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AFTER that incident, I found my own eyes drifting to Tabitha more often. We spoke frequently to each other under the pretense of exchanging information, and once or twice I even volunteered to help carry her bags.
Two years passed as we inched beyond our relationship as colleagues.
One day, on an errand for the lady, we delivered a letter to the wife of a merchant who is a long-time friend of the Drewetts. Afterward, we strolled the city plaza and browsed the stalls, an activity we’d started to do together only recently.
I checked my inner pocket to make sure the item was still there. I’d lost count of how many times I’d done so since leaving the manor.
“…Honestly, Master was just standing there doing nothing!” complained Tabitha, concluding her rant. One look at her face and I can tell she’s itching to call him a coward.
“You say that…but Lord Wallace hasn’t had any downtime for years. He may be capable, but he’s busy with so much.”
That was true. Even then, some distant relatives still disdained him for his youth, so his position and reputation weren’t secure.
And despite the birth of his heir, Lord Stuart, the master and mistress continued to lead separate lives.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking if it’s true that he picked a bouquet, loitered outside the lady’s room, and then couldn’t find the courage to knock in the end?”
“I guess it is.”
“What was he thinking?! They have a child together!” she fumed. “How did things get so complicated?”
Seems my perfect older brother is just as ignorant about romance as his master. Otherwise, he would have resolved the issue long before then.
“Is that how all the maids feel?”
“…It’s a political marriage, after all. The lady accepted that long ago. She’s always had a strong sense of duty and pride since she was a girl.”
“As rude as it is to admit, I guess they are similar in that sense.”
“But it’s frustrating!” She pressed her shoulders back in indignation, though her steps remained relaxed. Her handbag, a gift from the lady, hung on her arm…
A man dashed past, tugging the bag off her. I scrambled to catch her before she fell, and she shoved me away as she began to chase the thief.
“My bag!”
Slow! How are you moving so slowly?! What had happened to those impressive stalking skills of hers?! Is she unable to run? Is she serious?!
Fortunately, nobody was around to see.
Holding back laughter, I easily outstripped Tabitha. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a rope coil near a stall. Although I usually need to know the exact location of an object to summon it, the rule doesn’t apply if it’s visible to me.
I quickly knotted the rope in a loop. Tracking and hunting are popular pastimes among servants. Hurling the lasso forward, I watched it sail over the thief’s head and stop him short.
“Hold tight,” I told Tabitha. She’d caught up with me, and I handed her my end of the rope before sweeping the thief’s feet out from under him.
The handbag flew out of his grip and landed safely in my hand.
After leaving the man with the guards, we hurried back to Drewett Manor… My plan to take her atop the ramparts to enjoy the view had been dashed. I tried to hide the slump in my shoulders on our way home, yet Tabitha must have sensed my disappointment.
“Hey, Ethan,” she said, sidling closer, “if I time it right, I can apply to be nursemaid for the lady’s next child. But I’ll have to time it just right.”
“Huh?! Time what with who?!” I squawked.
Her eyes widened, then she burst into laughter. “I wouldn’t mind it with you, Ethan.”
“Thank you!” Using my Gift, I grabbed the hairpin, gold with a champagne-colored topaz flower bud, from its case in my inner pocket and held it out to her on my palm.
“Oh my. Your Gift sure is wonderful.” Her eyes crinkled as she accepted the hairpin carefully, yet I could sense that she wanted to call me a coward too.
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“MY lord and his men will be fine. Ethan, please capture these humans.” Straight-backed, the lady issued the command in a flat voice, all traces of the childish little girl gone. She looked like a goddess bearing tidings of disaster.
All was chaos as we arrested the criminals from Longhurst. Until finally, I can relax and rest.
Tabitha has already retired to bed, and I check her wound again, sighing in relief. The red gash on her shoulder appears very shallow.
“I told you: it’s just a scratch.”
“Even so, what husband doesn’t panic at the sight of his wife getting hurt?” My tone is bitter, the relief accompanied by a little anger.
She merely smiles. “You can’t be angry when I didn’t scold you for promising Master to protect the house with your life,” she says, teasing.
“…You heard me? But—” This is different, I want to say.
“Ethan, don’t you think the lady was beautiful in that moment?”
“That’s true.” I had never seen her act that way, because I usually stay behind to manage the household.
“So please tell her she did well rather than chastise her.” Tabitha’s hazel eyes are as proud, strong, and bright as ever.
And since that was what made me fall for her in the first place, I don’t argue.
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WITH Master’s return, the lady’s appetite quickly increases again.
“Ethan! I’m ready for my chance today!” She has been energetic all morning, crowing something about going to a lake as she bounces toward me.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“Oh, good morning! I’m ready for my— Oh! A rice cracker!”
“You need to have breakfast first, so this is for the carriage ride.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
We’ve transferred Master’s souvenir to a smaller can and decided to allow the lady one cracker per day.
Crunching it a little between her fingers, she scampers away to show it to him.
I sense Tabitha giving me a sidelong glance, the look a silent question: “Why don’t you just come clean about your Gift already?”
You have no right to judge me! Because I love watching the lady dash to me in excitement every morning, of course!