The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 123

“Sheila!”

Jerry showed up the day after Sheila arrived in Wellingford.

“Come in.”

Sheila let Jerry into the room she was staying in.

After arriving in Wellingford the day before, Sheila had taken a room at a small inn called Nest.

This was originally the place they’d designated as a meeting point in case something went wrong after the job was done.

There was no longer any need to carry out the job because of Cedric, but now it was practically the same as being chased by him.

The people who could help her and the money she needed were in Holzeroad, but Sheila could no longer go there. Not only was Holzeroad a village within his territory, but he was thorough in everything, and he had already caught on to the existence of the guild.

“No one followed you, right?” Sheila asked as she looked outside through the small window.

“Ha, what do you take me for?”

For Jerry.

Sheila didn’t bother responding to the obvious remark and said, “You came early.”

“I came as soon as I got your letter.”

The morning before leaving the mansion, Sheila had placed a letter in the servants’ mailbox. A postman came and went every day, delivering letters to and from the mansion.

Since it didn’t take long for letters to travel within the same territory, Jerry received it in two days. And he came straight here.

Sheila closed the curtain and sat on the bed, and Jerry followed and sat down beside her.

“Why are you sitting there! Move.”

Startled, Sheila slapped Jerry on the back.

“Ow!”

Jerry made a fuss and jumped to his feet. Then, with his lips still chewing gum, he plopped down on the chair in front of the small table.

“I thought it’d be hard for you to get out, but you made it somehow?”

“The Young Count left for Lotas. I ran away while he was gone.”

Now that she had successfully escaped, Sheila decided not to regret not leaving with Jerry that day.

If she hadn’t confirmed it herself, she might’ve still felt a bit of lingering attachment toward that perverted young count.

“Things got messed up. You were supposed to get a recommendation letter and move somewhere else.”

Like Bill, Jerry was one of the few people who knew Sheila’s original plan.

As Jerry said, since she hadn’t been able to leave with a recommendation letter, it would be difficult to enter another household as a maid. On top of that, she had run away in the dead of night, even if she actually left early in the morning.

“So, how about living with me?”

“What?”

Why is this going in that direction again?

“Do you like me?” Sheila asked.

Jerry jumped up, his face turning red.

“Like you? What are you talking about!”

“Then why do you keep asking me to live with you?”

At the follow-up question, Jerry’s ears turned red this time.

“It’s not that I like you, it’s just that I don’t dislike you…, and sometimes you look pretty.”

“Ha…!”

He’s confessing, but I’m not always pretty, just sometimes?

As Sheila scoffed, Jerry hurriedly opened his mouth.

“More than anything! I just don’t want to see you suffering.”

Jerry shouted, lowering his head in embarrassment.

Shouldn’t have asked.

An awkward silence fell after Jerry’s words.

“So you’re saying you don’t like me.”

Sheila summed up the awkward conversation in one line.

Jerry stared at her blankly.

“That’s how you take it?”

“Why, am I wrong?”

“It’s not that you’re wrong…, so what are you going to do now?”

Regret dripped from Jerry’s voice. Even though Jerry, who grew up an orphan, didn’t really understand feelings like love, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to live together since Sheila was capable and fun to be around.

More than anything, as he’d said to her, he strongly wanted her not to suffer anymore.

“For the time being, I’m going to stay here,” Sheila answered lightly.

Jerry, clutching at straws, opened his mouth again.

“You might think this place looks easy, but it’s not. There are a lot of drifters, and it’s quietly a rough place. And what are you going to do to make a living here all by yourself in a place like this? Do you think it’ll be easy to find work?”

Watching Jerry get worked up for no reason, Sheila replied, “Work? I already got one.”

***

It was the third day since Cedric arrived and the audit began in earnest.

After explaining the direction of the audit on the first day, Gabriel set all documents of the company, which had only just reached its second year, within the scope of the audit and began a thorough review.

But he couldn’t find a single notable issue.

‘The paperwork is pretty solid. So he got a bit of academy training, is that it? But even if the documents are clean, once it gets to inventory inspection, there’s bound to be discrepancies.’

Gabriel decided to stake everything on the inventory audit that would begin the next day or the day after.

Half would fall during the document audit, and the remaining half that passed the document audit would fall during the inventory audit.

