Sophie, who was very angry, took Vivian to the bathroom, filled the tub, undressed her, and cursed and swore at those who had tormented Vivian throughout the washing process.

Mocking Vivian who had become a maid was a common occurrence even in front of Sophie. This often led to verbal disputes, and there was even a time when she got into a physical altercation with another servant over a corsage that the mansion’s owner had intended to exchange for money.

Bystanders lamented, wondering why she was making enemies unnecessarily.

They added that Vivian Eveline’s current future was already foreseen due to the family’s downfall, and a reversal couldn’t be expected. So they advised her to stop siding with Eveline and suggested getting along with everyone instead.

When she came to serve Eveline from the capital to Rodinia, she didn’t think much of it. She was just happy. She reveled in the elated feeling of finally being recognized by the master’s family and getting a raise.

Eveline was a pitiful woman as rumored, and even when the master told her to report on Eveline’s every move after taking in such a pitiful woman, she didn’t feel even a slight sense of guilt.

But the more time she spent with her, the more she was influenced by Vivian’s pure and clear nature that couldn’t harm others, and her infinitely warm and kind heart.

When Vivian sheepishly smiled, saying she couldn’t buy a better corsage because she was in a tight spot, Sophie truly thought she would be willing to dedicate her life to this person.

Sophie dumped every bath product she had into the tub to remove the foul smell that clung to Vivian. After all, it would be better to suffocate in flower scents than smell like excrement.

After rinsing Vivian and refilling the tub with clean water, Sophie added more bath products. Sniff, sniff, she nodded with satisfaction after smelling the water now heavily scented with fragrance. Sophie put the still dazed Vivian into the tub and sighed softly while looking at her pale face.

“Young lady, are you alright?”

Vivian nodded blankly.

“Still, this is a hundred, no, a thousand times better. No matter what, you’re a noble, how could you endure such harsh treatment… Honestly, when I first heard about you, I was so angry at the Duke.”

Lost in thought, Vivian drew her legs up and buried her face in them. The fragile young lady, exhausted, had no strength left to cry. Sophie slowly poured the fragrant water over her now fairly clean golden hair.

Sophie didn’t say anything more. She quietly waited for Vivian’s heart to recover in the sweet floral scent.

***

The air of the late summer evening held a hint of freshness rather than humidity. Even so, it was still a summer breeze.

In the quiet study, the only sound was the regular noise of a locket being opened and closed. Sitting at the desk once used by Lawrence Eveline, he held a locket containing Vivian’s portrait, emptying his mind of distracting thoughts.

A knock sounded and Abernathy entered, but the long fingers opening and closing the locket didn’t stop.

“Young Lady Windler has left the mansion with a maid, and I’ve delivered the money as you instructed.”

He nodded casually. He couldn’t gauge his emotions as he pushed Charlotte, whom he had lived with, into danger.

“Young Lady Eveline is currently bathing, I’m told.”

With the name relayed through Abernathy, the locket closed roughly. Even as the noise subsided, the blue eyes staring into space didn’t blink.

“Shall I tell Young Lady Eveline to attend the dinner?”

The tiresome name made even the fairly fresh breeze from outside unpleasant.

As the pitiful tone that had called him desperately and the violent shouting tone crossed his mind, Edwin closed his eyes to cover the memory from earlier.

“Add that if she doesn’t appear at dinner, I’ll go find her myself.”

“…Yes, Your Grace. I’ll convey that message.”

“And take the arrived dress to Eveline’s room as well.”

With that final instruction, Abernathy left the study. In the ensuing silence, Edwin slowly lowered his eyes to look at the closed locket.

What had he tried to define in the regular, repetitive noise?

He retraced his emotions from the moment he saw Eveline in the barn until he sent Charlotte out. Everything was impulse, and he tried to find the cause of the impulse.

He found one answer, but well.

He couldn’t find why today’s Vivian and this emotion were connected, so he was back to square one.

This emotion that had lingered all day. This emotion that had constantly fanned the flames of impulse was anger.

***

Waiting for Vivian after her bath was a card relaying the Duke’s order to attend the evening dinner, and gift boxes filling one wall.

Sophie opened a box and took out a dress. The dress, simple yet subdued but visibly high-quality, was the opposite of the dress Theo had made.

Confirming that the piles of things in the room were dresses sent by the Duke, Sophie’s face brightened. It was a kind of apology, she said, for making Vivian go through such a terrible experience.

Sophie praised the Duke’s taste, saying the dress would suit Vivian perfectly.

While intense colors that capture others’ attention would suit her well, Sophie urged her to try on the Duke’s dress, saying that a elegant and ticklish feeling like a spring butterfly would also suit her well.

Vivian firmly refused this and carefully examined the remaining card. It was in Abernathy’s handwriting, and the postscript caught her eye. A deflated sigh escaped her.

Vivian chose Theo’s dress instead of the one sent by the Duke.

As per the threatening content of the card, Vivian headed to the dining room where the dinner would be held.

