Episode 53

I stared in astonishment at the maids pouring out from the dressing room.

‘That’s right! The maids were still here!’

I finally remembered.

The maids had stayed behind to tidy up the cluttered dressing room!

“W-what are these…?!”

The Marquis was extremely flustered at the sudden appearance of the maids.

Diana was the same.

Until a moment ago, she had been shedding sorrowful tears, but now she had a stunned expression, forgetting to cry.

“We tried to stay out of it, but this is just too much!”

Tara shouted with an angry face.

“Lady Belze never said she was annoyed because the Duke’s house didn’t buy such things!”

“That’s right! We were in there organizing and heard everything from the beginning!”

“And, our lady hates nuts!”

“Yeah, yeah! That girl’s really weird, listening to this?!”

Following Tara, the maids chimed in one by one.

“S-sisters…”

Seeing them, a hot emotion surged up my throat.

‘I never knew they could be on my side…’

They were all people who had been in the Duke’s house in my past life as well.

Even then, they had never openly ignored or slighted me.

Nevertheless, I had assumed they were all Emma’s subordinates and hadn’t even made the minimum effort to improve relations.

After Tara, who had treated me well, was driven away, there was no one who looked at me favorably.

‘If I had known they were Tara’s friends, I should have greeted them first.’

While staring blankly at the maids with a late realization,

“W-what, you were eavesdropping inside?!”

The Marquis pointed at them and shouted excessively.

As the situation turned unfavorable, he seemed to want to cling to anything he could.

But having worked in the Duke’s house, where every day was like walking on thin ice, for several years,

They were not people to be intimidated by such things.

“Ha! The maids’ job is to clean and organize every day, how is that eavesdropping?”

Tara retorted with a scoff.

The maids, who had hesitated for a moment, now all joined in.

“Right! And what’s eavesdropping in front of five-year-olds?”

“We were just doing what the Duke ordered!”

As the maids replied without a hint of intimidation, the Marquis’s face turned red with anger.

“H-how dare you! Who do you think you are speaking so recklessly to…!”

“You seem to have forgotten who you are speaking to.”

At that moment, the Duke warned the Marquis in a grim voice.

“Didn’t you hear them say they were doing what I ordered? In my house, you should have been careful about who was around, no matter who they were.”

He rolled his eyes coldly.

They landed on Diana, who had turned pale as snow.

“Haven’t you taught your household that even the walls have ears, Marquis?”

“Grr…”

The Marquis, looking defeated, finally closed his mouth.

There was nothing wrong with what the Duke said.

Whether the maids were cleaning or eavesdropping,

As long as the homeowner condoned it, that was the end of it.

Kona, seemingly empowered by the Duke’s support, took a determined step towards Diana.

“Hey. I tried to treat you well because you’re Lady Belze’s friend, but you’re really a nasty girl, aren’t you?”

I was inwardly surprised at Kona’s straightforward speech, even in front of the Marquis.

But there was no one to criticize her behavior.

Diana was still, like me, a commoner orphan sponsored by the Marquis’s family.

No more, no less.

“When did our lady ever say such things to you? On the contrary, it was you who said strange things, wasn’t it?”

At Kona’s aggressive question, Diana’s face turned pale in an instant.

“I, I… that’s… sob.”

Cornered, she whimpered with a frightened expression.

“Strange things?”

Edwin asked, looking puzzled.

Then another maid nodded and said.

“Yes! She said Lady Belze wasn’t good at healing and that she could help heal Joshua, young master!”

“In comparison, our lady is so kind… I mean, she only said thank you and how nice it was!”

“Is that true?! Oh, our lady! How can you be so kind and naive…! Sniff!”

To top it off, Tara exaggeratedly sobbed.

The other maids followed suit, pretending to wipe tears with their sleeves.

Of course, none of them were actually crying.

‘Kind and naive…?’

Watching the maids perform their act of self-sacrifice for my sake left me with mixed feelings.

‘I thought I fought back as best as I could…’

To their ears, it seemed I appeared as if I was simply being taken advantage of.

‘Fine. Next time, I’ll be even more ruthless!’

Confirming that this level of response wasn’t considered overacting, I clenched my fists.

And I glared at Diana with determination.

‘Go on, make up another story.’

Diana, who had been smoothly lying without batting an eye, now looked pale and just opened and closed her mouth.

“I-I…”

“……”

“I didn’t… Those sisters are lying…!”

Just as I had done in my past life.

As Diana chose the worst possible path, my heart pounded violently.

“Enough.”

Suddenly, the Duke raised his hand, stopping Diana’s words.

It seemed his personality made him uncomfortable with the idea of cornering a child.

‘…Pity. It was a chance to reveal her true nature…’

While understanding the Duke’s stance, I couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of disappointment.

But it didn’t take long to realize I was mistaken.

“Diana, was it?”

“Yes, yes, Duke…”

The Duke suddenly called out to Diana.

She responded, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

Her eyes sparkled with faint hope.

It seemed she expected help from the person who had halted the uncomfortable situation.

But the Duke’s voice was as cold as ice.

“I won’t ask why you lied. It’s common for children your age to lie when they’re flustered.”

“……!”

At the statement that confirmed her lie, Diana took a sharp breath.

The faint hope in her violet eyes shattered.

The Duke’s words were in stark contrast to the stern warning he had given Joshua about lying.

But.

‘There’s no need to admonish Diana like that.’

Though she wouldn’t know,

The cold line drawn by the Duke filled my heart with deep satisfaction for the first time.

‘…Alright.’

The Duke believed me.

He believed I didn’t say those things.

He believed Diana was lying.

Given the maids’ testimony, it was an obvious outcome, but I had still been anxious.

Because in my past life, everyone had believed Diana’s words.

The Duke then turned to the Marquis and said,

“I won’t pursue further responsibility about the pecan pie.”

“Gasp! Is… is that really true?”

At the sudden leniency, the Marquis’s face brightened.

“After all, none of my children who ate it have shown any ill effects.”

The Duke’s cold gaze shifted back to Diana.

“And. I don’t want to entertain the scary thought that you ate the pecan pie knowing about your allergy.”

At the Duke’s meaningful words, Diana’s eyes widened.

But that wasn’t the end.

“However, I would like you not to visit our house anymore.”

At that brutal declaration, Diana hurriedly spoke.

“D-Duke! Please, listen to me…!

“I’m listening, so speak.”

The Duke nodded generously.

Perhaps seeing it as her last chance, Diana hesitated but continued to speak through her sobs.

“I… I know you don’t trust me because I couldn’t heal Master Joshua properly. But…!”

“……”

“I really came to apologize to him and try healing him again! I don’t know why the sisters heard my words that way, but…”

“……”

“And I wanted to greet Belze and eat something delicious… sniff!”

As she poured out her excuses like a rapid-fire gun, she sobbed miserably.

To an outsider, it would have looked as if she was being harshly reprimanded.

However, the Duke replied without the slightest disturbance.

“Whether you healed Joshua or not, whatever your reasons were, that’s not why I don’t want you visiting our house.”

“T-then…”

“If you keep coming here, it will upset my child.”

At that moment.

A warm and heavy hand settled on my head.

“How scared must you have been not to notice the hairpin I bought you had fallen out.”