The Villain Protects the Lady!

‘It was very funny to see her being taken advantage of by the Count of Tekin and still not giving up hope.’

 

Milton chuckled as he remembered Hermia in the courtroom.

  

She hadn’t uttered a word until the moment she was dragged off to prison for a crime she hadn’t committed.

No, even as she was being dragged away, her eyes were fixed on Count Tekin.

‘Would he save her?’

‘Would he be kind to her?’

Her eyes held hope to the very end.

“Your Honor. It breaks my heart to see this happen to my family. Please, I beg you to discipline my daughter with a severe punishment.”

 A foolish hope.

It was quickly squashed.

“Okay, okay.”

She was the rare idiot who, after all the humiliation she had endured since childhood, couldn’t let go of family members who would kill her for wanting to be loved.

  

‘What can a stupid thing like her do? Nothing. Nothing at all!’

 

All she could do was get him kicked out of this mansion.

 “I’ll just go away for a while and come back. I’ll just be gone for a little while.” 

Relieved, Milton picked up his bag of important things and pushed himself to his feet.

 “Accountant?”  

A servant called from the door. It was the gardener. The gardener tipped his old hat politely and smiled.

 “I was hoping to see you, sir,”

he said,

“but it looks like we need to plant some new trees.” “I see.” 

‘What a silly old man.’

 

Though he gritted his teeth inwardly, Milton smiled outwardly.

 “This old fool still doesn’t understand the trading method you explained to me the other day. Would you mind explaining it again?” “Of course, sir, but by golly… I have some important business to attend to in town.” 

Milton checked his watch and shook his head.

 “Do you mind if I go into town and explain later?” “Sure, I’ll call a carriage for you.” “No, thank you, this is something I have to take care of quickly, and I’m going on horseback.” 

The gardener pushed and pushed and pushed, but the unsuspecting gardener just laughed.

 “Very well, in that case, I’ll tell the stable boy to let the horses out, because I have to go to the garden anyway.” 

‘Move!’

 

Milton barely resisted the urge to push the gardener out of the way.

 

‘Damn it,’

he thought,

‘I’ve got to get out of here.’

 

His heart began to race.

 “It’s okay, um, if you really want to help me, would you do me a small favor?” 

Milton felt the smile fall from his lips.

 

Come on, come on, come on, I have to get out of here.

 

It was the only thought that came to his mind, obsessively.

 “The guests asked for a duck dish, and I forgot to tell the kitchen.” “They asked you, the accountant?” “She must have thought I was a servant, ha ha ha!” 

At Milton’s words, the gardener finally nodded.

 “I see, in that case I’ll take your place…” Bang! 

The mansion shook again with a loud bang. Both Milton, who was about to run away, and the gardener, who was about to go to the kitchen, looked at the stairs leading upstairs in surprise.

 

‘What was that?’

 

‘What the hell.’

 

‘Is something broken?’

 *Thump, thump, thump* 

They expected to hear a thump, but instead it was the sound of shoes on the stairs.

 *Thump, thump, thump* 

The sound of light footsteps that could be heard everywhere.

 *Thump, thump, thump* 

But why does it feel so scary?

 “Aaaaah!” “Aaaaah!” 

At the sound of the frantic footsteps, Milton forgot to run away and hugged the gardener next to him.

 

‘What the hell, I’m scared!’

 

It didn’t take long for the identity of the footsteps to be revealed.

 “Hello?” 

It was Hermia Tekins, clutching the hem of her skirt and running at a frantic pace.

 “You must be Milton!” 

Instantly, goosebumps broke out all over Milton’s body.

 

  

 

* * *

  

Hermia sucked in a ragged breath. 

 

‘I came running as soon as the maid opened her mouth, and he’s already running away, bastard?’

 

If she had been any slower, she would have lost him.

 

‘Whoa.’

 

Catching her breath, she stood on a step, now letting go of the hem of her dress she had been clutching for momentum.

 

Then she looked at Milton, who was shaking with the gardener in his arms.

 

‘What the hell is he doing?’

she thought.

 “Why don’t you answer me? I’m asking if you’re Milton.” “Oh, no, you’re asking me, yes, yes, yes, I am. I’m Milton, the accountant of the estate.” 

Milton let go of the gardener and nodded.

 

She doesn’t know if it was the nod or the fact that he was falling so hard.

 

The words came out in bits and pieces.

 “Hmph.” 

She looked at the bag with the bookkeeper’s initials on it.

 

‘Look at that.’

 

The thickness, the weight, the bulk.

 

‘Looks like a fugitive’s bag, doesn’t it?’

 

She knows it very well because she was carrying it until yesterday.

 “I’m in a hurry to ask you something.” “What is it?” “I’ve only been in this mansion for a day, and there are already false rumors about me.” “Rumors?” 

Milton asked, swallowing hard, his neatly trimmed bangs already clinging to his forehead in sweaty strands.

 “Yes, that’s what they said. They said that I had given birth to a golden-eyed child and that it belonged to His Highness.” 

Shudder.

 

Milton’s body shuddered.

 “They also said that I threatened His Highness, that I would die here if he didn’t marry me?” 

Flinched.

 

Milton’s body shuddered again.

 “And they say I brazenly barged into this mansion and pressed my heavy butt against him.” 

Milton’s head was now on the ground.

 

The naive gardener, who knew nothing, was open-mouthed.

 *Tsk tsk.* 

‘If he wanted to be so honest, why did he lie about it?’

 

Again.

 

As she descended the remaining stairs, the gardener stepped back with a gentle movement. 

 “Milton the accountant.” 

Hermia called to Milton, who looked down, completely still, and he looked up shakily.

 “It’s you, isn’t it, you’ve been spreading false rumors about me?” “No.” 

Yes, she knew it would come out that way.

 “I really haven’t, Miss Hermia. Why would I spread false rumors about you?” 

The expected answer rolls off her tongue.

 

But it’s strange.

 “I really didn’t, Miss, and it’s unfair. Of course, if you want me to take responsibility for spreading falsehoods about you in this mansion, I will, but…” 

She stared into Milton’s face, letting the nonsense go in one ear and out the other.

 

Hermia looked as if she recognized him from somewhere.

 

‘Ah!’

 

Suddenly a scene like a black and white movie flashed before her eyes.

 

The attic, her trapped, the open window, the commotion outside, her half-brother, the

scam, her captors, their accomplices.

 

 “We’ll all get rich!”

 

 And this arsehole is laughing.

 

The puzzle finally came together.

 “You deliberately provoked the maid to touch me, to draw attention to me, and then tried to run away?” 

‘He was afraid of me.’

 

He was afraid that she would recognize him, a man of Tekin’s, as an accomplice in her half-brother’s plan.

 

If so, this is what’s in the bag.

 “I, Milton, have been a faithful accountant all my life, Miss, why all of a sudden?” 

Hermia ignored Milton, picked up the bag next to him and opened it.

 Clang! 

She expected gold coins to fall out, but only a few gold and silver coins came out.

 

He doesn’t have as much money as she thought.

 

Among the expensive looking things that she was pretty sure didn’t belong to him, she found some papers and a tattered notebook.

 

The accountant’s face fell when Hermia picked it up.

 “Give it back! Give it back!” 

After shooing away the lunging accountant, who now seemed untroubled, she opened the notebook.

 

She couldn’t help but laugh.

 “Hey.” 

She looked down at the bookkeeper and laughed.

 “Aren’t you a piece of work? Are you going to go to Count Tekins to rat on me?”