Chapter 26
“What… what did you say?”
“The one who spared my life was the Emperor, and the one I’m too lowly to even look at is Count Chrysus and his family, not someone like you, who’s just another commoner.”
Marsha was struck silent by Edel’s words.
Edel was tired of people who oppressed those weaker than themselves to reaffirm their own power and status.
“Do you think that by trampling on someone who used to be a noble, you’ll somehow become one yourself? But that won’t happen. The Count is busy now, so he hasn’t been able to manage the household, but soon he’ll find a steward and start taking care of things. When that happens, you’ll be just a maid, like the rest of us.”
Edel’s words hit Marsha right in her core. Her lips tightened, and her fists trembled with rage before she suddenly slapped Edel across the face.
The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the chilly, damp air of the laundry room.
When Edel’s vision cleared from the sudden impact, she realized she was already lying on the floor.
“You insolent wench! How dare you talk back to your superior? You won’t step one foot out of here until every last piece of laundry is done, and no food for you until then either!”
Seething with anger, Marsha stormed out and locked the laundry room door from the outside.
Edel, who had been staring blankly as Marsha’s footsteps faded and the door shut, felt as if the whole situation were surreal.
She faintly heard the sound of a stick sliding between the door handles, but the sensation of her clothes soaking up the water on the floor was oddly clear.
There seemed to be a buzzing in her ears.
‘I need to get up….’
She desperately wanted to, but her head was spinning, and her body wouldn’t move.
‘If I don’t finish the work, who knows what Lady Bohun will say to Count Chrysus….’
Her mind knew she needed to get up and wash as many curtains as she could, but her body felt like it was burning up and freezing at the same time, leaving her unable to even lift a finger.
Her vision grew blurrier.
‘Maybe… it would be better to just fall asleep forever….’
With that final thought, Edel passed out.
* * *
Marsha, having locked Edel in the laundry room, was still fuming.
“That wretched girl! She’s practically a slave now, and yet she talks about being a commoner like me? Just wait, I’ll make sure she regrets this!”
Her anger boiled over.
In the small kingdom of the Count’s manor that Marsha ruled over, Edel was the only one who dared defy her.
“I’m Edel, ma’am.”
She could still remember the first day they met, when Edel had answered her question with a calm voice, her eyes devoid of any anger or resentment.
That was when Marsha first started to hate Edel.
‘If you’re human, you should show some emotion when someone gets under your skin! She’s no longer a noble, yet she keeps pretending to be so refined…!’
Marsha prided herself on her understanding of human nature, honed through nearly thirty years of experience in the service industry. By her mid-forties, she had amassed a small fortune, which she attributed to her “insight into human nature.”
She found it amusing how easily nobles could be swayed by sweet talk or a few words that played on their insecurities, and over time, she had come to believe that she was above them.
But Edel was different. She didn’t react to Marsha the way other nobles did, as if she were deliberately resisting the inferiority complex that Marsha harbored.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll do my best.”
No matter how Marsha tried to provoke her, Edel’s responses were always devoid of emotion.
Marsha, who had hoped to see Edel lose her temper or break down in tears, found herself increasingly frustrated by Edel’s calm, unyielding answers.
And those eyes!
Edel might have claimed she never defied or resisted, but she never truly submitted either.
Even as she bowed her head, her eyes remained steady and unshaken.
‘It’s like she’s saying, “You can bark all you want, I’m not listening!”’
That’s why Marsha wanted to torment her even more—until she finally broke.
In the end, although Marsha succeeded in making Edel give a different answer than usual today, she wasn’t pleased at all.
“You speak as if you were a noble, madam.”
The moment she heard those words, a chill ran down her spine.
‘She must have seen right through me! That’s why she hasn’t made a single mistake until now!’
Edel knew that Marsha considered herself above the nobles, while also being anxious about the power she held, which could disappear at any moment.
‘Edel is not someone I can easily manipulate. When the Count arrives today, I must tell him to get rid of her.’
Anyway, Edel, who was locked in the laundry room until Marsha’s orders were given, would not be released. There would be plenty of time to badmouth her in front of Laszlo.
