Zen raised one eyebrow and spoke in a displeased tone.

“I didn’t know you enjoyed holding hands so much.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Deborah realize that she had been holding Cedric’s hand all this time.

Deborah hastily let go of his hand and said,

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No. I didn’t let go either.”

Cedric smiled amiably, easing Deborah’s embarrassment. However, that kind smile looked creepy and sly to Zen.

Feeling the intense gaze, Cedric rolled his eyes to examine Zen’s expression.

‘Hmm?’

Cedric turned his gaze back to Deborah to examine her expression. She looked even more confused than before. Surely, a handshake that was longer than average couldn’t be such a troubling matter?

‘It doesn’t seem to be because of that. Ah, perhaps…’

Having realized something, Cedric carefully said to Deborah,

“Just in case, I should mention that I didn’t pack Ms. Johnson’s belongings. Another maid at Madam Saint’s mansion helped with that.”

At this kind explanation, Deborah thought. Ah. Cedric is misunderstanding.

‘I wasn’t worried about that at all.’

Deborah was human too. Of course, she didn’t like the idea of someone else, especially a strong man, going through her personal belongings.

But Deborah knew very well that Madam Saint and the maid Abigail wouldn’t have allowed such a thing.

So Deborah was more concerned about Zen sending the butler all the way to Bermuz just to pack a maid’s luggage.

‘Why didn’t he just ask me to bring it? I’m not even working right now anyway.’

Unable to confess her true thoughts to Cedric, who was showing undisguised regret with drooping eyebrows, Deborah said,

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Cedric shook his head.

“It’s noth-”

“How long do you plan to stand around in the hallway like this?”

Zen’s irritated voice cut off Cedric’s words. Cedric gazed at Zen with a subtle smile. Eyes colder than the wind outside were staring sharply at Cedric.

Deborah was more surprised than Cedric, whose words had been interrupted.

‘Oh my. Mr. Baker, you don’t just act this way with me.’

Deborah felt a small sense of camaraderie with the new victim. Of course, she didn’t show it.

“Cedric. Put down that luggage and look at me.”

Zen said, gesturing with his chin towards Deborah’s new room.

‘Is he just going to gloss over it?’

Deborah didn’t like it, but Zen seemed to intend to act as he always had, doing as he pleased.

“Then would it be alright if I change clothes before coming to see you?”

“Sure.”

Zen replied casually, looking down at Deborah as he spoke.

“I’m sure you want to check your bag right away, but let’s have a talk first.”

Zen nodded slightly as if telling her to follow. Deborah felt heavy-hearted. There was nothing good about following him, but she kept getting bothered by how her room was being changed so casually.

‘Ah. He really does whatever he wants.’

Still, she was fine with it. Her head hurt a little, but her heart didn’t ache.

But Dia was different. She was delicate and fragile. So please, I hope he doesn’t act so selfishly with Dia.

‘Can I change this too?’

Could she make Zen behave politely towards Dia? Deborah wasn’t confident, but she had to at least try.

Upon arriving at the office, Zen picked up a stack of documents from the desk without hesitation. Holding the visibly heavy documents in one hand, he held them out to Deborah.

“These are the resumes of the tutors who have volunteered to teach the young Countess Blaise.”

Deborah embraced the documents in Zen’s hand with both arms. They were heavy, but weight wasn’t important to her right now.

“Have you checked them all?”

She asked, suppressing a strange tension.

“Yes. I’ve narrowed down a few that seemed decent enough, and I was planning to conduct face-to-face interviews within a week, but someone suddenly came up with strange demands, throwing off the schedule.”

Zen said sarcastically. Regardless, that someone didn’t care.

“Look through them carefully and select a few. Of course, I won’t bother interviewing anyone I find unacceptable.”

“Yes. Then by when should I have them organized for you?”

Gently lowering his head and stroking his dry chin, Zen eventually raised only his eyes to stare at Deborah. That look was as fierce as a beast, and also beautiful.

“Would it be too much if I said ‘by tomorrow’?”

“If it’s by 5 PM tomorrow, I’m confident I can review them thoroughly.”

“Good. Then we’ll talk then.”

Deborah bowed her head in greeting and left the office, holding the heavy documents to her chest.

She left with her usual demure steps, but Zen could sense excitement and tension in her retreating figure.

‘Really now. What’s all this about?’

Deborah was strangely concerned about Dia. Was it due to a sense of responsibility for her assigned duties?

‘More than that, Debbie has always been weak for the vulnerable.’

