Chapter 486.1: Charlotte’s Problem (1)
Chapter 486.1: Charlotte’s Problem (1)
What did Grace’s work consist of?
Roel used to think her job as a personal maid revolved around attending to Charlotte’s needs and ensuring her safety. That wasn’t very different from what he had done for Charlotte a few years back.
When he first came to be acquainted with Charlotte, the two of them were hardly as close as they were now. In order to please his sponsor—it couldn’t be helped since he couldn’t afford to take money from the Ascart Fiefdom during its key development phase—he had to devise ways to get on her good books.
Some of the things he did for her included brewing tea for her every morning and preparing food that was aligned with her preferences.
That was also why Roel calmly volunteered himself for the job when Grace expressed that she wasn’t in a condition to attend to Charlotte. But when he did a job handover with Grace, he quickly realized that things were different from what he had expected.
Roel had indeed previously taken care of Charlotte back in the Ascarts’ manor, but that was in the capacity of a host or a friend. It would be a gross understatement to think that attending to a person’s every need was the same as just serving tea and preparing food.
“Accompany her to bed? Do you sleep together with her every day?”
Sensing that there was something wrong with the job description stated by the smiling Grace, Roel challenged her.
While the role was termed as ‘personal maid’, it didn’t mean that they had to constantly stick together as if they were glued to each other. Not to mention, Charlotte had already come of age. Even if it was to take care of her and ensure her safety, it seemed overboard to accompany her to bed.
Despite Roel’s show of skepticism, Grace’s expression didn’t waver in the least. Truth be told, that was indeed what she had been doing every day, though it was only limited to this period of time. She knew that this was a golden opportunity to push their relationship ahead, and she didn’t have to pull any tricks for it!
That was why she didn’t hesitate to succumb to her exhaustion and collapse.
“Yes, Lord Roel. Our young miss hasn’t been feeling well recently. You’ll have to keep a close eye on her so that you can help her right away when her affliction relapses. Due to that, you have to accompany her to bed. If I may add on, our young miss has also been feeling weak and lethargic, so you’ll have to attend to her daily needs too…”
“… Has it already reached such a stage?”
Grace solemnly shared how she had been taking care of Charlotte during this period of time, which indirectly informed Roel about the severity of Charlotte’s condition. His face turned grim.
Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Grace concluded the handover by emphasizing once again the importance of constantly staying by Charlotte’s side. Roel responded with a nod. He offered some well wishes to Grace before taking his leave.
There was a contemplative look on his face as he walked out of the resting room.
It went without saying that he would do everything he could to take care of Charlotte, but there was something else more important that he would have to deal with—uncovering the cause of Charlotte’s affliction.
Charlotte believed that she had received the affliction from her father, but Roel thought that there were far too many dubious points regarding this matter to hastily conclude it as such.
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For one, just as what Roel had said earlier to dispel Charlotte’s worries, it was weird how Charlotte was only catching the affliction now after so many years of living together with Bruce. Be it her constitution or mana, the young Charlotte should have been much more vulnerable to catching the affliction.
Of course, it could also be possible that the affliction had a slumber period before it acted up, but if that was the case, those who had been taking care of Bruce should have been the first one to crumble to the affliction. Charlotte, who hardly met Bruce at all, shouldn’t have been the first one to catch it.
There were far too many doubts regarding this matter, but Roel didn’t have any clues to work with. Thus, he decided to first take care of Charlotte and think about it later. To his helplessness, he encountered a huge challenge right away.
…
Ten minutes into the job, Roel was in Charlotte’s room, staring at her with an utterly confused expression on his face. Charlotte quietly sat on the sofa with a cup of tea in her hands, her face reddened.
After his conversation with Grace, Roel returned to Charlotte’s side and brewed a cup of tea for her. They settled down on a sofa and started chatting. During which, he asked about her daily schedule with the intention of following through with it, only to be met with Charlotte’s silence.
Roel caught up with Charlotte’s convoy in the morning, and it was already afternoon by the time everything unfolded. Charlotte’s schedule was usually packed to the brim even while she was traveling—there was always work for her to attend to—but for some reason, she was hesitant to reveal her schedule to him.
He could have never imagined the sheer embarrassment Charlotte was feeling at the moment.
Charlotte hadn’t been in a good condition since this morning.
She had a heated argument with Grace especially after learning that Roel had caught up with them. Despite her infirm state, she hurriedly got off bed and dressed herself up with the help of the other maids. Till now, she hadn’t even had breakfast yet, though she didn’t have much of an appetite either.
What put her in a dilemma was the next activity on her schedule.
Bathing.
Roel’s arrival had been so abrupt that Charlotte barely had time to change her clothes and tidy up her appearances, let alone bathe. Now that they had finally cleared things up, Grace should have been helping her to the bath, where she could have a good soak and cleanse herself. As someone who paid great heed to cleanliness, this was an important daily ritual to her.
But now that it was Roel who was attending to her instead…
Charlotte lowered her gaze and quietly stared at her own reflection in the teacup.
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She no longer thought of Roel as an outsider after confirming their relationship—heck, they had even shared the same bed for a period of time!—but as a demure lady, being bathed by a man was beyond her limit of acceptance. What further dissuaded her was the notion that Roel might feel uncomfortable.
But it’s still early autumn now… I don’t think that it’s likely, but what if there’s some weird smell…
Charlotte felt awfully conflicted. She raised her head and stared hard at Roel, but after a long bout of hesitation, she was still unable to voice out her original schedule.
Tok tok tok!
Sudden knocks on the door dispelled the awkward atmosphere between the two of them. Charlotte silently heaved a sigh of relief while Roel headed to the door to take a look.
“Lord Roel, Miss Grace has instructed us to deliver Lord Charlotte’s schedule to you. Please have a look at it.”
“Charlotte’s schedule? Great. I was at a loss as to what I should do.”
Roel’s face brightened up at the sight of the little booklet delivered to him by one of the maids. On the other hand, Charlotte’s eyes nearly popped out when she overheard those words.
“My schedule?”
While she was still stunned by the ‘timely assistance’ from Wingwoman Grace, Roel had already closed the door and started to browse through the booklet.
“Let me see what’s next on your schedule…”
“W-wait! Roel, a-about that…”
“Your next schedule after breakfast is… bathing?”
“!”
Charlotte’s body froze up.
Roel looked at the furiously blushing woman, and he finally grasped the reason behind her earlier refusal to respond.