Episode 34

“Huh!”

It was then.

Suddenly, Tara stood up abruptly and approached Emma.

“That’s a gift the young master gave to our young lady last night!”

“W-what…?”

The previously triumphant Emma’s face turned bewildered.

It seemed she was unaware of this.

‘This morning she was talking about fairy godparents or something…!’

I, too, was taken aback that Tara knew about it.

“A thief, you say! Who’s the real thief, snatching someone else’s belonging and flaunting it? Give it back!”

Smack!

Tara, huffing in anger, finally snatched the tiara back from Emma’s hand.

Emma looked back and forth between Tara and me, muttering blankly.

“W-why would the young master give it to her…?”

“Tara is right.”

The butler then confirmed.

“The young master urgently requested an accessory for a child last night, and I personally purchased it.”

“T-that…”

Emma’s pupils shook continuously, clearly not expecting the situation to turn out like this.

“Well, even so!”

She seemed to be grasping for a way out when she suddenly shouted.

“What about the ring that was in young master Joshua’s treasure chest?!”

“Ring?”

“Yes! I clearly saw it while organizing! The sapphire ring that the Duke gave to the Duchess for their first wedding anniversary!”

“…”

“The one depicted in the portrait on the second floor! It has disappeared without a trace!”

Emma’s outburst caused the servants to start murmuring.

“Oh my, how could this happen…”

“That’s the ring the Duchess cherished while she was alive…”

“Did she really steal it?”

It seemed everyone was familiar with the ring due to the portrait.

‘Well, in my previous life, she used that ring to control the servants.’

In hindsight, she really was a terrible person.

 

—

Using the keepsakes treasured by the people who served the Duchess and Joshua for her own selfish gains.

‘Someone like her would be of no benefit to Joshua.’

Seeing the reactions of the people, Emma regained her confidence.

“The only one who stayed in the young master’s room and opened the treasure chest with him yesterday was that girl.”

She pointed at me and shouted.

“So who else could have stolen it but her?!”

“Nonsense! If our young lady really stole it, why would she only take that ring? She would have taken other rings too!”

Tara defended me instead.

‘Well done, Tara!’

I was worried about speaking up properly because of my slow and clumsy pronunciation.

But Tara was arguing on my behalf, as if she had read my mind.

“That’s true.”

“Right. If she was going to steal, she would have taken everything.”

With people starting to agree, Emma faltered.

“Ugh… that ring probably looked the most expensive to her!”

“Ha! How much does a five-year-old know about jewels to steal one? Does that even make sense?!”

Tara continued to appeal to the butler.

“Butler! Lady Belze doesn’t even know what kind of gem is in this tiara!”

‘Uh, that’s not quite true, Tara.’

Emma sneered and spoke logically for once.

“Does she need to know about jewels to steal them? Who knows if she just took it because it looked pretty!”

“T-that’s…”

“Butler! Instead of arguing, let’s search her room right now! We’ll see if she took the ring or not!”

After Tara, Emma pressured the butler.

The situation was eerily similar to my previous life.

In my previous life, Tara also stood up for me like this.

And in the end, because the ring was found in my room, she took the blame and was expelled.

However, despite Tara’s sacrifice, my situation did not improve.

 

—

“Tsk! I thought Tara would be expelled along with her… Why is the Duke protecting that orphan girl?”

“Honestly, is Tara really the culprit? I bet Lady Belze framed her.”

“Ugh, it’s so annoying. Why do I have to serve a thief…!”

 

—

I was framed as the real ring thief through whispers and rumors, and Emma grew more powerful, tormenting me even more.

‘But this time, it will be different.’

I coldly stared at Emma.

And at that moment.

“…Hmph. Young Master Joshua asked me to keep it a secret.”

“…”

“Are you talking about this ring, Mrs. Caston?”

The silent butler let out a short sigh and pulled something out from his coat.

A vintage velvet box.

Click.

When the butler opened it, the ring inside shone with a brilliant blue light.

“Young Master Joshua entrusted this sapphire ring to me yesterday, asking to have its size reduced.”

“T-that…!”

Emma’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart.

 

—

“Brother must miss Mom too, right?”

“Um… Probably?”

“Then should we give this to him?”

 

Kind-hearted Joshua was worried about his brother, who must have been hurt by Emma.

I pointed to the ring, which was much larger than his thumb and fit loosely.

 

—

“But isn’t the ring too big?”

“Would it be too big for brother too?”

“Yes! If it’s too big, what if he loses it while wearing it?”

“Oh no… Then what should we do?”

