Proofreader: somnium

138. Duke Luave’s Residence’s Love Story (4)

“The butler must have suffered a lot.”

“To be honest, it was something I was looking forward to, so there wasn’t much heartache. I had a bad relationship with my older brother from a young age, so I was rather relieved. So it’s amazing and admirable that Nelia is so friendly with your siblings.”

At Nelia’s consolation, Arder raised his eyebrows slightly and passed them over as if nothing had happened.

It was a story from the past that he had never told anyone he worked with, but it wasn’t too difficult to tell Nelia. He didn’t think Nelia would spread this story to anyone, and he didn’t think she would see him badly.

“It’s strange. I’ve never told anyone like this before.”

At Arder’s indifferent confession, Nelia paused for a moment, then the tip of her ear slightly blushed.

“I will never say anything.”

“I never thought that you would.”

“…… thank you.”

The two finished drinking the tea and stood up. Nelia tried to pay, but Arder lightly snatched the bill.

“It’s the first time in 20 years I’ve had a private meal with a woman, so I don’t want to do that to you.”

With that said, Arder picked up the bill, and Nelia had no choice but to stare blankly at Arder’s back, who was ahead of her. For a moment, she wondered, ‘Is that true?’ but she wondered why Arder would tell such a lie. When she thought about it that far, her ears, which had been warm since before, quickly turned bright red.

But Nelia quickly made up her mind.

‘You can’t think like this. How dare you, knowing your place…….’

From the first time she met him, she thought he was a very cool person. Sometimes, when he showed a wonderful smile, her heart raced. But every time he did, she remembered the words of the mansion’s old servants.

“Arder Higgins is every wife’s dream. He’s in his 40’s, but he’s in good shape, he’s got a good face, he’s got the trust of the Duke, he’s got a lot of money, he’s still single…… There is nothing missing.”

“It is said that he has never responded to such requests to meet from wives who have been widowed or divorced. There were a lot of famous beauties.”

“Is it impossible? Or maybe he likes men…… ?”

“Is it impossible? I heard that he had a fiance when he was young. But it seems that the fiancee was stolen by his older brother.”

“Then, he can’t forget that fiance……?”

She didn’t care about each and every story about him, but she knew for sure that she wasn’t the right person for him anyway. So she has only ever treated him as a faithful chief maid. She always wanted to do that…… Nelia was habitually fiddling with the brooch near her collarbone.

“I brought up the meal to return my favor, but I’ve only caused you trouble.”

“What do you mean trouble! Thanks to you, I was able to get a change of pace after a long time and it was good.”

The two walked slowly down the street lined with sycamore. The sun was warm and it was not cold at all. No, they may have been so focused on the person walking next to them that they didn’t even know it was cold.

Then, Arder pointed somewhere.

“The fountain is working today because the weather is nice.”

It was the fountain where people tossed coins and made a wish. He didn’t know when he last came to the square. As Arder said, there were quite a few people in the square because the weather was nice. They headed towards the fountain that made a cool flowing sound.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, can I make a wish?”

“Shall we? Oh, just let me give you this coin.”

Nelia quickly pulled the coin out of her pocket before Arder put his hand into his arms. Arder said ‘Thank you’ and picked up a copper coin from her palm. Then, he closed his eyes for a moment and clapped his lips, then tossed a coin at the far end of the fountain. The coin he tossed landed nicely on the pedestal.

“Wow! Your wish will come true!”

“I don’t think my skills are rusty yet.”

Nelia, who laughed out loud at Arder’s shrug, also grabbed one coin and tried to make a wish. But she didn’t know what to wish for. As she told Arder at the restaurant, it’s because she’s got nothing more to hope for as she’s accomplished everything she wanted to achieve.

“What wish did you make?”

“Actually…… I have no wish. I was able to relax in my hectic life, and there was nothing to worry about. There is nothing I want, nothing difficult, nothing…….”

Arder’s eyes widened in response to her answer, and then he grinned.

“The story I heard from Lord Kahel suddenly comes to mind.”

“Yes? Lord Kahel…… do you mean the Grand Duke?”

“Yes. It is said that on that day when Her Majesty, who was Lord Kahel’s close maid at the time, came out of the mansion for the first time, the two of them also passed in front of this fountain. The Grand Duke handed her a coin and asked her to make a wish, and Her Majesty said the same thing as Nelia now. She doesn’t want anything. The Grand Duke said that it was a huge shock to him.”

Nelia’s cheeks flushed. She was ashamed to be compared to the beautiful and great Queen. However, Arder continued the story, pretending not to know of her embarrassment.

“Then, she finally came up with a wish that she could have a family someday. However, it is said that Her Majesty failed to toss the coin, and the Grand Duke threw it for her instead.”

