277 – About Her Love -9-

-Swaaa…

“Hm?”

A familiar voice’s crying came from the women’s restroom.

-Sniffle.

-Sob…!

-Keuheuheuheuheuheuh!!

-Heeit! Hwit! Ohohot…

It was too robust to be considered a delicate woman’s crying, making me wonder if I heard wrong.

-Heuuung!!!! I can’t take it anymore!

At the familiar tone, I turned off the tap and let out a hollow laugh.

“No, how long has it been since I entered…”

I don’t know what to say.

-I don’t know what to say…

“Hmm?”

It’s as if Shuen heard my thoughts, voicing out loud what I had in mind.

“What’s this.”

-There’s nothing to say, absolutely nothing…!

“Pfft…”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Shuen’s characteristic sulkiness. It was funny because of the reason behind Shuen’s tearful and sorrowful crying, filled with moisture.

-What is this! Wasn’t it that the commoners lead the conversation! This is wrong… Such a misguided thought isn’t right, Shuen.

“Ah, I shouldn’t laugh.”

Faced with a major obstacle from the start, Shuen was so amusing that I burst into laughter. It wasn’t that she was rejected, but her lack of words made her cry, which made me feel a pang of sympathy for her affection towards Mikhail, and at the same time, Shuen’s timid reaction made me laugh.

“Sigh… Facial control… Facial control.”

-It’s a total mess!

“Phew…!”

Shuen was uttering funny words in a gloomy voice.

I didn’t understand why she would come to the public restroom to cry when there were restrooms in the restaurant, but since the characters known as villains often held incomprehensible beliefs, I chuckled dryly as I wiped my hands, damp with moisture, on a towel.

“Sigh… Shall I go out now.”

Looking at myself in the mirror, I composed my expression as calmly as possible and slowly sat on the bench near the restroom, waiting for her.

Perhaps another three minutes passed.

“My life is ruined…”

I began to see Shuen’s trudging figure from the women’s restroom. Holding a notebook in one hand and a handkerchief in the other, Shuen was intently looking at her notebook, searching for wisdom in life.

-Rustle.

“It’s not here…!”

-Rustling.

“Such things, the commoners didn’t teach me.”

“…”

“Ugh…”

Watching Shuen busily flipping through her notebook, I pressed my lips tightly together, waiting for her to come. It didn’t seem like the right time for jokes.

“The makeup… it’s all smudged.”

From afar, Shuen’s face was a mess. Her heavy eye makeup, clumsily applied, had smeared with tears and stained her cheeks, and her shoulders were heaving, perhaps unable to settle her heart.

“….”

Shuen looked so pitiful that the word ‘heartbreaking’ just came to mind.

“Uh…”

I waved my hand cautiously towards Shuen, but…

“Miss Shuen.”

Distressed, Shuen didn’t see me waving and was focused on her notebook. I murmured with a worried gaze, saying it’s dangerous to walk like that.

“She might fall over.”

And sure enough, Shuen hadn’t walked far before she stumbled over a stone protruding from the ground.

“Whoa?! Lady… are you finally rising?!”

Losing her balance and flailing her arms, Shuen still clutched her notebook tightly as if determined not to drop it, flapping her arms.

“Oh… I’ve overcome gravity!”

Seeing Shuen, who seemed to have reached a state of enlightenment in various ways, I ran to her with a bitter smile.

-Thud.

“Oh?”

“You almost fell. Miss Shuen. You dressed up so nicely, what would you do if your clothes got dirty?”

“Com…commoner?!”

Shuen looked at me with startled eyes, then suddenly spread her arms wide and pulled me into a tight embrace. I chuckled and gently stroked her hair as she hugged me tightly, as if to never let go.

“There’s a lot I want to say, but I’ll hold back for now, as you seem like you might cry.”

“Hic!”

“Prepare yourself for a scolding later.”

“It’s disrespectful for a commoner to scold a noble!”

“It’s fine since I’m of humble birth.”