From a fallen noble’s young lady to a maid taking on the dirtiest jobs, from a maid who was entertained by being doused with filth to a noble young lady whom others couldn’t even casually address.

Vivian’s status had thus swung between earth and sky.

Her gait full of undisguisable elegance and her straight back. Her shoulders spread neatly made everyone doubt if she was the same Vivian from this morning.

Arriving at the dining room, Vivian looked for Edwin first, but he wasn’t visible. She sat down quietly, escorted by Abernathy, and waited for the Duke.

Before long, he made his appearance. Vivian remained unperturbed as she met his cold blue eyes, which betrayed no thought or emotion.

Edwin, seated, stared at Vivian, who hadn’t stood up to greet him.

“You must have seen the dress I sent.”

“Should I wear it?”

“You should. You have that responsibility.”

The conversation between the two was bleak and dry. The space, not allowing even a small spark, was rather chillingly cool like the eve of a storm.

The Vivian from the afternoon, who had seemed half-mad, was hard to find. Whatever ability Sophie had used, the skin tanned by the scorching sun had become fair and soft, and the dry, messy golden hair was now so smooth it seemed to carry the weight of luster.

But coming out in Theo’s dress was nothing short of throwing down a challenge. If she was showing the guts to properly provoke him, he had no intention of giving in easily.

“I won’t bear any responsibility anymore.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

In some ways, it was eyes that held fatigue, and in others, resignation. The gray eyes Edwin was looking at contained such things.

He became curious about how far that stubbornness would extend.

“It was you, Your Grace, who took away the opportunity to take responsibility. It’s your mistake to seat me here again, me who has endured the contempt of others. I intend to give up. Since you’ve taken away the hope to run towards, I won’t run anymore.”

The main course arrived, but neither of them showed any interest. Rather, he leaned back in his chair, lowering his eyes arrogantly and wearing a faint smile.

“Are you going to abandon your mother?”

He pulled out a formidable card to shake Vivian. She seemed to waver for a moment, but quickly composed herself.

“Isn’t it all over anyway? I’m going to die by your hand, and my parents won’t return anyway. When you took away my hope, I also abandoned the hope that my parents were alive.”

Vivian choked up as she voiced things she didn’t want to admit. However, she swallowed her tears and showed all the courtesy required in this place.

“So whether you strangle me or shoot me dead, and then tear my body to pieces and serve it on the table…”

Vivian’s voice stopped as Edwin burst into laughter. Vivian closed her eyes tightly, buried in laughter loud enough to embarrass her opponent.

“Do you know why you can’t work in this mansion?”

Vivian opened her eyes before Edwin’s question was even finished.

The gentlemanly smile contained something not as refined as it appeared, which she knew from countless experiences.

“Because you’re still spouting such nonsense.”

“…”

“You’re still thinking as if this is a fairy tale, and the man in front of you is going to eat you up, thoughts you’d only have in a dream.”

Vivian’s eyes moved busily left and right, clearly flustered. She didn’t seem to be able to calm down easily.

“You’re so innocent, good enough to be devoured. No fool would give a job to a stupid woman who just smiles happily even when everyone pounces on her and leaves scars.”

The woman’s expression, broken in an instant, evoked Edwin’s exhilaration. The pleasure of tasting victory in war remains an unforgettable memory. Today’s Vivian would probably be a face remembered for a long time in her life.

“You’re incompetent. That’s the conclusion I’ve reached, and the reason you were dragged out of there.”

Vivian’s eyes lowered. Tears she had been trying hard to hold back fell onto the tablecloth. Her flushed cheeks and wet, glistening lips took away the pleasure of tasting victory. This time, it touched something other than anger. Even that, he couldn’t find the cause and reason.

“What… do you want from me, Your Grace? Please tell me. Is it to eventually report my mother and take revenge on my father since I won’t be able to repay the debt anyway? Is your ultimate goal to tear apart and destroy our family miserably? I don’t know anymore. How much longer I have to endure, what I should do…”

Vivian cried helplessly. As if the fact that she had endured for just over a month was meaningless.

“I want to protect my family too… I want to protect our family from you with the best I can do.”

What was contained in the sobs was guilt. She recognized that it was brazen to say she wanted to protect her family in front of someone who had lost their beloved family. Choked by a sense of sin, she couldn’t raise her head and hid in her own space she had created.

“Did I ask what I want?”

Edwin murmured calmly, or rather heartlessly, and Vivian nodded vigorously while wiping her tears.

“I’ve always said what I want.”

The clean tone without highs or lows briefly touched Vivian’s hope.

“Beg me. Ask me to save you. Try pleading.”

But it was questionable whether that would really bring hope to Vivian. Rather, it felt like it would become poison, and that would eventually hold her back.

“If you say it, won’t I listen?”

Vivian’s chest heaved briefly. The complex emotion given by the senseless gaze overflowed uncontrollably like a river swollen in a downpour.

“I said so, didn’t I? Then I’ll be generous.”