“Y-Yeah, thank you.” Though a wry smile formed on her lips, Rock was happy the other girl had worried about her. “I’m glad you’re doing well too. It looks like your injuries have all healed up.”
There weren’t any scars on her adorable round face or on the parts of her hands and feet that showed from under her maid uniform.
“They have! Thanks to you!” she exclaimed with a smile brighter than her brilliant blond hair. “I’m working hard every day for His Excellency!”
“Johanna.” Ludovicus cleared his throat in warning. “It is not proper etiquette to speak to His Excellency’s guests before he can.”
“Uh-oh! I forgot. Pardon me!” Johanna slowly backed away, like she’d only realized her mistake after it was pointed out.
Phoebe stepped back from Rock, letting her straighten to greet Ebel as he approached her.
Ebel was dressed in a gray frock coat with a turned-down collar and midnight black velvet trousers. It wasn’t as awe-inspiring as his formal wear, but it still had a subtle glamor to it.
Ebel stared at Rock and Phoebe with great interest, just as she was captivated by his more casual attire.
“It almost seems like you switched roles today.”
Father and daughter exchanged looks and Rock broke out in a big smile.
“That’s because you invited me as Roxy today,” Rock replied, wearing a dress for the first time since the party.
That said, today, she wore an all-black dress without any embellishments, unlike the gorgeous gown meant for Michaela’s birthday. The plain-weave cotton dress was tailored into an old-fashioned design with a high neckline, sleeves long enough to cover the back of her hands, and a hem that hid her ankles.
Of course, it wasn’t in style—this old black dress had originally been Phoebe’s. It was her last resort after painfully deliberating what to wear to Ebel’s manor.
After all, the only dress Rock had in her possession was that dawn-colored ball gown she’d tailor-made per Guido’s request. She had several ready-made pieces in her shop, but they were all tailored in line with the trendiest cuts and embroideries, making them fine for an evening out but unsuitable for visiting a grave.
Rock had resewn and added a belt to the borrowed dress to make it fit her slender figure. Thanks to those additions, the high-waist skirt draped beautifully around her, saving it from looking too plain.
Meanwhile, Phoebe really had switched places with her as he wore male attire for this outing. Dressed in a pair of quilt trousers he had on hand, and the jacket Rock had quickly tailored for the occasion, Phoebe kept the look natural by leaving off his favorite makeup. He looked so gallant with his long, chestnut hair tied back, it was hard to imagine this person looked drop-dead gorgeous in a dress too.
Ebel had said he welcomed Phoebe to come dressed any way he wanted, and Rock also said as much, but Phoebe left his dresses at home. Perhaps he wanted to visit Mateus Manor looking the part of Rock’s father. Rock wanted to respect her father’s wishes. How he wanted to dress or identify at any given time was his choice.
Everyone should be able to wear the clothes they want. Rock strongly felt that way as a tailor.
Of course, it went without saying neither of them was used to being dressed this way.
“It makes me uncomfortable when you make such a big deal out of it,” Phoebe muttered as he rubbed his neck.
“We rarely dress like this, after all,” Rock wholeheartedly agreed.
“That’s a shame. You both look impeccable. Your usual attire is lovely too, but you shine brilliantly dressed like this as well.”
Johanna nodded so hard in agreement with Ebel, her pigtails almost came loose. She seemed like she wanted to say something but kept her lips pressed shut under the butler’s watchful eye.
With the basic greetings out of the way, Ebel cut straight to the point.
“I would like you to visit my father’s grave with me first.”
He gestured toward the carriage waiting in the garden. Iniel, the coachman, waited with two horses in front of the carriage Rock had just taken to the manor.
“Our destination is the holy church district, where the Mateus mausoleum is located,” Ebel said before glancing at Johanna. “I would love to treat you to a meal afterward. My maid went to great lengths to make the arrangements.”
Johanna repeatedly nodded again. From the way she nodded so hard, Rock feared her head might pop off. It seemed Ebel wasn’t exaggerating the lengths she went to.