“…You’re quite clever for a commoner.”

Shuen glanced up at me, her lips quivering as she asked heavily.

“That commoner…”

“Yes.”

“Do I seem very strange?”

I smiled wryly and shook my head at Shuen’s trembling eyes.

“No, you seem like the most beautiful person in the world. Of course, not as much as the lady I serve.”

“…Is it really so?”

“Yes, the dress and even the makeup are much better than I expected.”

“Ohoho… It seems commoners do have an eye for beauty. It was worth getting up at 5 am to prepare for today.”

“Eh, you spent six hours on makeup?”

“Yes!”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at Shuen’s energetic response, shaking my head. It made me wonder if the gods really were fair.

I’ve seen many unfair things in this world, but I thought that in many ways, the gods had been fair to Shuen and the young lady. Otherwise, such a disastrous result wouldn’t be possible.

I nodded awkwardly and said to Shuen,

“That’s quite impressive.”

“Of course, it is.”

Worried that leaving it at that might cause trouble, I pointed to a bench and had Shuen sit down.

“Um… why don’t you sit here for a moment?”

“Yes?”

Then, I took out makeup and a hand mirror from a bag filled with clown makeup to show Shuen.

“Oh my.”

Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Shuen touched her face and turned serious.

“Um… commoner.”

“Yes?”

“Who is this? This ugly woman?”

“That’s you, Miss Shuen.”

“Hmph! Don’t lie to me!”

Shuen hiccupped, then stretched her cheeks wide while looking into the mirror.

“What in the world?”

“…”

“Why… is she copying me exactly? Ugly, isn’t she?”

“Well, because it’s you, Miss Shuen.”

Shuen covered the mirror and stomped her feet.

“What am I to do! I was planning to confess today! It’s ruined! With this face, even a commoner would reject me!”

“I’m not one to be picky, though.”

“Waaah! My first love is over now.”

“It’s alright.”

I chuckled hollowly and carefully approached the cosmetics I had used for the clown makeup, beginning to fix Shuen’s makeup with a brush.

Startled by the approaching brush, Shuen pulled her face back, resisting my touch.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to use my face as a canvas now that it’s ruined?”

“No.”

“Go ahead! It’s already a ruined face. I might as well give Mikhail a laugh!”

“Wow… That might be fun, but I’m actually good at makeup.”

“How can a commoner be good at makeup!”

“I am. Quite professional, actually.”

“So annoying!”

“Ms. Shuen, just trust me for now. We don’t have much time, do we?”

“Ah…”

Shuen glanced at Mikhail, who was looking at the clock inside the restaurant, and then bowed her head.

“…You’re right.”

“We came out to enjoy some delicious food and you dressed up beautifully, it would be sad if you got sick.”

“That’s true too…”

I brought the brush to Shuen’s face and spoke to her in a reassuring tone, boasting of my colorful career.

“I’ve been fixing ladies’ makeup since I was young.”

“Isn’t that what the servants are for?”

“Um…”

I smiled shyly at Shuen and said,

“Our lady tends to get into a lot of trouble, so one can’t just leave her alone. Turn your eyes away for a moment and she’s caught up in a fight, or she’s pressing her face into a chocolate fountain after a trip to the restroom. Naturally, I learned how to do makeup.”

“You’ve been serving quite a character.”

“Right? Haha… Anyway, I do know a bit about makeup. Much better than the average servant.”

“More versatile than I thought for a commoner!”

“Of course. I’m not your ordinary butler; I’m elite. Oh, by the way, don’t you have a personal butler too, Ms. Shuen? A family of your rank should have one.”

“I do… have one.”

Shuen blinked her eyes widely, as if it was difficult to talk about, and said in a heavy voice,

“He wasn’t as competent as a commoner. He would always tell me not to do anything whenever there was a chance, and if I tried to talk to the commoners, he would scold me, saying nobles shouldn’t be friendly with commoners.”

“Such a stickler for a butler.”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I cut it off after I became an adult. Since then, I’ve told them not to assign me a butler.”