Laszlo was a quiet and expressionless man, to the point where it was hard to know what he was thinking. But since he was nothing more than an ignorant mercenary, it wouldn’t be hard to win him over.
‘Good. Now then… It’s clear that Edel won’t be able to finish the laundry, so what kind of punishment should I give her?’
As she thought about it, her unpleasantly pounding heart swelled with a strange sense of anticipation.
* * *
At the time when the master of the mansion was returning home, the carriage of Count Chrysos stood in front of the mansion.
However, unlike usual when no one would come out, Marsha and two maids who followed her greeted Laszlo.
“Welcome back, Count.”
“Thank you for your hard work today.”
Laszlo, who was getting out of the carriage, hesitated for a moment when he saw them smiling ingratiatingly at him.
‘Something must have happened.’
Laszlo was relieved that Marsha was as consistent as ever.
The reason he appointed her, a woman who was arrogant, boastful, and money-minded, as the head maid was that he didn’t have to worry about whether she was deceiving him.
Since she revealed her true intentions so transparently, it was easier to manage her.
“Was there any trouble?”
“Hohoho! Please come inside and let’s talk. The wind is cold.”
Normally, she would have said, “Nothing worth mentioning,” but it seemed Marsha had something to say today.
Without saying much, Laszlo entered the mansion and headed for the first-floor reception room.
The reception room, where the firewood was burning, was warm. Laszlo threw off his coat to the side and sat on the sofa.
“It’s very cold, isn’t it? Mina! Go and bring a cup of hot chocolate quickly.”
Marsha, trying to appear friendly, had another maid bring a drink, but Laszlo responded with a blank expression.
“Since when have I ever drunk something like hot chocolate?”
“Oh, is that so? I must have mistaken it because Lady Linia likes it. Then, how about some warm tea…?”
“I don’t like wasting time. If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
Marsha looked a bit flustered, then sat down on the sofa next to Laszlo, trying to get as close to him as possible.
“Well, Count, it’s about the… ‘prisoner.'”
“Prisoner?”
“You know, the woman who was once a Duchess.”
“Edel Lancaster? What about her?”
Marsha fidgeted with her hands, pretending to be troubled, but when Laszlo’s gaze turned stern, she began to speak.
“I feel awkward saying this, but perhaps because she lived as a noble, she’s very arrogant. She’s so lazy and looks down on the other servants.”
Laszlo tilted his head in confusion at the unexpected story.
Is that woman, Edel, arrogant? Lazy and condescending?
‘The woman who knelt before Linia?’
Marsha, interpreting Laszlo’s frowning as a positive reaction, leaned in closer and whispered in a low voice.
“She’s always late in the morning, bossing the laundry maids around like they’re her servants, while she procrastinates on her own work with this excuse or that. And that’s not all! Because her face is quite pretty, she flirts with the male servants. Oh, you wouldn’t believe it!”
She clicked her tongue and shook her head. She was so engrossed in the lies she was making up that she didn’t notice the coldness creeping into Laszlo’s gaze.
Perhaps it would have been better if she had stopped there, but Marsha had prepared more slander to spew.
“And today, she even dared to talk back to me when I tried to give her advice. Well, she was once a Duchess, so I suppose she would find advice from a mere maid quite offensive.”
The anger she showed at that moment was genuine. Thinking of Edel’s words, “You act like you’re a noble,” made her blood boil again.
“If she continues to behave like this while receiving three meals a day and living comfortably, the other servants might follow her lead. That can’t happen! Don’t you agree?”
“So, in conclusion, what are you trying to say?”
Marsha, unable to hide her greedy expression, spoke in an excited voice.
“I thought I should give her a stern warning, so I assigned her a difficult task today. I’m sure she hasn’t completed it. After all, she’s the type who delegates even easier tasks to other maids.”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course! But since it might be awkward for me to punish her directly, it would be great if you could give her a punishment that would serve as an example for everyone.”
Finally getting to the point, Marsha smiled slyly, watching Laszlo’s reaction. Although she couldn’t read his expression, she was confident that he would grant her request.
‘He doesn’t know anything about the household unless I tell him myself.’
Sure enough, Laszlo, who had been deep in thought, stood up and asked.
