Chapter 100: The Plan
Chapter 100: The Plan
The patriarchs of the Ascart House had always been interested in the military. Many of them had taken on important roles in the Theocracy’s military, so the Ascart House could be considered as half a military house. It was probably due to the influence of its military background that gave rise to a similar culture in the house as well.
One of the reasons behind that was probably due to its recruitment policies. Servants who were skilled in swordsmanship were given extra points during their interview, and maids with any direct kin in the military were prioritized.
On top of that, the Ascart House was actually a good place to work. All of the employees were paid decently, and the workload imposed on them was manageable. There was hardly any workplace politics like one would see in dramas. Due to that, there were always a lot of applicants seeking work.
Given such recruitment conditions, most of those eventually hired could be said to be quite capable in their own rights. When all of them united together as one to achieve a single goal, they showed military-level discipline and efficiency.
After receiving explicit approval from Roel, Anna didn’t rush to make a move. Instead, the first thing she did was to gather some of the key members of the Roel X Alicia Ship fanclub to hold a meeting so as to share critical intelligence with one another.
In a dark room lit only by a candlelight, several figures were gathered around a long table, and the one heading them, Anna, sat at the very end of the table. Her sharp eyes scanned all of the figures present, and a slight knot formed upon her brow.
“Where’s Butler Fulte?”
“The old master is heading out tomorrow morning. Fulte is making preparations at the moment, so he’ll be a little late.”
“We shan’t wait for him then. Let’s commence the meeting.”
Anna nodded her head contemplatively and made the call to carry on with the meeting. All of the maids and manservants gathered around the long table immediately turned their focus to her.
The meeting started off with an opening speech that depicted the crisis they were facing before proceeding on to lay out the agenda of the meeting. Following that, everyone began their report.
“Our young miss has looked at the door 11 times today. Every single time someone knocks on the door or footsteps sound by the corridor, she would react intensely. She started using forks and knives during mealtime, but her mood still remains clouded. Her appetite has further reduced from a third yesterday to a quarter today…”
“Our young master’s appetite is still decent. It has only fallen by a third.”
“No no, you can’t look at the matter so simplistically. Our young master is a glutton, so the fact that his appetite has fallen by a third marks a huge crisis!”
“Miss Alicia’s quality of sleep has also been dipping over the last few days. On average, she has only been sleeping 4 hours each day.”
Listening to the words spoken by the fanclub, Anna began piecing the information together to form a big picture. Based on what she had gathered so far, the root of this problem was still the misunderstanding between the two children. Alicia was clearly throwing a tantrum, but Roel wasn’t even able to identify the real reason behind that.
“Are we still keeping the fact that the young miss is studying spells for the young master’s sake a secret?”
“Yes, I’m afraid that we can’t work the case from there. The young miss insists on hiding this matter from the young master, possibly fearing that it would wound the young master’s pride, and, in turn, result in the loss of the young master’s doting and protection.”
“I don’t think that Miss Alicia needs to worry about that.”
Anna, who was familiar with Roel, shook her head and sighed deeply. It was unlikely that Roel would stop doting on Alicia just because she had become strong. On the contrary, Roel might rejoice even.
It was similar to how humans might not necessarily be a match for wild cats, but did that stop humans from wanting to stroke them?
“If Miss Alicia doesn’t take the initiative here, the situation will become one where she is working hard for the young master, but the young master is cheating on her outside.”
“Uwuuu, the young miss is so pitiful!!!”
“Quiet, we’re still in the middle of a meeting here!”
Anna sternly berated the maid to maintain the discipline in the meeting before quickly gathering the inputs thus far to state her analysis.
“After several days of cooling down, the conflict between the two of them has more or less settled down. Both sides have indicated a strong inclination toward reconciliation.
“However, after being repeatedly rejected over the last few days, the young master has started to close himself off and stopped looking for Miss Alicia. On the other hand, Miss Alicia doesn’t know how she should face the young master after throwing a tantrum. This is the problem that we need to resolve right now.”
“But how do we go about doing it…”
“It’s very simple.”
Faced with the question from her subordinate, the fanclub manager stood proudly as a sharp glint flashed across her eyes.
“We just need to knock down the door that stands between the young master and Miss Alicia.”
…
“Young miss, won’t you eat a little more? This is the freshest Hayley fish which was shipped here straight from the port.”
“I’m already full.”
In a huge bedroom located at the west of the Labyrinth Villa, Alicia put down her fork as she shook her head to refuse the delectable fish that was not lacking in taste, fragrance, or appearance.
“I don’t have much of an appetite recently.”
“I see. I shall convey your words to the chef so that they can make adjustments accordingly.”
“Ah, that’s not it. It doesn’t have anything to do with the chefs! The dishes are wonderful; it’s just that…”
“Young miss, you need not worry about this. I’ve heard that the young master hasn’t been eating much recently, so it has to be the chefs’ fault!”
Those unexpected words from her maid caught Alicia off-guard. She slowly raised her head to look at her maid, and after a moment of hesitation, she asked.
“D-does Lord Brother… not have much of an appetite either?”
“Hmm… I heard from the other maids that he has barely eaten anything at all.”
