Chapter 14: Misunderstanding and Promise
That night, she cried under her blanket the whole time.
Not wanting her friends to see her swollen eyes, she got up at dawn and hid behind the dorm building.
She let the cold morning wind reduce the swelling, then headed to the dorm lobby around the gathering time.
She had just stepped into the building entrance when—
“Elika did that? Did you see it? Did you see it?”
She followed the voice and found Bell angrily yelling at two other maids her age.
“Bell? What’s going on?”
The moment Elika appeared, Bell and the other maids jumped in surprise.
“Uh, Elika, well…”
The two maids ran away, and Bell, clearly flustered, finally spoke up.
“Actually… there’s a weird rumor going around about you…”
“?”
“Come closer.”
Elika leaned in without much thought—and immediately let out a scream as Bell whispered things too vulgar for her to handle, then clamped her mouth shut.
“See? A sweet kid like you would never do that. Do you even know how babies are made?”
Bell clicked her tongue and added,
“Whoever spread that filthy rumor, I’m not going to let it slide. You just ignore them.”
“T-Thanks…”
But Elika wasn’t really worried about that.
She didn’t care what people said about her.
‘Did the Duke hear these rumors too? Is that why he acted that way?’
Those dirty rumors about her had reached the Duke’s ears. Shame wasn’t the worst part.
What haunted her more were his cold eyes, full of contempt, and the chilling voice that told her to leave because he couldn’t stand to see her.
‘So he saw me that way… and didn’t even listen to what I had to say.’
She felt like… she might start to hate him a little.
* * *
She ran into Charon by chance in front of the main building.
She quietly bowed in greeting and walked past him.
It was polite for a servant to stand still until the master passed. But her reddened eyes and the way she ignored that rule made Charon curious.
‘…Just ignore it.’
He forced himself to let it go.
“Elika!”
Just after passing the Duke, she ran into Herbert.
Elika tried to ignore him and turned away, but he persistently followed.
“Elika, are you avoiding me? What’s wrong?”
He grabbed her arm and spun her around, and that’s when he saw her red, swollen eyes.
“Your eyes… did you cry?”
“N-No.”
She shook off his hand and walked faster, but he caught up to her again.
“I won’t let go until you tell me what’s going on.”
His stubborn gaze made Elika finally give in.
“Well, actually…”
She told him everything about the awful rumors going around.
“Rumors like that? That’s ridiculous.”
Herbert frowned and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“I think even the Duke heard them. I’m sorry… I dragged you into this…”
“Why are you sorry? I’ll handle this. I think I know who’s behind it.”
He had been patrolling near the back gate every night. He knew exactly which man and woman had been sneaking around the storage.
He had just pretended not to notice, to be kind.
‘And this is how they repay me?’
He headed straight to where he knew the guy would be.
* * *
Back at the mansion, a bloodied servant was thrown in front of Charon.
Behind him, a maid was crying and wailing in a panic.
“Master, I have something to report.”
The man who had thrown the servant—Herbert Leverot—stood before the Duke and spoke.
Charon silently watched the strange scene, then turned and said calmly,
“Follow me to the office.”
* * *
“I believe you’ve heard the shameful rumor about me and Elika.”
Charon didn’t reply. Taking that as agreement, Herbert continued.
“On my honor and my family’s name, I swear—Elika and I have never done anything improper. We’re just friends. It was all spread by this man and another maid.”
Charon’s eyes turned to the servant lying on the floor—Biln.
“What about him?”
“Mr. Biln, please explain yourself.”
Biln raised his shaking head and stammered.
“I… I was the one meeting a woman in the storage, sir…”
Charon’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“I was afraid of getting caught, and just then, Sir Leverot and the maid Elika also came by… So I lied and said it was them. The rumor just got worse and worse from there…”
“Then,”
Charon turned to Herbert.
“What were you and Elika doing there?”
“We went once to borrow a flowerpot. The second time, we went to return it.”
Elika had also mentioned something about a flowerpot. That stupid flowerpot again.
“What for?”
“Elika wanted to plant freesia seeds. I helped her get a pot from the storage, but she felt bad about using your things without permission…”
“Freesia seeds?”
Shouldn’t a maid be too busy studying and working to go planting flowers? What was this about freesia seeds?
“She said she wanted to grow them and give you the flowers.”
Then he remembered.
“She said it was for you.”
