The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 30

It wasn’t bad.

Even after he inherited the count’s title, he would need at least one person in the house to fill this kind of role.

Cedric knew exactly how he appeared in other people’s eyes. However, contrary to people’s perception of him as a rigid, nitpicky noble, he had a fairly generous standard toward those who did not harm him or the family.

That naturally included his own younger brother Alfonso.

Unlike Allen, who had chosen the path of a clergyman, Alfonso was highly likely to remain with the family even after he married. But Cedric had no intention of casting Alfonso out.

Just as he hadn’t become the firstborn through effort, simply being born second was not a fault.

However, as he had just said, that only applied as long as Alfonso did not harm Cedric himself or the family. And so far, Alfonso was fulfilling the duties given to him as the second son.

He had a tendency to provoke Cedric half in jest and half in earnest, but for the two of them, born only a year apart and raised together, that was an everyday thing.

Though lately, even that had been walking a fine line.

“Just in case, I’m saying this, but don’t worry about Allen.”

In the middle of the conversation, Cedric had no idea why Allen suddenly came up.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Sheila. Since he thinks she’s my woman, Allen won’t lay a hand on her anymore. For him, it doesn’t have to be Sheila in particular. Any maid is fine.”

Only then understanding what he meant, Cedric brushed aside Alfonso’s words lightly.

“Stop talking nonsense and just focus on going and coming back safely.”

“How is it nonsense….”

Understanding that Cedric meant there was nothing more to say, Alfonso still kept up his snide attitude, as if trying to provoke him.

Of course, Cedric had no intention of falling for such a shallow provocation. If Alfonso thought he could provoke him by using Sheila as an excuse, he was gravely mistaken. Sheila was nothing more than a tool to vent his twisted desires.

The only reason he didn’t bother to hide his interest in Sheila from Alfonso was because he knew Alfonso had values similar to his own.

What truly concerned him lay elsewhere.

There was another person he had to watch out for in the palace.

“Even if you see His Highness the Crown Prince, keep your words brief.”

At Cedric’s advice, Alfonso, who had been leaning deep against the sofa, replied in the exact same tone as earlier.

“Don’t treat me like a child.”

Then he straightened his upper body, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together, a posture Cedric knew well as one he took when he expected something.

“Is there anything good waiting for me when I get back?”

It was a thoroughly calculating question about what reward would follow his trip to the palace.

Even between brothers, they kept strict accounts.

That was the unspoken rule between them. Their relationship in that regard was as old as the history they shared.

And Cedric always gave his younger brother a slightly greater reward than he expected. He had even prepared, for the distant future, a truly great reward Alfonso had never imagined.

“When have I ever shortchanged you?”

Cedric spoke again as if telling him not to worry this time either.

“Who knows…?”

Alfonso gave a sly smile. Then, seeing Cedric’s incredulous expression, he grinned and corrected his answer.

“Never. I will look forward to it this time too.”

***

Looking down at his younger brother, who was going out of his way to stand in front of a maid and wave, Cedric could only hope that Alfonso, who had lately been walking a dangerous tightrope, wouldn’t cross the line.

He had seen more than once that the maid’s heart was tilting toward Alfonso.

No, it might already have tilted completely.

If the maid was the type to value “feelings,” his plan could be thrown off.

And if anything interfered with his plan, he would also be disappointed in Alfonso, who had given cause for it.

That didn’t mean the maid was someone who held any great meaning to him. Sheila was nothing more than “Maid 1,” who would decorate a single page on his path to becoming the next count of Calley.

However, it was a page he absolutely had to pass through, even if it meant putting up with all this trouble.

So Cedric had no intention of ever letting go of her, who was already halfway in his grasp. And he had prepared for various possibilities so that she wouldn’t be able to slip away.

That was why Cedric planned to watch at his ease, to see just how lofty the heart of a mere maid could be.

***

“How many is it?”

Sheila answered, her voice full of fear, “Forty… two.”

It was a disastrous score.

Judith’s test results were always similar, but today was especially bad. On top of that, it seemed Cedric’s questions had been a bit more numerous than usual.

She had thought there would not be that many more than usual, but once they were added up, the number went over forty.

She had been relieved that doing the homework in Judith’s place had passed safely again this time, but there had been this hidden pitfall.

“Stand up.”

At Cedric’s command, Sheila set the paper and pen she had been holding down on the chair and rose to her feet. Her hands were already shaking.

Sheila, frightened out of her wits, clutched the hem of her skirt tightly.

Cedric seemed to be quite angry, because today he did not send Judith out. At any rate, once she started crying loudly, he would get annoyed and send her out, but still.

By now, Sheila no longer cared how it went. Whether Judith was there or not, the fact that she would be beaten did not change.

What worried her today was simply that the number of strokes had gone over forty.

If she was going to endure more than forty, her thighs, which were sturdier than her calves, would probably be better.

‘Hoo….’

Once she finished making up her mind, Sheila pulled her skirt up high to her thighs.

