Chapter 24

Clayton’s office was a small room tucked away in the corner opposite the study.

After exchanging a few words with the man Mrs. Gauner had brought, Clayton expressionlessly extended his hand. The man grasped Clayton’s hand with the one not holding his boots.

“Welcome. We’ll handle verification gradually.”

The man silently shook hands. After grasping and shaking the callused hand of someone who seemed to have done rough work, Clayton withdrew his hand and continued:

“We were short-handed, so this works out well. Rest in the room Mrs. Gauner shows you today, and you can start work tomorrow.”

Once permission was granted, Mrs. Gauner began walking with the man.

Both Mrs. Gauner and the man were quite taciturn, so there wasn’t much conversation between them. They went up the stairs used by servants to the third floor, stopped by an inner storage room, and she showed him neatly arranged sheets, blankets, and pillows.

They were made of clean but not high-quality fabric.

“Once all work is finished, take what you need from here.”

“Yes.”

Hearing the man’s answer, Mrs. Gauner closed the door and opened the door to the third-floor servants’ quarters. Then she walked steadily to the room right next door. It wasn’t particularly quiet since the stairs mainly used by servants were right next to it.

“Use this room.”

In large manors with many servants, they sometimes shared rooms collectively. However, Raven Manor currently had only minimal staff, so rooms were relatively plentiful.

The man entered the room and looked around. The only furniture in the narrow room was an old bed, a crude nightstand, and a wooden chair with one crooked leg. A small mirror hung on the wall, reflecting the man’s unkempt hair.

Mrs. Gauner’s stoic face scanned the man’s dirty clothing as he looked around the room.

“I’ll come get you at dinner time. They’ll tell you about washing if you go to the kitchen. Can you find your way alone?”

“…”

When the man nodded, Mrs. Gauner was about to leave the room but turned around.

“Don’t go wandering around the manor carelessly. The butler may have given permission, but you’re still far from being formally employed.”

Even at the cold warning, the man showed no other reaction and just nodded.

Mrs. Gauner watched the man as if probing him. The sound of rainwater drumming on the roof could be heard from above. Eventually the head housemaid turned and left. Left alone, the man placed the boots he’d been carrying near the door.

He set his soaked bag beside the bed and took out its contents, wringing water from the wet items and hanging them on the bed frame. After roughly organizing his belongings, the man went straight down barefoot to the kitchen.

Mrs. Loska seemed to have finished tidying up and was about to prepare dinner. On the opposite side, a thin young woman was cutting a heap of prepared ingredients.

Turning at the sound of footsteps, Mrs. Loska had lifted a large pot when she saw the man standing in the doorway and quickly took the initiative:

“Here to wash? You’ll need clothes too. The washroom is down the corridor next to the kitchen. Storage on the left, washroom on the right. The storage door is locked, so the washroom door should open. You know the second-floor storage? Wear something suitable from there. Since you won’t be a footman putting on airs anyway, you don’t need to dress as properly as Mr. Clayton. Olga! What are you spacing out about? Watch the knife.”

When Mrs. Loska’s words—which poured toward the man at twice the volume of Mrs. Gauner’s—turned to herself, Olga looked at the man, put down the knife she’d been holding, and nodded. Seeing this, Mrs. Loska looked back at the man and said:

“This is Olga. She helps me with kitchen work. She understands but can’t speak. So don’t expect answers—you won’t hear any even if you wait forever. Olga! This is Avery. He’s new, started today.”

Avery, whose name was called, nodded toward Olga and Mrs. Loska, then disappeared back toward the stairs. When Mrs. Loska had finished about half the dinner preparations, Avery appeared wearing dry clothes and having apparently found spare shoes from storage.

His unkempt hair remained the same, but thanks to the dry clothes, he looked much neater.

Mrs. Loska stood before the stove stirring a large pot, wiping sweat beading on her forehead. Then she gestured with her chin toward a wooden tray containing a simple meal.

“You don’t have anything to do anyway, right? There’s a poor man named Gabe living in that small wooden house across from here—he’s this manor’s coachman and stable keeper. While introducing yourself, take this dinner over there. Have a little chat too.”

She didn’t hesitate to give orders to someone who’d barely arrived.

Without a word of complaint, Avery took the tray and opened the door he’d first passed through earlier. The heavy rain had considerably lightened in the meantime.

The distance from the manor to the small cabin by the stables wasn’t very far.

Though the clothes he’d just changed into got slightly wet, he didn’t mind and walked steadily toward the house carrying the tray. When he knocked on the old wooden door, it opened before long.

The man with graying hair looked at the tall stranger before him and blinked. Silence flowed between the two for a moment. Gabe was the first to speak:

“…Wh-who…?”

At that hoarse, rough voice characteristic of someone who rarely spoke, Avery shrugged his shoulders and showed the tray he was carrying. Recognizing it as the usual meal delivery tray, Gabe looked beyond Avery, then back at the tray, and stepped aside.

