On his second day at the Maldini household, stepping out of the guest room, it was not the tedious young lady but the other woman who came to mind first. The dream that had given him a headache was probably her fault. The sight of that woman in the back corridor, the things she had done, had grated on him the way watching someone be humiliated in filth would.

While Smila, still a minor, took lessons with her tutor, Renato spoke business with the count. The count was not the type to overstep. He must have found it disagreeable that someone so young held a senior position at a major firm, but he concealed it well and consulted him on suitable investments.

A few hints about economic trends earned him considerable goodwill. Measured in money, the casual conversation he had made use of his free time for was quite profitable.

In the afternoon he stepped into Smila’s study. The young lady, a large pink artificial flower pinned to the back of her hair, greeted him with a flushed face.

“Oh, please come in.”

There was a trace of flustered uncertainty in the way she offered tea. It seemed the count had pushed him in here a little hastily.

“I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Not at all. You’re welcome here any time.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s only that…… I have something to attend to.”

He was about to ask whether he should come back later when a knock came at the door.

The moment he saw the worn apron, the corner of Renato’s eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.

“You called for me.”

Lisa pressed her feet into the carpet, suppressing the urge to flee immediately, and folded her hands politely.

She had come up because she was told Smila wanted her, with no idea there would be a guest here as well. She had spent the whole night turning over her encounter with this man, so standing here felt like a continuation of what had already happened. She had come out before anyone else at dawn to clean the corridor, but in her mind the image of yellow sauce dripping down the floor still lingered.

Had he reported her? What punishment was coming now? Having been penalized before even when she had done nothing wrong, her thoughts naturally drifted toward the worst.

Smila rose from the sofa and turned toward her with easy familiarity.

“Yes, I called because I wanted to talk to you……”

She glanced between Lisa and the man, pressed her lips together, and hesitated briefly.

“Do you remember yesterday, from the hall? This is one of the girls who works here. Her name is Lisa, she’s the same age as me.”

The “yesterday” Smila was referring to was probably the moment in the main hall. Lisa’s own mind went first to what had happened in the servants’ corridor.

Renato rested his chin on the arm of his chair with an unhurried air.

“I remember.”

“Lisa, say hello. You know Trieste Bank? This is Renato, the son of its owner.”

From the uncomfortable look Smila kept shooting at him, it didn’t seem like she had called them here just to introduce them. Lisa thought carefully about what to say.

“How do you do. I’m Lisa Verachi.”

She bowed as though the previous night had never happened. Renato returned a composed nod.

Smila approached Lisa with a bright smile. They had had almost no contact over the years, so being called here and spoken to so directly put Lisa on guard.

“I called you because of the misunderstanding yesterday. Sheila made a mistake, but both Mother and I feel responsible.”

“……”

“It must be hard looking after your brother. I hear you do a lot of errands in the kitchen too.”

“I’m fine.”

Lisa was careful even about opening her mouth for short answers. This was the longest conversation she had ever had with Smila in all her years at the manor, and she didn’t let her guard down.

“No, how could you be fine?”

The other servants had said Smila was naive enough to seem simple. Easy to serve, they whispered, but you couldn’t let your guard down entirely in case she had something going on beneath the surface.

Smila stepped forward without hesitation and lightly took Lisa’s arm.

“If you’re going to be doing odd jobs anyway, I thought it might be nicer to give you easier ones.”

What is she trying to have me do? Lisa raised her questioning gaze.

“How would you feel about cleaning and tidying this study? And running the occasional errand for me.”

“Here?”

Smila lifted her chin with a triumphant smile, like a child delighted to be giving a surprise.

“Mother gave her permission too. We nearly had a terrible situation. Think of it as compensation.”

Lisa was thoroughly bewildered. She had been thrown out of the manor just yesterday, and now starting today she would be responsible for the young lady’s personal space?

What was the countess thinking? The story that it had been the head maid acting on her own initiative had seemed a little suspicious, and yet she had apparently agreed to Smila’s request. She couldn’t decide whether to believe it had been a genuine misunderstanding.

There was no other choice. The family had decided what she was to do, and she had to comply without question.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

Renato, watching Lisa bow politely, pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time with an air of boredom.

The moment Smila finished her business, she turned and added various words of apology. She mentioned that the manor had prepared something for their honored guest and led him outside.

Left alone, Lisa looked around helplessly, unsure what to do next. Was she meant to start cleaning now? Wandering around an unfamiliar space uninvited felt wrong, so she stood in place, and before long a maid came in. She said she had received instructions about the change in study assignments and handed over the duties.

When the maid, who had watched Lisa sweep with practiced efficiency, finally left, Lisa let out a small breath of relief.

She was supposed to tidy the scattered items too, but everything on the desk looked expensive. She started by neatly stacking the books and papers, then placed the fountain pen in its case.

Moving to the sofa table to tidy it, she found a watch. It belonged to that man.

Her busy hands paused.

Just then Renato came back in with long, sweeping strides. The hem of her skirt stirred as though a wind had come in with him.

The hand holding the feather duster was frozen in midair. She looked up to find him watching her with eyes as unreadable as a dark swamp.

Does he think I was about to steal it?

Her knuckles slowly curled inward like a noose tightening.

She needed to explain herself quickly. A misunderstanding could easily spiral into something much worse.

The pressure was so intense her mouth wouldn’t open easily. Lisa set her jaw and searched for words.

At that moment, his sharp shoe came striding toward her. The momentum left no room for hesitation, cutting toward her with swift precision. She instinctively tried to step back, and the corner of his lips curved upward in a devilish arc.

Her wrist was seized.

A large hand wrapped entirely around her forearm. It was a hand scarred with the small wounds of a seasoned soldier, the knuckles prominent and rough.

The force of the sudden grab threw Lisa off balance. She stumbled slightly, but the hand gripping her arm held firm and wouldn’t let her fall. Instead her upper body, which had been tilting backward, pitched forward. She barely managed to brace on her toes before colliding with the silk jacket that called to mind the skin of a snake.

“I was tidying it.”

The worst possible timing for an explanation. The breathless pitch of her voice was unsteady, as though she were trying to conceal a crime she had committed in secret.

She tried to pull her arm free, and the grip tightened like a vice. Her wrist ached. The back of her hand, drained of blood, turned the white of ice full of trapped air bubbles.

Standing on tiptoe, Lisa looked up at him. The sharp face, not a single detail out of place, was right in front of her.

She couldn’t explain it herself, but the black eyes staring straight at her gave her chills. If she thought she glimpsed something raw and savage in that expression like a fathomless abyss, was she seeing things?

Renato’s gaze swept her pale face and traveled over her delicate features. It climbed to the snow-colored hair and came back down to her face again. Lisa had no choice but to receive the full force of that gaze like a bombardment.

The pocket watch slipped from her hand. If it fell and broke, there would be serious consequences. She gasped and flailed with her free hand.

The golden object flashed as it fell, and landed in his hand.

Renato caught it with unhurried ease, as though he had been waiting for it, and turned it between his fingers. The way he tilted his head to one side was light, as though none of this was any great matter.