The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 118

Although Eloise was flustered by something she’d never experienced before, she soon parted her lips and accepted him.

Their tongues intertwined deeply.

Despite the sudden first kiss, Eloise didn’t completely lose her senses. She opened one eye and glanced around the café once more.

Seeing that the café remained quiet, she felt somewhat relieved.

But this couldn’t continue.

Coming back to her senses, Eloise pushed him away with her arms.

“Let’s… pretend today never happened.”

Eloise grabbed the clutch she’d placed on the chair and hurriedly turned away.

“Eloise!”

Alfonso, who had been calling her name blankly, brushed his lips where her warmth still lingered.

Kissing the woman who was meant to become his sister-in-law was maddeningly intoxicating.

***

An exhale slipped from Rufus’s mouth as he witnessed Alfonso and Eloise’s kiss firsthand, completely against his intentions.

“Ah, this….”

To begin with, the fact that the woman Alfonso met at the hotel café was Eloise was already shocking enough.

‘Does the Young Count know Lady Eloise has come here?’

‘Anyone would think she’s engaged to Young Master Alfonso.’

He’d been thinking such things, but then both of them suddenly stood, the atmosphere intensified, and without warning their lips collided…!

‘N-no, that’s a kiss. Damn it….’

Rufus had served nobles for many years—more specifically, Cedric—and had witnessed all kinds of things. But even compared to when he looked inside the perverse club—though it had a perfectly proper name, “Alaina,” Rufus simply called it the “Pervert Club”—the current situation was far more shocking and unsettling.

With the resolve of carving into bone, Rufus kept his eyes wide open and watched their kiss until the very end.

When their lips parted, Eloise turned away like the tragic heroine of a melodrama and left.

Alfonso remained alone, touching his lips with a vacant expression.

While Alfonso stood dazed, Rufus quickly left his seat.

And upon returning to the estate, he heard Cedric’s declaration that he would never marry.

Regardless of everything, Rufus still wished Cedric would marry. But at the same time, he felt relieved that he didn’t have to decide whether to report what he’d witnessed.

In any case, the next day, just as Rufus was about to send a letter to the Quentin Hotel, a letter from Eloise arrived in his hands.

Her attendant had personally delivered it early that morning.

As Cedric’s personal secretary, Rufus received the letter addressed to him directly. Its contents were as follows:

[There is something urgent I must discuss regarding our marriage. I will wait at eleven tomorrow morning at the café in the Quentin Hotel lobby.]

“Oh, I….”

After confirming the time and place, Rufus conveyed the contents of the letter to Cedric, hoping at the very least that she wouldn’t be sitting in the same seat as yesterday.

***

After finishing some simple matters in the morning, Cedric hurried to prepare to leave for the Quentin Hotel at the appointed time.

Cedric was not in a particularly good mood. Going back on his own words was not something he was accustomed to.

But more than that, Sheila’s expression bothered him.

“Are you sick?”

Sheila, who was helping him prepare to go out, didn’t look well. She had been fine until yesterday… no, until she attended to him that very morning. Had something happened in the meantime?

“No.”

Sheila replied quietly without meeting his eyes.

Cedric lifted her chin and looked at her with a gentle gaze.

“Lie.”

As if it truly had been a lie, Sheila flinched and spoke again.

“In truth… I’m just not feeling very well.”

“Shall I call a doctor?” Cedric asked.

He had previously found a female physician for her. He hadn’t summoned her to the estate yet, but he could if needed.

“No! It’s really not that serious.”

Despite her answer, Cedric stared at her blue eyes for a while.

He was trying to see through the small lies she habitually told.

Just as her eyes began to waver, Cedric placed his large hand on her forehead.

Sheila flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.

‘She’s nervous….’

After confirming she didn’t have a fever, Cedric withdrew his hand.

“Rest. You’re not feeling well, so don’t create more work for yourself.”

Cedric, uncharacteristically, launched into a tirade of nagging.

Even so, he hesitated, wanting to say more, when Rufus suddenly opened the door and called out.

“Young Count! If you’re ready, shall we leave now? There’s something I need to report as well….”

Only then did Cedric release her chin.

“I’ll be back.”

Sheila bowed her head.

As Cedric stepped into the corridor, Rufus hurriedly whispered something into his ear.

Cedric listened in silence, and his expression hardened.

