The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 152

Cedric got up, picked up his pants, and headed toward the desk.

Sheila also picked up her nightclothes and sat at the edge of the bed, watching him.

A moment later, Cedric returned carrying a box.

“Open it.”

Sheila carefully lifted the lid of the box.

“This is…!”

Inside the box Cedric handed her was a gorgeous pair of jeweled shoes.

The corners of Sheila’s eyes reddened as she looked at them.

Sensing that Sheila’s reaction was somewhat strange, Cedric asked, “Why… what’s wrong?”

“In my dream last night… these were the shoes my sister was holding.”

Raising her tearful eyes, Sheila explained in detail what happened in the dream.

“When I went to Holzeroad recently, I visited my sister’s grave for the first time in years. I’d never gone before because I promised I would visit after getting revenge on Fred.”

Cedric nodded while listening.

“But while standing blankly in front of her grave, all I could think about was you. At the time, I was so worried that you might not come back safely….”

“I see.”

“I feel so sorry toward my sister. She always thought only about me, but I feel like I’m always only thinking about myself.”

“No, that’s not true, Sheila.”

Sitting beside her, Cedric comforted her and repeatedly pressed kisses to her hair.

“Come with me sometime. I should apologize to your sister too for making her younger sister suffer,” Cedric said jokingly.

Sheila no longer found him irritating when he acted like that. The thought of going together to her sister’s grave felt reassuring and comforting.

“I should go back to my room now.”

Looking toward the window where the sky had grown brighter, Sheila spoke.

“You should try the shoes on first.”

Cedric knelt on one knee on the floor and slipped the shoes onto her feet.

Then he took her hand and helped her stand. The shoes fit Sheila’s feet perfectly, as though they had been measured exactly for her. And they looked even more beautiful once she wore them.

“They’re so pretty. But they’re too… for a maid to wear.”

Sheila trailed off before finishing her sentence.

“Then you can quit being a maid.”

“What?”

“As soon as things here are settled, I’m leaving for Lotas.”

Cedric held out his hand.

“Come with me, Sheila.”

***

“Father, I carefully reviewed the ledgers you gave me, and the financial condition isn’t good.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Do you know how much income comes in every month?”

“More than half of the family’s income depends on the money coming from my brother’s company. This can’t continue. You need to reduce spending. Especially luxury goods…”

“Hmph! Calling it luxury when your father and mother are simply maintaining the family’s dignity.”

After the exhausting conversation dragged on, Alfonso felt disgust toward Bernard’s shameless attitude.

Because Bernard had always openly criticized Cedric’s business, Alfonso never realized they depended on him this heavily financially.

However, they couldn’t continue managing the family finances like this. Cedric was no longer the heir to the count’s title, so there was no reason for him to continue bearing financial burdens for the family as he had before.

“But at this rate…!”

“What do you think the next count is supposed to do? Ever since becoming an adult, Cedric handled the family finances without a single complaint!”

Eventually, Bernard even compared Alfonso to Cedric.

“Talk to your brother properly. There’s no way that brat would completely ignore the family. Do you know how much favor he received from his grandfather while growing up?”

Alfonso let out a hollow laugh at the sight of his father, who had no intention of changing and instead pushed every burden onto his sons. And that wasn’t all. Bernard openly revealed his petty jealousy toward Cedric as well.

Realizing there was no point continuing the conversation any further, Alfonso rose from his seat.

Now that he had become the next head of the family, this was a burden Alfonso himself would have to carry.

Alfonso headed to the third floor to meet Cedric.

It was sincere when he thought Bernard was shameless. Separately from that, the only way to resolve the mansion’s financial problems was to negotiate directly with Cedric.

***

Fortunately, Cedric agreed to meet Alfonso.

The fact that the guards in front of the door were gone meant that Cedric had opened his heart at least a little.

“How have you been?”

Sitting across from Cedric, Alfonso asked about his older brother for the first time since his release.

Sitting with one leg crossed over the other, Cedric spread his arms slightly.

“As you can see.”

Cedric still looked thinner than before, but that didn’t make him seem pitiful. If anything, his expression looked brighter than ever.

“You look well. Thankfully….”

Alfonso spoke awkwardly, then paused for a moment.

“About Eloise…. About what happened after you met her and withdrew the proposal. I went to the hotel where she was staying to comfort her, and somehow things ended up….”

Before getting to the main point, Alfonso first explained the matter with Eloise. The truth was, after sleeping with her, he planned to meet Cedric and tell him to marry her, but Cedric suddenly left for Lotas at the time, so he never got the chance.

Thinking about it now, that turned out to be an incredible relief.

“Forget it. I guess she was meant to end up with you from the start.”

At Cedric’s calm response, Alfonso let out another quiet sigh of relief.

“Thanks for thinking of it that way.”

“Enough about that. What brings you here?”

Cedric changed the subject at Alfonso’s greeting. No matter how long they talked about Eloise, it would only make things awkward for both of them.

