If You're Going to Sell Yourself, Sell It to Me - Chapter 88
Seeing Georgiana’s face, as if she had something to say, Raymond kissed Angela on the forehead and gave a glance to the maid standing beside them.
“Angela, Lady Leona needs time to rest as well. You can visit her later.”
“But I want to stay with her. What if I can’t see her again?”
Angela clung to Georgiana’s arm, rubbing her face against it. Her large eyes welled up with tears.
Watching Raymond’s sorrowful gaze toward Angela, Georgiana guessed that the child might be recalling her departed mother.
If Angela’s mother had suddenly passed away, it was understandable why she reacted this way.
The sight reminded Georgiana of her own parents, who had left and never returned, causing a pang in her chest.
“Miss Angela, once I recover, we’ll have lessons and play with dolls together. I won’t leave without saying goodbye anymore. I promise.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Only after making a firm pledge did Angela leave for the next room.
Once the door was shut, Raymond turned his head toward her.
“I can roughly guess what you want to say. If it’s too much for you, we can discuss it after you’ve fully recovered.”
“No, thanks to you, I feel much better. More importantly, what happened to the head maid? Did you come because you believed my letter?”
He had said he found her because of the note, but he never mentioned fully trusting its contents. That was why Georgiana needed to confirm it first.
“I was already aware of the embezzlement. I had been trying to identify the culprit, and thanks to you, I found both the criminal and their hiding place.”
“Then what happened to them?”
“They’ve been locked in the warehouse for the past two days as we investigate the stolen funds and their accomplices. Once the interrogation is complete, they will be handed over to the police.”
“I see.”
“The man who kidnapped you is also being held with them.”
“Thank you.”
Hearing that the man had been caught allowed Georgiana to finally breathe easy. She had worried he might seek her out again, but knowing he would face justice brought her relief.
“There’s no need for thanks. If anything, I should be the one apologizing and expressing my gratitude.”
Raymond bowed his head deeply. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke again, as if confessing.
“As I said earlier, I knew about the situation, but I left it alone out of indifference. Since last year’s incident, I isolated myself, neglecting both the estate and the child.”
“I don’t know the details, but I can understand. When someone is suffering, it’s hard to see beyond their own pain. There’s no room for anything else.”
“Even so, as the master of the house, my actions were irresponsible.”
“That’s not true at all.”
Georgiana recalled her own family and the nobles of the Empire, who had cared only for wealth and pleasure, utterly neglecting their responsibilities.
Compared to them, Raymond seemed like the most righteous person she had ever met. She never would have imagined that he harbored such guilt.
Looking back, he was simply a man who had lost someone precious to him.
Who had been there to comfort his wounds?
Georgiana knew she couldn’t heal his past pain. That kind of grief wasn’t something that could be soothed with mere words.
Instead, she hoped that, like her, Raymond could move forward.
And she wished he would understand that despite his past, he still had the strength to move on.
“You’re already doing better. The fact that you’ve saved me multiple times without expecting anything in return proves that. Very few people would do the same. In fact, for me, this is the first time someone has ever shown me such kindness.”
At her words, Raymons’s eyes widened as he looked at her.
“You weren’t irresponsible. But if you feel that way, think of it as simply taking a break. While you rested, some people did well, others made mistakes, and a few new faces arrived.”
“Surely… you’re not referring to yourself as the ‘new face,’ Lady Leona?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
At her response, Raymond let out a small chuckle. It was far better than the pained expression he had worn before.
“If someone as kind as you is considered irresponsible, then the world would be full of neglectful people. So, it’s fine. You were fine before, and you will be even better from now on. That’s my certainty, not as a mere stranger, but as Leona.”
If it had been Sarah, she might have patted him on the shoulder. But Raymond was a man, and simply looking at him, she hoped, would be enough to comfort him.
As she gazed at him, Raymond also stared at her, momentarily lost in thought, before finally speaking the unexpected.
“…Lady Leona, you are strong. Perhaps even stronger than I am.”
“What do you mean? A strong person wouldn’t have fainted on horseback. If anyone is strong, it’s the one who leaped from one running horse to another.”
“Well, that’s true…”
Both of them burst into laughter at the same time.
