It has been three weeks since Hestia arrived at the duchy.
During that time, she had accomplished a tremendous amount of work, leaving everyone in the household astonished. Thanks to her efforts, all the delayed and tangled matters had been resolved, and the Duke’s family could finally breathe a little easier.
Of course, pushing herself to such limits left Hestia bedridden for an entire day. However, but those who witnessed her capabilities first-hand began to change their opinion of her.
As a result, the household staff, who had initially been wary of her, began to lower their guard. They now started to recognize her as the guardian who would guide the Duke’s family forward. Still, there were a few who remained dissatisfied with her.
“There are only a few, miss. The majority seem to have a favorable opinion of you,” Hilde reported.
“Is that so? That’s good to hear.” Hestia said with a bright smile, setting aside the catalog she had been perusing.
The renovation of Leonhard’s room had recently been completed, making it suitable for the Duke’s use. Now, it was time for her to redecorate Leonhard’s old room to her liking, Since the staff could only do limited work at once, the renovation had to proceed in stages, which was why she had been browsing the catalog for new furniture and wallpaper.
“How’s the task I gave you going?” she asked.
“We’ve narrowed down the list of suspects to about five people.”
Hestia had ordered Hilde to investigate anyone in the duchy who might be displeased with her or might be a spy. Even though she’d been watching everyone closely herself, she wanted to check how they were seen from the inside, since looks can be misleading.
“Albert, the head butler; Daisy, the nanny; Nova, the head maid; Baker, the tutor; and Captain Hubert of the knights all look really suspicious.”
“Those are mostly the people I expected.”
The five names Hilde mentioned had all acted somewhat distant or suspicious toward her since their first encounters.
“Nanny Daisy and Head Maid Nova were both brought here directly by the late Duchess from the Roisson Count’s family.”
In other words, they were Flora’s trusted aides, brought with her when she married into the Duke’s household. Nova, nearing sixty, had been Flora’s nanny, and Daisy had grown up with Flora as her companion, which explained how she became Leonhard’s nanny.
“Could the Roisson family be eyeing the position of guardian as well? Or is it just that their loyalty to their previous mistress makes them wary of me…”
In truth, the Roisson family had every reason to covet the position of guardian over Leonhard. After all, they were his maternal relatives. However, at the Duke and Duchess’s funeral, only Flora’s younger brother had made an appearance, and he showed no particular interest in becoming Leonhard’s guardian. After the funeral, he exchanged only a few words with Leonhard before swiftly returning to his family estate.
Thus, they had been naturally excluded from consideration when it came to choosing a guardian.
“However, neither Daisy nor Nova has showed any particularly suspicious behavior. It seems they just don’t trust you yet,” Hilde added.
“That’s understandable. Especially since they were the Duchess’s people, they’d be more cautious around me,” Hestia agreed readily, moving on to the next suspect.
“The maids mentioned that the tutor, Baker, has been acting differently recently.”
While he still conducted lessons, his don’t pay attention to it. The progress of the lessons had slowed, and sometimes, he even ended the classes earlier than scheduled.
“More importantly, Nanny Daisy recently overheard an odd conversation between Baker and another servant.”
***
‘Did Lady Frost call for me or leave any message for me?’
‘She greeted you and asked you to take good care of her going forward, didn’t she?’
‘Yes, but… well, if it’s nothing, then fine. I just thought Lady Frost would ask me for something else.’
***
“Are you sure he said that?”
“Yes, after he asked that question, his attitude subtly changed, which Daisy found odd.”
“If that happened, she should have reported it to me. Why didn’t she…”
“She still doesn’t trust you, my lady.”
Just like Hestia thought Daisy might be a spy, it totally made sense that Daisy hadn’t completely trusted Hestia yet.
“Anything else odd about him?”
“Since lessons are conducted privately between the tutor and young master Leonhardt, it’s hard to know the full details. I apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll keep an eye on Baker myself. You just continue as usual.”
Hestia instructed, to which Hilde nodded and continued her report.
“The next suspect is Head Butler Albert. You’ve always found him suspicious, haven’t you?”
“Yes. He does his job well and seems to know how to separate personal feelings from work, but I’ve noticed he tends to look down on others.”
“While he doesn’t openly criticize you, he does make remarks like, ‘The young lady is too inexperienced to teach,’ or ‘I’m worried about the future of the Duke’s household.’”
