Who Brought the Head Maid Back? - Chapter 50

Feeling a bad omen, Amy hushed her footsteps and followed them. The deeper the path went into the secluded woods, the more her anxiety flared. The moment she rounded a massive tree, maintaining her distance, she saw two boys locked in a struggle, clutching each other’s collars.

“!”

Just as she was about to rush out to break up the fight, someone tugged at her sleeve from behind. Startled, she turned to find Dwayne. He placed an index finger over his lips and mouthed a silent command.

“…”

She couldn’t tell exactly what he was saying, but it seemed he wanted her to stay put. When Amy closed her mouth and nodded, Dwayne let go. The two of them crouched side-by-side behind the thick tree trunk, peeking at the children.

The two boys tumbled and wrestled before breaking apart to size each other up. Ethan quickly regained his stance, looking for an opening, while the larger squire was panting heavily, struggling to catch his breath.

Seizing the moment, Ethan lunged. A fist struck the squire between the eyes, and a knee drove sharply into his abdomen. The squire collapsed without even letting out a scream. He lay sprawled on the ground, twitching like an insect.

Beside her, Dwayne whispered with a beaming smile.

“That’s Tommy. He’s the one who bullies Ethan the most. A few days ago, he kicked Ethan’s foot during a duel and nearly broke his ankle.”

“My goodness…”

Just then, Ethan stomped on Tommy’s ankle as he writhed on the ground. Aaaaagh! Tommy let out a high-pitched shriek like a stuck pig.

“If your ankle is gone, you can’t be a knight,” Ethan said coldly.

Tommy froze and swallowed hard. Ethan applied even more pressure, grinding his foot down.

“Ah, ow, ow! It hurts! I said it hurts!”

“This is exactly what you were trying to do to me. Did you think I didn’t know you were obsessively targeting my ankle?”

“!”

“You’d have to be a fool not to realize. Don’t think for a second that I’m incapable of doing the same.”

His frigid tone made it sound as if he truly intended to crush the bone right then and there. Tears and snot streaming down his face, Tommy pressed his hands together and begged desperately.

“I-I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

“Is that all?”

“I’ll never… I’ll never mess with you again! I swear it on my family name!”

“You think you’re safe because you travel in a pack? There will always be times like this when you’re alone. And I don’t miss opportunities. I won’t leave a single one of you alone. Test me if you’re curious.”

“Eek! I-I won’t. I’ll never do it again!”

Tommy looked as if he was about to wet himself. Ethan glared at him with murderous eyes, spitting out his final words.

“Remember. You only get one mercy.”

Tommy’s battered face nodded frantically.

“Y-yeah…”

“…Go.”

Only then did Ethan remove his foot. Tommy scrambled to pull his ankle away, shielding it with his hands while eyeing Ethan warily. As if nothing had happened, Ethan turned around, crouched by the stream, and began filling his canteen. Only then did Tommy bolt upright and limp away as fast as he could.

“Shall we?”

Now that the matter was settled, Dwayne spoke with a satisfied air and backed away. Amy also rose carefully and left the area.

When they emerged from the forest and reached the clearing where the others were gathered, they saw Bradley standing there. The moment Amy passed him to stand by Noah, Bradley’s voice echoed from behind.

“Ethan.”

Amy turned to see Ethan standing before him with his canteen. Bradley brushed past him, tossing out a casual remark.

“Go easy on them.”

A faint smile touched Ethan’s normally expressionless face.

“Yes, sir.”

Bradley turned his head just enough to catch Amy’s eye. He pouted playfully as if to say, See? Told you. Amy simply shook her head. She felt as though the day she finally understood the nature of knights would never come.

Suddenly, she missed Rita, Mary, and Cecil.

At that very moment, the women Amy was thinking of were busy cleaning the gallery, which was filled with various ornaments.

“It’s already been two weeks,” Rita muttered, tapping a suit of armor with a wool duster.

Beside her, Cecil, who was polishing a shield with an oil-soaked cloth, nodded.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re talking about the Head Maid, right?”

“Exactly.”

Rita and Cecil let out a synchronized sigh. With neither the Grand Duke nor the Head Maid at the castle, it felt as if the sun and moon had lost their light.

“But don’t you think I’m a bit like the Head Maid?” Mary, who was mopping the floor, suddenly made an odd remark.

Rita gasped and jumped several steps away from her.

“Have you lost your mind? Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Let me finish! Who said anything about my face? I have a conscience, even if it’s the size of a booger.”

Only then did Rita return to her spot, half-heartedly waving her duster again.

“So, what’s so ‘similar’ then?”

“Our taste for handsome men.”

“Ah…”

Rita couldn’t deny it. After all, the Head Maid was famously indifferent to her own beauty while being incredibly sensitive to the looks of others.

Cecil tightened her lips as if in agreement.

