“What?”
I felt so shocked by the maid’s words that my head turned white.
“That’s absurd…”
“So I investigated, and these things came up.”
My eyes widened as I saw them presenting it as evidence.
It was the dress that the Duchess had prepared for me for the banquet when I stayed at the Duke’s mansion.
“That was a gift from the Duchess to me!”
I exclaimed in haste.
Since the dress, just like the one Diana had, was one of my treasures, I had stored it deep inside a box in the closet.
Next to it, I had also kept the letter Bianca gave me preciously.
My vision trembled with shock and anger.
At that moment, the maid who was holding the dress chuckled.
“What? The Duchess gave it to you? Even if the Duchess praises you for being beautiful, you’re still a maid. But she supposedly bought you a dress adorned with jewels like this? Do you expect us to believe that this is an expensive dress that you couldn’t afford even if you worked your whole life?”
“It’s true. The Duchess…”
“Sonya, you definitely said that, right? That you saw this dress in Miss’s closet.”
Upon hearing that, the maid who was imitating Diana’s voice nodded her head.
“Yeah, it’s exactly the same. It’s clear that this brat stole it.”
“How dare you lay your hands on your superior’s belongings and think you’ll get away with it?”
“I always knew something like this would happen! Allowing such a misbehaving brat to roam freely in the mansion.”
The conversation that already regarded me as a thief chilled my blood.
It was unfair and indescribably filthy, but I tried to remain calm.
“The Duchess bought the same thing for me as Miss. I didn’t steal it. It’s true. If you don’t believe me, ask the Duchess…”
“Pfft.”
Unable to contain her burst of laughter, the maid who was holding the dress raised an eyebrow.
“Oh my, look at how audacious you are. Now you’re even resorting to such unbelievable lies? Did you think I would be scared? Or perhaps, did you think the Duchess would overlook this because she finds you pretty?”
“It’s not like that…”
I was about to refute in frustration, feeling like my chest was about to explode.
I found a crumpled letter rolling on the floor.
“H-How could you do such a thing…”
At that moment, the maid’s face, twisted with a smirk, looked like a monster.
Simultaneously, I felt an unfamiliar and fierce impulse to tear that maid apart without leaving a trace.
This was a feeling I had never experienced before.
I trembled and managed to speak with quivering lips.
“Really, I didn’t steal anything. It’s not a lie…”
At that moment, a sense of familiarity struck me.
A feeling that I had experienced something like this before…
“Does this filthy wench dare to steal my belongings?”
“N-No! I didn’t steal anything!”
“…Haha.”
It wasn’t a delusion.
Back then, and even now.
No matter how earnestly I pleaded, all I received in return was ridicule and contempt.
I gritted my teeth and laughed with a disheveled face.
I could sense the maids’ confusion as I suddenly burst into laughter.
The temperature in the room gradually became chilly.
But strangely, my body was heating up with an eerie fervor.
A burning pain surged through my heart as if struck by an arrow.
And then it happened.
“A wicked child like you must be punished.”
One of the maids spoke coldly, and soon the others seized my arms.
They lifted my skirt, revealing my calves.
As my body trembled with anger, I thought I was afraid, and the maid, with a faint smirk, raised a long and thin rod as if threatening me. And she said,
“You, an orphan girl with nowhere to go, think you have the right to rampage around here? There’s nothing worth seeing about you. Do you think it makes any sense for someone like you to behave this way?”
The moment I heard those words, I realized what I had done wrong.
I was wrong, being too ordinary.
The people who looked down on me didn’t like that I, someone with nothing special, received love. In their eyes, I wasn’t pretty or talented… I was just too ordinary, inferior to them, which made them resent that I, and not themselves, received love.
No matter how hard I tried to gain recognition, even if I actually achieved something, it was never acknowledged. I was that kind of person who made others open their eyes wide in disbelief.
Easy to overlook.
Easy to underestimate.
A presence that could be trampled on at any time.
I also knew that I was insignificant and pitiful.
That I wasn’t a remarkable being deserving of love.
But I couldn’t bear being trampled upon like this.
Finally, a fire ignited in my heart, making me feel hot.
“Do you know that?”
I murmured, as if venting out this burning fire.
“I have put up with you all until now.”
“What? You all?”
“I really held back. I just tried to let it pass quietly.”
It was true.
In fact, I could have left the Elad Duchy at any time.
Saying I was still young and needed money and time to prepare for independence.
I stayed because I thought I had to repay the grace bestowed upon me by the Duchy.
None of it was false, but at the same time, they were all convenient excuses.
