The Maid's Contract Marriage - Chapter 36

Don’t send me to the young lady.

Brody was desperately watching Reina’s reaction.

“That’s not it……”

Reina tried to explain to Brody but closed her mouth, thinking she shouldn’t mention the circumstances requiring ‘Marina’s makeup’.

I guess both Brody and Marina now know about the situation where Christina and I are switching places, and they seem to have been ordered to keep quiet…..

Honestly, isn’t it safer not to know the details of such matters?

Reina carefully lowered her voice and said,

“It’s not like that. It’s just that today, there are circumstances where Marina is needed for makeup……”

But Brody, who already looked wronged, now had a pitiful expression.

“……You’re trying to replace me……?”

What?

Reina was flustered.

Replace? How could that be?

It’s not like I have a choice in this matter, right?

If young lady Christina designates Brody, Marina comes to me, and if the young lady designates Marina, Brody comes, right?

There’s no way a lady’s maid would be replaced just because I asked for Marina once and called her briefly.

But Brody seemed to be beyond rational judgment, so desperate was she not to go to the young lady.

Reina hurriedly tried to stop Brody, who was about to burst into tears.

“I, I just realized Marina doesn’t necessarily have to come. Could you just make the makeup a bit more glamorous, like the young lady’s? To make me look more like Christina……”

Brody’s eyes sparkled as she quickly nodded.

“Yes, I can do that!”

This really doesn’t feel like someone else’s business…..

Reina smiled apologetically at Brody.

“Thank you, I’m counting on you……”

……Right. After I deliver the note, the Marchioness will surely find a way somehow.

Actually, what’s the use of me fussing over makeup……

I’ve already shown my face to His Highness the Crown Prince several times. And quite up close, at that…..

Unless His Highness’s eyes are knotholes, no wondrous makeup can undo this now.

I’m just trying to reduce the risk as much as possible.

It was a struggle that might or might not have any meaning.

Reina’s life did not actually depend on her efforts.

Hoping that the Marquis and Sir Arthur would conclude their talk as peacefully as possible was, realistically, the best way for Reina to safely return to her grandmother.

“……”

I hope there won’t be any problems later, with everyone involved being sentenced to hanging, and the Imperial family turning everything upside down to find the maid who committed marriage fraud against Sir Arthur, and me ending up being chased…..?

If it were just me, I could manage somehow,

But fleeing with grandmother would be impossible…..

“……”

Even if that happens…..

Would Sir Arthur…..

Show mercy…… and at least spare my life?

“……”

Reina stood there blankly, then closed her eyes, appalled at her own shamelessness.

……How brazen.

Reina sighed with a gloomy face, thinking of the note hidden under the bed to be delivered to the Marchioness.

[This is the timeline separator]

Reina, having changed into a comfortable dress and sitting on the bed, was approached by Dr. Lorenson carrying dressing tools.

It was time to disinfect and apply medicine to the wound on her forehead.

Over the course of a week, the wound on Reina’s forehead had faded.

Now there wasn’t even the slight pain when removing the gauze with tweezers.

As she quietly received treatment from the physician, Reina glanced at Sir Lionel standing by the door and thought about the note hidden near the headboard of the bed.

From her current position, sitting sideways on the bed, she could retrieve the hidden note with just a slight lean to slip her hand under the cushion.

“……”

As Dr. Lorenson stood in front of Reina to examine her wound, she was sufficiently blocked from Sir Lionel’s line of sight to move without being noticed.

Now….. Now’s the time.

“……”

Reina felt paralyzed, unable to move an inch.

She hadn’t written anything harmful about Sir Arthur.

But when it came to actually doing something secretive, she felt guilty and froze up.

Meeting His Highness the Crown Prince…..

Receiving an invitation.

That His Highness saw my face and thinks I’m young lady Christina.

I need to convey this. I need to, but…..

“……”

I can’t move.

At that moment, Dr. Lorenson, having examined Reina’s wound, cleared his throat and spoke.

“The forehead wound has healed. It’s healed well without scarring. We can stop the dressing now.”

“……”

That ordinary statement momentarily cleared Reina’s airways.