His eyes briefly turned toward his room, where Sheila remained. But after checking the time, Cedric soon headed to the Quentin Hotel with Rufus.

When they arrived at the hotel, Rufus said he would wait outside and went to the same spot where he’d previously looked into the café.

Eloise was already seated inside the café in the hotel lobby.

In exactly the same place where she’d met Alfonso, in the same posture.

Seeing that, Rufus suddenly felt the urge for a cigarette, even though he didn’t smoke.

Soon, Cedric entered the café and sat across from Eloise.

Their conversation continued for some time.

He could see Eloise’s reactions in real time. Shock, agitation, and utter devastation.

Even after Cedric stood and left his seat, Eloise remained frozen, still sitting there as if she’d suffered a blow.

Soon after, Cedric came out of the hotel.

“Is it really all right to leave things like this?”

“Alfonso will comfort her.”

Cedric casually linked the woman who had nearly become his fiancée with his own younger brother.

As expected, the inner world of nobles was truly….

Rufus had only told Cedric that he’d seen Eloise at the hotel the day before. He hadn’t mentioned their kiss, nor even that the two had met at all. His discretion now felt meaningless.

In any case, it was fortunate in many ways that Cedric didn’t become engaged to Eloise.

He hoped another woman would appear soon. One who would capture the Young Count’s heart and lead him to marriage….

“Let’s go.”

Rufus guided Cedric toward where the carriage was waiting.

Cedric’s expression grew heavy again as he headed back to the mansion, where Sheila was waiting.

***

After Cedric left, Sheila slowly walked to the table and sat down in the chair where she always sat when eating snacks.

“Huh….”

Nothing had been resolved since she sent Jerry away that morning.

She’d planned to observe Cedric while pretending nothing was wrong, but calming her heart wasn’t easy.

Just earlier, when he touched her forehead with that gentle gaze, her heart pounded as if she were the one guilty of something.

‘Could Jerry have been mistaken, since Cedric has acted the same as always?’

Sheila tried to deny the news Jerry had brought her.

Now that she thought about it again, there was no reason for him to keep her company.

‘What could he possibly be lacking…?’

After vaguely convincing herself it couldn’t be true, Sheila staggered to her feet and headed to her room.

‘After carrying out the request regarding Fred, what was I supposed to do next…? How many whips does Miss Judith still have left to repay?’

Her thoughts in disarray, Sheila returned to her room, lifted the carpet, and took out the ledger.

On the last page, the time she’d spent with him in the punishment room was recorded.

It had been over three weeks since Judith took the exam, but there were still sixty-three whips remaining for her to repay him.

It was the result of repaying 140 out of 203 whips. It also meant she’d entered the punishment room only seven times, each session lasting merely two hours.

He hadn’t administered punishment until the bruises from when Fred beat her had faded, and when it resumed, it stopped once again when her monthly cycle began.

Sixty-three whips meant three more times….

After mixing bodies with him just three more times, she would submit her resignation letter without regret and leave the estate.

‘Wait…! The resignation letter!’

Remembering it, Sheila hurriedly opened the ledger.

The resignation letter she’d prepared in advance was carefully tucked between the pages.

‘If he saw the ledger, then this too…?’

The strength left Sheila’s body once again.

Had he made preparations because he knew she would leave?

The suspicion toward him she’d tried so hard to suppress began to rise again.

***

Fortunately, Sheila barely managed to calm herself before Cedric returned.

Sheila didn’t know where he had gone or whom he had met.

After returning from the Quentin Hotel, Cedric wrote a letter to the Vivarini family and spent his time busily reviewing various matters related to compensation for the broken marriage arrangement.

Only at night, after finishing his work, did he rise from his seat.

“Send this to House Vivarini tomorrow.”

“Yes, Young Count.”

Rufus finished his duties as well and left Cedric’s room.

Once they were alone, Sheila, who had been idling all afternoon, pretended to work for no reason.

Cedric approached her.

His eyes fell on the snack dish placed on the table. A plate of cookies topped with whipped cream remained completely untouched.

As he drew closer, Sheila felt her heart, which had barely calmed down, begin pounding again.

“How is your body?” Cedric asked in a gentle tone.

“Yes…? I’m fine now….”

Sheila, who had used illness as an excuse in the morning, could not use the same excuse again.

Because his gaze, unlike before, was unbearably sharp.

He said in a voice that was both gentle and cruel, “Then come in. You need to repay the remaining debt.”