The maid waiting on Alicia stroked her lower jaw, seemingly recounting what she had heard from her colleagues.
“It appears that the young master hasn’t even been eating half of what he previously did. It’s really worrying. After the huge ordeal he went through, he should have been eating well so that he could recover properly.”
“Not even half?”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard. Anna has been really worried about him recently.”
The maid heaved a deep sigh as she began to clean up the plates and cutlery.
On the other hand, Alicia began to fidget uneasily on the spot. She knew just how much of a glutton Roel was. For his appetite to actually be this poor…
“W-wait a moment! Is Lord Brother ill? Has he seen a doctor yet?”
“He has already been diagnosed by the doctor, but it doesn’t seem like he’s physically ill. The doctor says that it’s a problem stemming from his mood.”
“His mood?”
“Yes, young miss. He must have been having a rough time. He has been wandering about listlessly the last few days, and everyone is worried that his body will crumble at this rate!”
The maid agilely packed everything up and placed it back onto the tray before walking out and closing the door behind her, leaving a deeply worried Alicia back in the room.
I-is it because of me? Is it because I refused to meet big brother Roel over the last few days, that’s why he’s not eating at all?
Alicia’s little forehead scrunched up with worry. Roel’s body was covered with wounds the last time she saw him, and his condition was so frail after that assassination attempt. He was still in the recovery phase, making it extremely important for him to eat well. If he were to skip his meals at a time like this…
Worry and self-reproach swiftly expanded in Alicia’s heart. In truth, she wasn’t angry anymore after having several days to cool down. It was just that she had never really thrown a tantrum before, so she had no idea how to reconcile with Roel. As a result, this matter was pushed back again and again, all the way till now.
She was initially intending to wait a few more days before returning back to the dining room to have her meals. However, what she had just heard from her maid left her feeling deeply unsettled. After all, was there anything more important than Roel’s health and safety?
“What has Lord Brother been doing recently?”
“He’s still on the same routine as before. He hasn’t resumed classes yet as the old master says that he still needs rest, so he has been devoting his time to self-study and practicing his swordsmanship.”
“That reminds me, I heard from Anna that the young master seemed a little out of it while he was practicing his swordsmanship yesterday, and he nearly injured himself.”
“W-Wait a moment! What’s that about?!”
Yet another bombshell was dropped on Alicia, causing her heart to contract sharply. Her agitated state appeared to have astonished the maids, such that all of them began to stutter.
“A-actually it’s nothing much. The young master often skips his swordsmanship classes, and the old master has reprimanded him for it many times before.”
“The young master has injured himself several times before in his swordsmanship practice. Miss Alicia, you need not think too deeply into it.”
The maids tried their best to reassure Alicia that she was not to blame here, but the girl only felt more and more uncomfortable hearing their words. What the maids had just mentioned was not wrong, but those were past incidents. Over the past half a year, Roel had been training diligently, his sword skills could no longer be compared to how they used to be. It was impossible for him to injure himself under normal circumstances.
Just the thought of Roel being nicked by a sword was more than enough to fill her with fright. She was able to overcome her fear of sharp objects, but she couldn’t stand the thought of her loved one being injured by one.
“I’ll be having my food at the dining table tonight. I’ll meet Lord Brother.”
After some consideration, Alicia finally came to a decision. However, those words that came out of her mouth provoked an intense response from the maids around her.
“Young miss, what are you talking about? Have you forgotten what happened? How can you forgive the young master so easily?”
“That’s right, young miss. You mustn’t give in that easily!”
The two maids who had been taking care of Alicia ever since she arrived at the Labyrinth Villa immediately began putting Roel down as soon as the latter was mentioned.
“Miss Alicia has been working hard to learn spells for the young master’s sake, but what did the young master do? He actually cheated with Her Highness behind your back! He must be making light of you!”
“That isn’t it. I think that…”
“Indeed! The young master must be thinking that he already has our young miss in his hands, and that’s why he’s acting in such a manner. All men are the same! Young miss, you need not worry. You have our support! It has only been a few days since that incident. In my view, you should leave him hanging for a month!”
A tight frown formed on Alicia’s face upon hearing those words. She tried to calm these two maids down, but it wasn’t working very well.
“Young miss, there’s no need to worry. We have the support of everyone in the villa. We’ll surely make the young master see the errors of his ways!”
“Indeed! Young miss, you need not worry too much about this. You can just leave it to us! Be it your meals, walks, or baths, we’ll make sure to liaise with the maids over at the young master’s side so that you won’t bump into him by accident!”
“Wait a moment, I think that this is a little excessive!”
The guarantees of the maids left Alicia horrified. Upon hearing that the maids and servants of the villa were on her side, she belatedly realized that she had made a major mistake. Unknowingly, she had diminished Roel’s standing amongst the servants.
This won’t do. At this rate, Lord Brother’s reputation will be affected too!
While Alicia was panicking inside, the two maids exchanged looks. One of them secretly pulled a string, ringing a bell outside. A few seconds later, a maid suddenly rushed into the room in a fluster.
“Young miss, bad news! The young master has fallen ill!”