“Someone to entrust with a task.”

It had been quite a while since Kian had made such a personal request.

“Are you talking about a guard?”

Theodore asked carefully.

If it was just a simple guard duty, he could have assigned any knight from the order. Making such a direct request meant he needed someone trustworthy. And who could be the person that needed such a trusted guard by their side?

“Yes. You probably know who. The whole mansion must have been buzzing about how I picked up that woman.”

Ah, Vivianne, that woman.

Honestly, he wasn’t too pleased to hear about her existence from his master’s lips.

Though it was partly due to his mother’s request, she was a pitiful woman with nowhere to rely on. His measured kindness was like the compassion one would show to an orphaned animal.

And now he was being ordered to look after such a woman. Why did it feel so uncomfortable?

Was it because it confirmed that all the rumors he had tried to deny were true after all? That she would eventually become the master’s woman? That keeping her close was due to impure intentions?

“If it’s guard duty, I think I should know why she needs protection first.”

He wasn’t one to question his master’s orders often. But just as his master was acting differently from usual, Theodore also felt the need to know the reason.

“My fiancée seems to have some misunderstandings about me. And I have no intention of clearing them up.”

Kian answered in a dry tone.

The fact that he showed absolutely no emotion while talking about relationship issues with his fiancée wasn’t just because he had no affection. He clearly had some specific purpose in mind.

He had heard that the Steward Marquis’s daughter had visited. The stagnant engagement between her and the master was as much a regular topic of gossip as the woman picked up from the beach.

This engagement had passed its time for marriage. At this point, when the expected validity of the engagement had expired, the presence of another woman would hardly be welcome.

Kian’s training had just ended, and the visit seemed rather sudden. She must have been reacting to the rumors about Vivianne.

“I think that’s not really a misunderstanding.”

“Then, master…”

Theodore stopped mid-sentence. It felt like he might be crossing a line with his question.

“Speak freely, Theo.”

At such times, Kian would personally break down the barriers.

He needed to hear what needed to be said anyway. That was part of being the closest aide.

Whatever came from Theodore’s mouth, even if somewhat disrespectful, wouldn’t be unnecessary.

“…Forgive my impudence, but are you planning to take her as your mistress?”

“Isn’t everyone already gossiping about that without me having to define anything?”

“I’m not quite sure myself.”

Theodore deliberately held back his words. He didn’t want to relay words that would dishonor his master with his own mouth.

“It seems my fiancée has planted someone in the mansion.”

“Among the employees?”

“Yes.”

“If you give the order, I’ll root them out immediately.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be difficult. But since I’m often away from the mansion, they’ll just plant someone new even if we find them. Instead, I thought I might as well give them something to see.”

Kian answered rather indifferently, as if it were no big deal.

“It’s just information leaking for now so nothing serious, but if I put my people around her, at least they won’t be able to comfort themselves needlessly.”

He was aiming for such an interpretation – that he valued that woman enough to surround her with only trustworthy people.

In other words, Vivianne was no longer a maid.

“Start as soon as you’re done with the knight order business.”

“Yes, master.”

Complex thoughts were a luxury.

Theodore was Larson’s dog.

A dog simply follows its master’s orders without overthinking. That’s a dog’s duty.

* * *

Vivianne stayed in her room for three whole days. The doctor had visited and properly treated her injured ankle.

Though it was sad to remove the bandage Kian had wrapped, she stayed still when told it would prevent scarring.

Even though she could walk, Matilda kept pushing her back to bed, saying she needed to rest until she was fully healed.

She said the ankle needed to be unused to heal.

That was the doctor’s diagnosis, and following the diagnosis strictly was also Kian’s order, she said.

Though it was stifling, wandering around recklessly would only cause trouble for Matilda.

Matilda was very busy. She said there was much to take care of after being away from the mansion for so long.

Though she took care of her morning and evening and brought lunch, Vivianne was mostly alone during the day.

They said the medicine to heal her ankle would help her sleep well, so she took it diligently.

She would sleep like the dead, wake up when Matilda roused her, eat, take medicine, and sleep again.

Perhaps because she had slept enough, the medicine no longer made her severely drowsy.

She was terribly bored. So much that she thought it might have been better when she was working as a maid.

The one fortunate thing was that she was well-versed in entertaining herself alone, as it had been the same in the Mermaid Palace.

She would watch the trees outside, count how many eggs were in the bird’s nest.

She would guess what shapes the clouds resembled and try holding her breath until the waves receded and came back in. But even that became limiting after repeating it several times.

On the third night, Vivianne sat on the bed in her negligee, hugging her knees.

Perhaps because she had slept more than enough, sleep wouldn’t come. There was no one to talk to. Just blank emptiness. With nothing to do, useless thoughts kept multiplying.

‘Is Kian drinking his tea well? What about the newspaper?’

