The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 153

 

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

 

At Cedric’s proposal, Sheila smiled and nodded. Cedric pulled her into his arms and showered her with kisses.

After a long while, when his lips finally pulled away, Sheila spoke.

 

“I should go back to my room now. If everyone wakes up at this rate….”

 

Sheila spoke as though it would be a disaster if anyone noticed them. Alfonso and Molly might have already caught on to their relationship, but everyone else still knew nothing.

 

“I have no intention of keeping us a secret.”

 

Cedric kissed Sheila’s forehead. Then Sheila shoved Cedric away hard and said,

 

“Hk! No!”

 

Her reaction was much stronger than he expected.

 

“I mean, I don’t think I could handle something like that…. Anyway, I think it’s better if we leave without anyone knowing. Okay?”

 

Well, he supposed she had a point. They were leaving anyway. Maybe exposing their relationship would only place an unnecessary burden on Sheila.

 

“I won’t do anything you dislike. Don’t worry.”

 

Cedric kissed her forehead once again. Only then did Sheila finally relax and stay still.

That day, Sheila returned to her room in Cedric’s arms. When she said it would be a waste to walk wearing her new shoes, Cedric simply lifted her up.

Cedric didn’t want to do even the slightest thing Sheila disliked.

That didn’t mean he planned to hide her forever, though….

 

“I understand what you mean, Brother. Don’t worry about that either,” Alfonso replied confidently while looking at Cedric.

Cedric looked at Alfonso and smiled in satisfaction.

 

***

 

The moment Molly saw Sheila carrying her luggage, her face crumpled.

“You’re really leaving?”

Molly’s voice was full of sadness.

A few days earlier, Sheila had submitted her resignation and told Molly about it, but now that the day had actually come, Sheila also found it hard to part with her.

She deliberately matched the date to the day Cedric planned to leave the Calley mansion.

No one would suspect anything just because the dates happened to be the same. Well, Cedric was the type who didn’t care even if people found out….

“I’ll write to you, Molly.”

“Oh, seriously!”

As if the farewell finally felt real, Molly suddenly threw her arms around Sheila.

“You’re leaving together with Young Count Cedric, right?” Molly whispered in a tearful voice. Molly also still called Cedric the young count.

When Sheila quietly nodded, Molly smacked her hard on the back.

“Ow!”

“You lucky thing.”

Pulling away, Molly looked at Sheila. To Molly, the fact that Cedric lost his noble status was actually better for Sheila.

The same went for leaving this place, where the entire Calley family remained, and going somewhere else.

“Go and live well, Sheila.”

“Molly, you too. Stay healthy.”

Both Sheila and Molly looked at each other with damp eyes.

Then, as though she had nearly forgotten something important, Sheila hurriedly opened her mouth.

“Oh, right! About the money I borrowed from you before….”

Sheila still hadn’t paid back the money she borrowed from Molly. The last time she went to the guild, all she managed to do after meeting Jerry was visit her sister’s grave.

“Hey, forget it! You don’t have to pay it back, so hurry up and go! Young Count’s waiting for you. Hurry!”

With rough hands, Molly turned Sheila around and shoved her forward.

“N-no, that’s not it…!”

Sheila resisted being pushed away and continued speaking.

“Instead of paying you back directly, I left you a gift at the pawnshop. If you take this certificate, they’ll give it to you, so make sure you go pick it up. Okay?”

Sheila held out the paper inside the envelope in place of the money she borrowed.

“What did you leave at the pawnshop?”

“Se-cret!”

“Don’t tell me it’s something small and expensive?”

“Mm…. Half right and half wrong.”

“Then is it something small and cheap……?”

Molly kept up the guessing game as though she were dying of curiosity. Sheila smiled faintly and said, “Go check for yourself. I really have to go now.”

At Sheila’s words, Molly hugged her tightly once more.

“We’re not parting forever like this, right? We’ll see each other again, right?”

“Of course. Obviously.”

Still, since there was no telling when they would meet again, the two hugged each other even tighter.

 

When Sheila reached the promised location, she spotted a carriage standing among the trees in the distance.

After looking around one more time, Sheila quickly approached the carriage.

