Despite Anthea’s un-noble appearance as she trudged to her room while muttering to herself, the maids who followed behind her only gave her pitiful looks.
Anthea’s innocent behavior earned their sympathy rather than their criticism about her commoner origins. Moreover, didn’t their master, the Duke, calmly send her off even after seeing Nathan, rumored to be her former fiancé, and Anthea full of affection right in front of him? In the minds of the visitors, Nathan Leslie’s visit was officially completed as the Duchess’s first guest reception, which went off without any major problems.
“You look so disheveled just because your lover left you. Tsk.”
Anthea’s steps stopped at the obvious accusatory tone. There was at least one person in this mansion who could show her dissatisfaction with Anthea, whose face was red from crying.
The maid Rosa, who had been invisible all morning, appeared at the end of her hallway.
“Oh my god. I don’t know how terrible this is. Not only was it not enough to give away the Duke’s wealth, but to see her lover off so proudly with tears. They say you can learn etiquette, but I don’t know how to teach common sense.”
At one point, the Duke’s wealth was so enormous that she made a mockery of the amount of money she gave to the Duchess, and then changed her words as if to embarrass Anthea.
“Rosa. Where were you at dawn?”
“Hmm, you can’t even imagine how much work I have to do as the head maid.”
“Was there anything more important than seeing the Duke off?”
When she mentioned Richard, Rosa’s eyes wavered for a long moment.
“Well, the Duke will understand that too. He knows very well how devoted I am to the dukedom.”
She also has something to fear. She didn’t bother to come forward when Richard and Anthea were together, but she showed up late and started a fight with her. Rosa was a weaker villain than Anthea thought, judging by her behavior while covering up her person.
The reason why Rosa, who should have been the first to interfere more than anyone else, was strangely invisible was because of Richard’s reaction, which was different from her expectations. Anthea, who should have been kicked out or crying due to Richard’s anger, ended up being with Nathan instead, and she even cried in Richard’s arms when he appeared later. Rosa must have been embarrassed to see Richard and Anthea together casually.
Did the letter not arrive? Then why did the master return? Did he decide to turn a blind eye to the Duchess’s scandal even after reading the letter? Was there a secret conversation between the couple in the bedroom? Unanswerable questions prevented Rosa from going to the place where Richard and Anthea were together.
The Duke, who returned after receiving a malicious letter from the maid, would have kicked out the Duchess or harmed her brother, the Count’s heir, but instead returned to get supplies to fill the empty carriage.
‘She must remain hidden and hope that her own dirty scandal will subside.’
Only after the Duke had left did she manage to show her face and was truly proud. She stood upright without a trace and did not stop hitting Anthea, who was crying so hard that her eyes were pitifully red.
Anthea looked at Rosa with her blank face. Even without looking at the mirror, Anthea could guess what she looked like now. A small, delicate, girl-like woman who even looks pitiful in her eyes, which are red and wet with sadness. If you make eye contact with her, she will first hold out her handkerchief, and if she is not gifted with words, she will look so pitiful that you will want to sit by her side and grieve with her. Could it be that Rosa has a problem with her empathy function? Even with the sunglasses filter on, it was surprising that someone could rush in with such malicious intent even in a situation like this.
Currently, Anthea was emotionally very tired. At any other time, she would have accumulated villain points for the future by confronting or provoking Rosa like this, but with her sending Nathan away, Anthea’s patience had been significantly lowered. So, for now, she fell for Rosa’s provocation. Because now she was a sensitive boss.
‘For no reason, because of Rosa’s letter, Nathan got into a fight with Richard and had to go home early. It’s all because of you. It’s unfair to think that way…’
“What kind of dirty scandal are you talking about?”
“Oh my god. Are you planning to pollute my mouth?”
Did this mean that what she wrote with her hand was nothing? This time she didn’t want to ignore Rosa’s presumptuous behavior.
“Rosa, can you serve me a cup of tea?”
At Anthea’s request, Rosa showed her displeasure to the point where her eyebrows furrowed. As if it were obvious, she did not move and winked at another maid who was near her. The maid, who was about to move immediately, stopped at her clear instructions.
“I want to drink the tea that the maid brings. I’m very sad and sensitive right now, so I think I’ll be sensitive to the taste of tea.”