“We can ask Dad to have it resized to fit Edwin!”

“Wow! That would work! Sister, you’re a genius!”

 

—

Joshua had a habit of telling the family everything.

So, I was certain he would tell the Duke about our conversation.

It didn’t matter even if the ring wasn’t given to Edwin.

‘What’s important is letting them know that I’m aware of the ring’s whereabouts.’

This way, if Emma tried to frame me as a thief again, I would be able to defend myself.

‘I didn’t expect Joshua to act so quickly…’

Emma looked stunned as she saw the ring that had suddenly appeared.

“W-why does the butler have that…?”

“I’ve been watching quietly out of respect for our past relations, but this is too much, Mrs. Caston.”

“B-butler…!”

“After receiving this ring, I personally organized the young master’s accessory box. So when exactly did you organize it?”

The butler glared at Emma with suspicion.

“Have you been handling the young master’s treasure chest so carelessly all this time?”

“N-no! Handling it carelessly…!”

Emma jumped, her face pale.

“Y-yesterday… I mean, yesterday, that girl…”

“Hey, don’t call her ‘that girl’!”

Suddenly, the butler spoke solemnly.

“The Duke personally brought the young lady here and ordered that she be treated equally to the young masters. I clearly communicated this through the head maid on the first day.”

“T-that’s…”

“Even on the first day, Mrs. Caston harassed Lady Belze!”

At that moment, Tara jumped in, as if waiting for this moment.

“Instead of treating her well, she called me aside and told me not to properly provide clothes and food for her. How ridiculous! Who does she think she is?”

“I-I never…!”

Emma, flustered by the butler’s words, glared venomously at Tara for a moment.

But Tara didn’t stop her revelations.

“I heard from the physician that she pushed the young lady, ruining young master Joshua’s healing completely.”

“T-that was…”

“Because of that, our young lady might have a fractured tailbone! And now she’s trying to do something else… Ma’am, stop being so mean!”

“Sh-shut that mouth of yours!”

Though slightly exaggerated, everything Tara said was true.

“Mrs. Caston. What in the world…”

The butler shook his head in disbelief.

“N-no! I was only… I mean, everything was for the young master…”

Emma looked around at the gathered crowd with trembling eyes.

It seemed she was looking for someone to help her.

I saw some of the maids, who might have sided with her, quickly look away in surprise.

Among them was the head maid.

In my previous life, if Emma was the enforcer, the head maid played the role of her instigator.

‘It’s a pity I can’t send them both away together this time.’

Whack!

 

—

The butler, after closing the velvet box containing the ring, began to sort out the situation.

“This won’t do. This matter is beyond what I can handle alone.”

“…”

“I will report all your misdeeds to His Grace as soon as he returns.”

“Butler!”

“Detain this woman in her quarters.”

The butler instructed two young servants standing nearby.

They immediately grabbed Emma by the arms and began to drag her away.

“Butler! Please wait! This is all a misunderstanding, Butler! Listen to me…!”

I watched Emma being dragged away with a sense of anticlimactic relief.

‘…It was this easy.’

If only I had been a bit smarter in my previous life.

Could Tara have avoided being expelled, and could I have lived more comfortably in this house?

“I knew she would get what she deserved one day. She was strutting around just because she was assigned to serve Young Master Joshua… tsk tsk.”

“But isn’t detention too harsh? Mrs. Caston was only looking for the missing ring.”

“Didn’t you hear? She carelessly handled the young master’s accessory box.”

“It’s pitiful, but ever since that girl came, there hasn’t been a moment of peace in this house.”

The servants gossiped amongst themselves.

Though there was criticism of Mrs. Caston, there were also a few grumbles directed at me.

‘Well, this much is nothing.’

Compared to what I had experienced before, this was hardly anything.

At that moment.

“Has everyone finished their morning tasks? If you have any complaints, come forward now.”

The butler solemnly looked around and warned.

The crowd quickly dispersed as if they had never gathered.

‘Interesting.’

I thought the butler would ignore the servants who looked down on me, just as he had in my previous life.

However, not only did he drive them away, but he also approached me directly.

“Are you alright, young lady?”

He knelt on one knee and lowered himself, offering me his hand.

“…Young lady!”

Tara, who had been chasing after the departing Emma, came running back hurriedly.

I stared blankly at the two people crouched in front of me.

‘At least… in this life, I have allies.’

It didn’t matter who disliked me.

The warmth I received after dying and coming back to life was…

It was so precious and comforting…

Suddenly, my eyes welled up with tears.

“Belze hurts…”

For the first time, I whimpered, acting like a child.