The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 108

‘How childish… what did I just do?’

After sending Sheila away, Sylvia fell into slight self-loathing.

Sheila knelt on the floor, picked up the gold coins, and held them out to Sylvia, their owner.

“Take them. It’s a tip.”

She said it without even looking at Sylvia’s outstretched hand.

The day before, Cedric’s condition for calling Sheila to the hotel had only been one thing.

“You must never give her a tip!”

But Sylvia wasn’t someone who would obediently listen. Being told not to give a tip only made her feel even more determined to give one, like a contrary child.

Still, she hadn’t intended from the beginning to give an amount exceeding a commoner’s monthly wages.

That was, until she discovered the kiss mark left on Sheila’s nape.

「No way… it can’t be….」

She knew Cedric’s play style well. He was never a dom who pleasured his sub with caresses.

But what were the chances that Sheila, currently in his grasp, had rolled around with another man?

Five gold coins were clenched in Sylvia’s hand, her mood thoroughly sunken.

The reason she normally didn’t crush people with money or power was simply because she’d never felt the need to.

Even without doing that, Sylvia always lived with the feeling that she was superior.

For the first time, Sylvia childishly flaunted her money and deliberately dropped it on the floor to humiliate the other person.

While Sheila picked up the coins, Sylvia once again lowered her gaze to Sheila’s nape.

The messy marks on her nape were clearly traces of caresses.

If Sheila had looked shocked by the excessive amount or stiffened in humiliation, would she have felt a little better?

“Then, I’ll gratefully accept it, my lady.”

Sheila, who’d knelt on the floor to pick up the coins, gave a gentle smile, bowed politely, and stood up.

There was no trace of humiliation in Sheila as she picked up the money. If anyone was humiliated, it was Sylvia herself for doing something so childish.

After sending Sheila away in a daze, Sylvia recalled her meeting with Cedric the day before.

***

「So you’ve decided to go back now?」

「I have to. You’re too busy to meet me properly anyway.」

「This is already the third meal.」

「Yes. So you met me about once a week.」

Sylvia suggested meals every three or four days, and about half of those invitations were accepted.

「Then again, I know you’re busy. I heard you were out of the mansion all day a few days ago?」

She sent a guard to contact him, but he wasn’t at the estate.

Watching him, who showed no intention of saying where he’d gone that day, Sylvia changed the subject.

「So, is the wedding preparation going well?」

Sylvia sipped the jasmine tea served as dessert and probed Cedric.

It was a topic she’d deliberately avoided while sharing meals with him.

She didn’t want to give the impression that she was pressuring him.

People’s psychology is like that. No matter how much others talk beside them, if they don’t realize it themselves, it’s nothing more than nagging they don’t want to hear.

To Sylvia, the outcome of this marriage was obvious.

Even if Cedric endured it, the wife wouldn’t be able to.

After staying in the Calley mansion and taking time to think, Sylvia came to believe it wouldn’t be so bad if Cedric went through with it once and returned.

Because Cedric would eventually realize who he truly wanted.

「My parents are handling it.」

Cedric spoke about his own wedding as if it were someone else’s business.

‘Look at that. He’s not like that with other matters.’

Somehow reassured, Sylvia felt she could leave Beloica with peace of mind.

「By the way, could you send Sheila just once? Now that I’m packing, it’s no joke.」

Sylvia shrugged as if telling him to look at this mess.

She’d deliberately suggested the meal in the hotel room where she was staying. One side of the living room was filled with all kinds of luggage.

「Ask her first.」

「What?」

Sylvia was slightly taken aback by Cedric’s words.

Sylvia also usually considered the servants who worked for her, but hearing Cedric respond like that made her feel a little hurt.

Because she knew how conservative Cedric, a man of Beloica, was toward servants.

Sylvia, suppressing her hurt feelings, came up with a plausible reason.

「Ah, are you worried I might say something strange to Sheila?」

「Something strange?」

Cedric, holding his teacup, raised his eyes and looked at her. Then he set the cup down and spoke.

「Don’t tell me you mean that again?」

Quick-witted, he understood exactly what Sylvia meant.

「Let me correct one thing. The one I knew first wasn’t you, it was Sheila. So to me, it’s not that Sheila resembles you, but that you resemble Sheila. I’m saying this because you deliberately used the word ‘substitute’ last time. If I don’t correct it, you’ll keep misunderstanding.」

「Ha…! What did you say?」

Was he saying that she was Sheila’s substitute?

