Chapter 12 – Part 3

“My Lady, the meal is ready.”

“Shall we go eat then?”

At those words, Howard opened the door wider.

Suen shook her head.

“You go first. I need to finish the tasks the housekeeper assigned me.”

“Oh? You’ve been busy.”

“With the news of your return, I couldn’t just sit still, you know? My Lady doesn’t even recognize my feelings, so I’m a little hurt.”

Suen’s outburst made Anne burst out laughing.

Suen’s expression also seemed to relax a bit at Anne’s laughter.

“I’ll be right back after finishing my work, My Lady!”

Watching the ever-cheerful Suen, Anne smiled warmly.

Seeing Suen’s bright and lively demeanor reminded her of Carly.

The sweet-natured lady always looked at her with affection. She wonders what she’s up to now.

Memories from the field hospital came flooding back, one by one. There were many people she missed, but the one she missed the most was…

Anne let out a light sigh. Now was not the time to get lost in her thoughts.

Anne spoke up again in a resolute voice, addressing the quietly waiting Howard.

“Howard, let’s have the meal together today.”

“Me too?”

“Yes. We can talk about what to do next.”

In Terossa, it was typical for slaves not to dine with their masters.

Normally, the servants would share the leftovers from the master’s meal, and whatever was left from that would then go to the slaves.

However, Anne felt a sense of indebtedness towards Howard.

Because of her own desire to protect the cherished servants of the Vanessa mansion, Howard was now accompanying her to the imperial palace.

Even though Howard was a slave, Anne intended to treat him as well as the close servants.

“My Lady, do you wish for me to attend to you at night as well?”

Anne stopped in her tracks and looked at Howard.

She had thought he would be uncomfortable with such a request, but his response caught her by surprise. Flustered, Anne stammered.

“Why? Why are you saying that?”

“…It seemed to be the usual practice up until now.”

At those words, Anne exclaimed in alarm.

“It’s not that! Rather, I feel a little sorry for using you instead of my own servant to take to the imperial palace. And our chef is so good at cooking! No, it’s just a kind gesture, that’s all!”

At Anne’s overly defensive reaction, Howard shrugged his shoulders, looking more puzzled.

“But isn’t that something a slave should do?”

Leaning in close to Anne’s face, Howard spoke earnestly, with his back bent.

“How is it? I’m quite capable, don’t you think?”

His faint golden eyes pierced through Anne’s.

Anne could sense the nonchalance in his gaze.

‘Is he mocking me right now?’

Amused by Howard’s direct flirtation, Anne inwardly scoffed.

Casually crossing her arms, Anne tilted her head to the side.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty years old.”

“And you’re offering to attend to me at night?”

Howard nodded with a smile. Anne let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Oh, dear. I’m not really interested in you, you know.”

Though Anne was also young, she had memories of Ba-wool.

While she had never had a boyfriend, she had enough worldliness not to fall for such tricks.

This maturity, however, did not seem to manifest in front of Evan.

Whenever she conversed with Evan, Anne felt like a young girl again.

Sighing unconsciously, thoughts of her former boss and unrequited love often surfaced.

Sensing that she had ignored him, Howard seemed slightly offended.

“…I know plenty of ways to please a woman.”

“You do?”

This time, Anne deliberately sighed softly, intending to completely disregard Howard.

“Want to try it out?”

“…Pardon?”

“Tell me what you’ve got, if you’re as capable as you say.”

Anne sat on the couch, crossing her legs.

In truth, if Howard really wanted to serve her at night, Anne would not hesitate to send him away, though she felt a little sorry for Ferrell.

“Should we do it here? Go ahead and prepare.”

At those words, Howard’s face turned bright red, and his ears flushed like ripe strawberries.

“Here?”

Seeing Howard lowering his head and hesitating, Anne let out a relieved sigh.

It was a fortunate turn of events for her. The fingers that had been tapping her knee in anxiety came to a stop.

“Okay, now please stop; don’t make a fuss about it in the future.”

Hearing such unladylike words from a noble lady, Howard’s eyes momentarily widened.

“…But I can still kiss well.”

Amused by Howard’s persistent attempts to salvage his pride, Anne burst out laughing.

“Howard, what am I going to do with you? I’m not really interested, so you can just be my luggage carrier by my side.”

With those words, Anne headed towards the dining room.

“End of Volume 2.”