Red Tape

“Ah…”

A low exclamation escaped through the gap between his lips without him even realizing it.

Liam had never seen someone so beautiful in his life.

The young man coming down from the stairs has blond hair with a hint of silver in it. It looked like the feathers of a bird, or like the thin gold threads that his mother cherished and used only when embroidering the stamens of a flower.

His cheeks are as white as the snow that had fallen on his palm earlier, and his tightly closed lips are as red as rose.

Above all, what captured Liam’s eye most intensely are the piercingly blue, almost transparent, jewel-like eyes.

Even the clearest sea in the Ferwick, where he lived, lacked this mysterious glow.

His eyes, which appeared indifferent, listless, and emotionless, narrowed slightly as he turned towards Liam.

And the expressionless face looked more like a carved sculpture than a human face. Liam couldn’t take his eyes off that face, as if his eyes were glued to it.

Liam unknowingly took a step back, feeling as if a cool chill was pressing down on his shoulders.

At his feet was a shallow staircase that he had not noticed. Liam lost his balance momentarily when his heel caught on the ledge of the stairs.

As he struggled to keep himself from falling, one of his fingers touched something smooth and hard. A porcelain vase that had been swaying precariously from side to side on the console fell to the floor.

Clang-.

A sharp, ear-piercing crack echoed throughout the large hall.

The vase shattered on the marble floor with alternating white and black tiles, scattering fragments all over.

The young man’s eyebrows, which looked as if they had been drawn with a fine brush, furrowed slightly as if they were annoyed, then returned to their original state.

While Liam stood there like a statue with his mouth open, the young man came all the way down the stairs.

There was a crunching sound from stepping on glass, and a foot in white leather boots appeared in front of him.

The maid standing next to Liam had already taken a step back, bowing her head as if it were about to fall to the ground.

It is best for servants to avoid being noticed by their masters as much as possible, and when they do encounter them, they must lower their heads or stand facing the wall so that their faces are not visible.

However, Liam, who is unfamiliar with proper etiquette in front of nobles, looked at the young man without taking a breath.

The slender young man, dressed in a dark blue frock coat, white vest, and gray pants, looked to be a few years older than Liam and was more than half a span taller.

The young man standing a few steps ahead lowered his eyelids solemnly. His eyelashes are long and thick, and they shone like gold.

His gaze moved slowly over the floor, which is a mess with broken vases, spilled water, and scattered flowers, before settling on Liam, who stood next to him.

Boots covered in dried mud and rag-like clothing layered haphazardly.

Liam flinched, feeling as if a sharp knife cutting everything where his blue eyes touched.

“Clean it”

A dry, low, emotionless voice rang out.

“Yes, young master.”

The maid standing beside the wall responded politely, and the young man called “Master” left the hall.

The maid who received the order quickly brought a broom and started cleaning up the messy floor.

Liam’s head dropped because he knew. When he told her to clean up, it wasn’t the broken vase that was reflected in the young master’s blue eyes, but him.

***

“So you’re saying that the young master saw such a sight?”

An elderly gentleman with graying hair pointed his finger at Liam. Liam’s shoulders flinched and trembled.

“… I’m sorry, Mr.Jeffrey.”

Ralph is being scolded by the butler, Jeffrey, whom he respected greatly.

Liam rolls his eyes, as if he is sitting on a thorny cushion, because he is the one who started all of this.

“Sigh…And to block the young master’s path with such an appearance? I can only imagine how much it must have annoyed his upright personality…”

Feeling as if he is a puddle of dirt or mud in the middle of the road, Liam, a sinner, lowers his head even more.

“Did you say you are Liam Jenner?”

“yes…”

“Tell me. “Why should I hire someone who has been causing this kind of trouble since day one?”

Liam looked at Jeffrey with a blank expression.

The middle-aged gentleman, with a perfect appearance without a single hair out of a place, looks wiry and sturdy. Liam felt intimidated again as he looked at him with his arms crossed defensively.

“Huh? I asked you to tell me?

“I am….strong.”

Even when I was younger, I was told at every job I worked that even though I am skinny, I am strong like an adult man.

“I grew up in the South, but I know how to chop wood….I’ve also worked as a carpenter’s assistant…”

Jeffrey, who has been persistently looking at Liam who is trailing off, clicked his tongue.

