The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 27

Meanwhile, despite the warning to stop, Judith’s crying only grew louder.

“Judith.”

Cedric called Judith’s name again in a cold voice.

‘That’s right!’

Sheila cheered inwardly. Even slitting a pig’s throat would sound prettier than that noise. Wasn’t it about time Judith fixed that habit of thinking everything would be solved if she just cried loudly?

While Sheila, forgetting her own situation, was busy worrying about Judith, an unexpected command came from Cedric’s mouth.

“Get out.”

Huh…?

Judith’s crying stopped at once.

“…Yes?”

“I said get out. You’re too noisy.”

What kind of bullshit was that?

Sheila, overwhelmed by pain, struggled to grasp the situation.

Cedric continued, “Judith, because you didn’t study, this maid will continue receiving the remaining strikes even after you leave. Go out and reflect deeply on that, and devote yourself to your studies.”

“Hic… yes.”

Absurdly enough, Sheila hadn’t misheard.

He dressed it up with a bunch of fancy words, but the end result was that the cause of everything, Judith, would just return to her room while Sheila stayed behind to be beaten to the end.

At Cedric’s words, Judith shot to her feet and gathered her things. Then, without a single word of asking whether Sheila was alright, she walked straight out.

That girl, that…!

Sheila’s eyes hurled curses automatically as she stared at the door Judith walked through.

Then Cedric spoke, “How long are you planning to stay like that?”

Ha… whether it was the older brother or the younger sister….

Well, nobles like them would never care about the pain of someone beneath them.

“S-sorry…, j-just, just a moment….”

It hurt so much she could barely speak properly.

She wanted to ask for a moment until the pain lessened a bit, but the words wouldn’t come out right, and her body, ingrained with maid instincts down to the bone, struggled up automatically at her master’s voice.

Sheila had to receive the remaining strikes in a room without Judith.

The person who hadn’t studied was gone, and she, who was beaten in her place, felt not only pain but deep resentment.

Sheila had to grit her teeth and swallow down every bit of her emotion.

Something about this seemed very wrong, but receiving the strikes in front of Judith wouldn’t make the pain any less.

After Sheila finished taking all the remaining strikes, she bowed politely to Cedric, the tutor.

Even if it looked pathetic, she had no choice. Knowing how to bow one’s head in any situation was the third virtue of a maid.

“Go to your room and wait. I’ll come soon.”

“I’m fine….”

He glared at Sheila, who was about to decline politely.

“Yes… I’ll be waiting.”

Recalling the third virtue, Sheila bowed her head again.

‘Endure. I avoid shit not because I’m scared of it but because it’s dirty.’

Something was seriously wrong here, but it wasn’t the time to think about that.

As she’d confirmed in the contract, he had the duty to check her condition at all times, and she had the obligation to fully cooperate with his actions.

She should have noticed that damned clause before signing.

But it was too late now. Still, judging by how he’d acted so far, he didn’t seem like someone who would beat her to death or cause permanent damage. Thinking that way was somewhat positive….

‘Yeah, positive my ass!’

Failing to maintain her positive thinking circuit, Sheila limped as she left Cedric’s room. She wanted to move neatly and briskly, but her body refused to obey, which frustrated her.

***

After stepping out of Cedric’s room, Sheila covered her face with both hands.

She felt like she was about to burst into tears. The sob she’d held back the entire time she was being beaten threatened to escape.

But this was still the hallway.

Sheila wiped her face roughly with her hands.

Her face was smeared with tears she hadn’t meant to shed and cold sweat.

She’d barely held herself back from crying out loud in such an unsightly way, but there was nothing she could do about the tears that came out on their own.

She wiped her face with her sleeve and was about to take a step when someone called her from behind.

“Sheila…?”

When Sheila turned around, Alfonso was standing in the hallway.

“Young Master.”

Sheila quickly straightened herself and greeted him.

“If you’re looking for the Young Count… he’s inside right now,” Sheila said. She assumed the reason he was in the third-floor hallway was because he’d come looking for Cedric.

After finishing her words, Sheila bowed and turned away. Her face was flushed red, probably from crying in Cedric’s room just moments ago.

Sheila wanted to hurry and disappear into her room, but maybe because her legs hurt so much, the room at the end of the hallway felt especially far away.

At that moment, she felt a hand grasp her forearm from behind.

“I’ll take you.”

It was Alfonso.

“Ah, no, I-it’s, it’s fine….”

Her attempt to refuse came out in a hopelessly trembling voice. It was clear her ability to speak properly hadn’t returned yet.

“It’s fine. I’m only helping you walk a little.”

His tone resembled Cedric’s, but the gentleness in his voice made it impossible for Sheila to refuse.

Sheila, who had never received this kind of kindness, began walking awkwardly.

With support, it was much easier than walking alone.

“My brother seems to be quite harsh with you.”

“Yes…?”

At Alfonso’s sudden question, Sheila didn’t know how she was supposed to answer.

