Chapter 14: 14

It had been over two weeks since Loretta and Melody came to the Duke’s house. The two girls enjoyed the transition from hot summer to sunny autumn without any worries.

Of course, that’s only what it looks like on the surface. Melody’s stomach kept churning as the days passed. Her concern was that the treatment she was receiving was very good, too good in Melody’s opinion.

The butler couple liked Melody and treated her as if she was their own granddaughter. They would scold her until her legs tremble when she did something wrong, and then give her a prize while saying that she did a good job for a very trivial task. She was grateful for their overwhelming hospitality, but she was anxious at the same time.

Needless to say, Melody’s mother sometimes treated her that kindly. On the days her business was going well or when she was in a good mood, she would praise Melody as if she was the best daughter in the world. But as time passed, her warmth would disappear again and she would return to being her scary mother.

‘This is dangerous.’ (e/n: not actually dangerous, she’s just afraid of letting her guard down and because she thinks this kindness won’t last so she doesn’t want to get used to it)

They couldn’t always be kind to Melody, because up until now, things haven’t always been good. Perhaps someday, she will be treated as a freeloader here. It wasn’t actually that bad since she wasn’t doing anything. She didn’t actually do anything so it might not be so bad to be treated like that. That’s why Melody wanted to do something to help the mansion even if it’s little, before it’s too late.

She was wondering if she could stop them from treating her as a freeloader one day, however, Melody wasn’t even allowed to do laundry. On the contrary, the other maids would wash and iron her clothes.

One day when the sky got closer to autumn and became even bluer, Melody mustered up her courage and went to the Grandmother’s room.

“I also want to do something, Grandma.”

“Good, I happen to need a little hand here.”

And surprisingly, the Grandma hired her on the spot. She’s finally getting her job done! Melody was excited and ran to the Grandmother.

“What should I do? I clean well and I can read!”

“How many times did you say the same thing over and over again? Everyone knows that there’s a chatterbox in the Duke’s mansion even without you saying that! Sit there.”

The Grandmother pointed to a nearby chair with her chin, and Melody quickly sat down. Then, she smelled a savory scent in front of her. It was peanuts. The hard shell was already removed and it only has its inner thin shell.

“My hands are so chapped and those darn inner skins won’t come off. Now, you peel off all the skins.”

“Leave it to me!”

Melody was excited and quickly peeled off the thin skin while collecting the white kernels separately.

“No, why are you doing it like that!”

However, it seems that the grandmother did not like Melody’s method somehow.

“Are you an ant or a squirrel? Why do you keep piling up the food? If you take off the skin, you should eat it.”

“Am I supposed to eat it when I peel it?”

“Then, are you saying that this woman with calloused hands should peel it and offer it to you? The newly roasted peanuts nuts have a rich nutty flavor. That is, if you have a sense of taste.”

It was really savory when she tried the peanuts at the Grandmother’s words. It was a little warm.

“It’s delicious.”

“Hmph, how can you just eat it yourself without asking the elderly to have a try? You don’t seem to be affectionate.”

Melody quickly gave the granny some ground peanuts and spoke again.

“I also want to help with something.”

“Say those words after you grow up if you have a conscience.”

“I’m all grown up.”

“This fluffy thing is pretending to be an adult sheep!”

Grandma said that with a very bitter face, but the word ‘adult sheep’ was a bit ridiculous, so Melody chuckled.

“Besides, tomorrow will be very busy.”

“Tomorrow? What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Guests are coming.”

Melody was reminded of the contents of the original novel with the word ‘guests’. When she thought of it, there was a mention of the elders coming right before them going to the temple.

“They are the three elders who lead the Duke’s family. They are a bunch of nagging old people.”

See, I was right.

“Then, you must be busy tomorrow, right?”

Melody asked with a face as if expecting something.

“Hey, even if you ask that, do you think I’ll borrow a small sheep’s hand?”

“But…….”

The little girl bowed her head with a downcast mood. Seeing her like that, the old woman was worried as she clicked her tongue and shook her head. The weak-minded child must’ve felt uncomfortable with just playing around and eating comfortably.

“…..I understand.”

“Yes?”

“If you say so, I’ll give you a job.”

“Really?!”

“But, you’ll only get a job after the busy day tomorrow.”

“Anytime is fine! Until then, I will be very quiet!”

“Uhm, that’s right. You’re quite an annoying and troublesome child.”