Reina answered after a brief pause.

“Thank you, Dr. Lorenson.”

Dr. Lorenson, noticing Reina’s unusually stiff expression today, felt a bit of sympathy for her.

Today, Dr. Lorenson had come under orders from the Marchioness to apply some pressure by poking Reina’s side.

Feeling pitiful and apologetic, Dr. Lorenson tried to lighten the mood with a casual remark.

“……Be careful not to get hurt. Your face is a treasure of the empire, young lady.”

“……”

It didn’t seem to have much effect.

Reina still maintained a stiff face, forcing a smile.

Alvin Lorenson brought up the main point as he tidied up the medicine box.

“Next time, my son could come to see you instead of me. I have a lecture trip next week……”

“……Pardon?”

Dr. Lorenson said as he cleaned up the treatment traces.

“While I’m away, he’ll come to look after you and also to express his gratitude. You trusted my son and even gave him a new job, but we haven’t properly thanked you yet.”

Reina’s eyes widened.

It was about her grandmother.

“I just visited yesterday, and the lad seems to be adapting well to his workplace.”

Reina momentarily forgot everything else.

Even that Sir Lionel was watching.

Reina carefully controlled her voice not to tremble as she asked.

“That’s…… good to hear. Is he having any difficulties?”

Dr. Lorenson answered while pouring tea, his back turned to Reina as if it were an insignificant matter.

“No. Above all, the patient always treats him kindly, so he’s working without much difficulty.”

“……”

When Dr. Lorenson turned around, Reina’s frozen expression was spreading with relief, putting everything else aside.

Dr. Lorenson gave a slight smile to that pitiful maid, then hesitated with the dark red liquid in his hand.

“……”

Having rested for a week and recovered from fatigue, plus taking his detox pills, Reina was drinking the dark red liquid relatively well.

But it wasn’t a medicine a young woman should take for long.

No matter how much detoxifier she took with it, if Reina kept drinking this medicine, she would surely ruin her body.

As a doctor, he knew this best.

Dr. Lorenson casually opened his mouth.

“Young lady. Seeing that you overslept, are you not feeling well today? If so, the medicinal tea……”

“No. Please give it to me. I’ll drink it.”

Reina readily extended her hand without hesitation.

As if knowing it was her duty to reassure the Marchioness in return for the kindness shown to her grandmother.

“I feel empty if I don’t drink it.”

Reina even smiled as she said this.

“……”

Lorenson bitterly placed the teacup on the tray and handed it to Reina.

Well…..

It’s not just about the health she might ruin with medicine.

For a moment, he only thought of the Marchioness’s orders, but.

Rather than ruining her life by bearing an illegitimate child, taking medicine for a while might be better for this child.

If she hadn’t shared a bed yesterday, she wouldn’t need to drink the dark red liquid…..

The fact that she was willing to drink the medicine suggested that she had indeed shared a bed.

What to do about this child’s life…..

Reina’s gaze momentarily lowered, hiding her expression.

And as Reina took the tray,

Something slipped into the fingertips of Alvin Lorenson as he handed it over.

Reina had passed something under the tray.

“……”

Dr. Lorenson maintained his composure and naturally tucked it into his sleeve.

It was the intelligence note the Marchioness had been waiting for.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Finally……!”

The Marchioness, having received the first intelligence note from Dr. Lorenson, triumphantly grasped it.

And she glanced at Dr. Lorenson with a smug look.

“Hmph. Clever thing. As expected, she brings it right away when her grandmother is mentioned?”

Dr. Lorenson smiled, careful not to upset the Marchioness’s mood, and defended Reina.

“That’s not quite it. She had already prepared it to give. But she did seem happy when I mentioned her grandmother. She’ll probably work harder next time.”

The Marchioness was already unfolding the small folded note with a face elated with delight.

Worried that the Marchioness might be disappointed if she expected too much, Dr. Lorenson added casually.

“……Don’t expect too much. There might not be anything extraordinary from the start….. But that child is trying her best to do whatever you ask.”

The Marchioness barely listened as she began reading the contents of the fully unfolded small note.

“!”

And her expression changed as she held her breath, seemingly shocked.

