Maylily - Chapter 19

“Do you so easily give your body to just someone you know? If you don’t wish to be known as a prostitute rather than a prima donna, shouldn’t you take better care of yourself?”

As Vanessa deliberately chose provocative words to sneer, those around them began to glance over and whisper. Flustered, Maylily’s face turned red up to her neck as she glared back with strength in her eyes.

“Give my body? I have never once done anything deserving of such words. Please stop your insults.”

Even in this situation, that soft voice. Truly insufferable.

“It was just a figure of speech. Why are you so defensive? As if you have something to hide.”

“Hide…”

“I understand the impatience of having nothing, but don’t degrade yourself. If your reputation falls into ruin, being driven off the stage will take no time at all.”

Without giving Maylily a chance to reply, Vanessa poured out every word she wished to say, then smiled triumphantly.

In the next moment, the glass in her hand tilted over Maylily’s head. Lukewarm champagne, its fizz long gone, flowed down Maylily’s golden hair, staining the stage costume she wore.

“Oh my, an accident.”

Clang. Along with Vanessa’s spiteful words, the glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor into pieces.

“This much, you can clean up for me, can’t you? After all, you owe me for cleaning up after you yesterday.”

Maylily’s eyes reddened as she bowed her head, shoulders trembling lightly as if she had lost all will to resist.

You should have done so from the beginning. Vanessa gave a short laugh, tapped her shoulder, and left the dressing room.

And in the end, delayed by cleaning up, Maylily was humiliated in front of everyone for being late to the rehearsal.

“Is this performance a game to you? With that state of mind, do you think you can carry the stage properly?”

The director shouted furiously at Maylily, and she repeatedly bowed her head in apology.

From among the chorus members, Vanessa secretly watched with a smirk. She intended to trample that insignificant country girl little by little until she resolved to leave this place that was far beyond her reach of her own accord.

***

The ball grazed the net by a hair and landed precisely on the court’s end line. It was a flawless, sharp, and elegant forehand shot.

Failing to chase it down in time, David let out a hollow sigh as he followed the ball’s trajectory with his eyes.

“From the first set, you unleash monster-like shots one after another. It’s discouraging.”

“Don’t exaggerate. Let us take a short break.”

Though he had just won the set with the previous point, Hugh stepped off the court with a composed expression. Even in a friendly match meant to relieve the boredom of a holiday, he displayed his fierce competitiveness with elegance, as though victory was only natural and inevitable.

Hugh often visited the tennis club for social or business reasons, but for leisure, he preferred quiet matches with David. This was possible because the Everscourt townhouse on the outskirts of Aberque boasted a rare expanse of land.

Handing their wooden rackets to the attendant, Hugh and David took seats side by side on outdoor chairs set beneath the shade of a zelkova tree. The attendant placed glasses of water on the small table between them and handed each of them a towel.

“I thought you would be tired after attending the party yesterday. It seems it was not an entertaining enough party to drain your strength?” David asked as he wiped the sweat beading on his forehead with the towel.

“Your expectations of an opera company’s patronage party are absurdly high.”

Rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt, Hugh replied indifferently, then gave a faint laugh as a memory suddenly surfaced. The shadow of leaves swayed across his immaculate face in the breeze, belying the fact that he had just been sweating from play.

“Still, it wasn’t bad.”

Sunlight glittered over the green lawn, and the net rippled gently. Sipping his water, Hugh’s gaze lingered with the recollections of yesterday. That secretive look in his eyes sparked David’s curiosity.

“So something did happen, it seems.”

“As the climax approaches, it only grows more interesting.”

The ambiguous answer only fueled curiosity, but David refrained from further questions.

David’s father had been a coachman for the Everscourt family, and their family had originally lived in a small cottage on the grounds of the Count of Everscourt’s estate. Because of that, David had known Hugh closely since childhood.

In his youth, Hugh had suffered impairments in daily life due to the shock of witnessing his mother’s death, and he had great difficulty mingling with other noble children his age.

Thus, the former Count of Everscourt isolated his son within the household, keeping him hidden from the outside world. There was no need to expose externally the traces of a scandal, barely suppressed by the death of his wife.

Even so, because a child with no siblings needed at least one friend, the boy placed by Hugh’s side was David.

Born the same year as Hugh, David had bright, intelligent eyes and a cheerful, warm nature. He generously accepted Hugh’s sensitive and hysterical temperament, which other noble children could not endure.

That relationship, begun in childhood, had continued for nearly twenty years. Now, David had become Hugh’s most trusted man, though even so, a line still existed between them.

That line was the position Hugh had defined for David, and it concerned the order that composed his world. Everything belonging to Hugh’s world had to be arranged in accordance with the order he determined, and no matter how special the existence, there could be no exception.

Knowing that fact better than anyone, David always treated Hugh with friendly familiarity, but never once crossed the line. That was the secret that had allowed him to remain Hugh’s closest aide for so long.

“Lately, you have had little rest, but it seems you have at least enjoyed a light diversion.”

In response to David’s earnest words, Hugh answered with a faint smile. When he lifted his hand to shoulder height, the attendant placed a clipped cigar between his long fingers. Swiftly striking a match, the attendant brought the flame to the tip of the cigar at Hugh’s lips.

The end soon began to glow red as Hugh inhaled deeply until his cheeks hollowed, then released a long, low breath. Through the haze of smoke that spread in the air, his bluish-gray eyes, sunken with heaviness, turned toward David.

“I need to find a new Cartian teacher.”

At the somewhat abrupt order, David tilted his head. “Is there some problem with Michele Baratti…?”

“Well.”

Is the problem that there is no problem? The words that followed his half-smiling tone carried even more meaning.

“Find a woman.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Has the plan changed? The brief exchange was full of unanswered questions, but David swallowed them all. If it had been something essential to know regarding the plan, Hugh would have explained.

So something did happen yesterday. Vague speculations were swirling in his head when—

“Ah.”

A soft exclamation, carried away by the breeze along with smoke, erased David’s thoughts.

“One more thing.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“Investigate Maylily’s relationships with her colleagues. Who she is close with, whether she has rivals, things like that.”

“Yes, understood.”

Satisfied with David’s crisp answer, Hugh nodded, placed the half-smoked cigar into the ashtray, and rose.

“Let us end the break here.”

“I won’t yield this set so easily.”

“I hope so. A one-sided game is no fun for me either.”

Adjusting his sleeve neatly, Hugh took the racket from the attendant and returned to the court. Following him, David stood on the opposite side, and the game resumed with his serve.

***

[In short, you mean to tell me to get lost, then.]

Michele displayed his unfiltered hostility toward David, who had suddenly barged into another’s house and delivered a dismissal notice.

[That was not my intention, but since the outcome is the same, I won’t deny it.]

Though David Curren was a commoner, he had mingled too much with nobles, and so their refined, insufferable manner of speech had rubbed off on him. Combined with his fluency in Cartian, enough to make the affectation obvious, his disagreeableness was doubled.

[I had been carrying out the commission smoothly, which makes this all the more incomprehensible. Is it that the esteemed Count, who sought someone to dirty his hands in his place, has now suddenly developed a craving for Maylily’s purity? So he intends to take her for himself?]

David frowned at Michele’s crude sneer, but froze at his final words. Only now had he realized his master’s black desires? With a sharp laugh, Michele took a long swig of cold water to douse his irritation.

Damn it. So it has come to this, after all.