Rock had no objections to that plan. She wanted more time to chat with Ebel, and the tea cakes Johanna had treated her to before tasted heavenly.
Most of all, she was terribly concerned about the new information Ebel had mentioned in his letter.
“It’s just the two of you going to the grave, right?” Phoebe asked Rock. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“You aren’t coming, Phoebe?” Rock inquired, getting the most inscrutable grimace in return.
“The late Count Mateus probably wouldn’t be too happy to see me. He’d be like, ‘What’s some mercenary doing here?’” He shrugged and added, “Besides, I hate gravesites.”
Very few people actually enjoy graveyards, but Rock wasn’t going to force Phoebe to join them if he didn’t want to.
“Okay. In that case—”
“I’ll brew a cup of tea for you then, Master Phoebe!” Johanna slipped in between them and wrapped her hands around Phoebe’s arm as if this was her moment to shine. “How about I continue your tour of the manor?!”
“…Any chance I can spend this time alone?” Phoebe groaned, annoyed.
“Johanna, let our guest enjoy his time as he pleases,” Ebel said with a laugh.
“Aw…if you say so, Your Excellency.”
“You’re in charge, Ludovicus. We’ll be back before sunset.”
“Safe travels, Your Excellency.”
Ebel boarded the carriage accompanied by Rock.
The carriage departed Mateus Manor and quietly proceeded down the gorgeous landscape of the aristocrat district.
Rock and Ebel sat side by side on the velvet seat. It was nowhere near as small and narrow as a fiacre, but there seemed to be little space between them. Perhaps the glass windows on either side of them inside the state-of-the-art carriage made it seem more confining.
To make things even more awkward, every time Rock glanced sideways, she received a passionate look from Ebel in return.
Unsure of what to do with herself, Rock frantically searched for a topic and brought up the first thing that came to mind.
“I-I’m really glad everyone seems to have recovered.”
Today was the first time Rock had seen the Mateus servants since that chaotic night. She was impressed they’d all returned to their jobs without letting their injuries bog them down.
“Thank you for worrying about them.” Ebel happily spoke on this topic. “Everyone getting off with light injuries was a real miracle. I couldn’t protect anyone—and we all struggled to protect ourselves that night…” His expression crumpled for a fleeting moment before he continued to keep the mood from souring. “But we are all in good health. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
“Yes, I completely agree,” Rock said from the heart. “Especially Johanna. She’s even younger than me… I was worried the experience had scarred her, even if the physical injuries didn’t.”
Rock couldn’t forget her tears after that crazy night had ended.
Johanna was an emotional girl who always overreacted, but her tears were genuine and warranted. She’d gone through such a traumatizing experience and must’ve been relieved enough to cry after they made it through alive.
Rock was inspired and impressed that the young maid returned to her duties as if nothing had happened.
“That’s true. It may have been hard on her,” Ebel said, a smile edging its way onto his lips, suggesting there was more to it. “I don’t think I’ve told you this yet, Roxy, but Johanna is no ordinary village girl.”
“She’s not?!”
Rock was surprised to hear that.
Then again, maybe it was stranger for a “normal” girl to work at a werewolf’s mansion and be expected to keep her master’s secret.
“The Brutus family is an old family dating back to the Ancient Empire.” Ebel grinned like a boy about to pull a prank on the girl he liked. “And they used to be a family of werewolf hunters.”
“They hunt…werewolves?”
Rock was even more surprised to hear that and gawked at Ebel’s face. The werewolf count’s golden eyes shimmered with mirth. Who would’ve thought a werewolf would employ a hunter?
“You didn’t expect that, right?” Ebel let out an amused chuckle. “In Ancient Empire times, a group of werewolves lived in this part of the imperial capital. Oppressed for being peasants, they decided to turn on the emperor. Your father might have told you how they were the ones who made those statues.”
“Yes, my father did tell me that.”
Phoebe had told Rock the story of how the people suffering under the tyrannical rule of the emperor clung to the werewolf curse stored in the werewolf-shaped statues. The statues had slept untouched for hundreds of years in the ancient ruins, only to be brought into the present-day imperial capital by skilled mercenaries.