~Chapter 27~
“…Haa.”
Johann stepped out of the room right away so Leah and Raphaella could rest.
‘Why is apologizing so awkward…?’
He thought he’d sound stiff and formal, but the moment he met the child’s eyes, his voice softened.
Even to his own ears, it sounded gentle.
He couldn’t believe how cold he’d been to her before.
‘…And why did it hurt so much to see that little one crying in her mom’s arms?’
He found himself hoping Raphaella would never cry again.
He felt the heart of a parent—one that only wishes for their child’s happiness.
He called a maid and asked her to take some warm tea and dinner to Raphaella’s room, then headed to the first-floor drawing room.
His mother and his youngest aunt, Carolina, would already be there.
Earlier, just before he left Penelope’s room, his mother had stopped him for a moment.
“This time, we can’t let it slide. Your father adored his youngest sister, and I let things go thinking of her as my own too—but look where that’s gotten us.”
Isabella looked devastated.
“I’ll go speak to Carolina first. You go settle the kids and come downstairs after.”
Johann had always overlooked Carolina living above her means in the ducal mansion because of guilt over his late father.
It wasn’t just his mother who had been soft on Carolina.
‘I wasn’t any different.’
He’d been too busy dealing with issues in the North and at the palace, and used that as an excuse to ignore the fact that Carolina was acting like the lady of the house.
If he hadn’t found out that Carolina and her son Marco had been mistreating Raphaella, he probably would’ve continued turning a blind eye.
“Your Grace, may I have a word?”
As Johann was heading downstairs to the drawing room, Samuel stopped him.
They went into a nearby empty room.
“After you and Lady Leah went upstairs with the duchess, a few of the staff came to me.”
“The staff?”
“Yes.”
The staff, who noticed the duchess suddenly treating Carolina coldly—something very unlike her—picked up that something had changed.
They guessed maybe this time, the duke and duchess weren’t going to overlook Carolina’s behavior.
A new variable had entered the picture:
the young lady, Raphaella.
Carolina had been shocked by the duchess’s cold attitude and stormed off to her room with Marco.
The head maid and the butler followed.
With them gone from the central hall, there was no one left for the staff to fear.
So they quickly went to the duke’s aide to spill what Carolina had been doing.
“We’re just lowly staff. How could we dare defy Lady Carolina?”
“Ever since Lady Penelope got sick, she acted like she was queen of the ducal mansion.”
“It was too much! She tried to change everything, punished people over the smallest things, and fired anyone who didn’t please her.”
The former head maid, who couldn’t take it anymore, spoke up once—and Carolina jumped on it, accusing her of disrupting order and kicked her out.
That head maid had served the ducal family for generations. She didn’t want to burden the duchess, so she left quietly.
The new head maid was Carolina’s personal maid from the marquess’ estate.
She had a nasty temper and made life miserable for the other maids.
Carolina’s son, Marco, was like a little demon, bullying young maids and servants to the point of exhaustion.
The staff had once gone to the butler.
He had a kind face and said he’d talk to Carolina.
But all they got in return was pay cuts and
punishment.
The butler was on Carolina’s side.
They couldn’t fight back and just endured.
Those who’d worked there for generations
held onto hope things would change.
Others stayed because they had nowhere else to go.
Even if they wanted to leave, the head maid and butler would never give them a reference.
Turns out, the butler secretly supported Carolina.
He even overlooked her using Raphaella’s budget for her own luxuries.
The staff noticed that even though Carolina already had her winter clothes made, people from the salon kept coming—raising suspicion.
They said they were too scared of Carolina, so they couldn’t be nice to Leah or Raphaella, whom Carolina disliked.
“…The butler sided with her?”
The duke’s butlers had always come from noble vassal families loyal to the dukedom.
Johann believed Robert Burns, the current butler, was serving the house faithfully.
“…I checked the accounts. Some of the records don’t match the actual spending.”
“So the butler must really love her, huh? Falsifying records for her?”
Johann scoffed as he checked the ledger.
‘Unbelievable.’
It was one thing to rule in the absence of a proper leader—but this was too much.
This wasn’t something he could just brush off.
“…Also, the gardener’s assistant came to me.”
“The gardener’s assistant?”
“Yes. His name’s Thomas. He says he saw something.”
Thomas worked under one of the mansion’s gardeners.
The gardener often slacked off and left work to Thomas, disappearing or napping.
Thomas was annoyed but kept quiet since it was a good job.
That day, the gardener again vanished into the woods with a maid.
‘Ugh. What a joke.’
Thomas was used to it and just kept working.
Then he heard a commotion.
He got closer and saw Marco trying to hit the young lady.
Before Thomas could step in, Raphaella hit Marco first and ran away in shock.
It all happened so fast.
The gardener and maid came running when they heard Marco cry, and Thomas quickly hid.
‘Don’t get involved. Keep your head down.’
But then the gardener and maid lied about what happened.
Thomas wanted to speak up, but he was just an assistant—who would believe him?
“So everyone just stayed quiet.”
“…Yes.”
“This happened because the master wasn’t properly watching over the house.”
“…”
“Damn it…”
If his mother had been distracted by Penelope, then he should’ve stepped up.
‘I didn’t think Aunt Carolina would wreck the house like this…’
He thought she’d have some affection for the ducal estate she grew up in, even if she didn’t at the Marquess’ house.
He hated to do this to his late father’s sister, but he couldn’t let Carolina off lightly.
Falsifying the books was bad, but hurting Raphaella was far worse.
‘If Father were alive, he’d have fallen for Raphaella instantly.’
And he probably would’ve been even angrier at Carolina.
—
After finishing his talk with Samuel, Johann headed to the drawing room.
The duchess sat there, ignoring Carolina, who was pretending to cry beside her.
The butler and head maid stood behind them.
The butler was looking at Carolina with
such a tender expression—either he couldn’t hide it, or didn’t even realize it was on his face.
“How’s Raphaella?”
Isabella asked once Johann sat down.
“She seems okay.”
“That’s good. Poor thing must’ve been scared.”
“Johann, Marco and I are so misunderstood!”
Carolina immediately turned to Johann, pleading.
“Misunderstood? I hear Marco’s been bullying Raphaella for a while.”
“Who said that? Who would dare say such a thing…?”
“Many people, Aunt.”
Johann cut her off mid-sentence.
“You don’t actually believe them, do you?”
“Even Penelope said so.”
“Oh, come on. She’s stuck in her room all the time—what would she know…?”
Carolina trailed off, realizing she spoke carelessly.
“And the maid who was looking after Raphaella lied.”
“What!”
“But someone saw what really happened in the garden—your son was the one bullying my daughter.”
The fact that Johann didn’t even say their names—just “your son” and “my daughter”—made Carolina flinch.
“Johann, they were just kids playing around. Someone must’ve misunderstood—”
“Misunderstood? Would you still say that if your son was the one being hurt?”
“You know how Marco is—he’s just a playful boy…”
“If it were up to me, I’d drag your son to my daughter right now and make him kneel and apologize.”
“…What?”
Carolina stared at him in shock.
“Kneel? Over something like this?”
“Right now, Raphaella’s recovery comes first. We’ll deal with the rest later.”
“Johann, Johann. I didn’t raise Marco properly, okay? It’s my fault, please…”
“You think this is something that can just be brushed aside?”
“…”
“Aunt, your son has been bullying my precious daughter over and over again.”
Carolina trembled as she heard the fury in her nephew’s voice.
“…What kind of father would just sit back and let someone hurt his daughter?”
