Ah-ga-ssi Page #2

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Nothing made her happier than when guests

praised her baby's scent.

You are my Baby Miss.

Auntie gave the babies candy during baths.

To teach them that bath time is sweet.

What's Wrong?

One of my teeth is sharp.

It keeps cutting me.

So this was the scent.

All smooth.

Welcome, sir!

You are too kind to greet me

this way upon my arrival,

when the journey

has left me so unkempt.

Now your tedium is over.

I'll ensure your

painting lessons are stimulating.

This must be Okju.

At your service, milord.

You know if you fail, it'll put me in

an awkward position?

A decent bone

structure for a Korean...

So, are you carrying out

your duties faithfully?

Count Fujiwara requests Miss Hideko

to kindly allow her maid Tamako

to be sent to his Lordship

for a brief errand.

Did you call for me, milord?

You may enter.

Everyone's talking about you in Eunpo.

How you'll be an even greater thief

than your mum.

Who believes the talk of a swindler?

When I give the signal, "fully ripe",

arrange for her and I to be alone.

Then I'll gobble her up to the pit.

She's so naive, even if a man

pulls on her nipples

she won't know what he wants.

So it's your job to tell her

that everything is because of me.

"Oh my, since the Count arrived,"

"your toenails are

growing much faster!"

That sort of thing, all right?

Here, a gift.

Oh, he's so thoughtful!

That'll be mine when she

goes to the madhouse.

It pains my heart to see this poor girl.

Have you ever seen sapphires so blue?

Let's take a look...

This isn't a sapphire, it's blue spinel.

It's all right, Miss.

Spinels are expensive too.

How do you know...

Oh, my Auntie... I mean,

Lady Minami taught me.

But it's fine!

No need to be ashamed at all.

Your average fence can

barely tell them apart.

Is that so?

Of all the things I've washed and dressed,

has anything been this pretty?

I'd like to show her to the people at home.

What would they say?

Probably this?

Mesmerising!

S... Spellbindingly beautiful!

He's shameless.

B... b... beautiful!

I... I... I'm flummoxed in your presence!

If you stutter like that

and make your face go red,

those uppity b*tches will feel superior,

and then they'll open up to you, all right?

You try it.

One, two, three!

The Count kept pushing wine on me.

Does it feel okay?

It's suffocating. How do ladies

wear such things?

You think this is suffocating?

Miss, you're killing me!

Dressed up, you look like a lady, too.

I think I know

what the Count meant.

Your face...

Each night in bed,

I think of your face.

Don't be silly, Miss.

Ladies truly are the dolls of maids.

All these buttons are for my amusement.

If I undo the buttons

and pull out the cords,

then, the sweet things within,

those sweet and soft things...

If I were still a pickpocket

I'd slip my hand inside...

Miss, are you truly going

to marry your uncle?

That's what he raised me for,

knowing he'd need my fortune.

There's a famous collector in France.

He'll be putting his entire library

up for auction.

The gold mine's proceeds

won't cover the cost.

If it were me, I'd sell books

to buy gold, not the opposite.

For now,

the Lady needn't go read to the sick f***

who wants to marry his wife's niece.

Instead the fake Count goes to the Library

to make fake books.

The Lady waits for her 2 o'clock art class,

and waits...

Poor girl,

losing her heart to a fake.

Please, Count!

Sorry to be late.

It's no matter.

Maybe I need more practice

to give it dimensionality?

Dimensionality... perhaps.

Nonetheless, you have a vision

that transcends mere skill.

As if you see directly into

an object's essence.

For example, the fact that

this peach contains a lot of water.

I hesitate to stand before you,

for fear that you

might read my thoughts.

That's enough for today.

Almost fully ripe.

Already?

Damn...

Do you know what?

Since the Count arrived,

your cheeks have grown flushed.

Have they?

How did your mum die?

When I was a baby,

at a big house, she was hanged...

- I mean, she hanged...

- Hanged herself? Like my aunt.

Well, pretty much.

Still, while alive she hugged you a lot?

My mother died giving birth to me.

So it's as if I strangled her myself.

I wish I'd never been born.

No baby is ever guilty of being born.

If your mother thought you could understand

this is what she'd have said.

That she was so lucky to

have you before dying.

That she had no regrets.

Did my mum cry before they hanged her?

Your mother stole a thousand times,

was caught just once, and died once.

Did she cry?

She laughed.

Said she was lucky to

have you before dying.

That she had no regrets.

Wait here a moment, Miss.

I'll go pick mushrooms.

We'll have mushroom stew tonight,

you like that.

I'll go with you.

I'll be quick.

Before it rains.

Good girl...

What a coincidence.

Indeed.

May I sit by you?

The lady sits, shy and trembling.

The gentleman is persistent.

The perceptive maid has

stepped out for a moment.

All is well, Sookee.

Everyone's performing their roles

so damned well.

F***ing hell.

You know servants can't use this entrance!

Hey!

I wish I'd never come here.

It was wrong to come.

Tamako, you brought

watercolours, right?

Of course, milord!

Watercolour paints and brushes...

Go and get the oils.

A day like this demands oils, yes!

A blackout! Bring a lantern.

Yes, ma'am.

Hurry!

I need to think.

I need to become rich,

sail off to a distant harbour,

eat food I scarcely recognize,

buy my fill of glittering baubles, and...

not think of Hideko.

Never think of Hideko...

I returned and you didn't even come to me?

It was late, I must have slept.

My apologies.

You know how hard it is

to do those readings?

Must I remove makeup

and change clothes all by myself?

I feel a nightmare coming. Sleep here.

He proposed to me.

Next full moon,

while my uncle visits his mine,

he wants to elope to Japan.

What did you say?

I said I wasn't sure.

Why?

I'm scared.

Of your uncle's anger?

Of the Count.

What's to be scared of'? He's so kind.

I don't know, I just feel it.

Like the reflex of pulling

your hand from a flame.

Tell me...

What is it that men want?

Pardon?

I mean after getting married, at night...

How would I know? I'm practically a child.

With no mother. No one here to...

First,

I guess we'd kiss?

What the hell.

I'll show her one thing

then put her to bed.

Poor thing,

alone in a strange country,

reading those useless books,

without learning a single useful skill.

Why does the candy taste different?

The bitter turned sour,

the sour turned sweet,

the sweet turned savoury...

How do you know all this?

You must have experience?

My friend Kutan taught me.

Taught you? In words?

Yes, only in words.

So this is how it feels.

That's what you will feel for the Count.

Really?

The Count, truly...

He won't think he's

making love to a corpse?

You know about my cold hands and feet.

Really?

Here.

Feels just fine.

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