Chapter 38
In Miss Baba’s study, Castor retrieved a letter and showed it to me. It was clearly stamped with Knight Commander Edna’s seal. The letter explicitly stated that she would give one zombie core to the zombie investigator upon arrival.
“Is this enough proof?”
I examined the letter closely, smelling it, touching the seal, and recalling my visit to Knight Commander Edna’s office. The handwriting on the letter matched the handwriting on the documents I had seen there.
There was plenty of other evidence proving Miss Baba and Knight Commander Edna’s friendship. There was even a portrait of them together, and a stack of towels commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Paladin Order.
“I suppose we can believe that Miss Baba is a friend of Knight Commander Edna. The young master has the zombie cores, so I’ll get one from him later and give it to you directly.”
Castor’s face had been slightly flushed since we entered Miss Baba’s study. As expected, love and crime couldn’t be hidden.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and asked directly,
“Castor. You have a crush on Miss Baba, don’t you?”
“…”
His face turned bright red, and he couldn’t speak. After a moment of avoiding my gaze, he retorted,
“What about you? You like your master, don’t you?”
“Me?”
His gaze flickered nervously.
“Even though you’re a doll…”
“What’s wrong with being a doll? There’s even a saying, ‘as pretty as a doll.’ I’m not just as pretty as a doll, I am a doll, so there’s a chance the young master might like me.”
Castor ignored my words. He traced his fingers along a large leather chair with a wistful expression. My face, on the other hand, contorted in disgust. Miss Baba’s chair had a huge drawing of dragons biting each other, along with dangling skull decorations. I would have thrown it out before even buying it.
“The Master doesn’t see me as a man.”
Castor said, stroking the terrifying skull decoration. I swallowed my urge to tell him to throw out that monstrous furniture and patted his shoulder.
“You two seem perfect for each other.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No, I’m serious. Your… tastes, you know. Your tastes…”
My gaze was fixed on the skull chair. It was starting to grow on me…?
“What about you? I heard you confess your love to your master earlier. Are those genuine feelings? You were even talking nonsense about becoming the Countess.”
“Nonsense?!”
I placed my hands on my hips.
“At least say it’s unrealistic!”
Turning my back on the strangely appealing skull chair, I tilted my head and considered my feelings. It was strange that I, a doll, could love the young master. Feelings must reside in the soul.
“I like the young master. I think I love him. That’s why I like my job. As a maid, I can always be by his side. But I also like the idea of becoming the Countess. Because she’s special.”
I spun around and grabbed Castor’s wrist. He flinched like a rabbit startled by a tiger.
“Your hands are cold!”
“Right, I understand now! I want to be the young master’s one and only precious person. Both as Anna and as Estella. I’m a unique friend to him, but I’m still replaceable.”
There were countless maids working in the Count’s household. Many left after getting married, and many new ones arrived. I was just an “ordinary maid” who received special treatment because I had worked there for a long time and was the same age as the young master.
It was the same with Estella. He had many other dolls besides me. Not just monster-like golems, but also quite a few human-shaped dolls. I was just occupying the spot beside him because I was a chatterbox.
One of his other creations might suddenly come to life and display even greater abilities than me.
I couldn’t be satisfied as just a maid or just a creation. I needed a stronger, more definite reason to stay by his side. If there was a better position than Countess, I would aim for that.
Because I—
“I want to always be by his side. Many interesting things happen when I’m with him, and his occasional displays of affection give me the will to live.”
Wasn’t this love? I hoped he felt the same way. I wanted us to be the most special people to each other.
“You feel the same way, don’t you?”
I grabbed both of Castor’s wrists and asked, almost threateningly. He had to agree. Love stories always needed companions. It would be wonderful to share our worries, build a friendship, and support each other’s love lives.
Miss Baba was definitely a great Countess candidate. But I had also decided to become a contender.
Wasn’t setting up your rival with someone else also a strategy? The competition had already begun! A secret competition that no one knew about…
“Of course I want to always be by Master Baba’s side…”
“Then we’ll cooperate!”
