The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 136

Unlike his cold demeanor, Cedric obediently chose the “bad news” from the options his secretary presented.

After all, it was better to take the blow first.

Rufus, who had been wondering what to report first from the moment he entered the room, opened his mouth in accordance with Cedric’s choice.

“As instructed, I investigated the marriage of Miss Sheila’s older sister, Miss Fabiola. According to the findings, it was a marriage by purchase.”

“What?”

At the word ‘purchase,’ Cedric’s face turned ashen.

Rufus continued his report carefully, “It’s said that Duker openly bragged about it. That he paid one hundred and thirty solid to buy a woman from another village. Apparently, when he used violence and hurled abuse, he often justified it by saying he couldn’t stand losing money on her.”

Damn it. Cedric rubbed his dry lips.

He already knew that the reason for Fabiola’s suicide was her husband’s violence and verbal abuse. But he thought that was all there was to it.

“I apologize. I should have investigated more thoroughly from the beginning,” Rufus said in apology.

If he had dug a little deeper during the initial investigation, he might have uncovered the root cause. But Rufus hadn’t.

At the time, he judged that identifying the nature of the establishment Sheila frequented and the reason she went there was more important.

“What should we do? It seems Miss Sheila is deeply shaken.”

Rufus, who knew everything that had happened between the Young Count and Sheila, asked.

Cedric couldn’t respond.

Looking back, Sheila’s eyes had always carried a sense of desperation. A desperate will to survive here somehow….

Within her gentle gaze, there was also a dry, worn feeling, as if she had already endured all the hardships of the world.

And it was a look he knew all too well.

The look of someone who believed that if they did nothing, they might end up having their throat torn out by someone.

Perhaps it was that sense of familiarity that drew Cedric to her.

And yet, that struggle had been her desperate attempt to avoid being sold off by Fred.

“I bought you from your brother only to protect you. No matter how you take it, that’s the truth. Nothing changes for you. The only difference is that your brother won’t be able to touch you anymore.”

To a woman who had been struggling her entire life not to be sold, since she was seventeen, or perhaps even earlier, Cedric had said those words without a second thought.

“So, are you expecting me to be grateful to you, Young Count?”

Only now did Cedric understand Sheila’s furious response.

After rubbing his face in frustration, he finally realized Rufus hadn’t finished his report yet and asked, “And the good news?”

“The item from Cordelia’s Dress Shop has arrived. It says it took longer because they had to procure matching jewels for both sides.”

Rufus stepped forward with the box he had brought in earlier and placed it on Cedric’s desk.

Cedric’s gaze darkened as he looked down at the box.

“Leave.”

Rufus bowed his head and left the room.

Cedric stared at the shoebox for a long time before opening the lid.

The shoes inside slowly came into view. A gift for her, one that had come far too late….

He first thought of making shoes that fit her perfectly on the day she came into his arms of her own will.

It was also the day she took an advance on her wages from the head maid, paid the remaining balance at the guild, and commissioned a murder.

He wanted to do something nice for a woman who had lived such a pitiful life.

Like the saying that a good pair of shoes will carry their owner to a good place, he wanted to have a beautiful pair made that would lead her somewhere better.

That day, Cedric trembled with fear as he touched the feet of the woman who had come into his arms, gauging their size and shape.

He vaguely thought he might try to convey his feelings to her when the shoes were finished.

It wasn’t a bad idea.

As always, expressing his feelings directly was awkward for Cedric.

If he presented a gift a woman would like, the awkward atmosphere might ease a little. That was all he thought.

At some point, Cedric even imagined the look on Sheila’s face when she saw the shoes.

Just imagining the sparkling jewels reflected in her blue eyes brought a satisfied smile to his lips.

But everything had become too late.

Even if he offered her shoes like this now, there was no way Sheila’s heart would turn back.

Moreover, the maid who seemed to value money more than anyone was, in truth, a woman with no material desires.

He should have realized it earlier when he saw her room, which held nothing at all.

For someone who had endured over four years with just the maid uniform she was first given, there could be no more useless luxury than a pair of expensive shoes like these.

Only then did Cedric understand.

How he must have appeared to a woman who had lived such a fierce life.

Cedric left the shoes adorned with the jewels he had painstakingly procured and closed the lid of the box.

It was painful to look at a gift he could no longer give.

That day, Cedric couldn’t bring himself to go to Sheila’s attic.

He didn’t have the confidence to say the words he always had, even in front of her sleeping figure.

How on earth should I apologize to you?

Cedric remained lost in thought all night.

Along with it, memories of Sheila came flooding back. Most of them were from when he first met her.

***

Cedric remembered the moment he first saw Sheila clearly.

It was when twenty-year-old Cedric was coming down the stairs from the second floor with Rufus.

On the first floor, the head maid was training the newly hired maids.

“Are those the new maids?”

“Yes. It seems several of the Madam’s maids and Miss Judith’s maids left in succession recently, so they hired new ones.”

“Hmm.”

Cedric looked over the new maids one by one.

Among them, Sheila stood out.

Her unusually pale skin played a part, but that wasn’t the only reason.

The gaze Sheila had on her first day shone brightly.

The other new maids in the same position were also tense and alert, but Sheila’s eyes seemed to overflow with light.

“Tell the head maid. Have her entrust Judith to the one in the middle who looks the most sharp.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Rufus answered briskly to Cedric, who already held firm control over the estate.

After that, Cedric would occasionally catch sight of the maid going in and out of Judith’s room on the same floor, or see her attending to Judith during family meals.

It seemed his brief prediction that assigning a sharp maid might make her last a bit longer had been right this time.

The maid named Sheila endured quite well.

And so, a few months passed.

***

Cedric was walking along the second-floor corridor as usual.

At twenty, Cedric’s expression was dark. Recently, he had been troubled by the ongoing financial deficit.

Not long ago, Bernard had put Cedric in charge of managing the finances.

When Cedric received the ledgers, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

They were completely different from the records he had seen while learning financial management before his grandfather passed away.

In the eight years since Bernard became count, the family’s finances had deteriorated beyond recognition.

Unable to handle the deficit on his own, Bernard had casually dumped the responsibility onto Cedric.

If the decline wasn’t stopped, it was obvious he would pressure Cedric by bringing up his ‘qualifications as the next head of the house.’

And yet the very man who caused the deficit was busy buying luxury goods.

All of them were gifts for his mistress.

‘Even if I tell Mother, it won’t make any difference.’

For whatever reason, his parents turned a blind eye to each other’s misconduct.

Raised by his nanny and grandfather, Cedric had no affection for such parents. Even so, influenced by his grandfather, who valued family bonds, he still carried a sense of responsibility toward the family and its members, including his parents and siblings.

In any case, while walking and thinking of ways to resolve the deficit, Cedric suddenly collided with someone who came running out.