Chapter 21
-Don’t Follow Strangers
Life doesn’t always go as planned.
“So?”
“Huh?”
“I’m the one who wants to ask. If you’re Anna, what difference does it make?”
He sounded like a moody teenager staring out the window on a rainy day.
“Well… your attitude should change! Take back what you said earlier, about me having to stay a doll.”
“No.”
“Stop acting like a child!”
The young master crossed his legs and stared at me. His once-boyish face had become more masculine without me realizing it. His rounded jawline had sharpened, and the bridge of his nose had become more defined.
But his petulant expression and slightly melancholic eyes remained the same.
He wore the face of the cute friend I knew, yet he kept acting like a stranger.
“You don’t know how I’ve lived these past few years since Anna left.”
“How have you been living?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Come on, I won’t know if you don’t tell me! It might be awkward now, but it’s time for you to accept that I’m Anna. Shall we practice? Sharing hidden feelings.”
The young master, with a haughty and petulant expression, beckoned me closer. I should play hard to get so he wouldn’t think I was an easy maid.
But I was an easy maid. I obediently moved to the seat beside him.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and stared at me. It was the same gentle gaze I had known since childhood. His expression was melancholic, but his gaze was as warm as it had always been.
“You’re ugly.”
Scratch that about the warmth. I glared at him. One moment he was saying I was cute because he made me, and the next he was calling me ugly. It was absurd. Why did he say such mean things while acting so affectionate?
“Excuse me, you made me! You’re spitting in your own face!”
“You’re not my type. You’re Anna’s type.”
“Hmm?”
He suddenly took my hand, intertwined his fingers with mine, and placed our joined hands on the seat. He gently squeezed my hand, stroking the back of it with his index finger and pressing down with his thumb. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
“I wanted to make you look like Anna. Although I couldn’t do it exactly as I wanted because she kept nagging me.”
His face, as he reminisced, looked softer and more relaxed than usual.
“There was no one more beautiful than Anna.”
Something inside me sank. The mana flowing through my inorganic doll body reacted to his words, stirring restlessly.
I gently tugged at his hand and muttered,
“This is bad… With taste like that, how will you ever get married?”
“But I don’t dislike you.”
He suddenly leaned closer.
“Wh-what?”
As I pulled back, he leaned in again, as if he was about to kiss me. His usually cynical blue eyes sparkled with a different light.
“You.”
He didn’t dislike me. Why couldn’t he just say he liked me!
“Anna must have wanted to be like Estella, you.”
“Well, I’m telling you, I am Anna.”
“Right, let’s say you are. That must be Anna’s feelings as well. Perhaps she wanted to be a strong, healthy, mature woman like you, who doesn’t get sick. Those feelings are what animate you, Estella. Anna was prone to colds, short, and cute like a squirrel…”
“Ugh!”
Startled by his sudden words, I pushed his chin away with my hand.
“Ouch! Hey!”
“Save those cheesy lines for your future Countess!”
He suddenly looked dejected and lowered his head. He was the one who startled me, yet he was acting pitiful, so I ended up giving in again. I took his hand, which was hanging awkwardly in the air.
“I don’t need a Countess.”
“Not this again…”
“The person I want as my wife is now…”
Now? Now? There’s no one now? Is that what he was about to say?
My hopes, which I had tried to suppress, surged again. I wondered if he felt the same way about me. Perhaps he had always wanted to be with me too.
It would be a lie to say I had never wanted to stand by his side as an equal partner.
But now, as a doll, that was impossible.
“Young Master, did you perhaps…”
Like Anna?
I wanted to ask him directly, but I hesitated. Because I already knew the answer.
Of course he liked her. Ah, he liked her!
Whether it was as a friend or as someone he wanted to kiss, that was a different story!
We had been friends since childhood. The previous Countess had brought me from the circus to be his playmate. He was eight, and I was seven.