“There is nothing I can say about you because you are truly faithful to your desires.”
Even though all she did was ask for a cup of tea, Rosa steadily put down Anthea. Contrary to the expectation that she would refuse again, Rosa straightened her back and walked gracefully as if showing off. As she entered the nearby living room, she was as confident as the hostess. She had practiced so much that she even had the confidence to be the star of this place. Rosa leisurely entered the drawing room as if she were the hostess and approached the tea set prepared by her maid. Her maid’s hand was ready so that all she had to do was steep the tea leaves in a warmed kettle for the appropriate amount of time. Rosa displayed exaggerated elegance, even down to the seemingly trivial action of adding tea leaves. So much so that she thought her little finger would get a cramp.
As a faint scent began to spread, Rosa reluctantly filled Anthea’s empty glass. The tea, which still seemed hot enough to steam, was poured mercilessly, contrary to the graceful movements. The cup was filled so smoothly that Anthea could have burned her hand while holding the glass. Even in such a small matter, Anthea steadily revealed her malicious intent, and even though she was angry, she was almost laughing.
“Rosa seems to be full of affection. She almost burned my hand.”
“A noble lady knows how to gracefully hold even a glass full of sand.”
“Huh. Rosa is right. It’s really hard for me to be a noble lady.”
Anthea threw her glass on the floor as if showing off.
Clang.
Thanks to the carpet in the living room, there wasn’t much noise, but Rosa let out a sigh as the high-quality teacup shattered and the tea splattered everywhere.
“Ha, I really think you’re talented at causing trouble.”
‘Huh. You’re good at crossing lines.’
Rosa had already crossed the level several times, but she had been left alone for the time being due to necessity. Rosa clicked her tongue and motioned for her maids to clean up the broken teaware, but Anthea also waved her hand to stop her.
“Rosa, clean it up. It’s a space where guests come and go, so there shouldn’t be any debris left behind.”
“These kids will be better at cleaning. You probably know the saying ‘right place at the right time’.”
“Huh. So, I ask Rosa, the head maid, to please clean it up.”
“Ha, I never thought you wouldn’t understand this much.”
“I know. The head maid is refusing the Duchess’ instructions.”
Even if it was a childish and petty revenge, it didn’t matter. Even in moments like these, she wanted to give back a little to Rosa, who couldn’t bear to show her malicious intent. Rosa seemed to have something more to say, but he was not pleased and bowed down to her. Rosa, who was reaching out her hand to pick up the broken piece at Anthea’s feet, did not miss a word.
“You will regret this moment when they realize that face is just a facade.
“Rosa will immediately regret that tongue that knows no moderation.”
As Anthea’s voice whispered a warning in a friendly voice, Rosa doubted whether she had heard correctly. As if it overlapped with the voice she heard every day while shaking her body from the former Duchess who was in charge of the Dukedom’s discipline for a long time, she unconsciously put strength into her hand holding the piece.
The moment Rosa raised her head with the intention of saying a word to the frail new Duchess, a flood of finds poured out before her eyes. Anthea picked up the teapot and threw it at Rosa. Rosa, startled, raised her hand to stop him, and hot water was poured onto the back of her hand along with the heavy teapot.
“What is this?”
“Oh my, Rosa. Are you okay?”
“Are you just throwing a teapot at me?!”
“What are you saying such scary things? I just missed it because it was hot. As Rosa said, she is just a duchess and doesn’t know much about etiquette.”
“What does this have to do with etiquette?!”
Rosa, who was so angry that she almost screamed, put her steaming hand into the jar of water next to the fireplace.
“Rosa said it. I don’t know etiquette, I don’t know shame, I’m a Duchess who knows nothing. Could it be that I don’t even know that you will get burned if hot water comes into contact with you?”
In response to Anthea’s ridiculous excuses, Rosa belittled her like she was breathing.
“Ha, that’s probably why you did such an ignorant thing. You have proven to yourself that I am not wrong.”
What could Rosa believe and be so arrogant? No, on the contrary, it seemed as if he was on guard with his fur raised in fear that something scary might happen. She originally said she hated Anthea, but now she had gone too far. She could guess why she wouldn’t stop belittling Anthea so desperately.
“Rosa. I’m talking about letters.”
Rosa’s mouth, which seemed like it would never stop, finally closed.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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