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Chapter 72 Part 4 – The Beginning of a Tragic Night

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The night wind blew.
But it was warm inside the mansion in a high-class residential area.
It was very different from Rona’s house, which was full of cracks and crevices.

「You have a beautiful handwriting.」

「…… Hyaaii!?」

Wendell’s red eyes looked at her by chance as she was writing.
Rona let out a strange voice, then she blushed.

「I’m so embarrassed to have the noble Wendell-sama see something like this ……」

Being extremely conscious of his gaze and the strange sound she just made, Rona hastily tried to cover the document with her entire upper body.

「What do you think? I think Rona-chan has great handwriting.」

Marielle puffed up her chest as if she was bragging about herself and Wendell nodded in agreement.

「You’re right.」

「Eh, really, um, somehow, I’m sorry.」

Feeling panicked and confused, Rona started apologizing and plopped down on the desk face down.

Wendell smiled and lightly stroked Rona on the head as he approached.

「There’s nothing to hide. It’s said that the handwriting represents the person and it seems that it’s true. Your handwriting is just like the straightforward and gentle Rona.」

Rona hid her face so that her blushing cheeks wouldn’t be seen, but hearing Wendell say something like that, she couldn’t bear it anymore.

Rona nearly let out a ‘Hiyaaaaaahhhh’ sound. She covered her mouth with both hands and desperately stopped her scream from leaking out.
She felt overwhelmed and was on the verge of fainting.

Wendell’s voice when he said, 「You have a beautiful handwriting」 and 「Handwriting represents the person」, reverberated inside Rona’s head.

Could it be that he is telling me that I’m beautiful in a roundabout way?
Uun, it’s too embarrassing for someone like me to be so conceited.
But could it be possible ……!! But ……!!

Rona’s heart pounded and soared with elation, then fell down with self-loathing, and then pounded again.
The throbbing heartbeat made her fingertips tingle.

Rona repeated the cycle of feeling bewildered, excited, and saddened.
She felt ashamed of her emotional instability.

Rona was still oblivious that she is experiencing her first love.
For her, this young noble that is indifferent to his own charms was too formidable an opponent.

Rona was overwhelmed with emotions and fell silent.
Seeing her reaction, Wendell immediately stopped his hand from further stroking her head.

「Sorry. Rona’s brunette hair is so beautiful that I unconsciously touched it. You must have felt uncomfortable.」

「No!! I didn’t feel uncomfortable!! It’s like a reward!! To the point that I wish my head could be stroked by Wendell-sama all the time!!」

Rona forgot her embarrassment and jumped up and shouted to the depressed Wendell.

Rona had no idea what she was talking about.
She was intent on not wanting to hurt Wendell’s feelings.
At her straightforward words, Wendell was flustered, but he still smiled.

「I’m glad you didn’t hate it. I see, Rona likes to have her hair stroked. Should I comb it? Or would you prefer it to be stroked with my hand?」

「…… Uuh, p-please stroke it with your hand ……」

Rona was stared at by Wendell and couldn’t hide her face.
Her whole body was dyed red like a boiled octopus. She had no choice but to say it truthfully.

The white-bearded Brian was watching the situation from the side. He lowered his voice and said to Marielle next to him.

「F-For some reason, it makes my heart tingle just looking at them. I must have aged. I wonder if I was like that when I was young.」

「Don’t worry. That scene will make even the hearts of young people tingle. Rona-chan’s prince stroked her head as if he was lovingly stroking a rabbit. Without even realizing that she is in love with him, her emotions swing from joy to sorrow at his every move. It’s a long road ahead. Really ……」

Marielle sighed and smiled wryly.

「But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Rona-chan had a greater aptitude for the various duties of a maid than I had expected. If she trains hard enough, she’ll be able to work somewhere a little closer to the young master. After all, if she becomes a scullery maid, it would be rare for her to have the chance to see the young master. That …… would be too much for that earnest girl.」

Scullery maids are the lowest level maids.
Being a scullery maid is a harsh job where the maid is forced to spend all their time washing a huge amount of dishes and do miscellaneous tasks for the servants.