Behind Sheila, who had finished preparing, he approached.

Cedric reached toward the side of the fireplace and picked up the implement he would use today.

What he took down was the thick paddle that hung beside the switch.

The moment Sheila caught the tool she would be beaten with today out of the corner of her eye, her eyes went wide as saucers.

‘No way, with that…?’

Since the bundle of birch switches had appeared, the type of rod had changed frequently, but this was the first item that made her feel overwhelmed just by looking at it.

The paddle, which looked like a long cutting board or the oar of a boat, was already unusual in size and thickness.

On top of that, today was the day she had to take more than forty strokes.

Her arm bracing against the fireplace began to tremble, and Sheila had to grip the frame even more tightly.

‘Are you really going to use that to hit me?’

The question rose all the way up her throat, but her lips, frozen in fear, would not move.

Besides, she had never once made any comment about the type of implement while being beaten so far, which held her back all the more.

Meanwhile, the first blow came flying.

Thud.

‘Hm…? I think I just heard a weird sound. …Thud?’

The thought lasted only a split second.

At the same moment the heavy sound rang out, Sheila’s whole body twisted from the explosive pain.

“Stand straight.”

Cedric’s cold voice cut through the air.

As soon as Sheila got back into position, the paddle came flying a second time.

Thud.

“Argh!”

In just two strokes, Sheila could not endure and let out a scream.

Regardless, Cedric swung the paddle again.

Crack.

“Aaagh! Ah…!”

Sheila clutched her thigh in pain.

“Move your hand.”

Whack.

“Aaahk!”

Stomping her feet at a level of pain completely different from before, Sheila soon collapsed.

“Kyaaah! Sherry! Sherry!”

Judith’s reaction was different from usual too.

Already half out of her mind from the pain, Sheila’s eardrums were pounded by Judith’s loud sobbing.

‘Ugh, please shut up…!’

Sheila shouted inside.

“Get up.”

No. The one who needed to shut up was not Judith but this man.

Sheila frantically shook her head. “A moment… just a moment, sob!”

As she asked for just a little time, her tears burst out. There had been times when physiological tears had flowed while she was being beaten, but this was the first time she had broken down crying like this.

However, Sheila’s crying was drowned out by Judith’s wails, which went even further and turned into full-on sobbing.

“Uwaaah! Uwaah! Hic!”

Cedric slowly stared at Judith with an icy gaze. Then he spoke in a grim voice, “You’re so loud I can’t bear to watch.”

Judith herself couldn’t hear what Cedric said over her own crying, and only Sheila, who had been collapsed on the floor, sprang to her feet in fright. She felt that if she made Cedric any angrier here, she wouldn’t even be able to pick up her own bones.

The best thing would have been to shut Judith up, but Sheila had no way to clamp a hand over Judith’s mouth.

Once Sheila got into position, Cedric turned his eyes back to her. And the paddling began.

Thud. Thud. Crack.

“Aaaagh!”

She bit her lip and held on, but collapsed again after only three blows.

“Huaaah! Brother, it was Judith’s fault!”

“So you know that well.”

Cedric said in a chilling voice. At a glance, he looked no different from usual, but today there was something even more eerie about him.

“Please just let it go this once. I’ll really work hard from now on.”

To Sheila, Judith, who was finally reflecting with all her heart, had never looked so admirable.

‘Keep going, miss. Hang in there!’

“Then are you saying that up until now you’ve only been working hard ‘on the surface’?”

Cedric childishly pounced on her words.

‘How petty!’

At his unusually childish remark, Sheila cursed and cursed him inside.

“No. I’ve worked hard until now too, but I’m saying I’ll try even harder.”

“Ha, is that so?”

At Judith’s words, Cedric let out a hollow laugh and said, “You’ll have to take responsibility for those words, Judith.”

Cedric’s gaze, warning Judith, was fixed on Sheila.

Meeting the gray-blue eyes looking down at her, Sheila felt a chill run down her spine.

It felt as if he were warning her instead.

‘He can’t be saying that because he knows something, right?’

A brief thought flashed through her mind. But the situation bearing down on her now was too much for her to pursue that thought further.

“Get up before I count to three, Sheila. One.”

Cedric began to count.

“Two.”

She knew she had to stand, but her legs were shaking so badly she could not get up.

“Three.”

Before she knew it, Cedric had finished counting and grabbed Sheila’s slender forearm. Then he swung the paddle over her skirt before she could even properly get into position.

By chance, the place that took the hit was not her thigh but her backside.

“Ugh!”

“Kyaaah! Hic, hic! Huaaah!”

At the sight, Judith wailed loud enough to shake the entire mansion.

Cedric let go of the arm he had been holding and stood straight. Then, with a sigh, he said, “Get out.”

It’s finally come.

“Just as you said, from now on, you’ll have to show a different side of yourself. I’ll give you one more chance.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Having stopped crying at once, Judith answered. Then she carefully gathered her school things and left.

With a tearful face, Sheila’s pitiful gaze followed Judith’s back.