Avery stepped inside without a word.

Being a house next to the stables, as soon as he entered, a mixture of animal smells, wet earth, and lamp oil hit his nostrils. Avery set down the tray on the old wooden table in the center of the shabby room and turned around.

Gabe’s broad shoulders trembled in surprise at the unfamiliar visitor’s bold actions.

“I found your son.”

A low, unhushed voice came from Avery’s mouth. Gabe’s eyes widened at Avery’s words as he immediately closed the distance between them.

“…H-how! H-h-how do you, how can you, you!”

Though he had much to say but couldn’t get it out right away, Gabe grabbed Avery’s shoulders with trembling lips. Even though thick-knuckled hands gripped his shoulders, the face hidden by unkempt bangs was hard to read.

“I met him directly. He said he was worried the unborn child might die, seeing all the large livestock that kept dying before birth. He asked me to tell you he’s sorry.”

With a completely distorted face, Gabe drew in breath. Thick tears began flowing from his eyes, which were open to their limit, streaming down through the weathered wrinkles.

Even watching this, Avery’s voice showed no tremor:

“He knows this manor is a strange place, so he said you’d understand.”

At Avery’s words, Gabe nodded and removed his hands, wiping his face. His face looked peaceful, wrapped in relief. Gabe wiped his nose and muttered:

“I… I thought he was… d-dead.”

“To whom?”

Avery asked as if he’d been waiting for those words.

But Gabe didn’t answer and slumped into the chair beside the table. Looking like all his strength had drained from his body, Gabe sat silently for a while, just wiping tears. Avery looked around and spotted an old pitcher and water cup on the nightstand over there.

Shaking the water pitcher to confirm there was water inside, Avery poured water into the cup and offered it to Gabe. Gabe’s hands trembled as he took the cup thrust before him. While drinking a sip of water, some flowed down below his chin, wetting his clothes.

Watching this, Avery sighed and opened his mouth again:

“…Let me ask a different question then. What happened to the Baron?”

At that question, Gabe looked up.

“Th-the master… you… wh-why…”

Though momentarily losing reason at the welcome news, at the question about Ian, Gabe looked at the unfamiliar man with the same wary eyes as before. While it was certainly welcome news if his son’s couple was alive and even the grandchild was safe, he began to doubt whether he could trust the words of this suddenly appeared man.

“Who am I, you ask?”

Seeing Gabe rolling his wide eyes while looking at him, Avery sighed and lifted the hair covering his head with his hand.

A straight forehead and thick, dark eyebrows, delicate eyelashes, and beneath them eyes that shone with a strange violet light when close to light. With elongated eye corners, a prominent nose bridge, and though his cheeks were sunken, his lower face wasn’t merely thin.

Staring intently, Gabe narrowed his eyebrows and eyes, tilting his head. The handsome but strangely cold-looking face thrust before him definitely had something familiar about it. Gabe’s eyes, which had been staring at Avery’s face, suddenly widened.

“Y-… Young… young master?”

At the word uttered with difficulty, Avery—no, Ash—nodded.

Gabe recalled young Ash’s delicate face and body, then looked at the young man before him. When Ash lowered his hair again, it wasn’t easy to recall the former young master from the completely hidden face.

Ash turned his eyes to the tray containing Gabe’s meal. The dinner seemed to be cooling, no longer steaming.

“I’ve been here quite a while. If I stay longer, everyone will think it strange, so I’ll come again later.”

When Gabe quickly nodded, Ash stood up. As the tall young man opened the door and left, Gabe stared blankly before pulling the meal in front of him toward himself. The moment he scooped the completely cold stew with his spoon, pushed it into his mouth, and tasted it, tears of joy suddenly welled up again.

Gabe swallowed his food while tears streamed down.

Returning while being lightly rained on, the kitchen was now noisily bustling. The gazes of those occupying the dining table focused on the stranger, and it instantly became quiet.

“You’re later than expected?”

It was Mrs. Loska who broke the silence, as usual. She shifted her body sideways from the end seat. Those who were inadvertently pushed aside gradually moved, creating space. Seeing this, Ash silently took a seat at the end of the table. After glancing at each other, a slippery-looking young man cautiously opened his mouth:

“Hey, I heard you’re new—aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“…”

Without answering, Ash stood up.

Instantly, everyone seated at the table held their breath. Ash grabbed the bread basket some distance away, took his share of bread, and sat back down. The servants began murmuring among themselves at the newcomer’s arrogant attitude of chewing bread without caring that the gazes directed at him were becoming fierce.

This time Mrs. Loska stepped in:

“If you cause trouble now, you won’t be able to come near my kitchen anymore.”

At her threat, those who had been murmuring closed their mouths. Soon Mrs. Loska glared at Ash. Whether sensing that gaze, a low voice came from the mouth that had been chewing bread while ignoring everyone:

“I was quite hungry, so I was rude. Avery—please treat me well.”