Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Then, holding the large towel placed over her head in her hand, Lina hurriedly started wiping the carpet. Azela laughed at the absurd situation.

“Do you know how much the towel costs, and you use it to clean the carpet?”

“…Yes?”

“I told you to wipe your body. Water keeps dripping from your body.”

“But, but to dare with such an expensive…”

“Then, you’re going to turn the mansion into a sea of ​​water every time you go around?”

“I’ll, I’ll wipe it now.”

Lina, hardened by Azela’s annoyed voice, picked up the towel from which she was wiping the carpet and started wiping her head, face, and clothes in a hurry.

It was silly. Azela was offended by the way Lina looked so silly that it kept reminding her of Irene. Even though it was so unpleasant, she became angry with herself, who could not ignore her. Turning her gaze away, she let out a long sigh of regret.

She wouldn’t have cared about her in the first place. If it had been before, she would have passed by without knowing that such a child existed in the mansion.

“I…I cleaned it, Madam.”

As Lina held the soft towel in her hand, she looked into Azela’s eyes with a helpless gaze.

Even with that appearance, she was annoyed because it felt like she was seeing Irene while she was still alive. She was annoyed that such a child was in the mansion, and she was even more upset that Lina was working under Sylvia.

“You…”

Azela turned her gaze away from the void and looked at Lina sharply. There was a loud gurgling of the saliva from the little girl’s throat.

Seeing her tense expression, Azela bit her lips for a moment. She was Sylvia’s handmaid, that meant that she did not know what Sylvia had ordered for the child. She didn’t know that maybe the child had a different side on the outside and inside…

…Yet she asked at the child who resembled Irene.

“Do you want to work with me?”

‘Do you want to work with me?’ As she did not expect Azela’s question, Lina widened her eyes and mouth. Surprised, the girl even dropped the towel she was holding in her hand onto the carpet. She didn’t know what to do, and her soft lips didn’t answer.

However, the brightly glowing cheeks were showing positive signs of intention.

Of course, it wasn’t easy just because Azela and Lina wanted it. The girl was an ‘employee only for Sylvia’ that Daniel had hired separately for Sylvia. So, if Daniel and Sylvia turned it down, there was nothing she could do.

There was no other way than to steal her.

“I, I…”

“I’m only asking this one time, so it’s best to answer it directly.”

“I, I—!”

It was when Lina squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her head. A bright voice filled with laughter was heard from the stairs again, along with the creaking of shoes.

“That child must be my handmaid.”

When she turned her head, Sylvia smiled brightly as she crossed her arms as if she had anticipated this. Looking at Azela, she turned her gaze and saw Lina struggling in front of her.

“Lina, come.”

Frightened by the sound like calling for a dog, Lina hurried to her side with a pale face. As she approached her side, Sylvia grabbed the girl’s hair, still wet in her water, tightly.

“Aack…!”

Lina’s scream rang out loudly. Sylvia’s pretty eyes, drawn in a half-moon curve, turned to Azela. She was smiling at her.

‘If you can do something, do it,’ like saying so.

It was like a declaration of war. Azela just looked up at Sylvia, who grabbed Lina’s hair and shook her. She was deliberately acting stronger to show her.

Azela, who watched the scene silently, took her steps and went up the stairs.

“Ma, Madam.”

Seeing her approaching, Lina had a bright smile. It was a look full of hope. Azela, who stood tall in front of Sylvia and Lina, glanced at the girl for a moment before turning her gaze to meet Sylvia.

Sylvia, with a fishy smile, pulled Lina’s hair hard and said.

“You may want to save this little one, Madam. You look great. It looks like you’re going to be a hero in this mansion. So, the bad one is me then?”

Azela exhaled lightly. The dry eyes that stared at her were full of annoyance.

“Sylvia.”

“….”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever told you.”

“What, what?”

“What you can have in this wide Todd mansion is…”

Raising her hand, she squeezed Sylvia’s wrist, which was holding Lina’s head, tightly. Surprised by the power of the twisting grips, Sylvia let Lina’s head down.

“Nothing.”

“….!”

“The expensive art placed in the mansion, the dresses, all the trinkets, the carriages, and even those who appear to be your handmaid…”

Sylvia’s body trembled every time Azela’s laid-back words were uttered.

“It looks like yours, but in reality, all of this is not yours.”

“….”

“Todd mansion is the possession of Count Todd and his wife, Countess Todd… Yes, it’s me. If I want and Daniel allows, I can have everything you have and the bedroom where you rest every night.”

“Wh, what.”

“So, don’t assume that it’s yours.”

Saying that, she let go of Sylvia’s wrist, which she was holding roughly as if to shrug it off. Sylvia’s face trembled in shame as she touched the swollen wrist. Meanwhile, Azela gazed at her with a still indifferent gaze, then took Lina, who stood helplessly beside her, and walked into her own bedroom on the third floor.

“Ma, Madam… Will, will this be okay?”

Lina, who was walking beside her, glanced back and asked in a trembling voice. Sylvia, still blushing with anger, was staring at them. Azela, who forcibly turned the girl’s head forward, shrugged her shoulders as if not to worry.

“Things will work out. As you know, nothing is going to get worse for me.”

* * *

Late at night, the door to the bedroom, which had been closed, swung open with a bang. Despite the sudden loud noise, Azela had a calm face that was not surprised at all. As if expecting all this, she sat across the bed with a cardigan over her slip.

“…Azela.”

Daniel, who exuded a sweet smell, entered her bedroom with a slightly red face.

Just by looking at his staggering steps, it looked like he had been drinking. Seeing him not being able to control himself properly, Azela frowned and turned her head away.

“What… What the hell are you so dissatisfied with!”

Barely reaching her face with staggering steps, he threw the ornaments on the bedside table at the wall. Sylvia’s attacks and shields have always been ‘Daniel,’ so she thought for sure he would come to visit her tonight. Azela wasn’t surprised anymore by the obvious pattern.

“If Sylvia is dissatisfied with what she sees, you will fix it, Daniel?”

“Can’t you get along with Sylvia? That child is a good child with nowhere to go! If you think of Sylvia as half of what you feel for the employees of this mansion…”

“Why do I have to think of her?”

“Azela.”

“Should I have pity on someone who tries to take my place? Show her sympathy and share what’s mine… Should I devote to her as much as you give to her? Daniel, is that what you want from me?”

“Haa…”

Drunk, he rubbed his red-hot face, dragged the chair next to the bed and sat down. Daniel’s tired shoulders looked strained in many ways. It would be troubling. With Azela on one side and Sylvia on the other, he was in a war of nerves in this narrow mansion.

Of course, all of this was the result of his creation.

“You… you have it all. Do you hate giving Sylvia one little space in this mansion? If you have ten dresses, you don’t even have the consideration to give two of them to Sylvia.”

“Yes, I don’t.”

As Azela cut his words, he, unable to contain his drunken anger, eventually raised his hand high.

The next moment, his crude hand slammed her left cheek hard. With strong friction, Azela’s head turned to the right. Perhaps, Daniel himself was surprised by the sudden occurrence, though as he looked at his palms and her head, he had a confused look of wonder.

“Az-Azela… Are, are you okay?”

He stuttered in surprise and quickly looked at Azela’s face. The tip of her left lip burst open, dripping with red blood. Daniel, who wiped the red blood from her lips with his thumb, gently brushed her hair.

“I, I didn’t mean to, You…… you, know that, right? That I didn’t do that on purpose.”

He wasn’t restless for fear that she might have been hurt. She knew it… What made him restless and helpless was the anxiety that this single assault could cause him to lose a lot of things he had.