Perhaps because they had survived the ordeal together, Georgiana felt that she understood Raymond a little more that day.
***
The inside of the warehouse was stifling. Since it was attached to a workshop where tobacco leaves were dried, the heat from that area seeped in completely.
Raymond had deliberately tied them up in this place. He had no intention of letting the criminals stay comfortable.
Even as sweat dripped down her entire body, Catherine did not stop struggling.
By morning, she had screamed herself hoarse, claiming her innocence, so much so that a gag had to be forced into her mouth, yet she refused to calm down.
Scat, his head wrapped in bandages, shook his head as he watched her.
With his aching head from the beating he had received, her ceaseless noise was unbearable.
“That wicked woman ruined everything. She should’ve just stolen the tobacco leaves. Why did she have to go as far as trying to kill someone and get caught?”
“Mmph! Mmm! Mmmph!”
“What? You say it’s unfair? That it’s because I didn’t kill her?”
At his speculative words, Catherine nodded her head vehemently.
“What nonsense! I didn’t get caught!”
“Mmmph! Mmm!”
“Then why am I in this mess? How was I supposed to know she’d be quicker to strike me in the head?”
“Both of you, enough!”
Liv, lying on the floor with his arms and legs bound, glared at the two bickering as if they were lifelong enemies.
If there was anyone here with a right to claim injustice, it was her.
She had only followed the orders of the head maid under pressure. She had been told all she needed to do was accompany them.
Sure, she had turned a blind eye to certain actions, but she had never personally inflicted harm on anyone, nor had she mistreated others, so she felt justified.
Besides, even if she could no longer work here, she was confident she could find another job. The South always lacked workers.
And in the end, she was certain that the true culprits would bear the full weight of their crimes.
However, her sense of security wavered as night fell and more accomplices were dragged in.
All the maids who had been brought in were connected to Catherine. Naturally, Joan was among them.
With a vacant expression, Joan murmured that she should never have hidden the stolen goods that day.
Half of the estate’s maids had been imprisoned in the warehouse.
Bill and his subordinates interrogated them throughout the night.
From embezzlement to petty theft—
Everyone was so desperate to save themselves that they exposed each other’s wrongdoings, making the crimes pile up like a snowball.
Just how many incidents had taken place on this plantation?
At this point, the head maid’s ability to keep everything hidden for so long seemed impressive.
After receiving the reports from Bill, Raymond and Evan were left speechless in shock.
The butler, Austin, even tried to kneel and take responsibility for his failure to oversee the estate properly, but they stopped him.
“Evan, am I an idiot, or is Catherine just that impressive?”
The papers detailing the endless list of crimes left him in disbelief.
“You’re not an idiot. I imagine most plantations have similar problems. They just let things slide because the damage isn’t enough to cause real harm. This estate lacks a mistress to manage the maids, which makes things worse. With all due respect to the late lady, Master, you should find a new madam soon.”
Evan coldly pointed out the reality of the situation.
Of course, not all widowers remarried.
However, most of them had female relatives to manage the household in their stead. Raymond, whose only family consisted of Angela and Lockwood, had no such option.
Even if they replaced all the maids now, similar issues would eventually arise.
Logically, he understood Evan’s reasoning, but emotionally, he couldn’t accept it.
“What nonsense! How long has it been since Veronica passed away?”
Raymond flared up again.
“Even so, the butler cannot take on the head maid’s duties. You understand how inefficient that would be, don’t you?”
They already had enough tasks to handle without overloading the butler with even more responsibilities. Raymond pressed his fingers against his temple and let out a heavy sigh.
“I know.”
“You need to find someone to manage the estate.”
“……”
For a moment, a certain person came to mind.
Someone righteous, moral, and courageous.
He didn’t know her well yet, and she certainly had no experience in such matters.
But his instincts told him she would do well.
Seeing how someone who called herself an outsider could turn out to be an invaluable gem might be an interesting sight to witness.
Raymond turned to Evan, who was waiting for an answer, and finally spoke.
“There is someone fit for the role.”
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Pato
Please just as a manager not as a wife
༼ ༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ༽ he already suffered enough, the 3 of them I just hope that Loockwod don’t return just to find out that his brother married Georgiana