“G-Goodness! What’s going o… W-Who are you?”
“This is the Fief Lord’s daughter. Don’t make a fuss,”
Borwen admonished the startled bakery owner. Wow, I can’t believe how he talks, Nancy whispered.
Carynne poked an elbow at Nancy’s side and then approached the man.
“Is there a boy named Tom here?”
Her purpose for coming here was to see that boy.
But Nancy and Borwen, who hadn’t heard about this boy before, had the same baffled expression as the man in front of them.
“…Yes?”
“He helped me out some time ago. I want to see him. Where is he?”
The bakery owner looked at Carynne with a puzzled face, then turned to Borwen behind her, who was equally clueless.
“What do you mean someone helped you, Milady? You’ve hardly ever… um… been out before…”
Nancy also tried to ask, but Carynne did not respond.
“Call him out.”
As Carynne stood waiting, the man went outside to call Tom. Then the door opened again, and a small, scruffy-haired boy entered. He was dirty and skinny, with big eyes. He didn’t resemble his father at all. But Carynne knew how venomous those eyes could become.
While thinking briefly about the past, she smiled broadly.
“Hello, Tom.”
It’s been a while.
And Carynne was glad to see the boy. As she smiled with delight, the warmth-starved boy approached her, hesitatingly speaking.
“…Did you… call for me?”
“Yes, thanks for helping me out last time.”
Tom looked bewildered. It was natural. The time he had pleased Carynne had been five deaths ago. But that fact didn’t change the past where he had brought joy to Carynne. That’s why she purposely sought him out. She did not forget the past.
She was the kind of person who kept her promises. And now, the easiest act of kindness lay right before her.
Carynne, still smiling, took off her gloves and extended her hand to Tom.
“Won’t you come with me? I’m grateful towards you, and I want you to work at the mansion.”
“…Pardon me?”
Tom’s eyes widened in surprise. Borwen and Nancy beside her were startled and tried to dissuade her, but they couldn’t change Carynne’s decision.
“Don’t you want to come with me? If not, I can’t force you.”
“…No, no! I want to go! But… I…”
Tom was slightly scared by the unforeseen fortune.
“I really want to go….”
Tom looked frightened but didn’t miss the opportunity presented to him. Even if Carynne was mistaken, it was fine for him. He gladly accepted her offer.
* * *
Nancy kept babbling.
“Milady, do you know how much I wanted to come to the mansion?”
“You’re working there now, so that’s good.”
“Do you know how hard it was to even get in?”
“No, I don’t.”
Nancy seemed discontent with Carynne’s decision to bring Tom into the mansion. Now that she thought about it, it was the first time she had brought Tom to the mansion so early. Usually, she took Tom in after she found herself in danger, after the dead Thomas had concerned her.
“Milady, you wouldn’t understand, but for someone like me, a wanderer, someone like Tom who has his own home is an enormous fortune. People like us can’t settle down. So, when Lady Catherine took me in at the mansion, it was really… a huge fortune. And I worked really hard.”
Nancy continued to grumble, seemingly upset about bringing Tom in without any good reason. She thought she had grabbed an immense fortune after much hardship, while this boy Tom had just effortlessly grabbed his fortune. Nancy disliked that even her fortune seemed diminished.
Carynne saw through Nancy’s feelings. Indeed, Nancy was a bit selfish.
“Are you jealous of that boy?”
“I just can’t accept it. Milady… does His Lordship know about this?”
“Father will have to agree.”
Carynne knew well that her father was a person who would relent when pushed.
“Nancy, if we leave that boy here, he’ll end up dying at the hands of that man we just saw. Do you think that’s right?”
“…….”
Nancy didn’t say anything more.
And Carynne had to clench and unclench her hands at the woman’s audacity. Her hands were tingling.
“So don’t be jealous of that boy.”
He has already lived miserably enough.
It was a mere whim. Carynne knew her actions weren’t purely altruistic. Just as when she started committing murders, this was another life’s choice she was making. But this time, she actually wanted to do it.
The coin was gone now. Carynne had to think and decide for herself.
* * *
Trying to live kindly after having committed murders?
In fact, it wasn’t so drastically different. The life of a decent and kind lady was something Carynne had attempted several times. But thinking of it as a real life and not a life inside a novel—that there were others apart from herself—made her heart flutter as if she had truly committed murder.
‘This seems good, too.’
Carynne pondered with the bottom end of a quill pen against her mouth. The days awaiting Raymond were thrilling, and she planned to live fully until he arrived. Every day was new. Although it had only been three days, she tried to live each moment diligently.
Tom was receiving plenty of affection as a carriage pageboy. He wasn’t around her much, but the older servants, appreciating his sociability and quick-wittedness, adored Tom, and he, in turn, knew how to cater to their preferences. His survival-honed charm was shining. It had only been three days, but Tom had adapted as if he had been working in this place for a long time.
Carynne remembered Tom getting sick. But this time, since she brought him in right away, he didn’t seem to be overstrained yet. Maybe this time Tom could defy fate and live. Carynne thought so. Maybe this time Tom would live. And maybe this time she would succeed, too.
“Milady, what are you doing?”
“Planning. How’s Tom doing these days?”
“He’s only been here two days.”
“I can’t believe it’s only been three days since I woke up.”
“Indeed…”
Nancy was still grumbling. Quite different from Donna, who had been genuinely concerned about Tom. Carynne chuckled. In this life, Tom wasn’t the son of a convict but just a boy from the slums. The fief lord had sent someone to inform Tom’s father, Thomas, that his son was working at the mansion and had him brought over. Unlike last time, this start was smoother.
“So that… bringing that boy Tom to live at the mansion was part of your plan?”
“Yes.”
“To be honest, I don’t like it…”
“I know. But what are you doing now?”
Nancy was bending over, looking into the fireplace.
“Looking for gold pieces… Cough, cough. Seems like there’s none.”
She must have inhaled some dust while talking. Nancy pulled out her head and said to Carynne.
“Milady, you’re too kind-hearted to understand. Kids like him don’t know how to be grateful. Bringing in that boy with such falsehood… Haa, yes, yes. Whatever you did to him in the past, there’s no need to do it in this life.”
Carynne replied with a smile.
“I want to live differently.”
“Really, don’t believe it. Trusting people isn’t good.”
Can she be so openly distrustful? Carynne couldn’t help but laugh looking at Nancy.
“As a fellow woman, let me tell you. Carynne, aren’t you crazy.”
…Carynne recalled someone she was actively trying not to remember.
She shook her head. She’s not someone she can handle.
But as Isella Evans was already at the forefront of her mind, what should she do now?
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience