Chapter 73
Elysia led Marie to a small sitting room.
The room was different from the large sitting room used to receive guests.
It was located deep inside the estate and was quiet, with the garden trees visible through the window.
It had once been a room they hardly ever used.
When Monbel was poor, they often kept it closed to save on heating costs, and now that there were too many guests, they used it as a place for quiet conversations instead.
Marie heard the door close.
Strangely, the sound seemed loud.
Elysia did not sit down first.
Marie didn't sit down either.
The two of them stood facing each other for a moment.
In the past, Marie would have been the first to laugh lightly and ask what was going on.
But now, that was difficult.
Marie didn't know how much Elysia had heard of what she'd just said in Kyle's room, but one thing was important.
Elysia knew.
That Marie liked Kyle.
And Marie knew too.
How Elysia viewed Kyle.
Elysia spoke first.
“I won't ask what you just said to Kyle.”
“It seems like you already have a pretty good idea.”
“Yes.”
Elysia did not deny it.
That composure pricked at Marie's heart even more.
“Then I'll get straight to the point.”
Marie drew in a breath.
“I've liked Kyle for a long time. I may have talked with him longer than you have, been close to him longer, and gone through more things with him. At first, I didn't even realize I liked him, but at some point, I did. I'm the first to get annoyed when Kyle says something ridiculous in the kitchen, the first to get angry when he works himself to the point of collapsing, and the one who feels strangely proud whenever he's praised by odd people.”
Elysia listened quietly.
Her expression did not waver.
But her fingertips had stiffened slightly.
Marie noticed.
“You can't deny that, can you?”
Elysia lowered her eyes for a moment, then nodded.
“I can't. You've been close to Kyle longer than I have. You've spent the most time with him in the kitchen, you speak to him most easily, and you're the person he acts the least guarded around.”
Marie was a little surprised by that.
She had expected Elysia to admit it, but she hadn't expected her to say it so directly.
That made Marie even less willing to back down.
“The way you elevated Kyle to a baronet.”
Marie's voice grew slightly lower.
“Was that because of the difference in status?”
The air in the room seemed to stop.
Elysia did not answer immediately.
It was something she could deny.
For his service to the family, for the restaurant's standing, because it was necessary before the imperial banquet, and to establish Monbel's name properly.
There were many reasons.
And in truth, all of those reasons were valid.
But that wasn't what Marie was asking.
Whether it was to shorten the distance between Kyle and Elysia.
That was the question.
Elysia spoke slowly.
“I won't deny it.”
Marie pressed her lips together.
Elysia did not avert her gaze.
“Kyle isn't the kind of person who would act differently toward me just because I gave him a title, suddenly put on airs as a noble, or calculate the distance between us. But the world doesn't think like Kyle does. People will see a difference between the future Countess of Monbel growing close to Kyle, a commoner chef, and the Countess of Monbel growing close to Baronet Kyle Prat.”
“So?”
“So I wanted to protect him.”
Elysia's voice trembled very slightly.
“And to be honest, I had a cowardly thought too. I wanted Kyle to become someone who could sit at the same table as me. No matter what other people said, I wanted to make it impossible for them to say that we couldn't be together because of our status.”
Marie smiled quietly.
“Then what about me?”
Elysia's eyes wavered.
Marie continued.
“You can elevate Kyle to a baronet and bring him closer to you. But what about me? I'm still just Marie. A commoner without a surname. In terms of status, I'm still below Kyle, and far below you.”
“Marie.”
“But here's the interesting thing.”
Marie deliberately put on a slight smile.
“Even so, I'm closer to Kyle in terms of status. At least until now, we were both commoners. We worked in the kitchen together, cursed together, ate the same staff meals, and sweated in front of the same pots. You can pull Kyle up, but you can't erase the fact that I stood on the same level as him.”
Elysia clenched her teeth.
Seeing her face, Marie found herself unable to speak.
She thought Elysia was angry.
But she wasn't.
It wasn't merely jealousy.
It was the face of someone dressed as a noble when those clothes suddenly bound her.
“Being a noble.”
Elysia spoke in a very low voice.
“It's so inconvenient at times like this.”
Marie did not answer.
Elysia looked out the window for a moment.
“I used everything I had to save Monbel. Our name, etiquette, high society, and the way nobles spend money for the sake of appearances. I learned all of it, used it, and now I'm fairly good at it. But when it comes to simply liking someone, all of it feels like shackles. Whenever I take a step closer, my status follows me, and whenever I give him something, it becomes difficult to tell whether it's affection or power.”
Marie grew quieter.
Those words hurt.
Elysia hadn't given Kyle his title solely as a calculation.
Love, power, protection, and desire were all tangled together.
A noble can't even keep her own heart to herself, Marie thought.
Elysia remained silent for a while, then looked at Marie again.
“Marie.”
“Yes.”
“I want to give you a baronetcy too.”
Marie blinked.
“What?”
“I intend to elevate Bernard to a baron. At first, it may be closer to an honorary title. But you need noble status. Monbel is about to become a count's house, and Maison Monbel is becoming something like a symbol of the Empire's culinary culture. If the key people who actually run that restaurant remain mere commoners without surnames, high society will certainly look for some strange way to find fault with us.”
Marie couldn't answer immediately; the words had come too suddenly.
Elysia continued without wavering.
“You hold the highest position among Maison Monbel's serving staff. You watch the flow of guests, direct the employees, connect Kyle with the kitchen, and sometimes read the guests' reactions before I do. In practice, you're the person who commands the dining hall. That position needs a name now.”
“My lady.”
“And.”
Elysia swallowed very slightly.
“Let's compete on equal footing.”
Marie stopped at those words.
Elysia's voice was quiet, but there was clear resolve in it.
“Who has been close to Kyle longer, who understands him better, and who he needs more. I don't want to decide those things by throwing my status around. To be honest, it's not that I don't want to. It would be convenient to use the fact that I'm his employer, soon to be a countess, and the person who can grant Kyle a title.”
Elysia gave a bitter smile.
“But if I did that, I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself.”
Marie opened her mouth, then closed it.
Elysia said,
“So I don't want to stop you from approaching Kyle because of status. It's necessary for running the restaurant, and it's also a reward for everything you've done. And as for my personal feelings…”
She paused for a moment.
“I don't want to win unfairly.”
Marie couldn't say anything for a long while.
A baronetcy.
A title—for Marie, who had no surname.
Only moments ago, she had gone to Kyle and said that she wished she could use his surname.
And now Elysia was saying that she could give Marie a surname too.
No, she had said she would give her a title beyond a surname.
It was absurd.
But how many sensible things had ever happened at Maison Monbel?
Marie slowly exhaled.
“You understand that this is separate from running the restaurant, right?”
Elysia raised her head.
Marie smiled a little.
“I understand that giving me a title would help me command the dining hall, improve Maison Monbel's prestige, and keep the guests from looking down on me. You may be right about all that. But this conversation isn't only about those things, is it? It's about Kyle.”
Elysia did not deny it.
“Yes.”
“Then I'll be honest too. I'm not giving up on Kyle.”
“I know.”
“And just because you give me a title doesn't mean I'll thank you and step aside.”
“That's not what I wanted.”
“I know.”
Marie lowered her gaze for just a moment.
Then she looked at Elysia again.
“Even so, I'm really glad you're my employer.”
Elysia's eyes widened slightly.
Marie gave an awkward little smile.
“I mean it. In the past, I followed you simply because you were my lady. Whether Monbel collapsed or not, I honestly didn't have many options. But things are different now. You're frightening, sometimes far too much like a merchant, and I get annoyed when you're with Kyle, but… I still like that you're our lady.”
Elysia looked at Marie without speaking.
Marie continued.
“You never treated me as just a maid. You let me carry dishes out, gave me opportunities to explain things in front of guests, and even when you scolded me for making mistakes, you trusted me just as much. You're still doing that now. You could simply push me aside, but instead you're talking to me alone like this.”
Elysia's expression softened slightly.
“Me too.”
She spoke slowly.
“I think I'm lucky to work with you.”
Marie smiled.
“Really?”
“Yes. You didn't run away even when Monbel was on the verge of collapse, you were always the first to follow whenever Kyle did something absurd, and you were the quickest to read what the guests were thinking. Maison Monbel is not running like this because of Kyle's cooking alone. It was possible because you were here.”
Marie blinked for no particular reason.
It was because she felt as though she might cry.
Feeling that showing it would mean losing, she deliberately spoke in a teasing tone.
“Then if I receive a title, will I get a surname too?”
“Of course.”
“What should my name be?”
Elysia thought for a moment.
“You can choose. If you want, we can create a name with Monbel's backing, or you can take inspiration from the path you've walked.”
Marie closed her lips.
The words she'd just said to Kyle came back to her.
That she wished she could use his surname.
That feeling had not disappeared.
But Elysia's proposal had a different meaning.
It would not be a name created by borrowing Kyle's surname, but a name Marie herself would gain.
Marie spoke slowly.
“I'll think about it.”
Elysia nodded.
“Take your time.”
The words sounded strangely similar to what Marie had left Kyle with.
Marie gave a small chuckle.
Elysia extended her hand.
“Marie.”
Marie looked at the hand, then took it.
Elysia's hand was cold, while Marie's was slightly warm.
“On equal footing.”
Elysia said it.
Marie nodded.
“On equal footing.”
It was a brief handshake.
But it contained quite a lot of promises.
If Kyle found out, he would clutch his head again.
At that thought, the two of them laughed almost simultaneously.
Elysia said,
“Let's not tell Kyle yet.”
“You mean what we just talked about? Of course.”
Marie nodded with a laugh.
“After what I said to him, he definitely won't be able to rest, even though I told him to.”
Elysia let out a small sigh.
“I know. He's a man who can't even rest.”
The two of them walked toward the sitting-room door.
The hallway was quiet.
But the silence was different now.
It was no longer cold and sharp, but a silence in which they were taking a moment to catch their breath.
Before opening the door, Marie spoke quietly.
“My lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Even so, I really won't back down.”
Elysia turned to look at Marie.
Then she gave a very faint smile.
“Neither will I.”
Marie liked that answer.
It was a little frightening, a little irritating, and a little reassuring.
The problem now was Kyle.
The man who was uncannily good at cooking and business, but always one beat slow when it came to people's feelings.
Marie thought to herself,
‘Kyle, you're really in trouble now.’