The moment Rufus, who discovered Sheila, opened the carriage door, a large hand reached out from inside and suddenly pulled Sheila in just as she was about to climb aboard.

The door shut, and her lips were swallowed.

“Mmph!”

Giddyap! At the coachman’s signal, the carriage began moving.

When Cedric finally pulled away after continuing the kiss without care, Sheila let out a sigh and said, “Haa, I told you we could meet after leaving. Do you know how nervous I was that we might get caught?”

“I was nervous too. I was worried you might not show up.”

“Why would I?”

“Well, who knows?”

The memory of the day she tried to leave him behind and ride away in a carriage surfaced in Sheila’s mind.

“I won’t do that anymore.”

“How can I trust that?”

Cedric pulled Sheila tightly against his waist.

To Cedric, Sheila was a woman who could fly away at any moment. That was why he needed to hold onto her tightly.

“Did you say your goodbyes properly?”

“Yes. …Thanks to you.”

Sheila answered awkwardly. She still wasn’t used to the new way of addressing him yet, so whenever possible, she avoided directly calling him anything.

Sheila opened her mouth again.

“Thank you.”

Sheila had transferred the building Cedric gave her to Molly and left the ownership certificate at the pawnshop.

Several months had already passed since Molly got married, but she still hadn’t become pregnant yet. The work was hard and ended late, so her schedule never matched with her husband’s. Besides, if she became pregnant, it would also become difficult for her to continue working as a maid.

Since Sheila had already decided to leave together with Cedric anyway, she no longer needed the building. And it would’ve been difficult to sell it within only a few days.

“It’s nothing. It was yours, and you used it however you wanted.”

As though he truly didn’t care about such things at all, Cedric leaned in and kissed her swollen lips once more.

Ever since that day, he acted like this whenever he got the chance, to the point where it felt like her lips wouldn’t survive.

 

***

 

The carriage stopped in front of the cemetery in Holzeroad Village.

Cedric and Sheila stepped out of the carriage. On Sheila’s feet were the shoes Cedric bought for her. When Cedric held out his hand, Sheila took it.

Her steps felt awkward because of the new shoes, but she soon grew used to them.

The two arrived in front of a grave that was exceptionally well-maintained. In front of it stood a modest gravestone with the name [Fabiola] written on it.

“Sister, I’m here.”

Sheila greeted her warmly as though speaking to her sister while she was still alive. But tears quickly welled up in her smiling eyes.

“Sister…, I’m sorry about last time. I finally came after so long, but all I did was think about something else. Even so, thank you for coming to visit me in my dream.”

Sheila lowered her head as tears dripped down one after another. Cedric gently stroked Sheila’s back.

Once her crying calmed a little, Sheila spoke to her sister in her heart.

‘But Sister, I think I might think about you a little less now. Fred’s going to spend the next thirty years in prison. And even after he gets out, he’ll never be able to lay a hand on me again. So now, I’m going to try focusing a little more on myself. Just like you said, I’m going to go somewhere good and look for my own happiness.’

Even if her sister called her selfish for it, there was nothing she could do.

“Even so, you’ll always be in my heart. Please at least know that. I love you.”

Sheila wiped away her tears and turned to Cedric with a bright smile.

Only now did Sheila’s expression look truly relieved, as though she had finally put down every burden she carried.

Cedric gently stroked Sheila’s hair.

 

***

 

After stopping by the guild, Sheila left 10 solids behind out of the remaining 130 as payment for grave maintenance, withdrew the other 120 solids, and came back down to the carriage.

Cedric was standing outside the carriage.

Just standing there was enough to draw people’s attention because of how handsome he was, but for some reason, to Sheila’s eyes, he looked anxious.

“Why are you out here?”

“Just because….”

Cedric trailed off awkwardly before saying,

“Get in.”

With Cedric escorting her, Sheila climbed into the carriage.

“How was it?” Cedric asked how it felt after saying her final goodbye.

“I said I’d come visit from time to time.”

“You must feel regretful.”

“I’m okay,” Sheila answered.

