IAMFMFL CH 11

The scream was short and flat.

I immediately grabbed the napkin prepared on the table and wiped my mouth. The nauseating taste and smell still lingered, feeling as if they were blocking my airways.

“How dare you serve this kind of tea in front of me? Are you out of your mind?”

With those words, I poured the tea that had been placed in front of Caron straight onto the maid.

The startled Caron grabbed my shoulder, but unfortunately, I had no intention of stopping here.

I stood up, walked over to the back table, and picked up the neatly arranged teapots.

The maid, who had been kneeling right in front of me, looked up with an expression on the verge of tears.

Did she think a look like that would make me step back even a single inch?

I poured the hot black tea from the teapot over her head. The color of the tea was as red as her hair, and the temperature was just warm enough for faint steam to rise.

“As the fiancée of the Crown Prince, deceiving me is the same as deceiving His Highness Nezar. I wonder what gave you the confidence to do something like this. If you don’t want to be kicked out, bring the head maid or the butler right now!”

The maid hurriedly crawled toward me. Her tears had already vanished.

So she was going to bow her head this quickly anyway? And she had served me tea made with spoiled water?

The maid trembled violently, grabbing at my dress with shaking lips and eyelids. My irritation only grew.

“I-I’m so, so sorry. I deserve death. I’ll accept any punishment, so please don’t tell the head maid! Please, I beg you!”

She seemed to realize her hands were covered in muddy water and quickly pulled them away, bowing repeatedly with both hands.

Her face was soaked, hair stuck messily to her forehead, and she was still lying there crying—an utterly disgraceful sight.

Perhaps Caron felt some pity at the sight. She spoke to me.

“K-Katrina, my lady… are you perhaps dissatisfied with the tea? I can bring a new one right away. Please don’t be so angry.”

“Did I say I was dissatisfied?”

I tilted the teapot with the green-vine pattern into the empty cup. Only a few drops remained after I had poured the rest on the maid, but it was enough.

“Go on. Drink it. No—just let it touch your tongue.”

Caron’s shoulders sagged as she glanced at me. She looked at the cup I had handed her but did not drink.

Staring at the remaining spoiled liquid, Caron gave a bitter smile. Her forced smile twitched at the edges.

“No… I think I understand what you mean even without tasting it.”

She eventually set the cup back down. Her tightly pressed lips were clearly visible even from a few steps away. Her already flower-red lips looked like they might burst from how tightly they were drawn.

If I were her, what would I be feeling right now? Guilt first? Or humiliation?

“I-I’m sorry, Lady Katrina… this is all my fault…”

“Fault? There’s no such thing. Don’t apologize. Just watch how I handle this. A daughter of a noble house should know how to correct the wrongdoing of a maid, don’t you think?”

I reached out and lifted her chin, which had been drooping as if it would hit the ground. Caron’s eyes were already red, as if she had been crying for a long time.

It had only been about a week since we met. If Caron hadn’t met me at the knights’ headquarters, how long would she have endured this unfair treatment?

Even after lifting her head, Caron’s gaze still drifted somewhere toward the garden.

I left her there and walked toward the collapsed maid.

Even seeing Caron’s angelic face didn’t cool my anger—but seeing that repulsive face made my blood boil even more.

SMACK!

“Ah!”

I slapped the maid hard, full of emotion. Caron flinched beside me.

Without caring, I grabbed her head and set it upright again.

“Who do you think you are, screaming like that? Shut your mouth. If you make another sound, I’ll call the head maid. Understand?”

The maid nodded frantically.

SMACK!

“This is for daring to be insolent toward me.”

SMACK!

“This is for deceiving His Highness the Crown Prince.”

SMACK!

“This is for insulting Caron…”

“What is going on here!”

“…and this is for looking down on her.”

I slowly lowered my hand.

A sharp female voice had come from across the garden.

The maid covered her face with both hands, trembling violently. I felt no sympathy at all.

In fact, I regretted not getting a fifth slap in.

An elderly woman with deep wrinkles rushed into the garden. The black lace collar she wore distinguished her from the other maids.

As expected, she was likely the head maid of Entera Castle.

Was the sound of slapping that loud? Well, it wasn’t exactly gentle.

I calmly explained the situation to the newly arrived woman.

“That insane maid tried to assassinate me.”

I pointed directly at the collapsed maid.

The maid, startled, suddenly sprang up and rushed toward the head maid, pressing her forehead against the polished leather shoes.

“N-No! I didn’t! I swear I didn’t do anything like that!”

“Are you saying I’m lying?”

At my words, she pressed her face into the ground.

“I don’t understand what part is a lie. I almost died choking on that spoiled water. If that’s not assassination, what is it?”

The maid trembled at my words.

I wanted to yell at her to stand up, but I held back for Caron’s sake.

Good. That was quite a dignified lady-like restraint.

Instead, I held out the cup with the last few drops of spoiled liquid toward the head maid.

“Drink it.”

As expected of a veteran, she took the cup without hesitation.

She seemed to already understand what it was.

She drank the remaining drops. The moment her lips closed, her expression twisted.

After swallowing with difficulty, she set the cup down.

“…I’m sorry, Lady Katrina. She is new to the castle and must have mistaken it for drinking water…”

“Do you even know who I am?”

A question a naive noble girl might ask—but no better words came to mind.

“Lady Katrina Ezelo…”

“And you know I am the only fiancée of His Highness the Crown Prince Nezar, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Knowing that and still doing this made it even more shocking.

If an outsider saw this, they would think I was some insignificant noble from the countryside—and then this ridiculous excuse might have worked.

But I am a daughter of the famous Ezeloe Count family.

I sighed deeply.

“Trying to assassinate a weak noble lady who can barely hold herself together… Caron, did you know? That this insane woman tried to kill me?”

“N-No… surely not…”

Caron shook her head desperately.

“I really can’t stand this anymore, Lady Caron. If I stay here, my heart will stop from fear!”

“Are you alright? Please sit down, my lady. I’ll bring warm tea…”

“No. I need to go see His Highness Nezar immediately.”

Why are you offering tea when there are servants everywhere?

I clenched my fist and stood up.

“…Ah. Come to think of it, I once mentioned Lady Caron to His Highness. He said he would like to meet her. If you’re willing, would you come with me?”

Just before boarding the carriage to Ezeloe, I asked Caron, whose face was as pale as the head maid’s.

“Me…?”

“I hope you won’t refuse. Since you came all the way to Entera, it would be a shame not to have a proper conversation.”

Caron’s lower lip still bore a red scab—the mark of her earlier outburst.

Her delicate face looked utterly pitiful as she glanced around nervously, especially toward the head maid.

“Is that alright? Please, get in.”

I opened the carriage door wide.

After hesitating, Caron quickly climbed into the seat opposite me.

Soon, with the sound of wheels rolling, the carriage departed.

Through the window, Entera Castle grew distant.

I cleared my throat and spoke in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.

“Actually… I lied.”