"Ha, a month. A month?"
"Yes."
Hortman stutters, as if the time period is an embarrassingly short time, before calming himself down.
"Our labor costs won't go down for that month."
He mumbles and narrows his eyebrows like he's talking to himself.
"Why, no. What did you say?"
Hortman then sweeps his hair as if he's holding onto his sanity, thinking that he's about to lose this business deal.
"It doesn't matter if that's the case."
He coughs through his fists and chews on his dry lips.
"Yes, it will."
Abella smiles and turns away.
Whether he is mentally deranged or not, it has nothing to do with me.
"But, why? Isn't it necessary to continue the sterilization?"
For a moment, she wonders whether or not she should be honest with Hortman, but it would be a big deal if he plays a joke in the middle of this business.
She looks back at him and answers.
"I'm just going to do it for a month."
"Ah, for now."
Hortman laughs with a softer expression, as if he's saying that he's right.
This pain the ass man.
Let's turn around again and stop thinking about what he's thinking.
"Your Grace."
She sees Ergel coming from the distance.
"You don't have to run."
"I'm sorry."
"I didn't even make an appointment with you. I'm just here for business after all."
Abella says and shakes her head.
"Your Grace, it hurts."
Patting the back of her tight hand, Ronnie looks up at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Ronnie raises her thumb and admires the red handprint on her wrist.
"Oh wow, your grip is—"
Looking at Abella, she smiles shyly.
"Then, please take care of me, Ronnie with red hair."
After finishing her business with Ronnie, she turns toward Ergel.
"Now, let's talk about potatoes, or the devil's plant."
Let's roll up our sleeves with the intention of getting the job done today.
"Well, Your Grace."
"What?"
"There is Sir Halian."
"Where? Ah..."
Pope, who's following her, points to Edgar with her finger.
"Hmm."
I was the one who wanted to see you.
First of all, the urgent thing right now is the potato rather than the bed.
It's already been said that this year's corn farming will be ruined, and there will be a shortage of food for the people.
I can't let the potato rot like that.
"Tell him to wait."
She then turns to Ergel.
"The cook said that he can't make food from the plants that you mentioned."
And you didn't ask why?
"I think the chef is particularly devout."
Ergel chooses her words as carefully as she can and says them slowly.
Sigh.
She exhales out a long, stuffy breath.
Faith, right, that matters.
No, nothing is more important to some people than that.
Let's not even try to change it.
"Then, those demons that we have now, spread them out in a sunny place and dry them from tomorrow on."
"What are you going to use them for?"
"I want to boil them."
"...What?"
She laughs at Ergel, who blinks as if she couldn't believe what she has heard.
I know very well that she wouldn't understand so I won't try to change her mind by force.
Therefore—let me eat it.
"I've tried that, and it's delicious. Boil it, dip a little salt, and eat it."
"But that plant causes abdominal pain when it's boiled and eaten. Should you be eating something that you shouldn't eat?"
"Since Ergel's worried, if I get sick, I'll take care of it."
Why the hell did you get the idea that eating potatoes hurts? I should just ask Lejan.
What if he says yes because he is also a trickster?
She wants to ask but first, the priority is to dry those demons and save them.
"If it dries well, you can put it in the wine cellar."
Charles' wine cellar is really spacious enough to hold all the stored food, so it should be a good enough place to put my demons.
"Now, then—"
"Sir Halian?"
She raises her hand and calls for Edgar.
"Pope. Bring Leo first."
Before talking with Edgar, she first wants someone to bring Leo.
"Our lovely, pretty, and all of the good words that can't describe him, Leo."
Why haven't I seen him these days?
She asks silently to herself.
Leo still hasn't made a single appearance.
"Leo?"
"Where is he? I haven't seen him in the last few days."
"......"
"Even though I was at the ranch until late at night yesterday, I didn't see him. That can't be right, can it?"
Abella stubbornly rests her hands on her waist as she insists.
