The Count and the Maid - Chapter 53

Naturally, Shada was gently moved to the Count’s room in the mansion, washed thoroughly, took a sedative, and fell asleep exhausted. And when she opened her eyes, it was dark outside the window.

Not knowing what she was looking for, Shada looked around in a dazed state where her sleepiness and the medicine in her system had not completely disappeared.

“Are you thirsty?” [t1v: always]

The tips of her ears perked up. Shada turned her head to look at the man who had just walked out of the bathroom, drying his wet hair with a towel.

She glanced at his wide open white collar, smelling a mixture of the fragrant soapy scent of damp body pricking her hazy nose. [t1v: see, what did I tell you?]

Huey approached quickly and looked at Shada with a blank expression except for a faint frown on his forehead.

He looked like green-eyed child who was obviously worried.

“Are you okay? Why don’t you sleep some more? It is not yet time to wake up.”

With the towel hanging around his neck, he smiled gently and put a hand on Shada’s forehead.

In the meantime, she obtained time to closely observe him as he approached. Long, extended eyebrows were uncomfortably curved, and a well-shaped mouth was visible under the tip of his nose.

His green eyes that fell down were as beautiful as the leaves on a summer day. It was even better that those eyes were exclusively directed towards her.

“Master.”

Her voice was rusty. Huey furrowed his brow more and, without saying a word, procured a glass of water and slowly brought it to her lips. Shada took it quietly and drank without pushing it away. She was thirsty. [t1v: heh. heh.]

She drank the water elegantly like a young deer because her face  stinged with Huey’s intense gaze.

Shada was always shy, but strangely, now she was thrilled and excited about it. It was a strange change. Maybe because she was still drunk on drugs.

But Shada grabbed the hem of his shirt, as he rose to pour more water into the glass. She didn’t want to miss a single moment. Despite her weak strength, Huey stopped immediately and looked down at her. When she met those clear green eyes, she was strangely thirsty again [t1v: take a shot], even though she had just drank water.

“Master.”

“Yes. Miss Shada.”

“What did you mean, by what you said earlier?”

Those gentle eyes mixed with concern tightened for a moment. It was a subtle change, but Shada who was so closely observing him, she didn’t dare blink, noticed it.

It was an obsessive concentration that would have been impossible for her before.

Huey, who still looked peaceful on the outside, asked casually:

“What do you mean?”

“You said that to that man. You let him go once.”

Her senses were very clear, but the corners of his head were still numb.

It was a strange feeling. But it wasn’t bad.

His sharp eyes staring at her made her exhilaratingly flustered.

Shada mumbled, not knowing what she was talking about.

“….‘lacking the ability to learn’… ….”

“Miss Shada.”

“Like a person who took care of me once before…….”

Huey silently stroked Shada’s pale cheek. It was a careful and thick touch, as if he was caressing pottery. The place was still, and only his soft, submerged breath revolved around her like a lullaby.

Shada whispered, closing her eyes, feeling serene.

“Are you the one who saved me from him in the past?”

He didn’t respond, and instead stroked her hair and earlobes with his fingers. She grabbed the back of his hand and buried her face in it.

She felt Huey pause and stiffen.

“Isn’t it Master?”

Was it?

“I… I wish it was Master.”

Shada’s unfiltered inner feelings came out of her lips like a complaint. They were like soap bubbles rising, transparent and soft.

Shada rubbed her cheek like a puppy against his rough fingers. His breathing, which had been constant, had a slightly different tempo.

He suddenly lifted the tip of her chin, his fingertips passing through the nape of her neck.

Huey came closer and looked down at her. Something that might be a smile or a shadow playing tricks on her lingered on his face, which was shimmering in the dimly lit room.

“The person who saved Miss Shada would be the good lady who called the guard.”

“You know about that?”

“I know. There’s no way I don’t know.”

He grimaced. His eyes dimmed as he thought gruesome reflections.

“If you ask me if I am the idiot who couldn’t come forward while you were being insulted and borrowed the name of an acquaintance to drive out the crazy dog, yes. You are right.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I was so confused about my feelings for you back then.”

Huey answered honestly.

His expression was calm, but his fury had not yet subsided.

She disliked it, Shada carefully pressed her finger against his hardened cheek. It quickly relaxed as softly as ice being touched by the sun.

Still, there was regret in Huey’s eyes as he looked at Shada. Shada whispered softly as she grabbed both of his cheeks while he didn’t move his hand from her right cheek, which was swollen and red after being beaten. She fixed her gaze on to him.

“He was missing one hand.”

Did he do it?