Chapter 5
The Duke of Marthinez glanced quickly over the crying maid and the pale-faced head maid, then frowned.
“Sigh… What are you harassing the servants for this time?”
Edvon looked at me as though completely fed up.
“Your Grace, it’s not that. Lady Gerard’s maids—”
“Your Grace! Please help us!”
I opened my mouth to explain the situation, thinking Edvon had misunderstood something, but the head maid’s urgent voice cut me off.
“Please, just spare our lives!”
“Haa…”
As the head maid finally burst into tears, Edvon let out a deep sigh.
“…Madam, let’s stop this. Can we not go one day without trouble?”
“Your Grace, that’s not it—”
“Do you know how many servants have died because of your temper? How many more need to die before you stop this madness?”
His words, restrained but full of suppressed anger, revealed the deep loathing he held toward Anditne.
“So what is it this time? What offended you now?”
As Edvon shot the question at me, the head maid once again desperately interrupted.
“Madam ordered us to bring the family seal. I said I couldn’t, that it wasn’t something I could do, and she suddenly lost her temper… Please, Your Grace, spare us.”
The head maid crawled on her knees toward Edvon and collapsed at his feet.
“I told Madam the seal belongs to the head of the house, but she became furious, saying I was disobeying her!”
“The family seal?”
Both Edvon and I echoed the words.
“Please, Your Grace, I beg you—grant us mercy!”
Edvon, who had been quietly listening, let his lips twist into a crooked smile.
As I stared blankly at the head maid, trying to understand what she was talking about, Edvon turned his head toward me with a mocking expression.
“…Madam, were you coveting the family seal?”
The tone was accusatory. I hurriedly searched through Anditne’s memories.
“…No. I don’t recall anything like that.”
No matter how much I searched, Anditne had never ordered the head maid to bring her the seal.
Besides, the topic at hand was the head maid’s wrongdoing.
“And that’s not what this is about—”
“Head maid, who else knows about this?”
Edvon didn’t let me finish and instead turned back to the head maid.
“T-The other maid knows.”
Anditne’s personal maid looked between the head maid and the duke before nodding.
“M-Madam gave the order to me after the head maid refused.”
Edvon let out a short laugh in disbelief.
“And yet, Madam, you still insist on denying it? You know exactly what it means to covet the family seal, don’t you?”
“…Ah.”
Only then did I realize what the head maid and her ally were plotting.
They were trying to frame Anditne now that they were in danger.
“To covet the family seal…”
No one could touch the seal without the family head’s permission.
Even attempting to take it without consent was a punishable offense. Not even the duchess would be able to walk away unscathed if accused of stealing it.
The accusation was so sudden and absurd, I didn’t even know how to respond.
Is the head maid really foolish enough to think such a shallow trick could cover her own crimes?
No matter how much they tried to corner Anditne, they couldn’t completely cover their own wrongdoings.
“Your Grace, this is slander. Covet the family seal? They’re lying to cover their own crimes!”
I couldn’t understand what they thought they could gain from this idiotic plan.
Yet Edvon’s next words made me think the head maid might actually get what she wanted.
“That can be revealed through investigation.”
Edvon called for a soldier.
“Confine the Madam to her room.”
“Your Grace, I’m telling you, it’s a lie!”
Edvon seemed to believe the head maid over me.
No, he didn’t trust Anditne in the slightest.
I thought he’d at least trust his wife more than a servant, but…
There was no trust whatsoever between this husband and wife.
“Then confine the head maid and her assistant too. So they can’t run or cause more trouble.”
The head maid clenched her teeth, as though she’d really planned to flee once I was locked away.
“Lady Gerard’s personal maid stole money. The head maid turned a blind eye. They probably split the money between them. She also chased out anyone who didn’t follow her orders. She even falsely accused Gerard’s nanny of stealing my jewelry to get rid of her.”
“I told them to take you away already.”
