Chapter 15

“Yes? I, I’ll come back another time.”

“Urgent matters, you say. Or is it not so urgent after all?”

If she affirms, it would seem like she’s trying to dismiss Salvador with something not urgent at all. Angela, sweating nervously, struggled to explain.

“It’s highly confidential…”

“Just a mere maid claims to know a highly confidential matter that even I don’t?”

Her words seemed to irritate him more. As Salvador glared at her with a fierce expression, Angela desperately looked at the Duchess.

For a moment, the Duchess, after giving Salvador a brief glance, spoke with an exceedingly affectionate and compassionate face.

“Just go ahead and speak.”

“M-Madam.”

“If you say it’s alright, it won’t sound like I have a family secret.”

Confused, Angela couldn’t help but think, ‘Wasn’t it supposed to be kept a secret? If this is revealed, it could have a significant impact on the Duchess’s image.’

She quickly lowered her head and, at the same time, realized something.

‘Wasn’t it supposed to be kept a secret?’

In fact, Salvador harbored an extreme aversion towards Bunny.

It wasn’t just dislike; he trembled at the mere mention of her name. Although he helped send away the three maids and summoned Bunny to the main palace, it was all for his younger sister, Lady Ophelia.

Inwardly, he undoubtedly wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.

‘He must be more pleased than anyone else, right?’

Angela made that judgment.

The fact that Salvador prepared a meal for Bunny was no longer known to the maids, as it was all given away by Bunny to the servants. Angela hadn’t heard about it yet.

‘Right, it’s not something I can’t say.’

Maybe the Young Master would be even more proactive in dealing with it.

If the interests align, it might lead to having a reliable supporter.

She smirked cunningly and quickly spoke, “Actually, I’ve recruited new maids specifically for the fake lady. They are adept at secretive torment to ensure effective control, as I don’t know what tricks she might pull.”

Silence fell as Salvador’s expression turned cold. Even the mocking smile disappeared entirely.

Unaware of it, Angela lowered her head and continued without hesitation, “No matter what actions the imposter takes, they will report everything. They will be active in the main palace, so they won’t be able to do anything conspicuous, but I can isolate her from the outside, use food to tame her to some extent.”

“Using food to tame her.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Angela spoke enthusiastically, “If she doesn’t obey, we can withhold food… but…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. Without hesitation, Salvador reached out and grabbed her by the collar.

“Snap!”

Struggling to breathe, Angela instinctively squeezed Salvador’s hand with a forced grin.

However, he didn’t react as if unaffected, maintaining eye contact with Angela while continuing to speak as he ground his teeth, “Why starve such a bony creature?”

“Choke…ugh…”

“Hey, do you want to try starving too?”

As he said this, the startled Duchess rushed over and grabbed Salvador’s arm.

“Stop it. She might die like this.”

“People don’t die that easily.”

It wasn’t so easy to let her die. From the beginning, he was regulating his strength to allow her to breathe adequately.

Not knowing the circumstances, Fluvia placed her hand gently on Salvador’s hand, soothingly patting as if to calm him.

“Swinging violence without asking for reasons is too harsh. You’re not that kind of person.”

She was correct.

“Let go, please.”

However, Salvador sighed deeply, and he had no choice but to release his grip.

Fluvia, his stepmother, had a delicate expression as if she might faint any moment.

Angela, who could finally touch the ground, blushed with the rush of blood to her face, and immediately began coughing.

As soon as she could breathe again, she collapsed in front of Salvador, trembling.

“P-please, spare my life!”

“I don’t understand. If you wanted to die so badly, that’s one thing, but why say such things in front of mother?”

Was it to disturb the already frail Fluvia’s composure? Salvador crouched down beside Angela, and with a menacing glare, he repeatedly flicked a finger against the hilt of the sword strapped to his waist.

It was an unmistakable threat.

His eyes, a deep shade of blue, glowed like the sharp blade of a well-forged sword.

