Was it because of those striking features? Michael, dressed in a perfectly fitted black suit without even a single button undone, gave off an air that was somehow ascetic.
He truly was a man to whom the phrase “not a single flaw to pick at” applied perfectly.
Achim was gazing at his face, completely captivated, when those reddish lips curved beautifully and a voice slipped out from between them.
“I look forward to working with you all.”
The low, deeply resonant voice startled Achim once again. His voice is good too. What kind of perfect man even exists like this? Is he even human?
The sheer fact of his existence was so astonishing that Achim couldn’t close his hanging mouth.
Michael began walking slowly from the opposite end of where Achim stood. Under his gaze — which moved as though inspecting each one of them — the maids flushed one by one in turn. It was like motion-sensor lights that switched on wherever his footsteps landed. Yet they didn’t miss the chance to make their own presence known either, meeting his eyes shyly.
Achim, in contrast to the others, lowered his head. There was nothing to be gained from letting his face be memorized. Of course, only to a degree that wouldn’t look obvious — just enough to appear as though he was being respectful — Achim quietly cast his eyes downward.
It was just as the toe of Michael’s shoe was passing in front of him. The footsteps, which he’d expected to simply continue on, stopped in front of Achim for some reason.
“……”
As the silence stretched on, Achim finally raised his head. There, right before his eyes, was a beautiful face that looked as though a god had crafted it with great care.
Their eyes met, and Michael’s eyes curved softly at the corners. Just as Achim unknowingly drew in a sharp breath at that — Michael, still wearing that smile, parted his lips.
A moment later Michael moved on, and Achim, with a dazed expression, followed his retreating figure until it grew distant before finally blinking after a long pause.
Pathetic.
Astonishingly — truly astonishingly — it was what Michael had mouthed silently, without a sound.
Achim stared blankly at the end of the corridor where Michael had disappeared.
That son of a……?
The maids, Achim included, were each assigned a room to stay in.
It was one of the conditions of employment. While working at the estate, they were to take their meals and lodging here.
Days spent outside the estate were classified as “days off” — and under the schedule designated by the housekeeper who managed them, they were allowed to go out roughly once every ten days on a rotating basis.
Achim looked around the dormitory room.
Inside, a bed and wardrobe stood side by side against one wall, and near the window sat a round walnut-wood table with two chairs.
For a servant’s room, it was spacious and comfortable. Compared to that place — both Achim’s home and his usual workplace — this room was no different from a palace.
But right now, Achim had no room to feel moved. It was because of what Michael had said just moments ago.
Did I hear that right? Something like…… hashish, for instance……
Achim tried to infer words with similar sounds based on the shape of his lips, then shook his head. Why on earth would he randomly say something about drugs to him? If anything, “pathetic” made more sense given the situation.
No, but to say something like that directly to someone’s face? …… Michael Bernhardt?
— He seems to have a gentle nature fitting someone who leads a welfare organization. “He’s always warm and at ease.” That’s something people who’ve actually met him often say.
Achim recalled Linus’s words and shook his head again. Whatever it was, there was a good chance he’d simply misheard. He didn’t know why, but it was possible Michael had wanted to convey something only to him — or if not that……
— Bigger is better, right?
…… Don’t tell me.
Achim dropped his gaze. His flat chest came into view.
Should I have worn that wretched scrap of fabric. He was in the middle of rubbing his palm irritably against his forehead in belated regret when he suddenly felt something tugging at his collar, and Achim snapped his head to the side.
“……S-sorry……”
Strangely, the voice came from below. Achim followed the sound and dropped his gaze.
“I’m so sorry……”
It was the maid who’d been assigned to share the room with him. She was also the one who, back in the corridor just now, had been standing at the very far end from Achim.
For some reason, the girl had a face full of terrified apprehension as she apologized through what seemed like the verge of tears. Even so, she still clung tightly to Achim’s skirt — and Achim, with a bewildered expression, asked:
“For what?”
At that, the girl sniffled.
“You…… were angry……”
“……Me?”
Achim asked in a flabbergasted tone, and the girl pressed her lips together tightly and nodded. Showing only the top of her head, she fixed her gaze on the floor and spoke in a voice thick with tears.
“Because you have to share a room with me…… That’s why you’re angry, isn’t it?”
“……”
One of Achim’s eyebrows tilted crookedly upward. He was still wondering what had prompted this assumption when, with something like a suppressed sob, the girl swept the back of her thin arm across the corner of her eye.
Startled, Achim’s eyes went wide and he quickly dropped down to her level.
“Why, why are you crying?”
Achim bent his knees and crouched down, flustering his hands in the air. As he watched helplessly with a troubled expression, not knowing what to do, the girl gave a loud sniff — and then her shoulders began to shake as she cried.
Achim, having no idea what to do with a child suddenly bursting into tears like this, could only stare in a momentary daze.
When the girl’s two cheeks grew wet with tears, Achim, watching on, reached for his own skirt. He lifted the hem of the dark skirt and dabbed at the girl’s tears — and the girl flinched and shrank back, before gently tilting her head up.
Her round eyes were still brimming with water, so Achim silently pressed the fabric against the corners of her eyes and her cheeks, soaking up the tears.
At the somewhat clumsy touch, the girl scrunched each eye alternately before bowing her head.
“Thank youuu……”
Watching the girl who seemed to have finally stopped crying, Achim let out a breath of relief and rested his arms across either knee. It was quite a graceless posture — though he wasn’t aware of it himself.
Achim looked at the girl still sniffling softly and gently asked:
“Why did you think that?”
“……”
Perhaps it was hard to adjust to the sight of Yvonne — sitting with her legs wide open despite wearing a skirt — looking rather rough around the edges. The moment the words left his mouth, the girl’s eyes welled up again, and Achim hurriedly raised both palms to shoulder height like a gesture of surrender.
“Hey, hey, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
“……”
“I’m not forcing you. I was just curious, that’s all — you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to.”
So please don’t cry. Achim pleaded in his surrender pose. It was less like consoling her and more like trying to calm her down — but it was the best Achim could manage.
Watching him flustering about, the girl gave one big sniff as if reeling her tears back in, then with her head half-bowed, cautiously began to speak.
“Your…… your expression…… I thought you were angry……”
Had it been like that. When he thought back on it, it seemed he’d unconsciously let his face go stiff while thinking of Michael. If that was all it was, she didn’t need to have been frightened.
Achim exhaled again in relief and ran his palm gently over the top of the girl’s head.
“It wasn’t because of you.”
At the still somewhat rough touch, the girl flinched and drew her shoulders in, then let them fall again. Achim looked at the reddened corners of her eyes and spoke.
“Your name?”
At that, the girl seemed startled by such a simple question and asked, “Pardon?”
“Your name.”
“Oh……”
The girl hesitated, then parted her small lips.
“Dora…… Gleisner……”