The Deborah that Zen knew was a good person who showed kindness to everyone without being burdensome, but she wasn’t an impartial person who treated everyone equally. She always showed greater goodwill to those who were weaker.

‘She doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself.’

Zen recalled the stack of documents he had handed to her. He could hold them with one hand, but they looked heavy for Deborah.

That’s why he wanted to carry them for her if he could. He wished that she, who had always carried heavy things, would now only carry the lightest and prettiest things in the world.

‘…I guess I did well to endure.’

Just as Zen was letting out a small sigh, a familiar voice was heard from outside the door.

“It’s Cedric.”

Frowning, Zen answered.

“Come in.”

As soon as Cedric entered the room, he narrowed his eyes, unfazed by Zen’s grim face.

“Well then. Let’s start by hearing about the Marchioness of Forea’s reaction.”

“She was quite upset. She even sarcastically asked why we didn’t just leave together if we were going to follow so quickly.”

Chuckling, Cedric continued.

“Oh, and about Ms. Johnson’s-”

“Cedric.”

Zen, wearing a grim expression, cut off Cedric’s words again.

Cedric blinked his large eyes slowly and replied.

“Yes, master.”

“Don’t call her Johnson.”

“Pardon? I thought her surname was Johnson, was it not?”

“Why use her dead husband’s surname?”

The moment he heard that answer, Cedric confirmed the ‘could it be’ that he had vaguely felt since earlier.

“So it’s her. The Deborah you and I have been looking for.”

‘You’. A word far from ‘master’.

If any other servant had been so impertinent, Zen would have dealt with them mercilessly. But he was somewhat lenient with Cedric. After all, their relationship didn’t start as master and servant.

“I thought you would have noticed when I gave you this task.”

“I thought you wanted me to check if she was the Marchioness of Forea’s pawn or not.”

“Even though her name was Deborah?”

Zen asked with a crooked smile.

“That’s right. Even though her name was Deborah, why did I only realize it now?”

Cedric was the person who had searched for Deborah the longest after Zen.

Black hair, maid, the date she disappeared, the train that passed through the capital that day, local newspapers, even shipping records, and he had even followed rumors at times.

‘Until quite recently, even.’

Despite all that, there were a few reasons why Cedric didn’t suspect that Deborah was that Deborah.

Firstly, Cedric had met too many Deborahs while searching for her. It seemed like there was a Deborah living in every village in this country.

Knowing it was such a common name, he didn’t think that ‘Deborah Johnson’ would be ‘that Deborah’.

Secondly, because Madam Saint had sent her. So he naturally thought that Zen was suspicious of Deborah.

‘But what kind of coincidence is this?’

Could the word coincidence explain that this person, whom Zen had searched for for 10 years and Cedric for several years but could never find, had been working as Madam Saint’s maid, and they had reunited in this way?

Swallowing a laugh of disbelief, Cedric asked,

“Did the Marchioness of Forea know that you were looking for her? Did she deliberately approach her and take her in as her maid?”

“No. It’s a perfect coincidence.”

Zen smiled bitterly.

Coincidence. Cedric found it quite unfamiliar to hear the word coincidence from Zen’s mouth in this situation. But he couldn’t just stand there dumbfounded.

“Anyway, her luggage was quite sparse. Her room was so clean, I thought she had tidied it up deliberately.”

“Is that one bag really all? Are you sure you didn’t miss anything?”

“Of course not. I brought everything.”

A few dark dresses, an old shawl and worn coat, hair ties and notebooks, pen nibs and ink, a comb… Her belongings were all very trivial things.

If there was anything special, it was a hat and gloves that seemed to belong to a man. But even those were cheap.

‘Probably her husband’s, so there’s no need to tell Zen about it.’

Keeping his mouth shut, Cedric thought he had made the right decision not to mention it as he watched Zen let out an exasperated laugh, “Ha.”

Zen once again recalled the suitcase that Cedric had brought. It was at most the size a man could carry alone. To think that all her belongings could fit in there. The coat she brought must be very thin too.

‘Then why did she refuse clothes?’

Swallowing another sigh that almost escaped, Zen spoke again.

“So how about the other task I gave you? You returned much earlier than I expected, don’t tell me you did a half-hearted job?”

To Zen’s prickly question, Cedric replied calmly.

“How could I? It’s your order after all. Bermuz was such a small town that it didn’t take long.”

Cedric smiled brightly and handed over the documents he had prepared on the train, saying,

“Here’s the information I gathered about Ms. Deborah there.”