This was Sihon’s second visit to the Marquis of Amaranth.
The first was to find out how the fiancée was in marquis after she returned.
A heinous woman who poisoned her estranged husband.
It’s not a good idea to strangle him right away, but something bothered him.
So, even if he didn’t unconditionally forgive her, he tried to figure out why she chose to commit such a heinous act.
To be honest, I still didn’t understand her before she came back.
However, something I was previously unaware of has piqued my interest.
That she was in a position where she had no choice but to be uncomfortable because she didn’t have a side to show.
When he realised the marquis of Amaranth had abused her, he was shaken by her young and frail appearance, but the thought ‘what does that have to do with me?’ won out.
So, while doing her a favour, he had to calm himself in the rage that occasionally raised his head.
She has not yet done anything to me. It’s not fair to exact vengeance on someone who has no memories. Calm down and do what needs to be done.
However, when he discovered that the servant had put a piece of glass in her food during dinner, he was overcome with emotion.
Those who are faithful and grateful to him may have done something terrible to her.
His firm beliefs, which he had held for so long, were shattered.
Aren’t they good people? Why did they attempt to harm a young girl? Have I made a mistake?
Also, he definitely told them to be extra careful with their guests.
But why did they go against the duke’s wishes and act alone?
Even before his return, Sihon’s position had not changed significantly.
He had no desire to pretend to or hate the young marquess Amaranth, even though he had no intention of marrying her properly.
To that extent, he supported his wife with an abundance of maintenance costs, and he urged the servants to do their best to avoid being negligent in serving their duchess.
Sihon had no doubt that the people of the duke’s house had faithfully carried out his orders at the time.
But now he wasn’t sure.
How his people would have treated her before his return.
The closer the Marquis Amaranth got, the clearer his unpleasant memories became.
Arwen was nervous and sensitive in the Duke of Blair before her return. The peacock makes a loud noise, complains about what is bothering him, and grabs the servants as if they were mice.
In fact, the two met in the duke’s residence almost immediately after Arwen made a fuss.
Sihon, who didn’t pretend to know his wife, couldn’t ignore the incident when it happened.
He heard a scream in the Duchess’s room one day while passing through the corridor.
Sihon frowned as he entered his wife’s room, where Arwen was kneeling with a maid and stabbing her maid’s body with a needle.
‘Aah! Don’t do it, madam! Sorry! ‘Oh, my!’
‘Oh, my!’ ‘You know, why did you do that when you knew it was going to hurt?’
Please forgive me just once!’ You’re saying something amusing.
The maid twisted her body like a seizure and cried out every time the needle dug into her shoulder, arm, and armpit.
Looking closely, the maid’s skirt was scorched and the hem was damaged for some reason.
An unseen Sihon stepped in.
‘What happened?’
‘While I was dressing up, this kid stabbed me with a needle.’ It was obviously done on purpose.’
Arwen said calmly to her husband in a low voice. And, with tears in her eyes, the maid desperately refuted the duchess’s assertive words.
‘My lord, no! The duchess misinterpreted…’
A poor maid with no one to rely on and a noble family’s Duchess.
Sihon sighed as he contemplated the obvious and predictable situation.
‘Did you just make a big deal out of that?’
Despite her husband’s uneasy reaction, Arwen was confident.
‘It doesn’t happen just once or twice. That isn’t all. While ironing my clothes, she burned my favourite dress. She also splashed water on my feet while cleaning the hallway. In addition, while washing my hair, this kid poured hot water on me. It’s most likely a second-degree scald burn. But how much longer must I suffer?’
Following the words, Arwen slapped the three maids with a fan, one after the other.
The maids’ sobs grew louder as the slap continued.
‘I was wrong, madam. Please accept my apologies. I will never again go against your wishes.’
‘I apologise, madam. I gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough. In the future, we will serve you with greater sincerity.’
