One month passed by in a flash.
During this time, Ethan never visited Adelina's residence. Possibly due to the rumors of her mother's horrible nature, the servants did not approach her either.
Adelina, who had promised to live as if she were dead, spent her days quietly in the bamboo grove.
"Mistress."
Her chambermaid opened the door and entered with a tray of tea. The servant was still too young to be called a woman. Adelina smiled at her.
Mona, the servant girl, carefully placed the tea down, she glanced at the book in Adelina's hand and frowned.
"Are you reading books again?"
"Yeah."
"I heard that the Master will return in three days."
"Ah, really?"
"Don't say 'Ah, really'! This is not the time to be doing this."
Adelina tilted her head in confusion as she looked up from her book. Possibly because she was the youngest, Mona was the one whom Adelina saw the most often.
"Dress up a little and make sure everything is in place! You must fulfill the role of the mistress of this house!"
Adelina knew why Mona was saying this, but she couldn't get herself to step up.
This marriage had come to be only because she had promised to live as if she were dead. She had to live her life as if she wasn't there. Fulfilling her role as a mistress was not allowed.
"You must fulfill your role as the mistress. You must be seen in order to grow closer. You never know. Maybe the Master is misunderstanding something. You must continue to see him in order to slowly weave your lives together, isn't that right?"
Mona's heart boiled as she watched Adelina look back at her as if this were someone else's business.
At first, Mona avoided Adelina after hearing that the Master had married a woman who was the daughter of a wicked woman.
Because she was the youngest, Mona had to bite the bullet and attend to Adelina. However, despite her worries, Adelina was quiet and very considerate towards her.
She wanted to show the rest of the servants as well as Master Ethan that Adelina was a good person, but rather than going out, Adelina spent her days in silence within the secluded residence.
"I'm going to go out for a walk."
Although she didn't really care, she didn't like seeing Mona so upset. Adelina stood up to take a brief walk, but she paused and frowned down at her wide, drooping skirts.
Even before her family fell from grace, Adelina had never worn such long, drooping skirts like this.
She heard that the previous mistress, Consort Min, had worn silk skirts even wider and more splendid than this. However, if she were to be honest, she felt that, while these clothes were beautiful, they were completely useless.
If it were up to her, she would wear something more comfortable, but after she had come to the bamboo grove, she tried to follow their rules as closely as she could.
"You're going to tell me not to follow you again, aren't you?"
Before Adelina could say anything, Mona spoke up first. Adelina nodded.
"I won't go far."
"So you're going to go off on your own again? You'll be in big trouble if you get caught."
As Adelina made an attempt to leave, Mona quickly brought her a long hooded cape. The cape was as long as her dress. Adelina felt that if she wore this on top, she'd feel too suffocated.
"Mistress."
When Adelina tried to take off the cape, Mona protested. As they started to quarrel, they heard an unfamiliar voice.
Completely flustered, Mona quickly lowered her hands. Adelina tidied her clothes.
"Enter."
The servant entered the room and bowed. Although Adelina didn't know everyone here yet, she recognized this servant as the one who took care of the main residence where Ethan lived.
"What is it?"
"You have a guest. I will escort you to them."
Adelina nodded, but she suddenly frowned at the thought that popped into her head. After glancing at Mona for a moment, she called out to the servant.
"If this person is my guest, then you can just guide them here. Why must I be the one who goes out?"
The servant reflexively bowed when she heard Adelina's question. When she realized that she was bowing, she straightened back up. Mona's startled eyes were staring at her, but Adelina's eyes gazed at her as if she were expecting an answer.
"The guest's status is too high to bring them here. They are not far away, so we have already made the arrangements for your travel. Please come out."
The attendant knew that the Master shunned his wife. She knew that the wife had no power here. Her status as the mistress of the house could change according to Ethan's whims.
However, having watched her mother enjoy the benefits of power without thinking of the responsibilities that came with it, Adelina was the one who took care of household matters while her parents were out enjoying themselves.
In her current situation, Adelina knew from experience that a guest would do her more harm than good.
"The Master is not here, so I can guess that the guest does not wish to meet him. Why does the guest wish to meet me?"
"Mistress."
"If you are not going to properly tell me who the guest is, then I will not go out."
Having never seen this side of Adelina, the servant was at a loss for words. The same went for Mona. A few moments later, the attendant hesitated before uttering a familiar name.
Ethan had grabbed her hand when there was no reason for him to do so. As he had told her, the path wasn't an easy one, but she still wanted to do her best.
After letting out a silent sigh, Adelina held out her hand to Mona and asked for her hooded cape.