"Today I will take him to the castle. Bring him quickly."
"........"
It's only her who really got excited.
Pope, the people in the ranch, and Ergel all shut their mouths in an instant.
What kind of atmosphere is this?
No one's giving a proper answer and keeping their mouth sealed.
"Pope? No, Ergel?"
"He's probably working right now."
"Well, go get him."
With a fixed smile, Abella looks around at their stiffened expression and furrows her brows together. Despite her urging, no one's giving her a proper answer other than silence.
Abella then tilts her head slightly at Ergel, who looks like she's trying to bite down on her lips to keep it from speaking or maybe, she isn't allowed to speak in the first place.
To be honest, I want to know what's going on.
I just wanted to see Leo, but it's the surrounding atmosphere that quickly gets colder.
"What the hell is this about?"
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
"......."
"What are you sorry for Ergel?"
What is she regretting?
"What are you doing?"
Abella is too upset to even be offended at her apology. Should she say that she feels like she's about to lose her temper?
Repressing the urge to pound her chest in deep frustration, Abella asks again in a soft, controlled voice.
"Ergel?"
Ergel remains silent, making the atmosphere even more tense.
Ha—
Looking at such Ergel, I feel like I've eaten a sweet potato and about to die.
(*it's a proverb: potatoes are dry as fuck and if you eat too much, it gets caught in your throat, making you choke then die so basically, if someone makes you wanna die, call their ass a potato kids)
Dear writer, this is the part where the readers feel the sweet potato and nothing else.
The words, the words are the problem.
No, why aren't you talking?
No, why can't you speak?
Do readers suffer from this?
While she was reading the novel, there was a part that said, 'All I have to do is put up with it. Then everyone will be happy.'
So now, towards Ergel, she wants to shout, 'No one will know if you don't say it, you idiot!'
However—
"Ergel, you have to speak so that I can understand."
Since she has an image to uphold and protect, she tries to say it in an elegant way.
Ergel maintains her silence.
Then, let's ask a different question.
"Ergel, did you ever take Leo to the castle like I told you to?"
Even when she can nod or shake her head, she says nothing.
Ha?
There is something.
The reason why she can't answer.
"Isn't that why I can't see him at the ranch? Then, shouldn't I see him at least once in the castle?"
"Leo is sent to a ranch outside the castle."
"What?"
Abella wonders about what she just heard.
A ranch outside the castle?
Why did Leo go there?
Unable to understand the situation, she stares at Ergel.
"Having the child who hurts Your Grace in the castle—"
Why is she bowing her head saying nonsense?
"Head maid."
Abella calls on Ergel after she stopped talking.
In any situation, she has never called Ergel by such a title. Therefore, Ergel, having heard it for the first time, lowers her head even more.
"I told you that there would be no punishment, and I have even told you to bring him to the castle, not the ranch."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't say sorry. Explain it to me."
"......."
"Raise your head and explain."
Abella can see Ergel's pained expression as she slowly raises her head at her cold voice. Her heart begins to grow with anger at the vivid emotions that the seasoned maid reveals for the first time.
Someone made her do something against her will.
The identity of that someone is one that she knows very well.
"Explanation."
However, Abella needs to get to an accurate answer, so she quietly waits for her.
Ergel chews on her lips without saying anything else.
What does that mean?
Abella closes her eyes, feeling like she knows what Ergel's trying to say.
"Head maid, the penalty for ignoring my words—"
At that moment—
"It's not the maid's fault!"
"Tia!"
She could hear Tia's voice through her murky emotions.
"If Miss Evangeline couldn't take Leo, she said that she wouldn't leave the head maid alone! I heard it!"
From the depths of her words, Abella could feel her anger slowly rising. It boils over so violently that it will explode if it just increases 1 more degree.
.
.
.
.
T/N: I just gotta say, somebody hold me back from choking Evangeline because the audacity she has to take Leo? Like bishhhhh—
If I could transmigrate, she would catch these hands.