Chapter 28 : Rachel's Secret

"I can't wait to see him again."

The girl smiled in front of the mirror. She sat in a chair while brushing her long, light brown, wavy hair.

"Young lady, I can fix that for you," said the maid behind her, who had dark blue hair and black eyes. Her hair was short and covered by a maid's wimple. But her bangs are still visible; they cover her forehead, and some hair on the side covers her ears.

"Rachel, don't bother me! I can do it myself!" the girl snapped at the maid.

Rachel was not offended at all by being yelled at by the girl, as she was yelled at by the girl almost every day. Instead, she smiled at the girl, who was happily combing her hair.

"No, I will help you. What if Mr. Barkaley comes by later and finds that your hairdo and makeup are not good?" said Rachel, the maid.

"So you're saying you're better at hairdos than me? I am a noble. I can do everything!"

"Of course I am. I am your maid, after all," replied Rachel proudly.

The girl bowed her head, thought for a while, and then handed the comb to Rachel.

"Huh! That doesn't mean I'm admitting you're better; commoners are there to serve nobles from the start! So don't think I'm losing to you," said the girl.

"Thank you, my lady..." Rachel continued combing her hair.

___My name is Rachel, only Rachel. My family has been maids and/or servants of the family of Earl Boldenville for generations. I am the personal maid of the Boldenville family's only daughter, Felicia Ayde Boldenville. I've been serving Lady Felicia since she was a baby. I even saw her birth when my mother helped Lady Ayde give birth to her.

Unfortunately, because Lord Boldenville wanted a son, he didn't pay much attention to her, and she became a lonely child. Lady Ayde's demeanor grew colder and colder because Lord Boldenville's rejection was too big and affected Lady Ayde. It was because Lady Ayde was 40 years old now, and the possibility of having more children was getting smaller and smaller. So it was likely that Lady Felicia would be the successor to the Boldenville family, even though the lord wanted to pass it on to a son.

I, who always accompanied Lady Felicia, couldn't do much for her. I was a nobody from the start, just a servant, a commoner who couldn't possibly do anything for the nobles.

Lady Felicia was getting more and more gloomy by the day. She had to learn many things as a successor. She needs to learn about nobles' manners and how to be beautiful. All so that her father could make her valuable to the Boldenville family in the future.

Then, at her birthday party, many nobles arrived, introducing their sons to Felicia as potential husbands. I could see Lady Felicia's face forcing a smile, and she looked like she was going to vomit.

Poor thing, she was only ten years old, but she was already being forced to follow the noble tradition. At that time, I immediately brought Lady Felicia's favorite tea and advised her to go out for some fresh air. But she refused. She couldn't leave the nobles who were talking to her.

"I'm the earl's daughter, you know! I'll show father that I'm a useful daughter!" she shouted.

But no, everything she did was in vain as she accidentally fell while she was dancing. Her body was pale, and her leg must have been injured. But the nobles who saw her, instead of helping her, they laughed at her. More precisely, they probably only laughed in their hearts. There was no way they could laugh at the earl's daughter.

Lord Boldenville came over to Felicia, who had fallen. Seeing her father, Felicia immediately apologized, but her father looked at her with a disgusted and disappointed face.

"Get out of here, you're embarrassing me," her father said.

As a result, Felicia stood up, bowed her head, and walked out the door.

"I want to get some fresh air first," she said at the time, a girl who was still ten years old. She was now not even selfish and was still thinking of how she could get out of the party without damaging her father's dignity.

After that, I followed Lady Felicia; I remember her standing in front of the fountain in the park. The moonlight shone on her beauty, and I could see water coming out of her eyes.

"Rachel, go away," she said in a shrill, trembling voice.

I left. She must have needed some time alone to cry so hard. I couldn't bear to see the lady's face like that either.

That night, Lady did not return to the party. Without me knowing, she went back to her room alone and slept.

