Chapter 14

 

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It had been over two weeks since Loretta and Melody arrived at the Duke’s estate. The two girls spent this period, transitioning from the hot summer to the clear autumn, in apparent joy and without worry. However, beneath the surface, Melody’s heart was rotting away. Her concern was this: the treatment she received was far too good.

The butler and his wife treated Melody as if she were their own granddaughter. They would reprimand her severely for mistakes, but also reward her for trivial things. While she appreciated the warm treatment, it also made her anxious. This was because, on occasion, Melody’s mother would treat her kindly as well. On days when things went well, or simply when in a good mood, she would praise Melody as if she were the best daughter in the world. But over time, such warmth would fade, and her mother would revert to being terrifying.

“I must not let my guard down.”

Melody knew that she would not always receive kindness. Not all of her past experiences had been positive, after all. Perhaps one day, she would be treated like just another member of the household here too. Especially since she wasn’t actually doing anything significant… It was not strange to expect such treatment eventually.

Therefore, Melody wanted to find some way to be useful around the mansion before it was too late. She hoped to delay the day she would be treated as just another mouth to feed, even if only by a day. But Melody was not allowed to do chores like cleaning or laundry. Instead, other maids would wash and iron her clothes beautifully before bringing them to her.

So, on a day when the sky turned even bluer as autumn approached, Melody gathered her courage and went to Grandma’s room.

“I want to do some work, Grandma.”

“Good timing, I was just needing a pair of small hands.”

Surprisingly, she was immediately given a task. Melody was thrilled to finally be entrusted with a job and ran towards Grandma.

“What will I be doing? I’m good at cleaning, and I can read too!”

“How many times will you repeat the same thing? Everyone in the Duke’s house knows that there’s a chatty little lamb living here! Just sit down there.”

Grandma pointed her chin towards a chair, and Melody quickly took a seat. Then, a delicious aroma wafted before her, and a pile of something was poured out in front of her. It was peanuts. They had been shelled, leaving only the thin inner skins.

“Is it because my hands are rough that I can’t seem to get these pesky inner shells off? Peel them all off.”

“Leave it to me!”

Melody cheerfully began peeling off the thin shells, carefully separating the white kernels.

“No, what are you doing like that?”

However, Grandma seemed displeased with Melody’s method.

“Are you an ant? Why are you just hoarding the kernels? Aren’t you supposed to eat them after peeling?”

“Am I supposed to eat them after I peel them?”

“Do you think this old lady with rough hands is supposed to peel these thin shells for you! They’re freshly roasted peanuts, they should taste quite nutty, if you have the palate to appreciate it.”

Upon hearing Grandma’s words, Melody tried the peanuts and indeed, they were nutty and slightly warm.

“They’re delicious.”

“Hmph, you just gobble them up without offering any to this old lady, how ungrateful.”

Melody quickly offered some of the peeled peanuts to Grandma and brought the conversation back to the main point.

“I really want to help with some work.”

“If you have any conscience, you should think about helping after you’ve grown a bit more.”

“But I am grown up.”

“This fluffy thing, pretending to be a grown sheep!”

Although Grandma said this with a stern face, the phrase ‘grown sheep’ made Melody smile slightly.

“Besides, from tomorrow, we’ll be very busy.”

“Tomorrow? What’s happening?”

“Guests are coming.”

At the mention of guests, Melody briefly recalled the content of the original work. There was a story about elders visiting the temple right before going to the temple.

“The Duke and three elders who lead the duchy are coming. They’re all old grumblers.”

See, I was right.

“Then you’ll be very busy, won’t you?”

Melody asked with a hopeful look on her face.

“Hmph, even if you ask like that, do you think I’d ask for help from a little lamb?”

“But…”

The child’s spirits deflated, and she hung her head, looking worried.

The wife clicked her tongue and shook her head. This soft-hearted child even found it uncomfortable to relax and have fun.

“…Alright then.”

“Really?!”

“If you insist so much, I’ll give you a job.”

“Really?! Thank you!”

“But not until after the busy days are over.”

“Anytime is fine! I’ll be very well behaved until then!”

“Yes, you better. I absolutely can’t stand troublesome children.”

Melody was overjoyed at the thought of finally being able to do some work.