“There was such an incident, huh? You’re kind, Shuen.”

“What?”

“If it were our young lady, she would have torn out the butler’s hair. I heard she actually did that.”

“Wow…”

Listening to Shuen’s story, I nodded in sympathy and lightly touched her moving jaw with my finger.

“From now on, shush.”

“Gasp!”

“Don’t hold your breath. You’ll die.”

“Hmm…”

As I brushed tickling strokes, Shuen flared her nostrils. I uttered a short ‘Don’t move,’ bit my lower lip, and focused on finishing up.

“Tilt your head up a little.”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“…Nod.”

As I switched to a thin brush to color Shuen’s lips, I spoke to her as if it were nothing.

“Oh… I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier, but I heard you crying in the bathroom earlier.”

“…Are you a pervert?”

“I didn’t want to listen either, but you were crying so sorrowfully.”

“Stop talking about it, it’s embarrassing!”

“Pfft… You’re amusing.”

As I gently spread the lip color on Shuen’s lips with a handkerchief, I asked her in a soft voice.

“You’re worried about talking to Mikhail, aren’t you?”

“…”

“You’re not sure what to say, and you’re afraid Mikhail won’t like it, after stalking… I mean, observing and finding out things.”

Shuen nodded ever so slightly in response to my words.

“That’s right.”

I said to her softly as I continued my light brush strokes.

“It must have been hard for you.”

“…Sigh.”

“Don’t cry. Your makeup will run.”

“Ohoho…! I’m not crying…”

“You’re kind. Hmm…”

I leaned in close and said to Shuen.

“If I may be so bold to suggest, why not start the conversation lightly? Like when you first met me, Shuen.”

“…Should I call you a vulgar commoner?”

“Is that what you said when we first met?”

Shuen nodded heavily.

“…Don’t say it like that. Maybe start with something light, like the weather. ‘The weather is quite nice today.’ Something like that.”

“Isn’t that too cliché? Everyone can see it just by looking outside, why ask about it…”

“Are you a T, Shuen?”

“What?”

“Never mind. Just a thought. Anyway, that’s a good thing. Starting with questions you don’t need to ask opens up the conversation. Start with that, then change the topic and keep it going.”

“What should I do next?”

“Then, ‘What did you do yesterday?’ Something like that.”

“Isn’t that too prying?”

I chuckled and put the cosmetics back in the bag.

“Just start by telling your story, Shuen. ‘Yesterday, I did this and that.’ Mikhail will do the same.”

“Ah…”

“Shuen.”

I carefully held up a hand mirror to Shuen’s face and said,

“Don’t be scared, and don’t think it’s too hard.”

-Chuckle.

“Got it?”

Shuen looked at me with bewildered eyes, her eyelids fluttering. She uttered an ‘Oh…?’ and then, seeing her transformed reflection, brought the mirror close to her face and gasped in admiration.

“How did you… I look like a different person.”

“It’s just a touch-up. You’re already beautiful.”

Shuen stood up with a pleased smile.

“I understand!”

“Go give it a try.”

“Four.”

As Shuen hurried towards the restaurant where Mikhail was, she hesitated for a moment before turning back to me and saying,

“Thank you!”

“…No need to mention it.”

“You even put on a strange disguise because of me.”

“I did it because I wanted to.”

Shuen chuckled and said,

“You’re bad at lying, commoner.”

“…”

I waved awkwardly at Shuen with a forced smile.

*

The warm atmosphere continued.

Shuen, who had been stiff, was now chatting away as if her mouth was on a motor, and Mikhail, enjoying a rare break from training, began to show a blossoming smile.

A completely different mood from the original work.

It was a conversation between ‘person’ and ‘person,’ not Mikhail’s ‘entertainment’ that had started to extract a confession from Shuen, who had been framed in a theft case. A light smile formed on my face.

But Shuen…

‘…’

Was awkwardly smiling, looking for me.

As if she had an arrhythmia.