Published at 29th of January 2020 10:38:38 AM
Chapter 25
Thanks to Ernest Barthelemon, Bernard came home irritated and frustrated . Agnes greeted him again from the front door today .
--The tragic saint, Agnes Le Verges .
With such rumors spreading, the person herself did not have a clue about it . The scandal was solved, but another problem had arisen .
“Oi, I have something to talk . ”
Shortly after returning, Bernard took Agnes to his office .
He pointed at the long sofa and ordered her to sit at his opposite .
Agnes felt nervous at the sudden call .
He told her that it was not something bad as he saw her like that .
Naturally, he would keep the bad rumors at the royal capital a secret .
“Do you know the Queen’s wine?”
“Yes . It’s the specialty of the southwestern town, right?”
“That’s right . ”
Agnes knew about the liquor in the village where Lazare’s relative were . Then, this would save up his time .
“Do you like wine?”
“No, I never drink it . ”
“Is that so . The Queen’s wine is said to be sweet and easy to drink . It is quite popular around the ladies too . ”
“I see . ”
He heard that the village was a serene place surrounded by vineyards . Wine’s quality was their priority, so they made them very carefully .
Since there was less young female, Lazare said they were treated nicely .
He thought it would be much better than holding her around the royal capital .
“My superior’s relatives are the chief there . ”
“Yes . ”
“Well I want to ask if you would try to live there . ”
“M-me?”
“Yeah . It will be much easier than living here right . They will also welcome you . ”
Agnes opened her eyes wide and looked bewildered .
Bernard thought it was only natural . She was a lady who never leave the capital .
She must’ve been worried to live in a distant place .
Agnes looked down silently .
She didn’t have any words to say to Bernard .
He groaned while scratching his head, then his eyes met Agnes’s .
He knew that look . It was the same look as a kitten that was thrown away on a rainy day .
He felt somewhat bad talking about it .
“We, well, that’s it . You can talk to Gigille about it first . Think carefully and choose wisely . ”
“ . . . . . yes . ”
Agnes bowed deeply and left the room .
***
Bernard called her with a serious face with something to talk to, and the content of their talk surprised Agnes the most .
“--Ah!”
She felt dizzy from the shock and placed her hand on the wall .
Her vision and head felt swirling and messed up .
Bernard told her to move away . She didn’t ask why . But she knew the reason .
She was from a fallen nobility house, and she herself, was not useful as a servant . There is not a single good reason for her to stay .
There is only one thing to describe her mental state, it was complicated .
Bernard didn’t even look like he wanted to get rid of a nuisance . The place she was recommended to move was peaceful and beautiful, it was an easy place to live for Agnes .
“--Agnes-san . ”
She was surprised as Gigille called her .
“What happened? Are you feeling sick?”
“No, no . ”
“Oh no, your face is very pale!”
Feeling sorry to make her worried, she let go of her hand from the wall, but she got wobbly .
“Are you alright!?”
“I’m sorry… . . ”
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They walked to the resting area with Gigille supporting her .
She sat on a chair and sighed . Her dizziness had subsided .
“Gigille-san, thank you very much . ”
“Yes, it’s no problem, but,”
Gigille brought a teapot and poured steamy herbal tea into a cup . And then she put down a sweet wrapped in silver paper .
She sat beside her and started to talk .
“It’s not because you are sick right?”
“ . . . . . Yes . ”
“Then, the medicine is this . ”
She pointed to a board like chocolate .
“This is?”
“This is a chocolate bar from FAS company . ” [1]
Gigille split it in half and gave it to Agnes . Gigille peeled the silver wrapping and took a bite .
“Un, it’s delicious . ”
Agnes saw her without blinking .
This was the first time she saw a plate chocolate like that, and above all, she never had an experience to eat it as is .
Seeing her curious look, Gigille insisted that the board like chocolate was eaten like this .