‘How can it be so simple for a group of people to create one crazy bitch?’ Do I have to cut off their tongues to stop their scandalous mouths if young people only learn bad things?’
At this point, the duke needed to settle the matter.
Sihon struggled to keep his headache at bay while speaking calmly.
‘I am sorry to hear that my wife experienced any difficulties while living at the Duke’s residence. If you do not like the people who serve you, we will replace them with others. Let’s call it a day here.’
Sihon felt he had made enough concessions by replacing the servants without blaming his wife.
But Arwen never gave up.
‘Do you want a replacement?’ Who do you think I’ll be satisfied with?’
It’s like saying that even if you change it to someone else, I’ll still be unhappy.
‘Are you serious?’
Sihon’s purple eyes faded coldly as he tried to maintain his cool.
Sihon inhaled deeply, clenched his teeth, and proposed an alternative. This took a lot of patience from him as well.
‘We will choose those who performed well in the evaluation through the butler and the maid.’ If you’re still unhappy, I’ll take action to allow my wife to choose. As a superior, I hope my wife will also show tolerance and generosity.’
‘Why are you attempting to take this matter so seriously? This is an issue for both me and my servants. I can’t keep going like this.’
Sihon’s chain of logic snapped at that point. Since then, the situation has spiralled out of control.
‘What if we don’t continue in this manner?’
Sihon asked provocatively.
‘Those three children, I’m going to fire them, I will kick them out of the mansion as of today.’
Arwen took a firm stance and made a cold declaration.
Sihon burst out laughing bitterly. It was a subtly worded warning. As a means of coming to an end.
Despite this, Arwen managed to turn her back on him.
Arwen, on the other hand, turned her stomach inside out.
‘Of course, in the reference, I will leave a record saying that there is no courtesy for superiors, and that they are lazy and only play tricks.’ Then no family will try to hire them. I didn’t mean to say it, but everyone at Duke Blair is rude and bad at their jobs. Nothing will change unless you lead by example.’
‘Do it in moderation. My patience is also limited. These children may be low-status, but they come from generations of families who have supported the Duke of Blair. They can’t be that bad to intentionally offend their superiors. Above all, their parents died while devoted to serving the duke. ‘How can they live if I let them go?’
It may sound ironic, but as a duke, he thought it was appropriate to consider the weak people’s position.
Because the disparity in status was so great, his people were likely to be trampled on if he did not protect them.
He felt even worse when he saw the scene a while ago where the maids were rendered helpless by the Duchess.
Above all, the Blair family’s employees had a unique history.
Most of them, such as knights, servants, stables, gardeners, and maids, were not hired from outside sources, but rather from their subordinate families.
And the closer they were to the Duke and Duchess, the more loyal to the Blairs they were.
The children of those who were particularly deserving were chosen by the Duchess’s direct line maids.
Nonetheless, their parents were territorial citizens who infiltrated the duke’s opponents’ homes, stole information, and then committed suicide when their identities were revealed.
They deserved to be protected as the Duke of Blair’s head. Unless, of course, the subordinates purposefully ignored or harmed the Duchess.
Being disrespectful, attempting to poison, or touching food are some examples.
But, let’s be honest, isn’t it vague to say that they purposefully committed rudeness?
It is possible to make mistakes such as sticking a needle in the middle of changing the hostess’ dress, splashing water on shoes while cleaning, or temporarily failing to control the temperature while serving a bath.
Sihon was convinced that even if his wife had come from a different family than the marquis of Amaranth, his decision would have been the same.
Arwen muttered in frustration as he maintained his obstinate stance.
‘You understand your subordinates’ situations so well, but you have no intention of listening to me at all.’
The trembling corners of the lips contrasted with the cold, sunken emerald eyes.
She acted as if she had nothing to expect from him, but she appeared to be hurt.
How much do you expect me to understand and tolerate?
Sihon was baffled by Arwen’s claim that she was a victim.
On the other hand, he was uneasy because he felt like he had become a biased person.