“C-cooperate? This isn’t cooperation, it’s coercion.”
I leaned closer. Castor recoiled like a turtle, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Fine! Fine! Just stop looking at me like that!”
“I’m looking at you beautifully! A creation made by the young master can’t be anything but beautiful.”
I released his wrists and placed my hands on his shoulders.
“Do you remember what you said earlier?”
“W-what did I say?”
“You said there were helpful books in the library. Books with strategies to seduce a Count.”
“I don’t remember saying that…”
“Let’s go! Lead the way! We can do this!”
We left Miss Baba’s study and headed for the fifth floor of the library.
“Are you sure there are helpful books here?”
I tilted my head, looking around the bookshelves. Unlike what I had expected, there weren’t any books like “How to Capture a Count’s Heart” or “Strategies for a Maid to Cling to a Count.”
“Are you sure you’re looking for the right kind of books?”
Castor pulled out a book and handed it to me. It had an ordinary title, “100 Ways to Be Good at Love.” I flipped through the pages skeptically. The book was quite worn.
“You’ve read this book a lot, haven’t you?”
Castor averted his gaze slightly.
“I’ve read it once or twice.”
“This book seems completely useless.”
I slammed the book shut. Castor flinched. He seemed timid despite his size.
“If this book was helpful, would Miss Baba still be Miss Baba? She would be Mrs. Baba. You’ve read this book so much that it’s falling apart, and yet there’s been no progress. It’s useless.”
“That’s not true!”
“Then has there been any progress after reading this book? Have you kissed her? Held her hand?”
“…”
As expected, he couldn’t answer. I shook my head.
“I was wrong. You can’t understand reality just by reading books! Reality is much harsher!”
I placed the book back on the shelf and put my arm around Castor’s shoulders.
“Why are you acting so scary, like a street thug extorting money…”
“Hey, don’t you want to kiss Miss Baba?”
“Even if you say that so suddenly…”
“I’ve tried everything written in that book. Pouring her warm tea, going to the theater together, helping her with her hobbies, visiting her home.”
“That’s all stuff a maid would do.”
“The point is, we have to be more proactive.”
I, the great Anna, I mean, Estella, couldn’t back down now.
“Even if I don’t become the Countess, I should at least have the memory of trying my best, shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I?!”
“Fine, just don’t grab me by the collar!”
“Let’s start with a kiss.”
“What?”
I checked the time. I had to serve the young master tea and discuss our schedule in about two hours.
“I can’t disturb the young master’s reading for the next two hours. So let’s try to get you to kiss Miss Baba first. And then I’ll…”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Castor pulled away from me, fuming.
“Do you think I don’t want to? Do you think love just happens if you force it?!”
“But you haven’t achieved anything so far. Have you ever been proactive? Have you ever confessed your feelings?”
“You! You!”
I didn’t have much to say either.
“I’ve confessed my feelings, I’ve said I want to become human, and I’ve said I want to be the Countess. But the young master doesn’t seem interested.”
“Oh…”
“Setting the mood like you do isn’t the answer, and constantly confessing like I do isn’t the answer either. Then all that’s left is physical contact!”
“Isn’t your logic a bit too radical?”
“Logic isn’t important when it comes to love!”
“That statement itself is illogical…”
I crossed my arms and thought about it. If a kiss was too radical, how about holding hands? We could start with something less drastic.
“How about we start with holding hands?”
Castor sighed, his expression relaxing.
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard so far.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever held hands with the young master.”
He had grabbed me, tied me up, and held me by the collar, but we had never held hands affectionately. Perhaps holding a doll’s hand wasn’t exciting for a human, but we should at least try.
“Castor! Should I go first, or you? Holding hands, I mean.”
“…Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Okay. Best of three.”
I rolled up my sleeves.
While Estella was playing rock-paper-scissors with Castor, Baba and Lupin were together. The enchanting witch perched on the desk and whispered in Lupin’s ear,
“Count, I know. The dark secret you’re hiding.”