‘They must’ve recorded less in the ledger than the actual sales volume. The books might be perfectly matched, but if we conduct a full inventory check, they won’t be able to get away with it.’

As Gabriel smiled in satisfaction at the thought of delivering the decisive blow, there was a knock on the audit room door.

「Excuse me. There’s a visitor for the president……」

「Can’t you see we’re in the middle of an audit?」

Cedric deliberately barked at Rufus, who had come to call him. He had already grasped how authoritarian Gabriel was.

Unaware of that, Gabriel spoke in a puffed-up voice.

「Go on. It seems we can review the remaining documents among ourselves.」

「Then, excuse me.」

As Gabriel moved just as intended, Cedric rose smoothly from his seat.

Cedric headed straight to his office.

There, the visitor Rufus had reported was waiting.

「Darling.」

The one who had stubbornly called Cedric over despite being told he was in the middle of an audit was Sylvia Stacy.

「I heard an audit came in?」

Cedric sat down, leaned back against the chair, and gave a rough nod.

With Sylvia, it was as casual as if they had met yesterday. In reality, it hadn’t even been two weeks since they last met in Beloica.

Looking at Cedric, who seemed tired, Sylvia continued.

「What’s the point of having a friend, darling? If you want, I can have it stopped today.」

「If I want?」

Cedric straightened his posture and raised an eyebrow. He sensed something subtly off in Sylvia’s words.

「Are you saying I should beg you to stop the audit?」

「Beg? You?」

Sylvia laughed loudly.

「You think I’d want you to beg me, Cedric?」

Sylvia wiped away her laughter, leaving only a smile as she continued.

「Of course, as you know, there’s something else I want.」

There it was again. Seeing Cedric look like he had nothing more to say, Sylvia spoke bluntly as if she couldn’t help it.

「Fine. If you want, I’ll allow you to keep Sheila as a mistress. If it’s someone like Sheila, I think I could even treat her like a younger sister. I don’t mind the three of us either.」

At Sylvia’s attitude as if she were showing great generosity, Cedric spoke with a sharp gaze.

「So in short, you caused all this just to make that kind of proposal?」

At Cedric’s words, Sylvia’s eyes widened.

「What?」

「Don’t pretend you don’t know. How did you find out I entered the country and come here?」

Sylvia, who had been racking her brain for a plausible excuse, said,

「Hah, I guess I can’t fool you.」

She could have made an excuse if she tried, but Sylvia chose to admit it cleanly.

「That’s right. I asked through my father. Did Gabriel show up? I asked them to assign the most meticulous person. He’s famous for being completely inflexible. He probably doesn’t even know a request came from above, and he’ll likely do it in all seriousness.」

She thought this much would be enough to make Cedric rush to Lotas immediately.

At Sylvia’s absurd prank, Cedric let out a short sigh.

「Tell him to do it seriously. It doesn’t matter. I have nothing to hide.」

At Cedric’s conclusion, Sylvia jumped up.

「Cedric! You don’t need to be audited. You just need to come to me. Is that so hard?」

Cedric looked at her with narrowed eyes. But Sylvia, caught up in her emotions, didn’t notice how angry he was.

「Is it because of ‘that matter’? I know everything too. How special she is to you. That’s why I said I understand. What other woman besides me could understand something like this?」

Cedric stood up.

「I don’t need your understanding, so go back. And don’t appear in front of me again. It’ll be difficult to even see you as a friend from now on.」

「Cedric!」

Only then did Sylvia realize the seriousness of the situation and grabbed Cedric’s arm as he came out to open the door himself.

「Let go.」

A cold command fell from Cedric’s lips.

A chill ran down Sylvia’s spine.

「I…, I’ll fix it.」

Without realizing it, Sylvia spoke politely. Like in the moments when she had been punished by him. It was also proof that she knew how wrong she was.

「There are things you can do and things you can’t. You should know that too, shouldn’t you?」

「I’m sorry….」

「Too late.」

「I can fix everything.」

There was no way Cedric, who had once been her partner, didn’t understand her state. But he ignored it.

「No. I’ll take responsibility. Misjudging a person is my fault too.」

At Cedric’s cold attitude, Sylvia dropped to her knees and spoke urgently.