Chapter 06
The Head Maid was laughing at me.
Maybe she was imagining me crying and begging in fear.
But I lifted my head high and answered proudly.
“I’m not a commoner! I’m a noble lady!”
‘Well, this time I’m a contract noble lady, so it’s not really a lie, right?’
Then she snorted, as if it wasn’t even funny.
“Not a fake, you say?”
“Mhm.”
“Even though I’m the one who gave the butler the information that you’d become a noble lady?”
“……”
Head Maid Melissa.
In truth, I’d been expecting her.
She had been my nanny before—one of the butler’s trusted aides, and someone who knew all about the fake-lady plan.
That’s why I’d been conflicted.
Getting rid of her would be easy now that I was a noble lady, but as someone who’d once stood in her position in a past life, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.
‘She’s old. If she gets dismissed without a letter of recommendation, she’ll have nowhere to go… Maybe I should just keep her close and make her one of my people?’
Not a bad idea.
After all, it wouldn’t hurt to have one more source of information.
“Aww, you should’ve said so earlier! I was worried for nothing.”
At my cheeky reply, her stiff expression softened slightly.
“You act quite well. The butler chose the right girl. Keep being cautious like that.”
“Mhm?”
“There are quite a few people in this mansion who know you’re a fake. If you act carelessly around them… well, not that a five-year-old would understand such things.”
Her warning was true.
In my previous life, even the nobles who felt insulted just for using polite speech toward a commoner like me would come by on purpose to torment me.
Back then, those were painful memories—but now, I was grateful for them.
Because thanks to that, I remembered every one of their faces and names.
For the one year of this contract noble lady deal, my mission was to get rid of those corrupt parasites.
It would be hard to weed out every rotten sprout, but if I wanted to leave only the useful people behind, I’d do whatever it took.
‘If I use the high-ranking head maid, it’ll be much easier.’
She picked up the basket containing my clothes.
“I’ll take my leave now. Linda and Rosy will attend to you.”
“Yes, ma’am! Take care!”
But then, something slipped out from between the basket’s folds.
“Ah, my bag!”
It must’ve been caught when the maids took off my cape.
Something precious was inside, so I rushed toward it—but her hand reached it first.
When she peeked into the open bag, her face hardened.
“…This is a seal. You’ve already received it?”
She checked the family crest several times.
A bad feeling crept up on me.
In her eyes, something glittered—greedy, covetous.
The next day, Secretary Logan kept stopping by my room.
From morning onward, he kept bringing things in—clothes, shoes, and more, until my room was overflowing.
“I found something suitable, so please sit down, my lady.”
This time it was custom-made luxury furniture.
Even though he hadn’t taken my measurements, the desk and chair fit me perfectly—it showed just how attentive he was.
“How is it?”
“…Good.”
“I’m glad. I also ordered a footstool from the same place; it should make climbing onto the bed easier.”
“…Mhm…”
“Hm? Your voice doesn’t sound well. Are you sick somewhere?”
He came over in a flash and grabbed my cheeks, examining my face like a worried mother hen.
But I wasn’t sick.
It was just… everything around me was too much.
A body dressed more luxuriously than yesterday, a room more lavishly decorated than ever before—
Too extravagant to complain about, but that made it all the more uncomfortable.
Because the more you receive, the more you’ll have to pay later.
I glanced at the source of my unease—the head maid.
As expected, she was smiling, her eyes sharp.
Her gaze practically said, “Send him away. We have work to do.”
I sighed and decided to change the subject.
“…It’s not that. I just feel bad getting gifts and having nothing to give back.”
My faint voice made him cover his mouth in shock.
“What are you saying? You’re a noble lady! You should enjoy at least this much!”
He whispered, “You’re even pretending to be one for the adults’ sake!”—his voice full of pity.
“Okay… Just back up a bit.”
I only pushed him away because he was too close, but that seemed to move him even more.
After thinking hard for a moment, his eyes lit up.
“Ahem, well, if you really want to repay me, there’s… one thing you could do. Come here, I’ll whisper.”
“Mhm? Okay.”
“Even if you’re a fake, we’re still family, right? So… maybe you could call me something. But no pressure…”
His face was full of shy anticipation.
‘Call him something? Like… a title?’
Since I was the duke’s fake daughter and he was the duchess’s younger brother… uncle?
Don’t tell me he brought all these gifts just to hear me call him uncle?!
Seriously?
Seeing my lips form the first syllable, his breath quickened.
I’d suspected it before, but this man—
He might actually be more obsessed with this contract than the duke himself.