To die. She was really going to die.

This wouldn’t end with just being choked next time.

Losing her sanity at the threshold of death, the desperate maid, without even realizing it, pleaded,

“M-Madam, commanded it!”

“What?”

Who commanded what?

Having heard such absurd words, Salvador didn’t immediately react. He just slightly furrowed his brow.

“Did Madam really command to watch, confine, and starve the child?”

It was an utterly nonsensical statement that he couldn’t fathom.

However, for some reason, Salvador felt something strange about Angela’s face.

What did she do that she was already terrified, completely out of her mind?

Usually, when pushed to such limits, the truth tended to come out.

“Mother, is what she said true?”

He turned to Fluvia. He couldn’t believe it, but he asked for confirmation.

Fluvia, momentarily taken aback, then wore an expression of profound regret. Instead, she questioned Angela.

“Is it true? Did I say such things?”

Angela, bewildered, couldn’t close her mouth.

“Madam clearly…”

Wait.

She couldn’t continue her sentence and, in confusion, kept moving only her lips.

Come to think of it, she had never received such instructions.

Fluvia was known for being virtuous, honest, and upright, truly fitting the title of a duchess.

She would never give such an order herself.

“But I thought Madam secretly wished for it. That’s why I acted!”

It was unbelievably unjust.

‘Bunny she said she didn’t know the subject and insulted the Madam without knowing it. The Duchess is an orphan too; how can there be any reason for her not to become a lady? Clearly…’

The Duchess seemed troubled. Since Bunny’s return to the palace, she hadn’t looked well.

With a sigh, she muttered, “I wish Bunny didn’t dislike me so much. She used to call me ‘mother.'”

Who gave such orders to the imposter, who might be expelled at any moment, to mock Madam?

Disturbing the delicate emotions of the kind Madam who had never uttered a harsh word.

So, so…

Angela believed that there was no one else but her who could directly intervene.

She thought that if she gained the Duchess’s favor, she could push Head maid out and take her place.

“If, if Lady makes an effort, I could also become a mead maid…”

“That meant I highly evaluated your potential. What does that have to do with your dreadful plan?”

“But Bunny said that my subject insulted Lady without knowing it!”

“Bunny, you mean? That child likes me so much, she sometimes makes up things. I told her it would be better to fix it.”

Fluvia closed her eyes, placed her hand on her chest, and took a deep breath. She staggered, as if dizzy.

Surprised, Salvador quickly supported her to lean against a chair.

“Sorry, Angela. I can’t understand you.”

Fluvia held her throbbing head.

“If there’s a reason, will you tell me? I want to understand you.”

“I, I did it for Madam’s sake.”

“Do you really think that was for my sake?”

“But Bunny insulted Lady without knowing it!”

“Lock her up in solitary confinement. Don’t give her a drop of water for a week.”

“Please, spare me! Madam! I did it for Madam’s sake! Madam!”

As she watched Angela, who struggled like a pig being led to slaughter, Salvador smirked.

“Why do only such crazy people gather around Mother?”

“Don’t say that. She must have many emotional wounds. I should have noticed earlier and taken better care of her…”

Fluvia muttered with a face full of regret.

“To think that such lowly beings are running amok without even knowing your identity. Now, you’re not even a saint anymore.”

Salvador casually spat out the words without much thought.

It was a statement implying that now that she was no longer a saint, there was no need to embrace such trash.

At that very moment, Fluvia’s gentle expression turned cold.

However, Salvador was unaware of what kind of ripple his insensitive words had caused.

He followed the taken away maid, leaving Fluvia alone.

Her eyes, which had been trembling with pity and concern, turned cold in an instant.

“No longer a saint.”

She murmured.

“Yes, I am no longer a saint.”

She was the Duchess of Kredel.

Someone who didn’t miss out on honor, power, wealth, or anything else. And she would never miss out on them in the future either.

“So, how did that get exposed?”