Edgar had been cursed by a nymph?

Everything his family had achieved would be turned to ashes. It wasn’t just about him falling down. His domain, businesses, and all the lives of the researchers and workers who worked for him would be destroyed.

Edgar didn’t want to risk that. He also knew well enough that he had many enemies. He had been trying so hard to find a clue to break the curse of the nymph for the last three years. Unfortunately, his progress had been too slow.

Then, the lead ‘Rubica Berner’ emerged from a gift his late nurse had left him. At first, he thought about asking Rubica Berner to become one of the maids in the mansion. However, he was a single nobleman, and currently, there wasn’t anyone else to be served by a maid in the family.

Mr. and Mrs. Berner were, of course, capable of sending Rubica to become his maid for money, but then she would have gotten into a scandal. So, he decided to choose a way to bring her to his side officially and justly.

‘Marriage.’

It was the easiest way to bring a woman, who lived far away and didn’t know him, closer without making any scandal. Of course, he could have temporarily moved near the Berner Mansion, but because of his curse, he couldn’t pretend to run into her under the bright sunlight and get to know her.

Edgar thought it would be easier to actively make use of the misunderstanding created by his relatives than to reveal the truth and handle the risks. Moreover, there was someone who misunderstood Edgar’s love the most, the love that even Zilehan, who spoke the word ‘love’ first but didn’t believe it.

It was Ann.

‘My Eddie is in love?’

Ann was so touched that she almost cried. Eddie, who had been crawling on the floor, had already grown up and was old enough to take a wife.

How much would his late mother and nurse be delighted to know that? Eddie’s child would certainly be smart and cute like him.

‘Would Eddie be able to smile again like before?’

Edgar had lost his smile after the sudden deaths of his father, mother, and nurse. It was only natural. He had lost the three people who had been the most important to him in a single accident…

Ann looked at Edgar who kept working as if he didn’t want to waste time thinking about his worries. She hoped he would relax again. Then he decided to get married to a woman from such a lowly family.

Love was the only thing that could explain that, and love was capable of making even the coldest man smile.

“If any of you behaves disrespectfully in front of Lady Berner, who will become the duchess, I will kick you out of this mansion.”

After the relatives’ meeting, she summoned the maids and made the announcement.

Ann was a sweet lady, but she was always hard on the maids who committed something wrong, and she never took back what she said.

The Claymore Family paid more than any other noble family and the work was comparatively easy. Therefore, the maids took Ann’s warning to their heart.

For a week, Ann looked forward to meeting Rubica as if she was the one about to get married. Moreover, when she finally got to meet her, she could see the lady was even better than she had expected.

‘Eddie has found himself a good lady.’

Housekeepers of high ranked noble families as old as Ann got to see many noblemen, maids, and servants.

They could read the person’s character, life, and virtues on his or her one action and sentence.

Ann could quickly tell that Rubica was kind and always thought of others first. She was puzzled by Ann’s endless speaking, but she didn’t lose her smile and tried to listen carefully.

Ann was sure Rubica would bring the warm sunlight to the cold mansion and fill it with laughter.

“This is your room, Lady Berner. We have prepared water here, and you can take a nap on the bed if you are tired.”

Ann took Rubica to the room that had been occupied by the duchesses for generations.

Rubica’s eyes widened at seeing the feminine room that was completely different from the ones she had just passed by. It was cute, and it made Ann smile.

“This room is so beautiful.”

Rubica didn’t know the room was the duchess’ chamber. Instead, she was just surprised to be given such a large room.

“Yes, this is the room you will use from now.”

“From now?”

“This is the duchess’ room.”

“What? This is the duchess’ room?”

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Rubica didn’t know what to think of it. When she arrived at the mansion, she thought they would mock her for coming from a baronet’s family.

However, both the maid, who had served her inside the carriage, and the housekeeper were so kind to her.

Rubica wanted to say she couldn’t stay at the duchess’ room and request a room for a guest, but Ann didn’t give her the time to do that.

She immediately took Rubica to the dressing room adjacent to the chamber and told her where her dresses, shoes, and hats were.

“As we only had a week’s time, we couldn’t prepare a lot of clothes. Inside this drawer are your nightdresses. This drawer contains your dressing gowns, this drawer is full of dresses for meals and feasts, and this drawer contains dresses for strolls.”

Had she said they had prepared only a few clothes just out of manner?

However, as Ann really looked troubled and sorry, Rubica couldn’t even joke about it.

“As these dresses were originally the duke’s grandmother’s, none of them are from the latest fashion. If you tell your size to the seamstresses, they will be able to make a few dressing gowns quickly. As for dresses for going out and feasts, I’ve asked Carl to prepare a list of famous tailors nearby.”

Ann was right, the nightdresses were all new, but the dresses were old. However, they had been stored well and the silk still glittered.

‘… so strange. The dress I am wearing and every dress in the closet, they all once belonged to the duke’s grandmother. What happened to his mother’s dresses?’

However, Rubica couldn’t bring herself to ask that question. The sudden death of Edgar’s parents had been less than 3 years ago. Everyone at the mansion had to be still recovering from it.

“Thank you for everything, Mrs. Taylor.”

Rubica thanked. Then, Ann bent her knee to bow.

“Please call me Ann, Lady Berner.”

“But you are much older than me… and I am only a guest here, I’m not the duchess yet.”

Ann smiled again at this as Edgar had chosen the right woman. She didn’t look down on people even though her social status had soared up high.

Edgar didn’t care about her rank, he just wanted her as his wife. Lovers are truly like each other…

Ann’s misunderstanding only got bigger.

“It is fine now, but it would be a problem for me if you officially become the duchess.”

Rubica felt troubled as well. The maid in the carriage had been of her age, but Ann appeared to be much, much older.

She had never called anyone so older than herself by his or her name. Even though she still remembered the old days of her previous life, she was now 22 years old.

In addition to that, one had to be at least the daughter of a count to become the housekeeper of a duke’s family. Nevertheless, even to Rubica’s knowledge, a duchess using the honorific to a housekeeper was strange.

“I will try… Ann.”

Ann smiled brightly at this. After that, she told Rubica where the accessories that could be put on simply were and locations of the cream for the face and eyebrow paint.

Everything was there. It was hard to believe that it had all been prepared in only a week.

‘She is good at her job.’

Rubica looked at Ann with admiration.

How much had she worked to become the housekeeper of such a great family? As she had made the mistake of calling Edgar’s childhood nickname, she must have worked there for a long time.

She had worked so long without making any mistakes at such a great family. It showed how good she was at her job.

“You must be tired. I will leave now so that you will be able to rest. Please pull the rope attached to the bell if you need anything. If you want to take a stroll or eat something, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

Rubica doubted traveling in the mana stone carriage could be called tiring.

She had rather slept and rested well thanks to the fluffy bed inside the carriage for the first time in decades.

But now, Ann seemed so worried about her. Plus, she wanted to be alone in the room.

Rubica nodded and Ann left, only after repeatedly telling her to call her if she needed anything for three times.

As soon as she left, Rubica, who had been sitting quietly and calmly, jumped to her feet.

“Oh my! So pretty! The pattern in this wallpaper, who has drawn it? I’ve never seen such a pretty color. And this glittering detail, what kind of pigment is this?”

Now, she could exclaim and praise the beautiful things around her without any disturbance.

“Who has knitted the laces in these curtains? How can anyone knit so evenly and thin laces? I would only believe it if they stole them from the nymph who made them.”

Rubica studied everything that decorated the room one by one and tried to memorize their beauty. She didn’t have enough time, staying up the whole night wasn’t going to be enough.