Three days after her rescue, Charlotte stood in the living room and asked, “Well...what do you think?”
“Brilliant!” Allen exclaimed in delight, surveying the sparkling clean room.
The garbage dump of a room had undergone a miraculous transformation into a habitable space. The floor was now visible, and there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. The clean windows let in the soft sunshine, allowing the occupants the luxury of being able to tell the time of day.
“I must say, you’ve done an admirable job. Not what I’d expect from a daughter of a duke.”
“I...helped out with a lot of chores back home,” she replied with a melancholy smile.
Allen had forced her to rest for three days after her arrival, and now she had a much healthier complexion and a lovely sheen to her hair. Had she put on a dress, she would have looked stunning, but at present, she was dressed like an ordinary village girl, in a drab blouse and a long skirt. On top of that, her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and she was holding a dirty wiping cloth. Yet, the whole outfit suited her somehow, and Allen could forget that she came from a noble family.
She said her mother was a mistress, he thought. Seeing how efficient she is at cleaning, I can imagine how she must’ve been treated at home. Perhaps she was only a “lady” in title. In reality, she might have been living like a servant among her noble family. Allen, however, had no interest in questioning her about this. And Charlotte didn’t bring it up either.
She looked around the room and tilted her head. “But all I did was polish the floor. You used magic to clear away all the things for me, Allen.”
“True,” Allen agreed. He had incinerated all the junk on the floor. Since the spell burned everything without leaving ashes, all Charlotte had to do was wipe away the dust and grime.
“And you even helped me with the wiping too... Are you sure you need me here?”
“Why, of course,” Allen nodded solemnly. “As you can see, I have no life skills. When I’m by myself, I don’t even think of cleaning. I’m confident that if you hadn’t shown up, I would’ve lived in that heap of garbage till my dying day.”
“I don’t think it’s anything to boast about...” Charlotte said with a slightly troubled smile. But she balled her fists and eagerly announced, “Um, in any case, we’re done with cleaning! What should I do next?”
“Let’s see...” Allen mulled it over. Then, he said simply, “You’re done for today.”
“What?”
“Feel free to do whatever you like till dinner.” He stretched out on his favorite sofa, ignoring her baffled look. “You can pick out a book from the study, or putter about in the garden. Up to you.”
After a few moments of silence, she asked, “Aren’t you worried I’ll steal something?”
“That’s fine too. There’s hardly any cash in this house now.”
Right after he had taken her in, Allen had gone up to the city to buy clothes and daily necessities for her. He felt a little hesitant to buy women’s clothes, but with his bad reputation, a few more rumors here and there wouldn’t hurt. He asked a shop attendant to choose whatever seemed fitting and bought the whole set. This sudden shopping spree left him with barely any money in the house.
Charlotte shrank at his explanation. “I-I’m sorry... It’s my fault...”
“It’s just an initial investment. Don’t worry.” Waving off her concerns, he took out a thick wad of paper from his breast pocket: a recently published research article on the theory of magic. One of his rare hobbies was to take a red pen and scrawl corrections all over an article to return it to its author. Rumor had it that he was greatly feared in scholarly circles as the “Red Pen Fiend,” which made him even more meticulous in brandishing his red marker. “Anyway, I’ll be working for a while. Don’t interrupt me.”
“Y-Yes, I understand.”
Allen took note of Charlotte nodding gravely, then directed his attention to the article. He might have been a little brusque, speaking to a guest like that, but he didn’t feel the need to be friendlier with her. She’s only here for a short while, he thought. This amount of distance should be just fine.
Though he couldn’t turn a blind eye to people in need, Allen was bad at socializing. While she might regard him favorably now out of gratitude, she would surely grow tired of being in his presence soon enough. Once she earned some money for her journey, she would disappear, and he’d never set eyes on her again.
He didn’t think of this eventual outcome as a sign of ingratitude. Charlotte had her own life to live. Now that she’d escaped from her home, she was free to go wherever she liked and make her own decisions.
When it’s the right time, I’ll put a bundle of money somewhere easy to steal... Smiling wryly at his own train of thought, Allen steadily became engrossed in the paper.
♢
By the time Allen had finished marking up the article, it was already past sunset. The light from the window steeped the room in a deep, fiery red.
“Oops, lost track of time.” He sat up on the sofa and froze at the sight on his living room floor.
In the middle of the orderly room, Charlotte was sitting motionless on the floor, staring down at one spot. Lit by the setting sun, she looked a little eerie.
“Uh, hello Charlotte,” he blurted out in alarm.
At the sound of his voice, she looked up. “Oh! Allen.” Her smile was as innocent as the one that had been playing on her face as they were cleaning.