“This, you see, is stored for hot chocolate [2], but when you feel down or tired, you can just eat it as is . ”
“Is, that so?”
“It’s true . And since it’s the medicine, make sure you eat all of it alright?”
“Ye,yes . I understand . ”
Agnes carefully took a bite on the bar chocolate .
There’s a crunchy sounds as she bite it .
As she chewed on it, she could feel a crisp texture and sweetness spread in her mouth .
It was totally different from the usual dense and smooth chocolate she ever had before . It was hard and she needed to chew it properly, but somehow it felt like it was soaking through her heart .
She understood now what Gigille meant that it was a medicine .
Agnes ate half a bar of chocolate while drinking the bitter herbal tea .
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“Gigille-san, thank you very much . ”
“Do you feel better?”
“Yes . ”
Gigille patted her back lightly .
She was feeling better after eating chocolate, but there was still some clouds remaining in her heart .
Agnes mustered her courage and asked her some opinions .
“Um, Gigille-san . I have something to ask you… . . ”
“I understood . Let’s talk at Miel’s place on the third floor . ”
Since there were people going back and forth in the resting area, they moved to the simple kitchen on the third floor .
***
Agnes told Gigille about Bernard’s proposal .
“That Master, saying that so suddenly… . . ”
“I heard that the village on the southwestern is a nice place to live . ”
“That is true but… . . ”
Gigille swallowed her complains to Bernard midway .
Just the other day, she learned about the gossip surrounding Agnes in the magazine Eric bought .
The situation surrounding her changed rapidly .
This time it was heading to a dangerous direction . He must have felt some sense of danger, Gigille thought .
“Master said that Agnes-san should choose right?”
“Yes . ”
“What are you going to do?”
“I--”
She knew well the situation around her .
That she was a useless ex-noble lady from a collapsed house . That if he was found out he was hiding her, Bernard will be put in a bad situation . And that even if she stayed here, she couldn’t do anything to help .
“As Master said, I know it is best for me to move away . … . . But, I still, I still haven’t repay his favor . And then, it’s sad to be separated from all of you and Miel . ”
There was a conflict in her heart that she knew she was a bother to stay here and would be better to go away, but she wanted to stay near Bernard .
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“It’s better if Agnes-san choose yourself . ”
“That… . . ”
“It’s okay . Because when Master brought you here, he was determined to do so, that’s why you don’t have to choose while thinking for his sake . You only have this one life . So live the way you want without leaving any regrets . ”
Living the way she wanted .
That was the first time she heard of that .
She had been living according to his father’s wish, to Agnes never had a room for choices, that had been pulling her down .
--I want to live with Bernard . That is all .
That was Agnes’s only wish . She asked herself many times if she was allowed to do that .
It was hard to live the life her father wished for .
But she never prepared the way to live other than that .
This time, Agnes herself had the right to choose .
Then, she thought, she should live the way she wanted .
She raised her head and looked straight at Gigille .
And she uttered her determination .
“I want to live here . ”
She made her wish .
She would like to rent a room in Bernard’s mansion and live there as a servant .
Her words shook as she said her first choice .
Gigille hugged Agnes’s shoulder and encouraged her to work hard together .
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[1] = 美味しく食べるチョコレート(ショコラ・デリシュー・ア・マンジュ)
This one is a reference to J . S . Fry & Sons company’s first chocolate bar ever sold as a mass product (if I’m not wrong) . The kanji literally says: chocolate that is delicious to eat and the furigana says Chocolat Deliche A Mange(?) . Honestly I didn’t find this name in wiki or anywhere else, or maybe I just got it wrong since it was supposed to be in French? But basically it’s a chocolate bar, so I just simplified it as so .
[2] = 熱いチョコレート(ショコラ・ショー)
Lit . hot chocolate . The furigana says Chocola Show(?) . Again I don’t understand what Chocola Show is or I translated it wrong . So I used the term hot chocolate as it’s easier to understand .