According to Matilda, these were things that could be skipped for a day, but it had been several days in a row now.

Anyway, it had been her assigned duty and a task to serve Kian closely.

The thought of someone else taking over that job didn’t sit well with her.

It made her understand why the maids had hated her so much.

‘Didn’t he say he had something to tell me?’

What she was most curious about was the content of what he had wanted to say.

She hadn’t heard it because she fell asleep in the bathroom.

If it was important enough for him to come personally late at night, it must have been significant. Not being able to even guess what it might have been was torturous.

‘He’s the one who should feel regretful. He said he wanted to keep me.’

Anyway, that meant Kian needed her.

According to his words, there was no kindness without reason, so giving her this nice room, letting her stay with Matilda, letting her use the bathtub – there must be intentions behind all of it.

The problem was that Vivianne’s intentions were impure. From the moment she fell in love with Kian at first sight, she wanted to be held in his arms and bear his child.

In the battle between reason and instinct, there was no guarantee that reason would always win.

Kian was engaged and would marry.

Therefore, bearing his child would be wrong.

It had only become dim because she had been preoccupied with a series of events, but actually nothing had been resolved.

The conscience abandoned in a corner of her mind. Dust had piled up layer by layer until its very existence became dim. As time passed, the sweet false peace was becoming normal.

Was this really okay?

What else could she do? Was there another way?

Cowardly excuses like: Since Kian told her to stay here. Since he said he needed her and found her lacking. Wasn’t it unavoidable?

She hated herself for not being able to shake off these thoughts. Vivianne lay down on the bed and forcibly pulled the blanket over herself.

‘But from tomorrow, I can move around.’

Tomorrow. She needed to meet Kian.

Though thinking about that night made her embarrassed, she couldn’t keep avoiding it forever.

* * *

“Why are you up so early? You could have slept more.”

Early in the morning, when Vivianne was out of bed, Matilda asked in surprise.

She was already dressed in a simple indoor dress that she had put on herself.

She had tied her hair herself and was wearing the shoes Kian had gifted her.

“It’s been three days now. Since I couldn’t do it before, I thought I’d serve tea.”

“Oh my, Vivi. What should we do? The master isn’t in the mansion.”

“Kian isn’t here?”

This was the first she’d heard of it. Vivianne’s eyes grew round.

“Yes. He said he had business in the capital and would return. It will probably take several days. And you don’t need to worry about serving tea anymore.”

“…I see.”

She had been waiting just for today. To hear he wasn’t in his room. It was deflating.

Vivianne collapsed onto the sofa, all strength leaving her body.

“And Vivi, these shoes are still too much. Though we said three days, you need to be careful for at least a week. Once injured, a spot is easily hurt again.”

“But I don’t have any other shoes.”

True. Since she hadn’t had any reason to go out for a while, she only had bedroom slippers or high-heeled shoes.

“Ah, right. Then I’ll bring you comfortable shoes.”

Matilda went behind Vivianne and finished her tied hair with a pretty ribbon.

Vivianne’s face brightened considerably.

“You like ribbons, right? This is prettier, isn’t it?”

“Yes! Teach me how to make ribbons. I want to learn.”

“For free?”

Matilda asked playfully. Even as she spoke, she tied a lace ribbon around Vivianne’s wrist to show her how to make a bow.

“See, it’s easy, right?”

“It’s pretty.”

Vivianne looked at the ribbon tied around her wrist this way and that, delighting in it like a child.

“Is Matilda busy today too?”

“Most of the busy work is done. Just some finishing touches left. Were you lonely? I’m sorry for leaving you alone so much.”

“I want to help Matilda too.”

“That’s…”

Having Vivianne mix with the maids right now wasn’t a very good idea.

That day, the maids in charge of bedroom cleaning seeing Vivianne asleep in the master’s bed had been the root of the problem.

Though she had thoroughly warned them to keep quiet, it was useless now that Vivianne had gotten a new room. Besides, it was too big an issue to quiet down overnight.

“Ah, Theo will be coming soon. We talked about it then, remember?”

“Theo? What about the knight order?”

“Yes. He said he’s finished with the knight order business. Starting today, he’ll be reporting to the mansion.”

“Why?”

“Oh my, look at me. The master assigned Theo to be your guard.”

A guard? Suddenly?

Vivianne rolled her eyes around, still seemingly unable to grasp the situation.

“Not because he’s my son, but Theo is really strong. The master assigning Theo as your guard means he values you that much.”

Kian values her. Though it didn’t feel real, it was a pleasant thing to hear.

“Are you feeling cooped up? I’ll pack you lunch and give you new shoes too. Why don’t you go for a simple walk with Theo? Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”

She could go outside the mansion? Vivianne’s eyes sparkled.

She wanted to go to the beach.