Swan Grave - Chapter 14

***

The news that Anna had become the Marquess’s personal maid spread quickly throughout the mansion.

Some were jealous, while others openly envied her. The maids who shared a room with Anna all offered their congratulations. Only Susan, inwardly uneasy, spoke with cautious hesitation.

“Being made an exception isn’t always a good thing. Especially in this mansion…”

Anna, too, couldn’t gladly accept becoming the Marquess’s personal maid, so she was grateful for Susan’s concern. Quietly, Anna pulled Susan into her arms. She had never had anyone in her life she could call a friend, but if she could call someone that, it would be Susan.

Susan held Anna’s arms and looked at her with eyes full of worry.

“Be careful of Rose, Anna. I’ve heard the atmosphere has been strange lately. When she hears this news, she’ll surely gnash her teeth.”

Anna thought so too. She hadn’t told Susan so she wouldn’t worry, but the grudge she had seen in Rose’s eyes when they last crossed in the corridor was still vivid.

It was clear without saying that Rose liked the Marquess. Surely the moment she heard this news, she would want to strangle Anna to death. Whatever the case, Rose had been the woman to gain an ‘exception’ from the Marquess. To clash with her would only bring loss to Anna.

“You worry too much, Susan. Rose may get special treatment, but now Anna too has become the Marquess’s ‘new exception.’ Surely the Marquess will protect her.”

“That’s right. If anything happens, tell the Marquess, Anna.”

At the words of Jo and Betty, who spoke with a trace of expectation, Anna only gave an awkward smile.

Would the Marquess really protect her?

Anna knew better than anyone that her position was not so lofty. She wasn’t an exception to the Marquess, but a stain.

To think he had slept with her, drugged, in his beloved wife’s bedroom. Whatever his reason for keeping her close, it couldn’t be a positive one.

In truth, taking her as his personal maid was surely so he could toy with her like a cat with a mouse, pushing her until she was dried up and dead. From what she knew of the Marquess’s nature, he was more than capable of that.

A shadow of gloom fell over Anna’s smiling face.

***

“Did you hear, Joseph? Your sister has become the Marquess’s personal maid.”

The news that had spread to every corner of the mansion finally reached outside, to the stables. Sehyun, shoveling horse dung, scowled as he turned to the stable hand who had brought him the news.

“…I’ve never heard such a thing.”

“It seems it was decided today. Your sister might make her fortune, so I’d better treat you well.”

“Make her fortune? Is being a personal maid such a good thing?” Sehyun asked again, intrigued.

The stable hand grinned slyly and repeatedly struck the side of his left fist with the palm of his right hand. Even if the words were different, vulgar gestures were instinctively understood. Sehyun’s face stiffened.

“Have you already forgotten? The late Marchioness was from the eastern continent. The Marquess is crazy for eastern women. If your sister plays her cards right, she might crawl into his bedchamber. Then you’d be the Marquess’s brother-in-law!”

Brother-in-law? More like a cuckolded fool. No, he hadn’t even done anything with Anna, so he’d just be standing there while his nose was cut off. Sehyun cursed under his breath and stamped his foot.

The stable hand sneered at him. He had meant to mock him, telling him not to get above himself just because his sister had become the Marquess’s personal maid, but seeing Sehyun seriously consider the possibility was ridiculous.

“Then get back to shoveling horse shit, Joseph!”

The stable hand’s true intentions completely unnoticed, Sehyun chewed on his lips.

Unlike Anna, who used her real name, Sehyun was called Joseph in this world. He had simply borrowed any name with a pronunciation similar to his real name, Jo Sehyun.

No one would bother to take the trouble of pronouncing the name of a mere stable boy who had only just entered the mansion, so it was only fitting that he was called Joseph. But even that felt unpleasant, as if another of his rightful privileges had been taken away.

In his original world, Sehyun had everything. His family spoiled him as the eldest son, and at school, he had always been admired as a student who excelled in everything. His future had been laid out like a wide, open road, and there was nothing to fear.

For that reason, this world, where he had fallen into the position of a lowly outcast, had no corner he could be pleased with. And now, even his girlfriend, whom he had never once laid a hand on, was about to be taken away from him…

Sehyun, burning with rage to the very top of his head, finally called Anna out.

At his call, Anna came to him without suspicion. The women’s servants’ quarters and the men’s servants’ quarters were in entirely separate buildings, and their work areas were far apart. Since there were few chances to meet, she hadn’t had the opportunity to give him advance notice of the rumors spreading through the mansion. He must have called her out to ask about the situation.

“You called me, oppa?”

As soon as Anna faced him, Sehyun yanked her arm hard. At his sudden rough behavior, Anna tried to shake him off, but his grip was firm and unyielding.

“What are you doing!”

“They say you’re becoming the Marquess’s personal maid.”

Sehyun spat the words as he dragged Anna’s arm by force. The blood vessels in his eyes had burst, making them bloodshot. Only then did Anna realize something was wrong. Pushing her into a secluded spot, Sehyun leaned close and threatened in a low voice.

“If you’re going to do it with the Marquess, then do it with me first.”

“…What kind of logic is that? What would I be doing with the Marquess, and why would that mean I have to do it with you first?”

Even in this bewildering situation, Anna didn’t lose her composure and refuted him clearly. Her back stiffened.

Seeing Anna stand tall like bamboo, even countering each of his words, Sehyun grew spiteful and sneered.

“I’m your boyfriend. Don’t you want your first time to be with me?”

“……”

“Or have you already done it with the Marquess? Is that why he’s making you his personal maid?”

“Jo Sehyun!”

Only then did Anna realize that what Sehyun was talking about was sex, and she shouted with a face gone pale.

“Don’t just throw your oppa’s name around like that!”

Sehyun glared, baring his teeth, but to Anna it sounded like nothing more than a buzzing noise. The words he had so brazenly laid out grew more appalling the more she thought about them. It was as if he considered her his property.

And yet, Sehyun’s accusation was true. She had slept with the Marquess, and that must be why he was trying to make her his personal maid.

But that didn’t justify Sehyun’s actions. Who had given him the right to claim her virginity? Because he was her boyfriend? If she had never dated him, she wouldn’t be suffering such humiliating interrogations now. She had started dating him when she was crushed by loneliness after her mother passed away, but her relationship with Sehyun had only made her feel even more miserable.

It was true that cheating on a lover was something to be condemned morally, but what had happened with the Marquess was clearly an accident. Her partner had been drugged, and all her words of refusal had scattered into the air, her will not involved in the slightest…

‘But Sehyun will never see it that way.’

Even if she confided in him about that day, he would never comfort her. He would only rage, demanding if she had rolled around so cheaply without him, and might even try to assault her. Judging from how he was already losing his mind over something that hadn’t even happened yet, it was more than possible.

How could she consider someone so unreliable in dangerous moments as her boyfriend?

Anna tried her best to stay calm. She shouted back at Sehyun, who was charging at her like a bull.

“I only became his personal maid, nothing more. Don’t talk nonsense!”

“But they say the Marquess is crazy for eastern women. He’s never even taken a personal maid before…”