“She said sorry for taking the pot without permission.”
“She said it was your favorite flower, and she wanted to give it to the person she liked the most.”
The fog in Charon’s mind slowly began to lift.
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, everything became clear.
“…Both of you, leave.”
His face stiffened, eyes floating in the air in thought. The two men hesitated, confused.
“I said leave.”
At the Duke’s firm order, they quietly left.
Silence settled in the office.
Charon sat blankly for a moment, then suddenly stood and stormed out.
* * *
After thinking hard about where to place the flowerpot, Elika finally chose the library.
The dorm windows were shaded by trees and didn’t get much sunlight. Besides, sharing a room with others made her worried someone might knock it over.
The library windows faced south, got good sunlight, and weren’t shaded.
Only a few people—including her and the noble kids—went in and out, so it was safer.
She climbed onto the long bench by the window and carefully placed the flowerpot on the sill.
‘Even if the Duke hates me, I’ll grow this freesia beautifully. I’ll show it to him no matter what.’
Maybe then… maybe his hatred would soften a little.
“Grow well, little seed. It might not be as warm here as the southern country, but I’ll give you all my love!”
They said saying nice things helped plants grow better. It might’ve looked silly, whispering to dirt—but she meant it.
“Talking to a flowerpot?”
A sudden voice made her jump.
It was the Duke.
Elika quickly got down from the bench and stood up straight with her hands together, bowing her head.
“I’m sorry.”
She didn’t even know what for. Was it for talking to the pot like a fool? Or for being seen when he said he didn’t want to see her again?
The Duke glanced at her, then looked at the pot.
‘Why is he looking at the pot? Wait… am I not supposed to put things in the library?’
She felt stupid. The library belonged to the Duke too. She shouldn’t have brought things without asking. She’d learned that already, and now she messed up again.
‘He said he didn’t want to see me, so I’m probably bothering him just being here. I should take the pot and leave.’
She nervously watched him, then grabbed the pot and hugged it.
She turned to leave in a hurry when—
“Don’t go.”
His soft voice made her freeze.
The Duke walked over to her. Elika stood waiting, unsure of what he’d say.
‘I… why did I even come here?’
His feet had brought him to her on their own. His mouth had called her back on its own.
She stood there like a criminal, but he—
“…I’m sorry.”
Elika blinked, unsure if she heard him right.
“I misunderstood you.”
His eyes shifted to the pot she cradled like a baby.
That flowerpot again.
“By misunderstanding… do you mean… about me and Herbert?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“…”
He looked down at her.
He didn’t want to grow attached to this child. He didn’t want to be kind to her.
Caring about someone he might have to kill someday felt like betrayal—and mental suicide.
That’s what his mind told him.
But with her standing there, looking so sad and small, how could he just walk away?
His mouth moved on its own.
“Forget everything I said yesterday. All of it was stupid.”
She stared into space as if thinking deeply, then slowly looked up at him.
“Then, when you said you didn’t want to see me…”
Her voice shook. Her small nose turned red, and her purple eyes shimmered.
“Was that… not true either?”
Her lashes fluttered and a tear dropped.
She was crying after his apology. That caught Charon off guard.
“…Yes. It wasn’t true. I said it out of anger.”
Was that what hurt her so badly?
Holding the pot tightly with both hands, she couldn’t even wipe her tears as they streamed down.
Charon instinctively raised his hand and wiped her cheek.
“That’s a relief,”
Elika said through tears.
“I thought you hated me. I couldn’t sleep at all last night.”
She didn’t sleep—just because she thought he might hate her?
“…I don’t hate you.”
He felt guilty and added more.
“And I won’t hate you. Ever.”
…Probably.
“Really? You’ll really like me?”
If he didn’t hate her, did that mean he liked her? He was confused by her leap in logic but didn’t argue.
Soothing her came first.
“Yes.”
Her face lit up brightly with just that one word.
“Really? Can you promise me?”
“…Yes, I promise.”
Elika nodded eagerly and answered, “Yes, yes!” over and over. Then she stuck out her pinky.
Charon hesitated, then reached out his ring finger.
“I’ll promise too—to become someone the Duke can truly like!”
Elika smiled brightly as their fingers linked.
‘Please do,’ he thought.
Because if she didn’t… he’d have to kill her.
‘And that’s the one thing… I truly, truly don’t want to do.’