“I have to admit, you couldn’t insult the Crown Prince’s looks either.”

“True. He’s a different kind of handsome compared to our Grand Duke.”

If the Grand Duke felt like a sharp sword resting in its scabbard, the Crown Prince was like a soft silk cloth adorned with extravagant embroidery.

“I suppose I can see why the Head Maid served him.”

“If you spent your whole life looking at faces like theirs, it would be weirder if your standards didn’t skyrocket.”

“That’s true.”

Cecil suddenly lowered her voice.

“Do you know what she said to us the other day?”

“The Head Maid? What did she say?”

As Rita and Mary leaned in curiously, Cecil suddenly straightened her back, tucked her chin, and widened her eyes. Rita looked disgusted.

Is she really imitating the Head Maid? Does she want to get pelted with stones?

Beside her, Mary seemed to be thinking the same thing, silently cracking her knuckles.

Unaware of the impending danger to her well-being, Cecil mimicked Amy’s accent perfectly.

“You say you like handsome men, so why don’t you ever talk about the Grand Duke?”

“!”

As Rita and Mary flinched, Cecil shrugged.

“That’s what she said.”

Rita groaned and shook her head. The Head Maid they admired so much occasionally made such blunders.

“So, what did you say?”

“What could I say? I couldn’t exactly tell her, ‘Because he already has his heart set on someone,’ so I just made an excuse that he was too young.”

“Good call.”

“Then the Head Maid tilted her head. She asked why, if that were true, we were so enthusiastic about Mark, the most handsome sixteen-year-old in the village.”

At that, Rita and Mary nodded simultaneously.

“She’s not wrong.”

“The Head Maid is quite sharp.”

Rita sighed as she carefully dusted the holes in a helmet’s visor.

“Anyway, the Grand Duke has a very long road ahead of him.”

Cecil replied dismissively.

“Won’t it be fine? It’s not like His Grace is the type to just let the Head Maid run away.”

“Whose side are you on? What if the Head Maid refuses him until the very end?”

Mary frowned, pausing her rubbing of a smudge on a vambrace with a spit-moistened finger. This was a classic “Do you like Mom or Dad better?” type of dilemma. Of course, they loved the Head Maid more, but the thought of giving up the synergy of the Grand Duke and the Head Maid together was truly painful.

Cecil shrugged as she delicately polished the crest embossed on the shield.

“I doubt it. If the Grand Duke says he likes her, I think she’ll just pretend to give in and stay by his side.”

“Eh? What makes you think that? She treats him like a total child.”

“She has to. They’ve known each other since they were young.”

At Cecil’s words, Rita had an epiphany. It was true. Since she had spent about ten years in the Imperial Palace, it followed that she had seen the Grand Duke since he was seven years old. Cecil glanced at Rita.

“Rita, could you ever see Dane, your younger brother Giles’s childhood friend, as a man?”

“Not even if a spear went through my head.”

At her firm declaration, Cecil clicked her tongue as if to say, Exactly.

“In my opinion, the Head Maid needs time. Time away from the Grand Duke to see him in a new light.”

Rita pointed her duster at Cecil as a warning.

“If His Grace finds out you said that, you’re fired. Watch your mouth.”

“I value my neck too, you know?”

Cecil shuddered as if the mere thought was terrifying. Rita rubbed her chin, pondering Cecil’s words, then shrugged.

“But would that ever happen? The Grand Duke will never let her leave his side.”

“True. I wasted my breath on useless talk.”

Then, Mary, who had been silent, spoke up abruptly.

“An opportunity for the Grand Duke will come soon.”

“An opportunity? Like what?”

Rita and Cecil turned to her with puzzled expressions. Mary gripped the handle of her mop with both hands and declared with a solemn face:

“The Spring Festival.”

Rita and Cecil blinked blankly for a moment before gasping in realization.

“My god, Mary, are you a genius?”

Rita thapped Mary on the back, while Cecil started hopping up and down.

“That’s right! Spring has come to the North, so we have to hold the festival again. Wow, that’s brilliant, Mary.”

Lifting her chin, Mary tossed a stray lock of hair over her shoulder and boasted.

“Ha, honestly, what am I going to do with this brain? It’s a problem being this smart.”

Rita and Cecil tolerated Mary’s bragging for exactly ten seconds. The idea was worth that much. The three of them began to chatter excitedly.

“Let’s go talk to the Butler and the Aide. Now that I think about it, spring isn’t far off!”

“Exactly! If we want to prepare properly, even starting now is late.”

“It’s the first festival since the Grand Duke arrived!”

“The last banquet ended so abruptly because of that unfortunate incident. I think we can really do it right this time.”

Rita pumped her fist and shouted.

“No time to waste, troops! Let’s move!”

“Let’s go!”

The three women, now fully united in purpose, immediately tossed aside their rags and ran off.

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