“In other words, he’s criticizing me behind my back in a roundabout way.”
“To put it bluntly, yes. And one more thing—the previous head butler suddenly fell ill, which led to Albert’s swift promotion.”
“That’s the first time I’m hearing about this.”
According to Hilde, the former head butler had served the Winston family faithfully for over a decade. However, a sudden illness had left him unable to work, and within a month, Albert was selected as his successor. The previous head butler had retired to his hometown, where he now lived quietly, relying on expensive medicine to manage his condition.
“All of this happened within just a month.”
“A month? For someone to fall ill so quickly…”
“I heard the former head Butler still requires costly medicine, which the young master provides out of respect for their past relationship.”
“Hmm… It’s plausible, but it still seems suspicious.”
While it was possible to complete a handover in a month, that was only realistic for simpler tasks, not for someone managing an entire duchy.
“The former head Butler was highly respected and admired, almost like an uncle or grandfather figure to many in the household. So, it surprised everyone when Albert was chosen to replace him.”
Apparently, the former Butler’s son had been the most likely successor, but with his father’s sudden decline in health, he had no choice but to return home.
“Does anyone still keep in contact with them?”
“No, except for Albert, who maintains contact to deliver the medicine.”
Everyone else had lost touch with the former Butler, but Albert, who regularly sent medicine, remained in contact. Something smelled off.
“I’ll need to investigate this more thoroughly. See if anyone knows their address and ask Jerome to look into their current situation.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Lastly, there’s Knight Commander Hubert, right?”
“He can be summed up in one word: authoritarian.”
Hubert placed great importance on his own authority and despised anyone questioning him. He even went as far as striking junior knights when they displeased him.
“Although it’s a rumor kept quiet within the order, Hubert is said to accept bribes when promoting trainees to full knights.”
“Interesting…”
“Not only that, but he’s also known for subtly asking for bribes. Those who go along with it get treated well, while those who don’t are left out.”
“So those who refuse to pay are ostracized and assigned the least desirable tasks.”
“Exactly. But this is a matter confined to the knight order, so most people don’t know about it.”
“That’s how military groups are. They value internal affairs more than external matters, creating their own rules and behaving as if they are a small kingdom.”
After all, isn’t a local lord who drains your pockets way scarier than some far-off emperor?
“So, does that mean the only ones left in the knight order are those who aren’t part of Hubert’s faction?”
“That’s not entirely the case. Lloyd and Covil, the vice-captains, stand in opposition to Captain Hubert.”
“Hmmm?”
“Those two place a high value on chivalry and earned their positions as vice-captains solely through their skills, no bribing involved. As a result, there’s talk among the knights that Lloyd is even more skilled than Hubert.”
In other words, Hubert couldn’t easily touch them.
“However, since they strictly follow the rules and principles. So, opinions about them are mixed up among the knights.”
“One is opportunistic, and the other is a strict adherent to principles.”
“Well, that kind of dynamic exists everywhere, so it’s understandable. But the real problem lies elsewhere.”
The reason Hubert was suspected of being a spy.
It was because he wanted Hestia out of Winston more than anyone.
Their first encounter had not been pleasant, and Hubert had held onto that grudge.
“He’s been saying things like, ‘The young girl is completely hopeless,’ or, ‘She’s acting like she owns the place just because she got lucky and became the guardian.’ He even ordered his subordinates to report on every little thing you say and do.”
Hilde cautiously glanced at Hestia’s expression, but she seemed unaffected.
Considering Hubert’s insolent attitude, it wasn’t surprising that he would say such things.
But this alone wasn’t enough to determine if he simply disliked her or if there was something more to it.
“Most of all, I heard he’s been saying that because of you, things have gone wrong, and he needs to get you out of here as soon as possible.”
And with that, the missing piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“What could have gone wrong because of me?”
“I haven’t uncovered that yet. I tried digging deeper, but they wouldn’t reveal any more.”
“Don’t rush. Slowly gather more allies and collect information.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Ugh… Everyone is so suspicious that it’s giving me a headache.”
The suspects involved in targeting the duchy weren’t just random individuals but people in crucial positions, making things more serious.
How could she expose these rats all at once?
She knew she had to wait patiently for the right moment, but in the meantime, there was no telling how much damage these pests would cause to the duchy from within.