「If that upset you…….」

Sylvia shrugged.

「No? Why would I be?」

No matter how she thought about it, it was an absurd idea, so Sylvia decided to ignore it.

Seeing Sylvia’s attitude, Cedric ended the conversation there as if that was enough.

And today, Sylvia welcomed Sheila as if nothing had happened.

Sylvia didn’t want to admit it.

That she had been pushed aside by someone else.

The fact that Sheila was just a maid wasn’t that important.

To Sylvia, the highest-ranking noble and the sole heir of her house, another noble lady or a maid felt no different.

Of course, Sylvia was a refined intellectual. She knew how to consider servants and criticize the outdated class system.

But the composure she normally possessed came from arrogance.

And the emotion she felt toward Sheila, absurdly, was ‘jealousy.’

All circumstances converged toward a single possibility.

That Sheila might not be merely someone used as Cedric’s play partner.

At the thought that Sheila might be someone far more significant to Cedric, Sylvia pressed her lips tightly together.

***

“Please go to Holzeroad.”

When Sheila stated the destination, the carriage departed with the loud sound of wheels.

Sheila sat upright and gripped the coin purse filled with gold coins.

Unexpectedly, by helping Sylvia prepare for her return, not only the shortage of money but also the travel expenses to and from Holzeroad were resolved at once.

“Oh my, sorry. My hand slipped. Will you pick them up?”

Sheila recalled the gold coins that had fallen on the hotel floor a few days earlier.

Anyone could tell it was a deliberate gesture, but Sheila didn’t pay much attention to it.

It wasn’t as if she’d only seen nobles’ whims once or twice, and Sylvia was mild compared to most.

‘She probably just didn’t want to give it nicely.’

She’d endured Judith, who gave her not a single coin—of course, she’d long stopped thinking of her wages as pay for labor and instead as compensation for enduring abuse—for over four years. Compared to that, this kind of abuse, where money was thrown around, was welcome.

Even so, the amount was too large.

After picking up the money, Sheila suppressed the urge to stuff it into her pocket immediately and instead held it out to Sylvia. She felt she needed to confirm whether it was truly meant for her.

And the moment the word tip left Sylvia’s mouth, she accepted the money without hesitation.

‘If it weren’t for Fred, I could afford to be kinder….’

Sheila didn’t have the luxury of pretending to be virtuous or modest right now.

Besides, thanks to Cedric, she’d realized their spending was on a completely different scale from hers.

Not just five solids; even two hundred solids, enough to decide whether she lived or died, would surely mean nothing to them.

In any case, having reached the target amount, Sheila no longer wrote in the detestable ledger. The tip she received from Sylvia wasn’t money she needed to repay.

And after receiving her maid’s wages, she was now heading straight to the guild on her day off.

“What will you do on your day off?”

The day before, Cedric asked.

He always asked about her every move.

“Nothing….”

When he gave her a suspicious look, Sheila added,

“Ah, I mean… I’ll probably do some knitting. Or maybe go to the market for a bit. Haha.”

This time, she didn’t lie about going to her hometown. It hadn’t been long since she last used that excuse, and saying she was going again would seem strange.

So this outing was a secret outing. If anyone asked where she’d been all day, she could just say she lost track of time wandering the market.

Not that anyone would ask….

After paying the carriage fare, Sheila entered the restaurant.

Jerry, who was busy working behind the bar, noticed her and flinched in surprise.

‘I did come a bit early.’

Unlike usual, Jerry’s playful expression was completely gone. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then shook his head and gestured for her to go upstairs first.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

She was the one in a serious situation, yet Jerry looked even more serious.

But Sheila wasn’t in the mood for jokes today either, so she went upstairs without saying anything.

After knocking and entering, Bill greeted her in his usual manner.

“Where’s the money?”

“I’ve brought it all, Master.”

Sheila sat in front of Bill, took out the coin purse, and placed it on the desk.

“Please count it.”

“It should be right.”

Huh? He’s not usually like this….

Bill’s expression was normally close to emotionless, but today he looked unusually serious.

‘Did they all eat something wrong? What’s with everyone today?’

She thought she was the only one in a difficult situation, but it seemed everyone had their own struggles.

Not thinking much of it, Sheila said, “Then, please proceed now.”