I could have gone to the bank right away and cashed the money I received from Splacia. Preparing for independence didn’t have to be limited to this place. I could repay the grace in other ways.
So, enduring this backbiting and torment as a maid was ultimately my choice.
Because I wanted to be by Diana’s side.
Because I wanted to save the Duchess.
That’s why I made a promise this lifetime not to be entangled with someone else and gave my heart.
“How foolish.”
“Hah! Now you’re showing your true colors, huh?”
The maid, who was frozen, blushed and immediately raised her sickle high into the air.
“…?!”
“Kyah, Kyaaah!”
“Aaah!”
At that moment, the maids began screaming simultaneously.
But all I saw in front of me was nothing but redness.
It was a flame.
* * *
“Did I come at the wrong time?”
The Duke, entering the dining room, looked puzzled.
Clearly, it was dinner time, but there was only Allen at the table.
“Allen, where are the others?”
Allen shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t know.
It was when the Duke sat down, saying he didn’t know.
“I’m sorry, I was a little late.”
The Duchess entered the dining room with Lucio.
“How did you two come together? Did you meet outside?”
“Well, that…,” the Duchess mumbled, blushing shyly.
“We had tea together until just a while ago.”
“Both of you?”
The Duchess nodded her head, her expression filled with unmistakable joy.
A faint smile also appeared on the Duke’s face as he saw this.
“The sun will rise from the west tomorrow. What on earth is happening?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
But the Duke quickly lost interest in his eldest son, who nonchalantly replied without any change in expression.
“What about Diana and Lia?”
Despite the chairs in the dining room being quite occupied, it still felt empty.
In a way, it was nothing more than the absence of two young girls, but the emptiness it brought was not insignificant.
“Miss is still asleep. She was sleeping too deeply, so I couldn’t wake her up. If she wakes up late, we’ll serve her a separate meal, so don’t worry.”
The housekeeper replied in her usual stiff tone.
After Allen had finished his training and went to find Diana, he then remembered Lia, who was not in the library where he had made a fuss.
They must have had a great time playing together, he thought, sticking out his tongue.
“What about Lia? Even if Diana is still asleep, she needs to have dinner.”
“Well, when I went to wake Miss up, she wasn’t there, so I thought she might be in the library or went back to her room. We have the servants’ dining room, so don’t worry too much.”
The head maid retorted bluntly to the Duchess’s words.
From the beginning, the Duchess didn’t think it was appropriate for Lia to have meals here, so she awkwardly closed her mouth.
I’m not sure if it was just a feeling, but today, the housekeeper’s mood seemed particularly uncomfortable.
“I’ll go get her!”
Allen suddenly stood up from his seat.
Whether it was in the library or her room, he was ready to go and bring Lia right away.
“A servant dining room, huh.”
Allen thought that if Lia was among the servants, who were somewhat distant, she wouldn’t be able to eat properly.
The Duke and the Duchess, who didn’t know this, looked puzzled at Allen, who usually scolded Lia but now seemed to be taking care of her.
“Go and bring her back.”
“Oh? Ah.”
Unexpectedly, Lucio’s approval came down.
It was when Allen was about to turn around in a fluster.
“Hey, hey! Master head maid!”
A maid rushed into the dining room with her hair and clothes disheveled.
The head maid’s face wrinkled with displeasure.
“What do you think you’re doing! How dare you barge in here…”
“I-I’m sorry! But it’s urgent!”
“What’s the matter?”
The maid who had finally noticed the Duke and his family stopped in her tracks at the low voice.
As she hesitated to speak while gauging the housekeeper’s reaction, the Duke coldly hardened his expression.
“Do I have to ask twice to get an answer?”
“W-Well… The servants’ quarters are on fire!”
The terrified maid shouted, and at the same time, the Duchess’s face turned pale.
“In the quarters? No, how did… Lia!”
“How severe is the fire?”
The Duke stood up from his seat and asked. He intended to go and see the scene.
But the housekeeper blocked his way.
“I will go and see. Please have your meal. The rain is falling outside, so it will be extinguished soon. There is no need for you to personally…-“
“No.”
That’s when it happened.
Lucio rose abruptly with a stern face.
He, who had been indifferent to everything, felt a sudden tension upon hearing about the fire.
“Father, it would be best if you go and see for yourself.”
Before Lucio finished speaking, the Duke dashed out of his seat.
Allen also tried to move along with him, looking at Lucio, but the Duchess objected.
“Allen, you stay here. Your mother will go and see.”
As the Duchess also left the dining room, leaving Allen alone, he slumped down, feeling his strength drained.
It felt like something significant had happened.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
If you like my work please support us in Patreon. Next post will be released tomorrow.
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