The next day, when she woke up, I thought that she would be despondent and her eyes would be swollen from crying, but it turned out that her face was radiant. She ended up meeting a man that night. She happily talked about that man who had come to keep her company that night and talk to her. He was ten years older than her, the first son of the Barony Barkaley family, Mr. Waldo Barkaley.

After that, Mr. Waldo often visited Lady Felicia. It looks like that night, they promised to meet once a week for as long as Mr. Waldo stayed in the Boldenville region.

Lady was happy every day, studying hard and eating well. That night, she told me how excellent Mr. Waldo was. Even though I saw that Mr. Waldo didn't see her as a woman, I hope Lady Felicia's love will reciprocate someday.

At 12, she asked her father to betroth her to Waldo. And surprisingly, the Lord agreed. I don't know what possessed Lord Boldenville, but as long as Lady Felicia was happy, that was enough for me.

Then today... we were at the residence of Earl Wolverlope.

The Wolverlope family had been very friendly with Boldenville for a long time. Lady Felicia is currently studying under the guidance of Earl Isabelle Browet Wolverlope about her overflowing mana. Nobles are impressive; even before being baptized, at age 10, Lady Felicia had already received her God's blessing. Lady might turn out to be a genius in the future.

"Hey, what took you so long?"

I was daydreaming while combing her hair.

"Ah, sorry, lady. I will now put on your wimple."

Today, lady also looked happy. Because the Barkaleys are coming to Wolverlope's house today to deliver something from the royal family, Prince Leofric.

"Already done. You look wonderful, lady,"

"Of course! Who do you think I am?!" She prided herself while smiling at the mirror, so cute.

The sound of a horse-drawn carriage came from outside.

"Lady, it might be Mr. Barkaley," I said.

Then excitedly, the lady lifted her dress off the ground and ran out the door.

"?"

No, after she went out, she stopped and came back.

"What are you doing? You're my maid, right? Come quickly," she said.

As we were about to go out, I could see from the window that the reception was strangely attended not only by the maid but also by ten soldiers.

There's something strange.

"Stop, Lady."

"What's wrong? Let's hurry!"

"Lady, please wait with Lady Isabelle in the main room. I'll take a look outside first."

"That's right, Waldo will be surprised when he sees me!"

She happily left alone.

While I went out, I also waited at the door with the earl's soldiers.

Four carriages were coming. It seemed like this wasn't an ordinary visit.

Then one of the carriages was strange. It was carrying a large box covered with a black cloth. What was in that box?

I got into the servants' line. The carriage arrived, and a fat man in fancy clothes came out from inside one of the carriages. He must be Baron Barkaley.

We, the maids, all bowed our heads and said, "Welcome to the home of Earl Wolverlope."

The baron raised his hand, and then the maid raised their heads again and began to pick up the things in the carriage. Meanwhile, the black box was carried by the soldiers, who didn't know where it went.

But I didn't see Mr. Waldo get out of the carriage. That was strange. Lord Waldo should have come because it was a meeting between the baron and the earl.They should have brought their successor with them to meet the higher nobles.

I immediately approached the lord baron, placed my hand on my chest, and bowed my body slightly.

"Sir, may you be granted safety. I am the personal maid of Felicia Ayde Boldenville, daughter of Earl Boldenville."

"Yes, what does the Earl's maid require of me?" asked Lord Baron.

I felt uncomfortable talking to him, like he was in a bad mood.

"Thank you for serving me, sir. As you know, the daughter of the Boldenville family is engaged to your son, and she is currently inside. I wanted to ask if there was any reason why Mr. Waldo couldn't come."

Then there was something strange on his face.

Was she crying?

No, his face was a little angry, and her tears only came out a little.

"Waldo died in the raid dungeon one week ago. Is that all? Then go away, I want to meet the earl immediately."

!!!

What?

What?

What does that mean?

Mr. Waldo has passed away?

Why?

And how?

Does it have something to do with the Barkaley dungeon raid mission before?

But...

How is this...

What should I do?