He was shy and didn’t get along well with other noble children his age. His exceptional magical talent and beautiful appearance often made him the target of jealousy. So the people who approached him were always extreme.
They either tried to befriend him with ulterior motives or bullied him out of jealousy.
It was Anna’s job to protect the frail young master. I was even taller than him for a while, and I was definitely stronger. There was a time like that.
So, of course, he liked me. He would often say, “I feel safe when you’re by my side.”
But when did it change? There were more instances where he helped me than I protected him. I naturally developed a slight crush on him. Of course, I quickly suppressed those feelings.
Holding hands as lovers, not friends, was an impossible dream for me. I knew that. I was just a maid, and he was a prominent Count’s son, a talent coveted by the Magic Society.
Being perceptive, I decided to wish him happiness and desperately tried to find him a good bride. It was all for his happiness!
But now, even after being reborn as a doll, he was still confusing me.
“You’ll stay by my side. Even if you don’t look like Anna, even if you’re not Anna. You remind me of her. From the moment we made you together, you remind me of every moment Anna was with me, nagging me relentlessly.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. My mind was overloaded, and I hesitated.
So, did he like me, or did he like the memories of Anna?
Perhaps this was what he meant by “not disliking”!
“I don’t have anything left to remember Anna by. Her traces are fading with time. Please…”
He took my hand in both of his and brought it close to his forehead, his expression pleading.
I had thought he seemed brighter these past few days, but he still seemed fragile. He was like he had been on the day I was reborn as a doll, crying as he repaired me.
“The thought of you leaving me too drives me crazy. You’re the most vivid and warm trace of Anna that I have left. Please don’t say you want to become human. Humans can leave at any time. Just stay a doll, Estella.”
“…”
I had intended to scold him and put him in his place, but now my heart softened.
In the end, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and patted his back. I had lost this battle too. This was the power of social status.
Seeing him so dejected made me want to comfort and help him. I was a maid to the core. It was my calling. I couldn’t give up a job like this. Lifelong employment, a stable job, wasn’t easy to come by.
That’s why I was being so soft-hearted. There were no ulterior motives behind me resting my forehead against his shoulder and patting his broad back. Our young master was truly a pure soul. I really shouldn’t have any ulterior motives…
“Grieve as much as you need, Young Master. Even when you’re at your most vulnerable, I’ll always be by your side. I don’t want to say I’m replacing Anna, but I’m here for you. Because I’m your new maid.”
His arms wrapped around my waist and then slowly moved upwards. He cupped the back of my head and hugged me tightly, which was incredibly endearing. Was it okay for a man older than me to be this cute, both in my human life and my doll life?
“I’ll never leave your side, Young Master. Never.”
He patted my back gratefully.
“You have to listen to me. You can’t leave my side. I can’t function without a capable maid like you.”
“Yes! Understood!”
“Don’t trust those who say they can turn you into a human. It’s impossible, even with dark magic. If it were possible, I would have already done it.”
“As expected, your confidence is almost excessive.”
“I’m just stating facts.”
His voice softened, becoming gentle and warm.
“I don’t like how those crazy royals keep coveting you. Now that Anna is gone, I can’t lose my creation too.”
He told me not to go near anyone else and to stay by his side. Staying by his side was my job in the first place. So I replied, “Of course, I understand,” but his reaction was strange.
We continued the same exchange until we arrived at the shop. He kept saying I had to stay by his side, and I kept asking why he kept asking when I had already agreed.
“I don’t trust you.”
Those words ignited my maid pride!
“Don’t worry! I’ll stick to you like glue!”
“Don’t follow strangers if they call you. And don’t let them pick you up like Umbram did.”
“Yes!”
“Ignore them even if they tempt you with becoming human.”
“Yes!”
“What if they offer you snacks?”
“I’ll take the snacks and come right back!”
“No, don’t even take them! You can’t even eat.”
We didn’t know then. That in less than half a day, I would follow a stranger and suffer the consequences…