Spoils of War Duchess

Chapter 18

“What kind of a count’s family is this?”

Of course, he didn’t really know what a true count’s household should be like. But at the very least, when the head of the family returns, there should be someone to greet him.

“The house is unnecessarily large. To maintain such a house, it needs a lot of people.”

Honestly, by his standards, he didn’t need such a big house or so many servants.

The siblings had lived comfortably in a decent house in a middle-class neighborhood, employing one male servant to take care of the horses and heavy lifting and two maids to help with housework.

Even that was a rather luxurious life.

However, when the Emperor granted them the mansion, he recommended hiring at least ten male servants including a butler, sixteen maids including a head maid, a cook, and kitchen assistants. He even mentioned that this was the minimum number of staff.

“We haven’t even hired a butler yet, and the maids keep quitting, so we barely have ten. Ah, with that new girl, we have eleven maids now.”

Entering the mansion, he looked around at the house that still seemed mismatched with him.

He had told Rinia to roughly decorate the place with the head maid’s help, but the mansion still felt lacking in some way, though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

“Ugh. So annoying.”

He muttered lowly as he headed to the second floor, where Rinia came running out of her room to greet her brother.

“Brother! You’re home?”

“Yeah.”

He replied indifferently and headed to his room, with Rinia following him even though she had nothing particular to say.

“What did you do at the palace today?”

“The same as usual. Why do you ask?”

“Just, you know…”

Rinia followed him into his room. Despite her brother showing signs of fatigue as he took off his coat and loosened his cravat, she showed no intention of leaving.

Eventually, Laszlo asked.

“Why? What’s the matter?”

Rinia flinched at his irritated tone and mumbled softly.

“Well, it’s not a big deal… I got invited to a tea party in a couple of weeks. It’s hosted by Lady Emerson. Do you know her?”

“No.”

“Really? Oh, okay…”

Laszlo found his sister’s behavior frustrating. He wished she would speak plainly, but since moving into the mansion, Rinia had been watching his reactions and beating around the bush.

“If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”

“No, that’s not it! If I don’t go to these things, I won’t get to wear the pretty dresses I had made.”

“Then go.”

“But… I don’t know what to say when I’m there.”

“If you don’t know what to say, it’s better to just keep quiet.”

“What if they ask about you? Should I just say I don’t know?”

“Yes.”

Rinia nodded reluctantly.

In truth, she found the invitations both welcoming and burdensome.

As a young lady of a noble family, she was told by the head maid that she should socialize with other nobles. It seemed like the right thing to do.

However, at tea parties, gatherings, and banquets, Rinia was always an object of exclusion or ridicule. It wasn’t overt, but she wasn’t naive enough not to notice.

‘If they’re going to treat me like I’m invisible, why do they even invite me?’

She only knew that it was a major breach of etiquette not to attend without a response, but she didn’t know how to decline invitations properly.

The fact that she had no other reasons to go out made it even more depressing.

So she forced herself to attend each invitation she received, but with each event, she grew more self-conscious and discouraged.

“Miss Rinia should learn etiquette and manners from scratch. It’s unacceptable for a young lady nearing marriage age to not even know how to use cutlery properly.”

After hearing such comments, she couldn’t even bear to eat in public.

“Brother, could you find a proper tutor for me?”

Laszlo turned his cold gaze toward her at that.

“If I do, will you finally behave and learn properly this time?”

“Well, I mean…”

“Rinia Kriseth. Answer me properly. How many times have I hired tutors for you? And whose fault is it that they quit within two weeks?”

Rinia couldn’t say anything and just stared at the floor.

But inside, she felt a sense of injustice.

‘Those women laughed at me first!’

The tutors, who acted all refined and polite in front of Laszlo, changed their attitudes the moment they realized Rinia knew nothing, absolutely nothing.

The condescending looks.

Every time she felt their contempt and disdain, she resolved to endure it for her brother’s sake. But when they directly criticized her, saying things like “How can you not know this?” or “How many times do I have to tell you?”, Rinia couldn’t hold back.

“If you’re getting paid, you should teach properly instead of looking down on your employer!”

Even saying just that made the noble-born tutors tremble and leave in a huff.

“Was that my fault?”

Even Laszlo wouldn’t have just let it slide.

However, she couldn’t tell her brother the whole story in detail, fearing it might break his heart or even lead to murder.

“Those women were just raised too delicately. Quitting their job just because they got a little talking-to from an employer.”

“If this means you still don’t intend to correct your behavior, then there will be no tutor. Besides, there’s nowhere else to find one anyway.”

Rinia, who was pouting at her brother’s lack of support, suddenly brought up a person who came to mind.

“Oh, by the way, that woman who was the ‘Duchess of Lancaster’ seemed a bit different.”

Laszlo, who had turned his head away, looked back at Rinia, but she continued babbling without caring.

“She was a much higher noble than all the other tutors so far, yet she really had no pride. When I told her to kneel, she actually did it! I was so surprised.”

“What? You told her to kneel? Why?”

“Just because. I called her in to see her cry, but she kept talking back and acting all dignified. It was so annoying, so I told her to kneel…”

“Rinia Kriseth!”

Rinia was startled and looked up when Laszlo shouted.

His eyes looked angrier than before.

“Why are you yelling at me?”

“Don’t you even realize how disgraceful your behavior was?”

“What did I do?”

Laszlo ruffled his hair in frustration and sighed.

He didn’t completely fail to understand the confusion Rinia was experiencing since suddenly becoming a noble. However, Rinia was mimicking the very behaviors of the nobles they both despised.

“How is what you’re doing any different from what the nobles who looked down on you did?”

“……”

“If you keep trampling on people weaker than you by wielding power, you can’t complain about being trampled yourself. Isn’t that right?”

Even though Rinia understood what Laszlo was saying, she felt a sense of rebellion.

“I want to look down on the nobles who looked down on me! Is that so wrong?”

“You’re not looking down on a noble. You’re toying with a maid. That woman is no longer a noble.”

“Still…!”

“You’re so timid in front of real nobles, yet you think it’s not cowardly?”

Rinia eventually teared up.

“You… You don’t know anything! Do you know how angry and unfair it felt?”

“Rinia!”

“Since you know I can’t even open my mouth in front of others, shouldn’t you think of helping me somehow? What am I supposed to do!”

Laszlo sighed deeply again as he watched his sister cry and yell.

He understood Rinia’s feelings, but he also didn’t know how to help her.

“If it’s that hard, then don’t attend noble gatherings anymore. Simple as that.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“You don’t want to be ignored, but you still want to mingle with the nobles?”

“Fine, you’re so great! You don’t care what happens to me, do you?”

In the end, Rinia wiped her tears and stormed out.

Laszlo felt frustrated.

It had been three years since he was forced into an unwanted earldom by the Emperor’s machinations.

He himself hadn’t changed much since then, but everything around him was rapidly changing.

Among those changes, Rinia, who was already eighteen and soon needed to think about marriage, was his biggest headache.

‘It was easier when all I needed to do was make a lot of money.’

Laszlo poured himself some water from a nearby bottle and drank it down to ease his frustration.

Then, he suddenly thought of Ethel, whom Rinia had made kneel.

‘She must have tried to remain dignified in front of Rinia out of pride as a former duchess, but she might be crying alone by now.’

It wasn’t his concern. If she couldn’t endure that much, she wasn’t worth anything.

But imagining Ethel kneeling in humiliation made him feel even more frustrated. Impulsively, Laszlo left his room and headed towards the servants’ quarters in the west wing.

The servants, who had not yet finished their work, bowed their heads as they saw him, but Ethel’s face was nowhere to be seen.