Don't Remember Me - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

The nanny spread her arms wide to embrace Flitat, then gently stroked the child’s face while clicking her tongue as if her heart were breaking. She then turned a sharp gaze toward Rosé and scolded her with a tone full of reproach.

“Rosé, how have you been serving the young lady? If you couldn’t do it properly, you should have left it to me! You were too eager to impress His Grace and took matters into your own hands…”

As the nanny scolded Rosé, she clicked her tongue, almost as if to show off her own irritation. She was surely trying to justify her actions and blame Rosé for everything. But contrary to her intentions, those listening looked at her with a mix of discomfort, even the maids who usually had little regard for Rosé.

It was well known that the nanny had hastily taken leave and left the Grand Duke’s residence, fearing the illness might spread. It was also vivid in everyone’s memory that when a person had to be chosen to accompany the young lady to the annex, no one but Rosé had volunteered.

Yet, the nanny seemed to have completely forgotten these things—or perhaps, she was distorting the truth as if such events had never happened.

She was making it sound as though Rosé had volunteered to serve the young lady out of her own ambition, causing her to be unable to go to the annex with her.

And now, as if the young lady’s health had worsened because of Rosé’s negligence, the nanny was raising a fuss. Anyone who understood the situation would have been dumbfounded by her audacity.

In truth, Flitta did look more haggard than before the illness, but that was only natural. After all, she had suffered severely from the illness—how could she possibly look well?

It was a miracle that she had recovered at all, and yet, the nanny was nitpicking over her appearance. It was clear to anyone that she was making an unreasonable fuss.

Furthermore, Haven was well aware of all this. He glanced at the nanny with a cold, calculating look and let out a quiet chuckle. His smile was so small that only the butler, standing beside him, could hear it.

That was enough. The butler immediately sensed that his master was displeased.

“Yannick.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Haven’s voice calling for the butler was no different from usual, but the butler flinched, immediately lowering his head. Haven’s eyes, cold as ice, turned from the nursemaid to the butler as he spoke.

“I’m considering rewarding Rosé for the care she gave to the young lady.”

“…Yes, Your Grace. It is only right.”

The butler froze for a moment, caught off guard by the unexpected words. He had assumed that the nursemaid would be reprimanded immediately, but instead, this came as a surprise.

Of course, Rosé had more than earned any reward. She had cared for the sick young lady with great devotion, bringing her safely back to health.

But…

The way Haven casually referred to the young lady’s maid as ‘Rosé’ seemed a little too intimate, especially for someone of his stature. It wasn’t like him to treat his employees with such familiarity.

‘Just now, when the three of them entered together, something felt off.’

He recalled how it had looked like a couple walking with a child between them, which had made him uncomfortable.

The butler cautiously glanced at Rosé. She seemed overwhelmed by Haven’s mention of a ‘reward’ and was fumbling for words, but at the same time, she was busy attending to Flitta.

‘Hmm… The Grand Duke’s wife should have entered the room first. If this goes on, will he bring in a concubine before the wife? Especially if the concubine is a former maid, there will be all sorts of gossip.’

The butler clicked his tongue softly and furrowed his brow without realizing it. He knew Rosé was meek and kind. Despite the nursemaid’s harsh treatment of her, she never complained and worked diligently, showing great patience.

Moreover, she was so devoted to the young lady that there was little to criticize. That was probably why the head maid, too, had always been subtly displeased with her.

But from the perspective of the master’s ‘woman,’ things were different. No, they had to be different.

‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have let her in as a maid in the first place…’

A concubine who came from the maids. The butler, after thinking it over, couldn’t come to any conclusion and sighed, but just as he was about to release the pent-up breath, Haven’s voice rang out again.

“I will grant Rosé five hundred setena.”

“… Five hundred setena, Your Grace?”

The butler, still unsure whether he had heard right, asked again in disbelief. Five hundred setena? That was enough money to buy a pretty nice house in the commoners’ district of the capital. It was an enormous sum.

“Your Grace, that is too much…”

Rosé, who had been listening in shock, interrupted with a startled voice. Five hundred setena was an exorbitant amount of money. She earned only three setena a month, so five hundred was beyond anything she could fathom.

Though the reward was for the sake of the child, this was far too much. Just as Rosé was about to speak again, Haven turned to her, then directed his attention back to the butler and head maid.

“I saved my child. I will reward her for that service. Do you think this is too much? Are you suggesting that my daughter is worth less than five hundred setena?”

“Of course not, Your Grace! No matter what you bring, it cannot compare to the young lady! I must have misspoken. My deepest apologies. I will handle this right away. Rosé, please thank His Grace.”

“But—”

“Thank him now.”

Even the head maid urged Rosé. She stood, clutching the hem of her dress, and looked up at Haven. His blue eyes were locked on hers, cold and distant.

Yet somehow, it seemed as though there was a hidden smile behind them, as though he were quietly amused by her dismay.

‘No way…’

She shook her head slightly and bowed to him.

“… Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Take good care of Flitta from now on, Rosé. I trust you.”

“… I will serve her with all my heart.”

Rosé choked on her words, replying a beat too late. His words of trust meant more to her than the large sum of money.

Haven looked down at her for a moment, then lowered his gaze.

Flitta, with her round eyes, looked between Rosé and Haven, smiling brightly as if she were simply delighted that her room had been redecorated and that Rosé had received a reward.

“Everyone, go on inside. Flitta, go to your room and rest. Even though you’re healed, you still need to take it easy for a while.”

“Yes!”

Flitta eagerly nodded, and Haven, after noticing her response, gave a small smile before turning away. The butler and head maid followed behind him, leaving only Flitta, Rosé, and the remaining servants.

“This is ridiculous. I have worked for over ten years and saved up all the money I could without spending a single penny, while she was receiving this all at once? Just for taking care of one child for a few days? If I had known this was going to happen, I would have said I would have joined!”

At that moment, someone among the servants muttered, their voice lowered so as not to be heard by Flitta, but Rosé could still hear.

“Really lucky… What did she even do? She was just holed up in the annex, taking care of a child for a few days.”

Jealousy laced the voice, and Rosé involuntarily shrank back. Just then, another voice intervened.

“That’s not true, Susan. If it had been that easy, why didn’t you volunteer right away? There was a huge opportunity to make money.”

“Oh, well, I wasn’t assigned to the young lady.”

The maid, Susan, tried to explain herself, but a younger maid, Veronica, shook her head firmly and spoke again.

“When we were choosing someone for the annex, no one brought that up, did they? Anyone could have volunteered, but no one did. Only Rosé stepped forward to take care of the young lady.”

“Veronica, are you telling me I was wrong? Seeing her receive that huge sum for just a few days of care doesn’t bother you?”

“Well… to be honest, I’m a little envious. No, I’m a lot envious.”

Veronica, the younger maid, glanced at Rosé with a shrug.

“But what could we do? I didn’t have the courage to volunteer, but Rosé did, and she cared for the young lady. Honestly, it was impressive. I couldn’t even bring myself to go near the young lady back then. We all felt that way. That’s why the nanny took leave, too.”

“What are you talking about! Do you think I took a vacation for that reason?”

The nanny, who had been listening to the maids’ conversation, turned red and blue when she heard my story. Then Veronica flinched and quietly stepped back.

“What the heck… How can you look at people like that.”

The nanny opened her mouth as if she was dumbfounded. However, no one seemed to believe her. The moment the nanny, who had become angry, was about to say something again, Flitta grabbed Rose’s hand and said in a low voice.

“Rosé, I want to go to my room.”