The Sleepless Night of the Maid

The Sleepless Night of the Maid — Chapter 50

“Who’s the owner of Gallahan merchant group?” Eva asked while draping a thick shawl on Cecil’s shoulder. Sometimes, when getting off the wagon, a large luxury carriage made of ebony in the distance was noticeable. It was said that employees couldn’t be there, so it must be the owner of this merchant group. Every time Eva saw it, sometimes she wondered about the identity of the person in the carriage.

“I don’t know either. There was a man named Sean Gallahan, who ran a business in Montana before. At that time, it wasn’t this big, but I heard that his successor, Rex Gallahan, grew it to this extent.”

“Rex Gallahan?”

“I’m not sure if it’s his son or nephew. Apparently, he came back from studying in the Izmir Kingdom, he must be a talented young man. He’s probably the richest man in the Empire now. Because I heard some nobles borrow money from him, too.”

“He seems like an amazing person.”

The Izmir Kingdom was on a continent that took several days by boat to travel from the Hemblin Empire. There was also a status system there, but to some extent, commoners could recieve education at the academy along with the nobles. However, it was rare for people from other continents to be accepted as it was hard for foreigners to study due to the difficulty of the native language. It was incredible to finish studying through such a process, but Eva found it odd as to why he returned to the Hemblin Empire that was immense with class barriers. Of course, the more people of gentry class like that, the better it would be for the Empire.

“‘Amazing’… don’t say that word. There are rumors spreading around that he’s a person who has no blood or tears.”

“Really?”

“Rumors are bound to be exaggerated, but not something to be ignored completely. Merchants are naturally good at calculating. In order to grow the merchant group like this, he must have the backing of powerful people, which means a backstage deal happened.”

“I see.”

“My lady, I wanted you to meet the son of a good noble and get married. But now I’ve changed my mind.”

“Hmm…” Eva smiled faintly and lowered her head. Cecil’s saying this meant that she gave up marrying Eva to a nobleman.

Living 5 years at Baronet Biti’s house was the darkest time of her life, but even so, Cecil didn’t give up her wish about Eva’s marriage. When the young Eva grew up to be a beautiful woman, she began to ask around noble children here and there with her own connections. Despite Eva’s situation, she naturally thought Eva should marry a nobleman. Everyone knew the chance was slim, it was only Cecil who was blind. Because Cecil was trapped in the preconceived notion that Eva was the prettiest and upright in the world.

Cecil was ashamed about that, but Eva was a little bitter to hear that she gave up. It indicated that she could no longer live as Eva Bell Turner Massies. Evidence that she was a criminal for the rest of her life.

“It doesn’t matter who, as long as he’s a good person. Someone who’s virtuous and will take care of you.”

“Nanny, I…”

“You mustn’t lose hope. Like the morning comes after night, this painful time will someday pass. A miracle will come if you believe it, so this might be solved one day.”

‘It can’t pass by, this pain is…’ Eva retained to say that. If that hope gave Cecil a strength to live, who was Eva to take it away? She was astonished at Cecil for having such hope in a moment like this, while at the same time grateful because Cecil didn’t abandon her. However, she was apologetic for not being able to make it happen.

“Let’s head back now, my lady. If you get exposed to cold air a lot, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Okay.” Hand in hand, both of them raised to their feet.

Eva realized that the temperature decreased as she went north. Of course, the area where she lived had a mild climate, but autumn was deepening in most regions in the Empire. The season when her father left.

Eva raised her head and looked up at the sky. The twinkling stars filled the black sky. As a result of when a person died, the soul ascended to the sky and became a star.

“Nanny.” She batted her eyes while calling Cecil. She didn’t want to bring it up on purpose but words as heavy as stone lingered. She was terrified as it was something she couldn’t refer to.

“Did Todd become a star?”

“A star, my foot. He must’ve gone to hell because he was doing bad things.” Cecil brushed off Eva’s words at once. Heavy darkness quickly fell on the faces of the two women.

“But Todd’s family must be very sad.”

“That might be true. After all, they’re family.”

“That’s right. And because family…”

Eva’s voice contained deep blame to herself and emptiness. Although in her view Baronet Biti’s family had a strange relationship with each other, they were still a family. In the end, they would defend their family members even though they hated and ridiculed one another.

Setting aside what they had done to her, she could guess how much sadness they would fall into. How hateful they might be for her to run away after committing that tremendous thing.

Suddenly, a great pang transpired as if she had been beaten in the chest.

“I’m not going to be a star either. I’ll go to hell, too.”

“My lady.” Cecil gave a squeeze to Eva’s hand with a worried look. “I know how hard it is for you right now. But you’ve come all the way here because of my greed. So that guilt is shared and our responsibility. That’s why we’ve to repent for the rest of our lives.”

“…Okay.”

“Also, I go wherever you go, too. Whether it’s hell or the end of the world.”

“Thank you, nanny.”

Although her heart still twinged with pain, the warmth that Cecil imbued relieved it. Difficult times would come by in the future. When someone was in pain, someone else would ease it, and someone who received the help would also soothe another person. She was lucky that she wasn’t alone. Being able to walk through hell with the most trusted and dependable person, misfortune wasn’t completely merciless after all.

Once they returned to the campsite, the fires in the brazier were almost extinguished. No shadows were seen, not quite sure if the guards were resting or not. They looked around while holding their breath and approached their wagon carefully.

The moment Eva opened the entrance and lifted Cecil,

“I found them. The two rats.”

With the voice of a young man, tough-looking guards revealed themselves.