Marielle tried various things to figure out what Rona could do when working as a maid at Wendell’s mansion. She was feeling the parental affection to develop Rona’s strengths and give her as much of an advantage as possible. The word ‘maid’ refers to a variety of roles and there are considerable differences in treatment. The results were excellent. Marielle had been watching over her with a nervous heart and was surprised at the result.

「…… Okay, that’s the end of the test. Good job, Rona-chan.」

Rona stood up and waited for the evaluation with a tense look.
Looking at her, Marielle smiled.

「You passed it perfectly. You can embroider, read, and write. You also have good taste. It’s like an unexpected bargain. Actually, it would be more suitable for you to become the lady’s maid of a young lady, but unfortunately, the young master is a guy. So I think it would be better for you to become a housemaid that also serves as a caretaker for the three old men there. After all, you can also cook. I’m sure the combination of a bunch of withered old men and a young Rona-chan won’t cause any unjust suspicions.」

「Hey, Marielle. What do you mean by ‘withered’? We are not so old that we need someone to take care of us.」

The brown-bearded Bill was indignant, but Marielle roared and pushed aside his words.

「You idiot!! Servants have their own hierarchy. If she gets along with the young master who is a noble, she’ll end up making unnecessary enemies. Not to mention that Rona-chan is too young. Just in case, I will give her a letter of introduction saying that she has worked in my house, but that won’t make her become a senior servant. But in your private room, there are no eyes of other servants. That way Rona-chan can talk without any scruples with the young master.」

「…… Hmm, I agree with Marielle’s plan. As long as Rona doesn’t mind being with us old men. I guess both of you don’t have a problem with that plan either, right? Young master, do you agree to the plan as well?」

「As long as Rona doesn’t get influenced by Marielle to complain about us drinking too much, I have no problem with it.」

「Well, I guess from now on we can’t stand naked and swear loudly. Welcome to our cave, Rona.」

Starting with the white-bearded Brian, the black-bearded Bobby and the brown-bearded Bill also agreed.

When Brian asked whether he agreed or not, Wendell nodded his head.

「I’m looking forward to working with you, Rona. If you have any difficulties or problems, don’t hesitate to talk to me during the secret tea parties in the old men’s room.」

「Um, I’d rather drink alcohol than tea though ……」

Marielle silently glared at Blackbeard who said that.

「…… Y-Yes!! Please take care of me!! I will do my best!!」

Rona bowed her head, but stopped midway through her actions.
She then changed her posture and pinched the ends of her skirt and bent her body in a graceful bow.
Everyone inside the room couldn’t help but smile at her dainty, wild flower-like appearance.

「…… It looks like you’ve gotten accustomed to it quite a bit. By the way, Rona-chan, you know a lot of things. That’s quite an achievement at your age.」

Rona smiled shyly at Marielle’s compliment.

「…… My mother taught me a lot of things. But for etiquette, I was only taught simple table manners because my father thought it was an insinuated insult toward his fallen noble status ……」

Rona’s aptitude was a legacy from her mother.
Rona’s mother came from a fairly wealthy background.
Even though their family became poor, she taught Rona as much as she could, such as reading, writing, and sewing.

「…… She must have been a splendid mother. It’s not easy to do that while living in poverty. Her teachings are now helping Rona-chan. Be thankful. Your mother really loved Rona-chan.」

Marielle could not help but have respect for Rona’s mother and spoke of her admiration.
After hearing that, while still standing up, the girl that has a strong heart began to cry out loud like a small child.

「S-Sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?」

Rona shook her head at the panicked Marielle.

「…… That’s not it ……!! …… I’m just so happy because Marielle-san praised my mother ……!! Because I’m really proud of my mother ……!!」

Marielle couldn’t stand it anymore and hugged the sobbing Rona close to her chest.