“Oh, really?”

“However, the Grand Duke made a different wish from Her Majesty, and threw the coin in her stead. He was sneaky.”

“What? What wish did he make?”

“He wished that Her Majesty would be by his side forever. Looking back, both of their wishes have come true, so it seems that this fountain is magical.”

Nelia remembered the union of the two, which made the whole country buzzed. She had no choice but to only watch from afar, but at first glance, the two seemed to be the perfect pair. They must have recognized each other’s fate from the moment they tossed a coin into this fountain.

As she was thinking about it, Arder suddenly but gently took the coin from Nelia’s hand.

“I’ll toss the coin for Nelia.”

He tossed the coin without Nelia saying anything, and the coin also slid onto the pedestal.

“What did you wish with my wish?”

“I wished the same as Her Majesty’s wish.”

“Ah…….”

She felt a little embarrassed, thinking that she had looked very pitiful and shabby to be alone by the time she was in her forties. However, the words that Arder said afterwards were completely unexpected.

“And I, too, made the same wish as the Grand Duke.”

“…… yes?”

“The wind is getting colder in the afternoon. Let’s just go back.”

“Ah…… yes…….”

Nelia, who had blushed cheeks, and Arder, who kept smiling shyly, returned to the mansion in a carriage. From that day on, strange rumors began to circulate among the house occupants who saw the two of them getting off the carriage together in plain clothes.

* * *

“Damien. Did you hear that?”

“What are you talking about?”

While drinking tea in the warm afternoon sun, Evelyn said with a playful smile to Damien next to her.

“After Sid and Abbert’s wedding, I thought we should prepare for Arder’s celebration.”

“What? Is that true?”

“You mean you met Arder every day and didn’t know?”

“It, it’s not that I had no idea at all. Who the other person is, do you know that, too?”

Evelyn chuckled again and nodded her head slightly.

“It looks like it is Nelia, the chief maid.”

“Chief maid? Oh my gosh…… I thought the two of them were hanging out everyday for work, but I never thought that it would also satisfy their personal greed.”

“It must have been that they got along for work, and then an attachment followed. Both of them are very sincere people. It’s common to be attracted to people like you.”

Damien was still laughing out loud.

It wasn’t that he disregarded Arder. Rather, he longed for this story to be true.

It was because Arder, who had been popular since his youth, had completely cut off ties with his ex-fiance. His fiancee, whom he loved with all his heart, as soon as she learned that Arder was injured and was forced to leave the Duchy’s Knights, she went to his older brother who had been courting her. It must have been a huge shock to Arder, who was still not on good terms with his older brother. Damien still clearly remembered Arder, who had lost his expression while lying on the hospital bed. Damien may have offered him the butler position out of compassion for him. He was injured fighting for the Duchy, and he lost his lover because of that injury, which he felt he should be held accountable for.

Fortunately, Arder accepted the butler position and performed much better than expected, so it was an offer that in the end benefited not only Arder but also Duchy Luave.

But the woman, his ex-fiance and current sister-in-law, hurt Arder once again. As soon as Arder became the official butler of the Duke, she had asked him to form a bond between the Duchy and his older brother. She even offered a tryst with her in return.

At that time, Damien was frankly worried about what would happen if Arder was shaken, but Arder adamantly cut off his older brother and his ex-fiance, who became his sister-in-law. Instead, he hasn’t met any woman in private since then.

“That’s a relief. I’m really happy. I thought Arder had come to hate women.”

“I think everyone has their own mate. It’s a good thing for both of them that Nelia was still alone taking care of her family.”

“Great! I will make Arder and Nelia’s wedding a very modest one.”

“I don’t know. Arder and Nelia’s personalities probably don’t like loud ones.”

“If you think they’re going to rebel, let’s threaten to leave it to Kahel, huh? Kahel might even say that he’s going to hold their wedding at the Palace. Even if he doesn’t express his feelings, he really cares about Arder.”

“The Queen might like that. Her Majesty still believes that Arder knows everything. Arder is her eternal superior and the best butler.”

The two giggled once more, thinking of Lena and Kahel. Although he had a great battle with the Queen, to them, they were still a young and cute couple. In particular, Lena was playing the role of the cute daughter-in-law. Every time they go to the Palace, they would be taken aback at how cute she looked calling them ‘Duke Luave! Duchess!’, they often forgot to greet and hugged Lena instead.

“Really, everything went well.”

“Well. Thank God.”

As Evelyn leaned on Damien’s shoulder, Damien wrapped his arms around Evelyn’s shoulder and kissed her on the forehead. He was so grateful that Lena and Kahel seemed to have brought love and happiness to this mansion.