Chapter 4
A man in a dark room, his robe pulled deep over his face. A pouch of money in his hand. The head maid plotting something.
A furious Anditne. Servants being dismissed. The head maid gripping the shoulder of a crying Gérard.
And then—an explosion.
“Ah…”
A grimace formed on my face as the images flooded in.
‘…Why all of a sudden?’
Seeing someone else’s life.
It hadn’t happened since the day I opened my eyes in Anditne’s body.
I’d run into the duke’s servants quite a few times since then, but never had something like this happened again—until now.
‘Why am I suddenly seeing the head maid’s life?’
“…Mother.”
Lost in thought, I was brought back by Gérard gently whispering into my chest.
Only then did I realize I was still holding Gérard in my arms—and that there was something I needed to confirm with the head maid.
I looked at the head maid standing there, her head respectfully bowed.
She had a warm demeanor and spoke politely.
Anditne had liked the head maid quite a bit for her quick wit and seemingly harmless, agreeable attitude—especially after the maid helped her catch a thief.
“Head maid.”
“Yes, madam.”
But the life of the head maid I had just seen was clearly different from what Anditne remembered.
“Were you just at the servants’ quarters?”
The corners of the head maid’s mouth twitched.
She hesitated, unable to answer easily.
When someone hesitates to answer a question of fact, it’s usually one of two things:
They genuinely don’t remember, or…
They’re unsure whether to lie or tell the truth.
In the latter case, they’re weighing whether to bluff their way through or admit the truth and deal with the consequences—calculating how likely it is they’ll get caught, and how bad it’ll be if they confess.
“…No, madam. I was checking on the maids in the ducal manor.”
After that long pause, she finally denied it.
“Then was it you who told Gérard about En?”
Gérard flinched noticeably.
The head maid was clearly far more flustered than she had been earlier—she hadn’t expected me to ask that.
Her shaky eyes briefly flicked toward Gérard, who was still nestled in my arms.
She finally opened her mouth, her gaze still uneasy.
“Yes. I told him.”
She dropped to her knees before I could say another word.
“He cherished the girl dearly, so I thought he had a right to know. That’s all it was. I’m truly sorry.”
She hurried to add an excuse.
Strictly speaking, the head maid hadn’t done anything wrong by telling Gérard. Even though I hadn’t wanted him to know, it wasn’t against any rules or morals.
What angered me was that she had tried to use Gérard.
And now she had the gall to pretend she was doing it for him?
“Then let me ask again. Were you just at the servants’ quarters?”
There’s no way she could’ve told Gérard that quickly unless she had been there herself.
And the other maids who’d been there had come outside and knelt before Anditne in the commotion.
Would she really have ignored that and left to tell the head maid about the situation?
I was certain she had been there.
“…Yes. I was.”
The head maid finally closed her eyes tightly, as if she had no more lies to give.
“So not only did you ignore me, but you didn’t even greet me. Then you lied about it too.”
“Madam, I—it’s not that—I just…”
“There must’ve been a very important reason for ignoring me so blatantly to rush to Gérard.”
The head maid swallowed hard.
“What exactly did you tell him?”
She definitely knew what En had done.
<Haa, you heard too?>
That’s what En had said—and it meant her secret was no longer under control.
If so, there was no way the rumors hadn’t reached the head maid.
She had clearly covered up for En, and once En was caught, she must’ve gone to Gérard in a panic, afraid she’d be implicated.
She wouldn’t have gotten so involved unless she herself had something to lose.
“If you lie again, I won’t stay silent. Not even the slightest deviation from the truth.”
“Ma-Madam… I…”
“Why? Can’t even say it to my face?”
“I was… I was just thinking of the young master. When his nanny was dismissed, he struggled so much. I didn’t want to see him go through that again…”
She bowed deeply, her forehead nearly touching the floor.
Her voice was desperate, and she sounded genuinely distressed.
Gérard’s nanny.
According to Anditne’s memories, the nanny was caught stealing from Anditne and was beaten and thrown out.
The head maid had gained favor with Anditne for helping expose the thief.
But what I saw was different.
The head maid had orchestrated it all through one of Anditne’s personal maids, framing Gérard’s nanny on purpose.
She had deliberately created a situation to get the nanny kicked out. And she’d done the same to dozens of other people.
She was the one who got rid of Gérard’s nanny—and now she dared use that as an excuse, pretending to be concerned for him?
I could see right through her act, and it was laughable.
She was trying to bring up her supposed good deeds—just to win back some favor from Anditne.
“…Huh.”
Gérard tensed up in my arms.
‘This isn’t something a child should be seeing.’
His anxiety was palpable, and it transferred straight to me.
I gently patted his back again.
“Wait here for me.”
I stepped past the head maid and climbed the stairs.
“Gérard, would you like to go to your room?”
“…What about you, Mother?”
“I still have more to discuss with the head maid.”
Still uneasy, he held onto my sleeve.
But after a moment, he nodded and whispered softly.
“…What about the maid?”
“We made a promise, didn’t we? I won’t kill her.”
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
He bowed his head deeply, voice barely audible.
“It’s not your fault, Gérard.”
“…”
He gave a small nod and ran to his room.
Click.
Once I saw him close the door, I stood up.
“Sigh…”
I just wanted to leave it all to the duke.
But no matter what clever methods he used, he’d never be able to uncover how the head maid had driven out the other servants.
Just the fact that she had covered for En was enough to get her dismissed.
But there was one thing I couldn’t overlook.
The money exchanged between the man in the dark robe and the head maid.
‘What were they talking about?’
Unfortunately, I didn’t know the content of their conversation.
I only knew that afterward, the head maid had gotten rid of several of the duke’s household staff.
‘…Was it some kind of deal?’
What kind of deal was it?
I suppressed a sigh and opened the door to the small room next to Anditne’s chambers—it was the maids’ waiting room.
“Madam?”
Anditne’s two personal maids jumped to their feet, startled.
One of them, a woman with tightly curled brown hair.
She was the maid who had stolen Anditne’s jewels under the head maid’s orders.
I stared at her.
She rushed over in a panic.
“Madam, I didn’t…”
“Do you know what I just heard from the head maid?”
“The head maid…?”
She blinked in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know…”
“I heard that it wasn’t Gérard’s nanny who stole my jewelry—it was you.”
Her eyes went wide.
“…What?”
“And you blamed it on the nanny.”
Her face went pale in an instant.
“That’s not true! I would never steal from you! I—I only did it because the head maid said she’d dismiss me if I didn’t obey! She ordered me to do it—I swear, I’m innocent!”
“…Come with me.”
I turned and walked away, leaving her behind in shock.
She couldn’t bring herself to follow me, but she also couldn’t stay frozen in place. Torn and trembling, she finally burst into tears and stumbled after me.
“Madam, I swear I’m innocent. I never wanted to do it. It was all the head maid’s orders!”
Still sobbing, she spilled everything as we descended the stairs.
When she saw the head maid kneeling at the landing, she pointed a finger and yelled:
“Head maid! You told me to do it! You told me to steal Madam’s jewels! You framed the young master’s nanny and got her kicked out!”
The head maid scrambled to her feet in a panic, clearly shaken by the sudden outburst.
“M-Madam? I… that is…”
She looked between the maid and me in confusion, as if she couldn’t understand what was happening.
Just as I was about to speak—
“Madam?”
The Duke of Marthinhéz emerged from his office, drawn by the commotion.
“…What’s going on?”