Mrs. Higgins might be rough in her words, but she was undoubtedly a good person.

Melody wondered why such an interesting Grandma had only a minor role in the original work without any lines.

Ah.

Maybe it’s because her character overlapped with the tsundere traits of the second son.

‘It seems so. If tsundere characters appeared consecutively, it wouldn’t be interesting at all.’

Melody nodded to herself.

“If you’ve understood, then go on now. I need to prepare for the guests.”

Grandma gave Melody the remaining peanuts and sent her out of the room.

Melody thanked her and walked cheerfully down the corridor, planning to enjoy peeling more peanuts in her room.

As Melody left Mrs. Higgins’ room and headed to her own, she saw a boy lurking around her room from down the corridor.

Of course, Melody recognized him immediately and approached to greet him.

“Hello, Mr. Ronny.”

“Ah, you scared me!”

He had been loitering near Melody’s room and turned around in surprise.

“Are you looking for the bathroom?”

Melody asked, pointing at his uneasily shifting lower body, wondering if he didn’t know where the bathroom was since he didn’t often come to the first floor.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Who would need to go to a place like that?!”

His face turned red as he vehemently denied any need for such human physiological functions.

“It’s good if it’s not urgent then.”

“Not urgent at all!” Ronny yelled out, but he still looked around uneasily, seemingly anxious about something.

Was he really not in need of the restroom?

“How long do you plan to keep me standing here? What if someone sees me looking for you?”

“You came to see me?!”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

He responded, slightly turning his face away with a look of enduring some kind of humiliation.

“Then, would you like to come in?”

“Invite me in quickly!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you would come looking for me.”

Melody opened the door and invited him in, offering him a seat on the sofa. True to his arrogant nature, he sat in the most prominent seat, swinging his short legs with an air of entitlement.

“Aren’t you going to serve tea?”

He grumbled, pretending to be an adult, but Melody knew that at his age, he probably preferred snacks over tea.

“Can’t be helped, I’ll share some peanuts with you.”

“Peanuts! As if I would like such a thing!”

He’d probably love it.

He must have been fed peanuts one by one by the butler since he was young. It’s all in the original work!

“If you don’t like it, I’ll just eat them myself.”

Melody carefully spread a cloth with peanuts on the table.

Since it’s difficult to peel peanuts while sitting on the sofa, she sat on the floor next to the tea table and began cracking them.

“Here you go. You don’t know how to peel peanuts, do you?”

When Melody offered him a peeled peanut, he suddenly stood up in outrage.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think I can’t even peel a peanut?”

He then sat down next to the tea table, just like Melody, and started peeling peanuts.

To her surprise, he was quite good at it.

“Wow.”

Melody couldn’t help but express her admiration, and he seemed a bit proud of himself.

“See. These will taste better than the ones you peeled with your clumsy hands.”

He proudly presented his peeled peanuts, and Melody quickly popped them into her mouth.

“I can’t really tell the difference in taste.”

“What! No way! Stay there, I’ll peel more for you!”

He began peeling peanuts with fierce determination, and Melody watched him, her chin resting on her hands.

“You’re good at this.”

“I’ve been peeling the tough shells myself since last year.”

“That’s quite tough; it must hurt your hands!”

“You’re so tiny and weak. What are you going to do in the future?”

He seemed pleased to be stronger than Melody.

“But why did you come to see me? Do you have some business with me?”

Melody asked while picking up peanuts that were piling up like ant food in front of her.

“Business with you…!”

“Ah, you actually came to see Loretta.”

The boy grumbled as if that wasn’t the case and placed another peanut in front of Melody.

“Did you… hear about it?”

“Hear about what?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Ah. I heard that the elders of the Duke’s house are coming.”

“So, you already knew?”

He seemed slightly annoyed that Melody had heard the news before him. Though she didn’t understand why it bothered him.

“Did you come to tell me that?”

“Come closer.”

“Pardon?”

“Get closer!”

He yelled, and Melody, setting down her peanuts, moved closer to Ronny.

“Why?”

His voice softened to a whisper as they got closer.

He glanced around to make sure no one was nearby and then leaned in to speak.

“Be careful.”

“Of the elders?”