“It’s not really about anything specific. I just wanted to talk about various things. Once you leave, who else am I supposed to discuss things with?”

Alfonso already knew Cedric would soon leave for Lotas. Even while Cedric shut himself away from everyone, Rufus had still been passing along necessary messages to the family in between.

“Oh right, about Dr. Obermeyer. How did you find her? Judith changed completely.”

Unable to bring up the real issue right away, Alfonso changed the topic with something more appropriate.

Aubrey O. Obermeyer was the tutor Cedric found for Judith before his arrest.

A few days ago, it was Aubrey who calmed Judith after she burst into tears and ran out upon hearing the news that she was no longer the youngest child.

“She was originally a doctor, but several years ago, she pioneered a field called child psychiatry and earned the first doctoral degree in it. What Judith needed first wasn’t studying, but correcting the bad habits she’d developed, so while searching around in that direction, I learned about Dr. Obermeyer. She’s already managed to straighten out several children like Judith. Since she never signs contracts for more than a year regardless of the client, after that, I hope you’ll find Judith a good tutor. Consider this a request from me,” Cedric said.

Just as he told Alfonso, Judith needed a teacher better than himself. A teacher who could teach her character rather than academics.

Hearing that Judith was changing in such a short time allowed Cedric to put down a little of the emotional debt he felt toward Judith.

Though he’d taken charge of Judith’s lessons at the same time, the truth was that Sheila, not Judith’s education, had been his real objective.

“Don’t worry about that, Brother. But actually….”

At the word “request,” Alfonso immediately answered and finally began bringing up the real matter little by little.

“But Father and Mother… don’t you think their spending is too excessive? There’s no way the income from the territory alone can support it, so why did you just let it continue?”

Alfonso asked. He originally meant to say it gently, but somehow it ended up sounding as though he were blaming Cedric.

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

As Alfonso tried to explain himself, Cedric spoke first.

“Because I was capable of it.”

Cedric’s expression was unbearably arrogant.

Even after being arrested and imprisoned, even after losing his noble status, Cedric is still Cedric.

“They should cut back. Though it’s no longer any concern of mine.”

“Brother!”

Alfonso called out to Cedric.

“What do you mean by that? No matter where you are, you’re still part of our ‘Calley’ family. That’s how I see it.”

“I’m grateful to hear that.”

At Cedric’s reply, Alfonso leaned his upper body forward and said, “Actually, I just came from telling Father to reduce his spending on luxury goods. Father said there’s no way you’d completely turn your back on the family.”

“Oh… then tell him he’s mistaken,” Cedric answered indifferently.

Alfonso’s expression darkened in real time.

Since Cedric already knew Alfonso’s purpose for coming from the very beginning, watching him like this was simply amusing.

If Alfonso had genuinely come only to ask how he was doing, Cedric probably would’ve felt disappointed instead.

Cedric knew his family well.

And now that he could finally keep a certain distance from them, he felt relieved.

Of course, it would be a lie to say he felt no emptiness at all.

Cedric had always identified himself with the position of future count and treated the two as one and the same.

From the beginning, the reason he tried to possess and discard Sheila in such a twisted way was also because of his sense of responsibility as the young count.

But now, relief outweighed the emptiness.

Now he clearly knew who the one person he needed to make happy was. No one and nothing besides Sheila mattered.

“Brother, please listen to me. Maybe Father’s different, but I’m not doing this because of money. We’re brothers. No matter where you go or what your status becomes, that won’t change! You’ll always be our brother and our family.”

While Alfonso spoke passionately enough for the veins in his neck to rise, Cedric leisurely sipped his tea and curled one corner of his lips upward.

“Really? Then I hope I’ll still be able to feel that sincerity even after I leave for somewhere far away.”

“Of course!”

Alfonso answered immediately.

To Cedric, Alfonso was the easiest younger sibling to deal with. Even more so than Allen or Judith, who always made it impossible to tell what they were thinking.

Looking at that younger brother, Cedric smiled faintly for reasons unknown.

Though he had lost his noble status, Cedric still planned to continue his business in Lotas under the Calley name.

Lotas was less conservative than Beloica, but the image of arriving there after committing a crime and being abandoned by one’s family still wasn’t particularly good. For the sake of business, Cedric needed to remain on good terms with House Calley.

“Congratulations on your marriage. I won’t be attending the wedding, but I’ll send a generous gift,” Cedric said.

Though he didn’t share deep affection with his siblings, that didn’t mean he bore any ill feelings toward them either.

Even if Alfonso was somewhat selfish and opportunistic, to Cedric he was still a younger brother who listened to him well.

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“Is ‘she’ leaving together with you?”

When Alfonso brought up Sheila first, Cedric answered firmly.

“I appreciate that you kept your mouth shut while I was gone. I hope you’ll continue to do so. I don’t mind, but she doesn’t want it.”

On the day he decided to leave together with Sheila, Cedric recalled the conversation they shared in this room.