Even when I stated the facts, Edvon didn’t seem to believe a word. He simply let out a sigh.
“Madam, what are you saying…”
The head maid looked at me tearfully, as if she were the wronged party, and Edvon furrowed his brow as he looked between us.
“Your Grace!”
That kind of brazenness—no wonder she’d been able to get away with so much until now.
I could easily imagine how she must’ve treated Gerard, trying to manipulate even the duchess to her will.
If I felt this frustrated, what about poor little Gerard, dealing with this all alone?
I remembered how the head maid had gripped Gerard’s shoulders so forcefully.
…What is that woman hiding?
Was there someone backing her? Someone who would help her as long as she survived this incident?
Otherwise, her actions made no sense. Lies eventually get exposed. All she was buying was a little time.
She had to know this would only make her punishment worse…
“Your Grace, if you truly doubt me, then search my room to your heart’s content.”
…Still, if the head maid only wanted to buy time, we couldn’t allow that.
“But before that, please investigate the head maid and her maids first.”
“Oh? Want to clean up your room before we get there?”
Edvon sneered and let out a mocking laugh.
“Gerard’s maid stole money? And how would you suddenly know that? Are you sure you’re not making this all up? How am I supposed to believe you? There are only two witnesses.”
Was it because of his grudge against Anditne?
Edvon didn’t listen to me at all.
“Madam, stealing the family seal is grounds for divorce. Still, since you’re the duchess, I’ll give you one last chance for the sake of appearances.”
Even when I offered to let them search my room later, Edvon only shook his head.
“If you don’t want the soldiers to drag you, go on your own feet.”
I let out a sigh, suffocated by the injustice.
“Hic… sob…”
My anger flared again as I saw the head maid pretending to cry while hiding behind Edvon and watching the situation unfold.
If I let them take me like this, she’d surely make her escape.
I didn’t know how she planned to get away with it, but if I was taken away, things would go exactly as she wanted.
“Your Grace, do you know why the head maid fired the household staff?”
“Didn’t you fire more people than she did?”
I ignored Edvon’s skeptical tone and stared directly at the head maid.
“She had dealings with a man in a dark room, one wearing a robe. She took a pouch of money and used that to start driving out servants from the household.”
I still didn’t know what they had discussed, or exactly what kind of deal it was.
So I hadn’t wanted to act like I knew everything just yet.
If she realized I didn’t know the full story, she might deny everything again, destroy evidence, or shut her mouth completely.
…But if Edvon wouldn’t listen to me, I had no other choice.
I had to make the head maid panic and get her to confess everything herself.
“She framed Gerard’s nanny—the only one she couldn’t dismiss herself.”
I fixed my eyes on the head maid, silently praying she would panic again like before.
“She had one of my maids steal a necklace, and then made it look like the nanny did it.”
I stared her down, hoping her panic would drive her to confess in front of Edvon.
The head maid’s anxious eyes darted between me and the duke.
She opened her mouth as if to speak.
“It doesn’t make sense, does it? All of it was done in secret. So how could I possibly know?”
I looked the kneeling head maid in the eyes.
“Who do you think told me?”
“B-But…”
Just as she stammered, her voice suddenly broke apart, becoming completely garbled.
And then—a red mark appeared on her tongue.
“…What the…”
The head maid clamped her hands over her mouth in panic, but it was too late. The red glow intensified.
Even with her mouth tightly shut, the light seeped through her fingers.
Spatter!
In the next instant, blood erupted from her mouth and splattered in every direction.
“What the…”
I couldn’t even bring myself to wipe the blood off my face. I just stared at her.
“Urgh… ngh… hic…”
I reached out toward the head maid, who let out strange groans of agony…
Yank!
But someone pulled me back by the collar, and my hand fell short.
Red glowing symbols spread over the head maid’s entire body, completely obscuring her form.
And just as my view was blocked—
A deafening explosion shook the room.