She was leaving on a long journey, but her sister would always remain here, and she could visit occasionally. Besides, there had even been a time when this almost became a place she could never return to again, so this much didn’t bother her.

“But Jerry was a little….”

When Sheila said she was leaving for Lotas together with Cedric, Jerry asked,

 

“Are you marrying the Young Count in Lotas? No, I mean, that man?”

“It’s not like that.”

“But does it make any sense to follow a man all the way to another country without any guarantee?”

 

When Jerry got worked up, Bill spoke up from the side.

 

“Why not? Sheila’s an adult.”

 

Jerry turned around while grumbling angrily. Sheila briefly caught sight of the moisture glimmering around his eyes.

Even while Sheila told him to stay well, Jerry never once turned back around.

“What about him?”

“Ah…, it’s nothing.”

Even though Sheila didn’t say anything, Cedric somehow sensed something and said, “I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

For some reason, Sheila felt as though the feelings Jerry never voiced had been exposed, so she hurriedly changed the subject.

“Look at this.”

“What is it?”

Sheila lifted up the heavy pouch. Inside were 120 solids.

Out of the original 200 solids, only 120 remained, but Sheila was satisfied. According to the original plan, all of it should’ve disappeared while getting rid of Fred.

“I’m going to use this money to get a house.”

“A house…?”

At Sheila’s words, Cedric’s expression stiffened as though the world had collapsed.

“You mean… you’re going to find a separate house to live in away from me?”

“What? No, that’s not it…!”

Flustered, Sheila hurriedly tried to explain herself, then suddenly blushed.

“A house… for us to live in together….”

Sheila’s voice trailed off weakly.

“Of course, I still have the money you gave me too, Young Count. But we should use that money to help pay your fine. Secretary Rufus hasn’t quit either, so you should pay him back too. Right?”

Sheila looked up at him worriedly.

On the surface, Cedric still looked wealthy, but in reality, he was penniless.

The 100,000 solids he had to pay as a fine was an unimaginable amount of money. In Sheila’s opinion, no matter how rich Cedric was, it was impossible for him to handle alone.

And Count Bernard Calley certainly wasn’t going to help his son either.

As Cedric once said, without the money coming in from Cedric’s company, the count’s household finances weren’t all that abundant.

Looking at Sheila, Cedric suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Were you just worrying about my financial situation?”

Cedric looked amused.

“I arranged to pay the fine over ten years in installments. It’s an absurd amount to pay all at once. It’s comparable to my company Rovenhagen’s total annual sales.”

W-wait…! That enormous amount is only one year’s worth?

Sheila’s mouth fell open.

“I still need operating funds to run the company, so paying the fine is a burden for me too. But it’s not enough to become unmanageable, so you don’t need to worry.”

A woman worrying about Cedric Calley’s financial situation….

Looking at Sheila with gentle eyes, Cedric continued, “I also have a two-story house in Lotas. Compared to the Calley’s estate, it’s small, but it’s more than enough for the two of us to live in. I’m planning to kick out Vice President Edouard, who’s living there now.”

Stammering, Sheila continued, “Th-then, does that place also… have one?”

“What?”

Part of Sheila’s voice was too quiet, so Cedric failed to hear her and asked again.

“…If it has one there too.”

Sheila spoke so quietly that Cedric still couldn’t understand, so he leaned his ear close to her lips.

“I mean… the punishment room…, the punishment room.”

Sheila whispered softly but clearly into his ear.

“What?”

Now that he finally understood properly, Cedric burst into hearty laughter once again.

When Cedric moved his belongings out, the punishment room attached beside his room disappeared without a trace. There was no reason to leave it behind.

“Well? What do you think?” Cedric asked with a grin.

“Hmm…, I think there probably is.”

After thinking for a moment, Sheila answered. Then she added, “Because Cedric Calley is a pervert.”

At the bold answer, Cedric curled the corners of his lips upward and swallowed Sheila’s lips whole.

Cedric felt as though he would never be able to escape Sheila’s charm for the rest of his life.

The carriage carrying the two of them cheerfully sped toward Lotas. Leaving the Calley’s estate behind, toward the two-story house where the two of them would live together.

 

<The Whipping Maid of House Calley> End