A Marriage of Convenience /The Marriage Business

Ch.38

Madam has been locked in her room all this time. As her face is not shown on the estate, various words about Madam circulate among the servants. Of course, they know that if they are caught, they will be punished, but in places where the king can't hear you, you curse the king.

He used to hear about Madam in his free time while working.

Most of the stories about Madam are bad stories.

The most heard was that Madam looked terribly ugly. Once upon a time, she was a beautiful girl when she got married, but as she grew older, they couldn't look at her. They said that due to the lack of sunlight, her skin was as pale as a corpse, and her slender body was like that of an old woman.

He wondered if it was possible, but the attitude of the servants who worked in the castle gave confidence to the servants' delusions.

Whenever they gather, they usually say that Madam was jealous of the maid and that's why she hit her. They also said that it was to find faults in the appearance of the pretty maid and that she wore expensive clothes because she had no choice but to hide the flaws on her face.

As servants who worked on the outer part of the castle, they couldn't see Madam, and the maids who were actually scolded by Madam and left the castle claimed that what the servants said was true.

But the real Madam he knew was not like that at all.

Her skin was as translucent and smooth as a piece of ice, and the noble jade-colored fabric that he could never afford surprisingly suited Madam well. She was thin, but not like an old woman. The smooth skin was white without any imperfections as if it had been made by melting candle wax.

Instead of feeling jealous of the maids who claimed to be pretty, she was a person who could make them feel inferior!

She was simply weak. Her slow gestures were powerless, but vitality overflowed from her bright light green eyes. The moment Madam stared at the candle he carved, the world stood still. It was as if only Madam and he existed.

How could someone so beautiful and noble like the pieces he carved with all his heart?!

It was a very pleasant experience.

Madam liked his carving skills. And then she asked me to carve a candle for her room. He couldn't believe it.

Everyone in the candle factory said it was just a whim. They said it was just a joke, that she was now making a fuss about her candles, but it was just a whim. They said not to expect much because tomorrow, like other nobles, she would forget about it completely, but he didn't believe it.

The people around him have criticized his weak Madam without excuses, and now he knows that the whispers surrounding him are no different.

As he spent the day in such confusion, he huddled on a wooden plank bed with moonlight streaming through the window. He wanted to carve by the moonlight, but he couldn't easily obtain it because inventory control was strict. In particular, the beeswax candle that Madam used was precious, and the butler handled it separately. He spent the night with his eyes open, praying that Madam wouldn't forget him.

So he greeted the morning with anxiety and irritability. Uncle Jean clicked his tongue when he saw the dark shadows under his eyes, but he didn't say much. Breakfast, which he would normally have been looking forward to more than anything else, stuck in his throat. When will he receive the call from Madam?

By noon, after breakfast, his face had turned pale. But before lunch, Uncle Jean called him. It was a message from Madam!

The butler handed him a wooden box containing beeswax candles and said that Madam wanted to use the candles he would carve, tonight. So she even asked him to prioritize this over other things!

He nodded his head several times.

He was excited to carve candles. Since it was an order from Madam, no one bothered him. Aunt Susan, who said Madam would forget about him completely, handed him a sweet potato as if she were embarrassed.

He was grateful for the sweet potato, but he didn't eat it right away. In the past, he would have simply peeled the skin and put it in his mouth, but now it was more important to move the knife even one more time.

He was able to make the most beautiful and perfect sculpture he had ever made. He handed the carved candle to the butler, but the butler looked at the sculpture and told him to follow.

He followed the butler, knowing nothing.

As he passed through several doors, the surroundings changed dramatically, and people's clothing became finer and finer. After a long time, he was able to stand in front of a grand door. It was only after the butler knocked on the door and said, "We have arrived, Madam," that he knew he had come to Madam's room.

The butler pushed him into the room. He entered Madam's room with a wooden box of carved candles. His head was spinning, and he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't even feel Madam's maid taking the box from his hand.

After looking around at the sculpture, Madam smiled gently and said, "Well done, Nicholas." That was when he could come to his senses.

Madam's smile was so serene that it was hard to notice, like the moment a flower has just opened its petals, but above all, it was a precious smile.

Moreover, Madam even remembered his name! He was so surprised that he couldn't properly answer the question of how and with what he had carved it.

He stammered softly, and Madam smiled once again and told him to answer slowly. How sweet it is!

Seeing her smile made his heart race. Until now, he had only thought about carving to bring out the goddess, but after meeting Madam, all he could think about was her. Every time his Madam asks him to carve, his desire to carve for her, and only for her, grows stronger.

But not yet. He felt that his skills were not enough to carve Madam.

Until now, he had been squatting in a corner, but when they placed a wooden chair in the corner of the candle workshop for him to carve more comfortably, it truly changed his life.

How could he not be excited? It's all thanks to Madam.

Now that he is favored by Madam, they don't speak loudly in front of him. But there are still many people who speak behind his back, saying that Madam is not good and that it's just a whim.

But he will never believe that again.

Because Madam is a good person!