I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started

Chapter 13 It was then that embarrassment crossed his usually cool face.Daniel belatedly said, “No,” but Deborah covered her mouth with a surprised face and exclaimed in admiration. It was already too late. The quick-witted saint read the hidden meaning in his expression.She flushed and clasped her hands together.“Oh, my God!”“… It’s not like that.”Deborah pretended not to hear the belated excuse and asked with an innocent face.“You have someone else you like! My goodness, who is it? Is it someone I know? Someone from the nobility? Someone from the kingdom? Or a commoner?”“I said it wasn’t like that!”Daniel shouted in anger.“But it looked like you were thinking of someone just now.”“…….”Daniel’s face slowly turned red as if he felt embarrassed. Even that look was very refreshing to Deborah.‘The colded person in the world has this kind of face. How strange.’“… Stop talking nonsense and get ready to go to the Count’s residence. If you don’t come to our mansion today, His Majesty will be angry.”Daniel tried to ignore her gaze and pretended that nothing happened. Deborah looked at him and smiled.  * * * The short tea time was over.After enjoying tea time with Colin and Lucas in a remote part of the garden, it was already time for the them to return.It was quite enjoyable to eat madeleines and milk tea in a place with the scent of flowers without worrying about housework.Of course, I was distracted by Colin’s constant attempts to shove things in my mouth and Lucas’s insistence on leaning on my shoulder.Sitting there in peace with them, it was like I was back in the orphanage 10 years ago.‘Come to think of it, neither of them asked me why I disappeared.’The tea time lasted over an hour, but the only conversation we had was a brief conversation about what kind of snacks I liked and what it was like to work as a maid.‘I think they intentionally avoided the topic.’The two of them must have wondered why I disappeared on the day the orphanage burned down, but they didn’t bother to ask.And I vaguely sensed that they were waiting for me to tell them.The two of them were understanding, then and now.I wish there would come a day when I could confess my circumstances to them…‘Will the day ever come when I can tell them my secret? Why I left the orphanage, or some other secret.’I touched my wrist out of habit. I stopped in my tracks on my way back to the maid’s quarters, and rummaged through my pockets.And I took out a yellow piece of paper.During tea time, Colin had drawn a picture as I had asked.Inside the paper, a teddy bear with glasses, a fox, and a red-furred cat were sitting at the table enjoying tea.I couldn’t help but smile.Behind the cat stood a black dog with a fat face.It was Daniel.“It’s a shame to draw only us.”“That’s right. There are four of us!”Colin and Lucas nodded repeatedly.I also agreed.The four of us were famously noisy even in the orphanage.I put the paper back in my pocket and went back to the dorm.I felt very good, whether it was because I had a delicious dessert after a long time or because I had spent time with the two of them.“But I’m still tired, so I’ll sleep for an hour and wake up. Deborah will be coming in the evening…”Soon the maids would have to give up their weekend and greet the saint who would come in the evening.Of course, the kitchen maids would have more work to do, but that doesn’t mean all the other maids could just slack off.Tea time must have relieved the stress, but a nap before work would be more pleasant.Checking the time, I opened the door to my quarters and entered.The maids were gathered in the kitchen, having just returned from a mountain.I felt guilty about having spent nearly an hour playing with the mansion owner, so I quietly passed the kitchen.Then someone grabbed me.“You, stop there.”I turned around and looked toward the kitchen.As expected, it was Miriam’s group who had been picking on me for every little thing.Miriam didn’t look too happy, as she was quite angry about going on a hike with Mrs. Rosa.Well, I guess I would be in a bad mood if I couldn’t rest on the golden weekend and went up the mountain with my superiors.In times like this, it’s easier to just go along with it, even if it’s a little annoying.I tried to smile brightly and approached Miriam.“What? What’s wrong?”I ask, trying to get her to do something else.As I stammered, Miriam crossed her arms and smirked.“You have a very strange hobby, don’t you?”“What?”Strange hobby? What are you talking about?While I was wondering, one of Miriam’s group rustled something and threw it at my feet.And my face hardened.There was a thin black string under my feet. * * * This string…I remembered the rope I had taken from Lynne, buried deep in my bag.