Is he… worrying about me?

She remembered what she’d heard in the hallway last time, but it still felt strange for a noble young master to be concerned over someone like her.

“N-no, not at all,” Sheila replied briefly.

In times like this, even if it were true, servants were supposed to say it wasn’t… virtue number four or whatever. But Sheila just wanted to get out of this situation quickly.

“Really?”

Alfonso looked at her tear-stained face as if he didn’t believe her. Then he added, “If you say it isn’t, then I’ll believe you.”

For some reason, Sheila felt strange again at his acceptance.

The beating today had been truly harsh.

Compared to the thirty-three strikes on her thighs a week ago, today was only six more, but once she’d passed twenty, her limit had come.

Maybe it was because she’d been taking twenty-something every day before that. Or maybe because, without realizing it, she’d grown used to relying on Cedric, who came every day to apply the ointment.

His tone had always been cold, but the way he used the expensive ointment so generously, and the way his hand occasionally felt warm as he applied it….

At the dining hall yesterday too, when he told Judith not to call maids’ names like dogs—whether it was for her or for Molly—it had been something she appreciated. Even though she’d burst out laughing when she learned her friend’s “real name” after three years.

Wait- speaking of that, he would come soon to apply the ointment!

After class ended, Cedric always waited a bit before coming to apply it.

Sheila hurriedly pulled her arm away and said, “Young Master, I’ll go alone from here. Master Cedric- I mean, the Young Count is in his room, so I should hurry….”

Stammering, Sheila immediately shut her mouth when her eyes met Alfonso’s. She’d spoken properly at first, but if she let her guard down even a little, the old form of address slipped out.

And making constant slips like that in front of Alfonso made her feel like a complete fool.

Ha… damn it. I’m not usually like this….

“I-I’m sorry, the new title just isn’t sticking to my tongue yet….”

“It’s fine. It’s nothing serious.”

Alfonso smiled as if it were truly no big deal.

Was he always this warm?

She had recently realized that the person she’d run into in the hallway late at night three years ago had been Alfonso, but up until now, the image she had of him was still that of an arrogant noble young master.

Well, thinking about it, assuming Cedric had been the one there that night in the first place didn’t make any sense….

In any case, she didn’t have time for this. Cedric would come to her room soon, and she absolutely didn’t want Alfonso to see her in that state.

“Thank you. Then I’ll go ahead….”

“It’s fine. We’re already here. I’ll take you all the way to your room.”

Ignoring Sheila’s feelings entirely, Alfonso steadied her again.

That was when-

“What are you two doing over there?”

Startled, Sheila shoved Alfonso away in a panic. Her hands, still unsettled, flew up to her pounding chest.

Cedric, eyes fixed on those hands, crossed the distance with long strides and stopped before them.

“I came to see you and ran into Sheila. She looked unwell, so I was helping her walk. Looks like your lesson just ended?”

Alfonso spoke calmly. Caught between the two tall brothers, Sheila couldn’t figure out what to do and kept searching desperately for an opening to slip away.

But unfortunately, Sheila had no place to step in.

“You?”

Cedric’s question held the obvious meaning: Since when do you help a mere maid?

Sheila, who remembered overhearing Alfonso saying he was interested in her, became nervous.

Alfonso, acting as if he had no idea what Cedric meant, shrugged shamelessly and asked instead, “And where were you going?”

At Alfonso’s question, Sheila looked at Cedric with even greater unease.

He’s not actually going to say he was headed to my room… right?

Cedric looked silently down at Sheila trembling with anxiety.

Their eyes met, and Sheila quickly signaled him with her gaze: Don’t say anything.

Cedric’s already cold face twisted into something even more sardonic.

The cold, gray-blue eyes fixed on Sheila moved to Alfonso.

“Where else? To Sheila’s room.”

Damn it….

At Cedric’s principled, brutally honest answer, Sheila lost the ability to speak.

‘No, it’s not too late. I can fix this.’

Sheila hurriedly opened her mouth to somehow smooth things over, but Cedric spoke first.

“Tell Judith this. She’s to read the newspaper every day and bring a collection of them to the next current events lesson.”

Sheila responded immediately, “Yes, Young Count.”

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Sheila quickly bowed before anything else could come out of his mouth.

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

She bowed to both Cedric and Alfonso and slipped into her room.

The two brothers stared silently at the maid who disappeared like a startled squirrel.

Only after Sheila fully vanished did they head toward Cedric’s room, as if on cue.

***

“What is it this time?”

Sitting comfortably on the sofa across from his younger brother, Cedric asked.

“What else? I came to talk about your appointment ceremony.”

“At this hour?”

Both times, Alfonso had come right after Judith’s lesson ended, as if he’d planned it.

“You’re always busy. I figured you’d have free time around the end of Judith’s lessons. Was I wrong?”

Alfonso didn’t even bother hiding that he’d timed his visit on purpose.