If Mr. Waldo is dead, then what will happen to Lady Felicia?

What should I tell her?

I can't...

I don't want to see the lady's sad and gloomy face again.

___ Five people in the baron's entourage entered the residence. The baron, his aide, his personal knight, and two servants behind him. Rachel followed behind the servants.

Wolverlope's residence was quite large, spanning up to 2 kilometers with a height of up to 3 floors. The main meeting room was on the second floor.

Then on the second floor, there was a maid guarding the door. When the baron and Rachel's party arrived. The maid opened the door, and they went inside.

The interior was magnificent; the room was covered in brown paint, and the wooden tables were neatly arranged in front of the large windows. The floor was covered with a thick red carpet. The walls were decorated with flowers and paintings.

On the left and right sides of the room, there were long sofas, as well as one in front of the door. Baron Barkaley sat on the sofa in front of the door, followed by his aide. Meanwhile, his personal knight stood beside him, and the maid who followed him stood behind him.

In front of them, there was a table. Behind it was a large chair, larger than an ordinary one. Earl Isabelle, Isabelle Brower Wolverlope, sat there. Her body was fat, very fat. She was wearing a luxurious green robe with all kinds of jewelry and trinkets attached to it. Her hair was dark yellow, and her eyes were dark brown. In her right hand, she held a cigar.

Felicia looked around at the guests but didn't see Waldo. So she bluntly asked the baron.

"Is Mr. Waldo not coming?" she asked.

'Lady, please don't,' thought Rachel, who didn't want Felicia to know that her fiancé had actually passed away.

Baron Barkaley, who had placed his hand on her knee, now squeezed it hard, his face downcast. The Baron knew that Felicia was very fond of his son Waldo. That's why he felt he couldn't say it in front of Felicia.

'What should I do? I don't want lady to return to how she was before!' Rachel continued to think, wondering what solution she could come up with to keep Felicia's precious smile.

Barkaley, who had found it hard to say, felt Felicia should know about it, and after all, Felicia had been known for her maturity since her birthday party, so Barkaley thought it might be okay if he said it. Barkaley opened his mouth and said,

"Waldo, my son…

he's already-"

"MR. WALDO IS STILL ON A MISSION! He's on a dungeon raid overseas, in a faraway place!" his words were cut off by the maid standing behind him, Rachel.

Barkaley immediately looked sharply at Rachel with an astonished, confused face.

After thinking about what Rachel had said, baron looked back at Felicia.

"That's right... He's out of the kingdom. Unfortunately, he won't be home until four or five years," baron said, following Rachel's adlib. Baron also believed that it was the best choice for the girl.

"Huh? Why… why I didn't know everything about it?"

"Sorry, lady. This is Prince Leofric's order."

"I see... Too bad. I wanted to meet him…" Felicia said disappointedly, with a gloomy face.

"Then, until he comes home, I'll be a better lady and wife for him! I'll learn to control mana and go on dungeon adventures with Master Waldo!" said Felicia excited with big smile on her face.

Rachel covered her mouth, holding back tears. The same was true for Barkaley, who continued to cling to his knees. Water welled up in his eyes again. Both were unable to look at Felicia's innocent face.

"Felicia..." Earl Isabelle spoke, she took a puff of her cigar and then exhaled.

"Leave us alone. We have something important to talk about."

Felicia immediately got off the sofa, raising the bottom of her robes to salute Isabelle.

"Okay, please continue the meeting, auntie," Felicia said.

Felicia and Rachel then left the room together.

...

'For the first time, I lied to lady... There's no way… there's no way I can tell lady that.'

After leaving the room, Felicia exited the building.

"What's wrong, lady?" Rachel asked Felicia.

"Since I didn't meet Mr. Waldo today, I'm too lazy to study. Today, let's take a trip to the city."

'Sorry, lady, I lied. Mr. Waldo will never come home. But at least I'll try to hide it until she's older, then I'll tell her, and then I'll accept whatever punishment Lady gives me.'