In This Confinement Novel, the Maid Doesn’t Change the Original - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Translator: Yonnee

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* * *

Three days later—

During those three days, Adeline did her best. She tried to bring up the idea of attending the inauguration to Sien.

But every time, Sien would ask, ‘Why?’ and she couldn’t bring herself to say any more.

There were limits, after all, to using ‘It’s for your sake, Young Master’ as an excuse…

If she told him the truth, that the Duke of Floye had asked her, she could already visualize the outcome. Knowing Sien’s personality, he might even set fire to the duke’s beloved garden.

Let alone actually going to the inauguration.

But contrary to her worries, on the day of the inauguration, Sien summoned her to his room early in the morning.

Thanks to that, Adeline was rummaging through his accessory box, her face still half-asleep.

“Acting like you weren’t going to go, but here you are, getting all dressed up.”

As always, she was picking out cufflinks and earrings for Sien to wear. It was something she had done countless times over the last three years, but to be honest, from Adeline’s point of view, it all looked more or less the same.

The patterns and colors might be a bit different, but as long as it wasn’t too much, it all looked the same to her.

“Then what, should I just not go? Wasn’t it you who wanted me to attend?”

When she handed Sien a suitable choice, he fastened the cuffs on his sleeves and asked.

If she answered ‘Yes’ here, he really might not go.

But if she hurriedly said she wanted him to go, he’d obviously get annoyed, so Adeline tactfully changed the subject.

She couldn’t let her three days of effort go to waste.

“Would you like to wear black earrings, or white ones?”

“Nice deflection.”

When Adeline held up the two different earrings, Sien pointed to the black ones. Then, closing his eyes, he waited.

It meant she should put them on for him.

Adeline stepped closer, one at a time, to Sien as he was sitting on the armrest of the sofa.

She leaned over slightly and reached toward Sien’s right ear.

Adeline had just teased him about dressing up, but in reality, the only accessories Sien ever wore were cufflinks and earrings.

Still, earrings were something no nobleman would normally wear, so even just that was considered rather excessive.

But for Sien, the earrings didn’t serve only as decoration.

“The color has faded a lot. You should probably only wear these for today.”

As soon as she hooked the earring onto Sien’s ear, Adeline stared at the fading color and murmured, troubled.

Immediately, she felt Sien’s gaze from below. Before she knew it, he had opened his eyes and was looking up at her.

When their eyes met, Sien smiled with his eyes.

Adeline decided to ask, just in case.

“Do you have any other instructions for me, Young Master?”

“No, not yet.”

Sien, adding that he was just looking at her, stood up from where he had been sitting. Because he got up so suddenly, Adeline stepped back a moment too late, and their knees bumped.

As Adeline quietly took another step back, she thought,

‘I feel like he’ll have something for me to do soon…’

Whether it was actually something Sien needed or not.

* * *

The reason they were preparing from early in the morning, even though the inauguration would be held late in the afternoon, was simple.

The distance from the ducal manor to the temple where the inauguration would be held was quite far.

By the time they arrived at the temple, Sien’s mood had hit rock bottom.

Adeline, taking down a large travel bag from the carriage, glanced over at Sien to gauge his mood.

Though he maintained his usual smile, there was a subtle shadow on his face.

“Young Master, just as a word of caution, please don’t take it out on innocent people today.”

Adeline spoke up, just in case. He would do as he pleased anyway, but she felt she should at least say something.

After all, today was the first time he would meet Claire. There was no need to ruin the first impression.

“We’ll see. I guess it depends on my mood at the time.”

From the way he answered, it was obvious he had no intention of listening to her. Adeline knew that if she said anything more here, she’d just become the target of his frustration, so she left it at that.

Since only Sien would be entering the inauguration hall anyway, it was best for her to lay low and read the atmosphere until then.

“The maid who accompanied Your Lordship should wait in the servants’ lounge until the ceremony is over.”

The priest ushering them to the hall said this to Sien and Adeline. At the same time, he kept stealing glances at Adeline and the large bag she was carrying.

It was clear at a glance that Sien had brought no one else. No knight for escort, not even an attendant to carry his things.

He had brought just a single maid and was even making her act as porter.

‘So the rumors were true.’

The rumors that the Young Duke of the Floye Duchy always took only one maid everywhere with him…

And the maid, just like the rumors said, was a woman with black hair and black eyes.

When he’d only heard the rumors, he’d thought she must be practically invisible.

But he wasn’t the only one. Most people who had never seen Adeline in person assumed her presence would be faint, just because she was a maid with black hair.

But upon actually seeing her, she was anything but lacking in presence. There was something subtly captivating about her.

Even standing next to Sien, who was known widely as the most beautiful man in the empire, she still drew the eye.

‘Especially that body…’

Even though her maid uniform only exposed a little of her shoulders, the lines of her body stood out more than usual. The clothes didn’t hide her figure but rather accentuated it.’

‘No wonder there are rumors. There’s no way the Young Duke would just leave a woman like that alone.’

It took him less than three seconds to form an impression of Adeline. In other words, it took only three seconds for his thoughts to turn vulgar.

But that was more than enough time to provoke Sien, whose mood was already low.

“Oh, how unbecoming, Priest. Can’t even control your eyes, can you?”