“Unc—”
But before I could finish, he clutched his chest as if the emotion was too much and cut me off.
“N-no! Forget I said anything!”
“Huh?”
Right. Finally back to his senses.
No way he’d actually expect that from a fake niece.
But, of course, I was wrong again.
“For now, let’s just say… I’ll revise the lady’s budget. I should at least do that much to be worthy of being called family. Excuse me!”
“Wait—what?”
You foolish sentimental fool! Not in front of the head maid, of all people!
I reached out to stop him, but he was already gone.
When I looked back, the head maid was smiling again.
Now the real problem began.
As soon as the door closed, the air turned heavy.
Linda and Rosy trembled nervously.
“Head Maid, are we really going to do this?”
“Y-yeah… this is embezzlement…”
“Linda, Rosy. What are you talking about? This is just a little game for the lady.”
Her voice was gentle, but her tone brooked no refusal. The two maids reluctantly pulled out papers.
The plan: a fake ledger factory.
While the butler was away, the head maid would forge payment lists and make me stamp them with my seal—so she could siphon off part of the estate’s private funds.
‘So now it’s her causing trouble. Great. I was going to use her, but now she’s about to do something even riskier.’
And all because of that stupid seal that caused this mess.
I decided to play the innocent child and throw a fit.
“No! I don’t wanna! I hate stamp games!”
Please, woman, you used to side with the butler and never got caught. Don’t waste your luck now!
But as I refused, she glared sharply at me.
Her fierce eyes made my lips tremble, but I didn’t back down.
I hid the seal in my pocket and stubbornly stood my ground until she finally approached me.
“Lady Airi.”
“Not doing it. Don’t wanna.”
“This will be good for you too, my lady.”
“It’s not good. I don’t want to.”
When I kept refusing, she whispered quietly—
“Didn’t you once wish your parents could have more of their share too, Jenna Madeline?”
“……”
I flinched.
Not because she said my name—but because of what she implied.
She was talking about the old me.
The me who cared more about her parents’ share than her own.
“…Parents? I hate them. I hate it all! Stop it already! I know everything! This is bad! I’m telling the Duke!!!”
I screamed, my pent-up anger bursting out.
I threw the papers at her, scattering forged ledgers across the floor.
In the chaos, furniture toppled over.
Then it happened.
Her patience snapped, and she slammed my small head down onto the desk.
Like crushing a chicken’s neck into the floor.
“Kek!”
“My lady! Head Maid, what are you doing?!”
“Oh no, my lady!!!”
The horrified maids rushed forward, but the head maid didn’t loosen her grip. Her voice was cold.
“Don’t test my patience. The Duke who could punish us will soon be gone anyway.”
“…What?”
“The same Duke whose meals I’ve been putting medicine into—just to secure my own position. So be good and do as you’re told. This is the only way we get what we deserve.”
Medicine? Did she just say… medicine?
My vision tunneled.
What did I just hear?
‘…It was you?’
The Duke’s death—poison.
Now it made sense.
It had always been strange that the Duke died instantly from a single dose.
The Everhart family line had bodies far too strong for that.
But now I understood.
Even after I was exposed, she’d stayed behind—continuing to feed him poison.
Thump, thump.
My heart pounded out of control.
In a life full of lies and deceit, there was only one thing I couldn’t stand—someone harming my Duke.
And so, I finally understood.
Just as my return to the past hadn’t been my choice, neither did I need to feel guilt for what I was about to do.
As the terrified maids froze, I calmly picked up the papers scattered across the floor.
Satisfied, the head maid resumed writing her false ledgers.
I scanned the document in my hand.
As expected, the fake expense list was full of names of the corrupt nobles managing the accounts.
‘Morton, Basque, Baron Crochet. Abe, George, Viscount Georgi. Yes… that’s right.’
The papers were no longer ledgers—they were a hit list.
I walked to the window, holding them tight.
Outside, I saw the secretary talking with the guards.
‘So many clouds… Did they say it was windy today?’
I stood on my toes and opened the latch.
A gust of fresh air swept through the room.
The head maid met my eyes. I smiled brightly and shouted—
“Un-cle~!!”
“Uncle? Wh—Airi?”
Below the window, the secretary’s startled voice rang out.
His reaction was amusing—but hers was priceless.
Her pupils dilated, her mouth opened in a silent scream.
I smiled wider and loosened my fingers.
“N-no!”
Whoosh! Whrrr!
The head maid’s shriek split the air as the ledgers scattered across the beautiful garden—
fluttering like festival flyers announcing the news of their crimes.