‘You went through my bag.’Miriam then strode over to me, picked up the string, and grabbed my arm.“What are you doing?”I asked angrily, but Miriam paid no attention to my feelings and rolled up my sleeve. She then placed the string on the inside of my wrist. The black string matched the scratch marks on the inside of my wrist exactly.When I tried to shake off her hand, Miriam grabbed my hand even more firmly.The people around me started to stir loudly.“What is this? Explain it. It was in your bedroom.”“…….”“Why? Can’t you tell me?”I looked up and looked at Miriam.She laughed at me with a face that had caught a prey, and I looked at her and asked her firmly.“Why are you searching other people’s rooms?”“Searching rooms? I just came in to clean them up?”Miriam looked calm as if she didn’t feel any remorse while searching my room. Otherwise, there was no way she would have found this rope that was hidden somewhere out of sight.It was absurd. How shameless.Miriam said, smirking, whether my face was wrinkled or not.“If you don’t want to tell me, should I tell you? No, Angela said she saw something, so Angela will tell you.”“M-me?”Angela, who was standing behind Miriam, said in surprise.The other maids who were gathered in the kitchen looked at me and Angela in turn.Miriam spoke as if she were an actress on stage.“Yes, Angela. You saw it a week ago. You said that when she slept, she tied her own wrists together. You said that when we went up the mountain!”The maids who had gathered around me stirred in an instant.I turned my gaze without moving an inch and looked at Angela.Angela fidgeted and avoided my gaze, then opened her mouth stammering.“No, I didn’t say I saw her sleeping tied up… I went into her room before going to bed, and there was a strange rope tied to the bedpost… that’s what I said.”Oh, that was it.When Angela sent me on an errand late at night.Miriam nodded and called another maid.“Anne, when you were working at the hospital. You said there was some kind of crazy person there.”“Huh? Ye-yes.”“Then, you told me what you did to him, the crazy person, you tied his wrists to the bedposts.”Anne looked back and forth between Miriam and me. When she hesitated, Miriam couldn’t stand it anymore and tapped her on the shoulder.“I-I tied his wrists so he wouldn’t wander around at night because he was a sleepwalker. Sometimes he would go into the women’s ward with his eyes wide open.”“Oh my!”Miriam pretended to be surprised, disgustingly.While I was silent for a moment, Miriam sneered.“Then you know why this kid ties her wrists to the bedpost before going to bed?”“…….”“Doesn’t that mean she’s mentally ill? Like a patient at that hospital.”In an instant, the kitchen atmosphere became cold as if cold water had been poured over.Miriam spoke exaggeratedly, as if she were acting in front of an audience.“Why did the head maid give a single room to a newbie? You guys were curious too. Why on earth does the head maid like her? She even told her to shower during work hours?”Did you still have a grudge over that incident? How petty.I frowned, but Miriam seemed even more amused by my reaction.“It wasn’t about favoritism, it was about pity. If you don’t tie yourself to the bedpost, you’ll be a wandering lunatic. You guys read the newspaper sometimes, right? It’s about crazy people wandering around in their sleep!”Miriam looked around at her coworkers, trying to get them to agree.But the awkward atmosphere did not ease.Miriam was the only one who was confident.Angela looked at my face and grabbed Miriam’s sleeve tightly.“Le-let’s stop talking about it, Miriam. What’s a good topic to talk about in front of the kids…”“Oh, Angela. Did you forget? You were the one who brought it up first. You said you saw her tie up her bed with a rope like a hospital patient. Does she always tie it up like that before she goes to sleep? She’s really weird, right?”“…….”“Can a lunatic like that be out there? Shouldn’t she be locked up in a hospital and tied up tightly?”Miriam’s eyes turned to me. The others’ eyes were the same. There was no excessive malice or devilishness in Miriam’s eyes.This situation is just amusing. A situation where you can grab someone’s weakness and tease them.‘Sometimes there are people like that. People who can’t get past someone’s weakness.’I slowly closed my eyes and opened them.I thought about how I hadn’t been more careful about hiding my room when Angela opened it.But I didn’t blame myself. It wasn’t my fault.It was Miriam’s fault for clearly searching someone else’s room.I made eye contact with Miriam again. I took a step forward and asked in a low voice.“… Do you really want to hear my story?”