“Basic etiquette training is a mess.”

If the three servants had not quit all at once, they would never have hired the boy in front of them.

In addition, Hamilton, the gamekeeper, ran away in the middle of the night with gambling debts, so there was no one to take care of the mountain behind the house.

“I guess it can’t be helped. I guess I’ll have to borrow a cat’s paw. Hey, Ralph. Show Liam a place to stay.”

Liam’s face brightened when he learned he had been hired.

“Oh, and. It would be best for you to stay out of the master’s sight for a while. Don’t go near the mansion.”

“…yes”

The brightened face quickly became dark again. Feeling an inexplicable sense of sadness and regret, Liam left the butler’s private office.

The first floor of the mansion, which should be considered a basement, is reserved for the employee’s space.

Liam first looked around the servants’ hall. It is said that this is where the servants’ meals are provided at set times.

As soon as he got out of the building, Ralph yelled at him as if he had been waiting all the time.

He should have followed him obediently, and he was the one who made all of this mistake.

Since he had witnessed Ralph getting scolded because of him, all Liam could do was repeat the words, ‘I’m sorry,’ like a parrot.

“Ah, my mouth will hurt if I say any more. Okay, okay! Come this way!”

Liam followed Ralph, who seemed to have relieved his anger a little, and as soon as he turned around the building, he let out another gasp.

“Ah…”

There is a pond behind the mansion that is so big that it would not be an exaggeration to call it a lake. Ralph shrugged his shoulders again in front of Liam, who stopped and admired it.

“Isn’t it great? It’s an artificial pond that was dug by the first duke.”

In the cold weather, the shallow frozen surface of the water looked like glass. I could see why this place is called Glassdale.

“The weather is warm now, but in the winter, the entire pond will be frozen solid. The young master used to skate here.”

Liam’s gaze, which had been directed at Ralph, turned back to the pond.

My mother, who had worked as a maid in the capital, told me what skating was. The northern nobles enjoyed running on the ice while wearing shoes with blades attached.

I had heard about skating from my mother, who had worked as a maid in the capital. She said that northern nobles enjoy skating with blades attached to their shoes.

A beautiful man with a white face traversing the glassy pond appear before my eyes like an illusion and then disappear.

“What are you doing standing there? Come on.”

Liam, who had been standing in front of the pond, quickly followed Ralph.

It is a long walk from the mansion to Liam’s quarters; he has to cross a pond and go through a narrow path before reaching the small cabin.

“Here it is. Do you know how to light a fire in the fireplace?”

When Liam nodded, Ralph explain the meal times and some other precautions again and left as if he had nothing more to do.

The cabin built in front of the hunting grounds is a perfect place for Liam to stay alone.

There is a stove for boiling water or cooking, a small bathroom for cleaning, and a small desk next to the bed.

As Liam looked around the cabin, his eyes fell on the matchbox on the mantle above the fireplace.

He filled the fireplace with an appropriate amount of firewood and lit it with a match. The fire easily caught on the dry firewood.

Liam felt the warm air spread and laid down on the bed. The unfamiliar ceiling and rafters filled his vision.

Liam slowly opened his eyes and blinked.

“I’m in the north, Mom.”

Before his mother, Lily Jenners, died in a carriage accident, Liam traveled with her from place to place. He had been in the southern port city of Ferwick for three years before settling there.

Before his mother, Lily Jenners, died in a carriage accident, Liam traveled with her from place to place until they settled in the southern port of Ferwick, where they stayed for three years.

He had thought he would settle down there, but life took an unexpected turn.

He had been kicked out of his house because he couldn’t afford to pay rent, and he had worked odd jobs in the central region, where he had been taken by a job agency. And now he has come north.

“I saw snow. It was so cold. And what else did I see?….”

He had also seen a very beautiful person. He was gliding down the stairs like an angel descending from heaven. He looked so noble that it seemed like the world existed for him.

The maid who was carrying the coal called him…

“…Master.”

After saying the words aloud, my throat started to tickle as if I had swallowed a feather.

“Master.”

Did the feather go down my throat? This time, my stomach tickled unbearably. So much so that I wished I could reach in and scratch it.

Liam scratched his stomach. He also tried thumping his lower stomach with his fist.

But the strange tickling did not go away.