【 I met His Highness the Crown Prince. 】

【 He suddenly visited the mansion. There was no time to avoid it. 】

【 He said he would invite young lady Christina to the debutante. 】

【 He saw my face, what should I do? 】

【 His Highness thinks I am young lady Christina. 】

“……!”

The content was different from what she expected.

The Marchioness looked at it with a bewildered face.

And read it again from the beginning.

【 He saw my face, what should I do? 】

【 His Highness thinks I am young lady Christina. 】

Reina met the Crown Prince?

He saw her face?

Invited her to the debutante?

Reina?

“……!”

The Marchioness, her face turning blue, sputtered and looked up at Dr. Lorenson in dismay.

“Why? Is there some important content?”

Seeing the Marchioness’s face looking unusual, Alvin Lorenson asked with a serious expression.

The Marchioness urgently asked back.

“Did Reina say anything else when she handed this over?”

Did she write something really serious?

Dr. Lorenson shook his head in confusion.

“No, she didn’t say anything else. Sir Arthur’s close knight is always monitoring inside the room. It’s not an environment where she can say anything else, barely managing to hand over a note. Why?”

The Marchioness drew in a sharp breath.

And stammered quickly.

“Reina…… Reina says she met the Crown Prince.”

“What?!”

Who, who? The Crown Prince?

“The Crown Prince saw her face and thinks she’s Christina! And he even invited her to the debutante!”

Dr. Lorenson’s mouth fell open.

Where did she meet the Crown Prince?

Here? When on earth?

“I told her not to wander around, what kind of trouble is she causing!”

The Marchioness stood up abruptly, her face pale.

“I need to talk to her. How can I meet her?”

Since the commotion a few days ago with that knight, Lionel or whatever his name was, neither the Marquis nor the Marchioness could enter the space assigned to him without Arthur’s permission.

Should I ask Arthur for permission to meet?

But this time, it wasn’t Arthur she needed to meet, but Reina.

“If, if I say I urgently need to meet Reina, will Arthur allow it?”

Lorenson’s face turned incredulous.

“He wouldn’t allow it….. You’re using her as a spy, aren’t you? You said Arthur knows she’s a spy too?”

“This is an emergency!”

Lorenson raised his voice, exasperated.

“It’s an emergency for us, but is it an emergency for Sir Arthur? No, that’s why I said to quickly do as Sir Arthur asks and restore the young lady as soon as possible! What kind of farce is this!”

This is driving me crazy! Who doesn’t know that?

The best solution, as Dr. Lorenson was saying, was to apologize to Arthur for the marriage fraud and poor supply issues, as well as for hurting his feelings all this time, receive forgiveness, and then candidly consult on how to resolve this situation.

But……!

The Marchioness shouted with a red face.

“The compensation Arthur demanded for the poor supply issue was a much bigger loss than we expected! And Arthur’s demands don’t end there!”

The Marchioness poured out the words she had been holding back.

“The scope of ‘war veterans’ and ‘bereaved families’ that Arthur demanded is much broader than we thought! If we do everything Arthur asks, we’ll be left penniless!”

Even for the House of Julius, they couldn’t meet all those demands.

What should we do?

In our current desperate state, this wasn’t an issue that could be negotiated immediately.

Unless we could find some weakness or leverage on their side…..

The Marchioness stomped her foot in frustration.

“After all we’ve done for that Reina girl, this is the kind of intelligence she brings! Just causing trouble! Did I ask to hear this kind of report instead of bringing Arthur’s weaknesses?!”

At that moment, Christina, who had just stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, walked over and picked up the paper that had fallen to the floor with her slender white fingers.

“……”

Christina silently read the contents her mother had read.

Then she flipped it over with a flick of her finger to see the back.

“……Well. She did find out something that could be a weakness. It’s written separately here.”

“What?!”

The Marchioness, who had looked up sharply, rushed over and snatched the note.

And she hastily read the short content written on the back that she had missed before.

“……!”

And the Marchioness, her face turning purple with rage, screamed and threw the note away.

“She brings this as a weakness?!”

【 ― Sir Arthur is a picky eater when it comes to mushrooms. 】