When she thought that she could finally do something, Melody was very happy. Even if Mrs. Higgins was harsh, it looks like she has probably always been a very nice person. She didn’t know why such a nice person was just a side-character in the original novel who didn’t have even a single line. Maybe it’s because the second son is also a tsundere so they didn’t want the attribute to overlap.

‘That’s probably why. If tsundere characters come out after one another, I don’t think it would be any fun for readers.’

Melody nodded slightly.

“If you understand, go now. I have to go and get ready to welcome the guests.”

Grandma gave Melody all the peanuts that were still left uneaten and sent her out of the room. Melody said ‘I’ll eat well!’ and walked down the hallway happily.

I need to go back and eat more peanuts. Melody felt excited as she repeated it to herself.

As Melody left Mrs. Higgins room and came inside her room, she saw a boy from across the hallway sneaking in front of the room. Of course, Melody could recognize him at a glance, so she approached him to give greetings.

“Hello, Young Master Ronnie.”

“Oh, you scared me!”

He glanced towards Melody’s room, then looked back at her in surprise.

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“Are you looking for a bathroom?”

Melody pointed to his unstable and twisted lower body, and asked kindly. He probably doesn’t come to the first floor very often, so she wondered if he didn’t know where the toilet was.

“Oh, don’t be funny! Who do you think would need to go there?!”

With a bright red face, he completely denied human physiology.

“I’m glad it’s not urgent.”

“I’m not in any hurry!”

Ronnie groaned, but still looked around and looked worried about something.

Are you sure you don’t want to go?

“How long are you going to keep me here? What if someone comes and sees me talking to you?”

“Did you come to see me?!”

“That’s… right.”

He answered and turned his strangely grimacing face slightly. It was a face that looked like he was putting up with some kind of humiliation.

“Then, would you like to come in?”

“Hurry up!”

“Sorry. I thought the Young master would never come to see me.”

Melody opened the door and went in, then offered him a seat on the sofa. Befitting his cheeky personality, he sat at the top and crossed his dangling short legs.

“Won’t you serve me tea?”

He grunted and pretended to be an adult for nothing, but Melody knew he was old enough to prefer snacks over tea.

“There’s no other choice, I’ll give you some peanuts instead.”

“Peanuts! You’ll give them to me!”

Of course he’ll go crazy. Since he was a child, he would eat the nuts one by one when the old butler gave him a peeled one. It was all in the original novel!

“If you don’t like it, then I will eat them alone.”

Melody carefully laid out a wrapping cloth with peanuts on the table. It’s hard to eat peanuts while sitting on the sofa, so Melody squatted by the tea table and started cracking peanuts.

“Here, you don’t know how to crack peanuts, do you?”

When Melody held out the white peanuts, he screamed and stood up from his seat.

“Oh, don’t be funny! Do you think I’m an idiot who can’t even peel peanuts?”

Like Melody, he squatted next to the tea table and started cracking peanuts. She really thought he wouldn’t be able to, but she was surprised at how well it came out.

“Wow.”

Melody frankly admired his work, and the boy seemed to be slightly proud of it.

“How about it? It tastes better than with your clumsy skills.”

He held out a well-ripened peanut, and Melody quickly took it and put it in her mouth.

“I don’t know if it tastes any different.”

“Hey, it can’t be! Stay still. I’ll give it to you again!”

As he began to peel the peanuts with a determined expression, Melody stared blankly, resting her chin in her hand.

“You are doing well.”

“I’m not boasting or anything, but I even peeled off the hard shells last year.”

“Your hands must have hurt since it is pretty hard!”

“You’re even weak in little things like this, really. What are you going to do on your own?”

The boy seemed to be happy that he is stronger than Melody.

“By the way, why did you come to see me? Do you have any business?”

Melody posed a question while picking up peanuts that piled up one by one like ant food in front of her.

“Look at you, asking about my business…!”

“Ah, so you’re actually looking for Loretta.”

The boy mumbled as if he was dissatisfied with something, and placed another peanut in front of Melody.

“Did you hear that…?”

“Hear what?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Ah. I heard that the elders of the duke are coming.”

“What, you already know?”

It seems that the boy was a little dissatisfied that Melody heard the news first. Well, she didn’t know why it was dissatisfying for him to hear.

“Are you here to tell me?”

“Come closer.”

“Yes?”

“Come closer!”

As he screamed, Melody put down the peanut she was holding and sat down close to Ronnie.

“Why?”

Is it because the distance between them narrowed? His voice turned to whisper. He looked around, then bowed his head slightly and answered.

“It’s good to be careful.”

“With adults?”

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