CHAPTER 10
“Here you go.”
Before leaving the mansion, Mia personally returned Linaria’s jewelry.
The jewelry box was filled with colorful accessories.
Gulp.
Watching Linaria gaze indifferently at the jewelry, Mia couldn’t help but swallow hard.
‘Do you know how much all that’s worth? You’re really going to throw it all away? She’ll at least keep a few!’
At the very least, she’ll rummage through it a little.
Mia tried not to stare at Linaria’s hands too obviously.
‘She needs to touch the jewels with those hands.’
That way, the poison she had slathered on them would work.
Of course, it wasn’t a deadly toxin.
It would just cause a rash when it touched the skin.
But she hadn’t measured the dose, so it wouldn’t take much for that pretty face to break out horribly.
‘Honestly, she really didn’t know her place, trying to steal my mother! So what’s with that smug attitude?’
Mia had begged one of the maids who used to suck up to her mother to get her the poison.
She acted alone, but surely her crippled mother would also want revenge.
“All done? Then I’m off.”
“Wait.”
Did she notice?
Mia turned around, nervous and tense.
“One is missing.”
“You’re lying to make things hard for me, aren’t you?!”
“No. I’m just saying the pearl bracelet you borrowed a few days ago isn’t here.”
Now that she thought about it, there had been such a piece.
“Check again. If you don’t return everything properly, it’ll be added to your debt.”
There was no way Meryl, now crippled, could support herself. And Mia wasn’t capable of earning a living either—if she went into debt, she’d have no way to repay it.
Panting, Mia ran to her room and scoured every corner.
It was only when she lay flat on the floor that she finally spotted something shiny.
“Did I drop this while wearing it before?”
The bracelet was under the bed.
“Phew…”
Sweating from the search, Mia wiped her forehead with her arm.
At that moment—
Her face began to itch.
“W-What’s going on?”
Mia quickly took off her gloves and scratched at her face.
But no matter how much she scratched, the itching wouldn’t go away—if anything, it got worse.
“It itches—it itches—it really itches!”
She scratched her face so hard it bled as hives broke out.
Then she realized—
These were the same symptoms caused by the poison she had applied to the jewelry.
‘This was supposed to happen to Linaria, not me…’
Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, Mia screamed, her face now a wreck.
✦ ✦ ✦
‘I expected Mia to try something nasty, but I didn’t think she’d stoop to such a petty act.’
“L-Lady Linaria…”
The maid who had given the poison to Mia knelt before Linaria.
She was the same maid who had helped Linaria before by informing her when Meryl was about to punish Anna.
“I told you Mia would do something horrible, so… will you at least write me a recommendation letter?”
Her expression was caught somewhere between a smile and a sob, clearly begging for mercy.
‘Maybe it’s because she’s been spoiled her whole life…’
Mia didn’t seem to consider the possibility that people would turn on her or betray her if her situation worsened.
It was foolish… and yet, enviable.
It meant that selfish girl had grown up in an environment so full of love, betrayal never even crossed her mind.
“The Duke said he’d be dismissing all the servants. If I leave without a reference, I won’t be able to survive.”
Shaking off her thoughts, Linaria looked down at the pleading maid.
“I have a family to support too…”
She had been the one to come first and tell Linaria that Mia had poisoned the jewelry.
To prove it, she even brought the leftover poison she had given Mia.
Of course, the sly maid hadn’t fully taken Linaria’s side.
“That bracelet doesn’t belong to me, does it?”
As insurance, she had stolen the pearl bracelet while Mia was applying the poison.
If Linaria hadn’t caught her, she would have kept her mouth shut.
“I must’ve lost my mind for a second! I’ll do anything you say!”
“You make it sound like you’d even kill Mia if I told you to.”
“T-That’s…”
“Foolish girl. Why would I ask you to do something like that? Just put the bracelet back.”
“Mia’s going to poison it though…”
“But if she realizes it’s missing, she’ll be in real trouble.”
“…”
“If it’s tucked away somewhere hard to see, like under the bed or inside a drawer, she won’t find it easily.”
Linaria then slid the vial of poison back toward the maid.
“You say Mia poisoned the jewelry because she holds a grudge against me—but what if, when the truth comes out, she blames you instead? You need to be careful.”
“I swear, it wasn’t me!”
“But you bought the poison, didn’t you? If there’s an investigation, you’ll be named an accomplice. So think carefully.”
Linaria was right.
Mia would definitely throw her under the bus.
‘Lady Linaria clearly won’t help me unless I produce results.’
The maid placed the bracelet under Mia’s bed and applied the poison nearby—so it would touch Mia’s skin when she crawled down to get it.
‘This is what Lady Linaria wanted.’
She told herself that, just to cope.
“Lady Linaria, I poisoned Mia’s room for you…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Linaria stared coldly at the maid.
This maid—no, all the staff in the mansion—had turned a blind eye to Meryl’s abuse.
They were silent accomplices.
“Why should I be grateful for something I never asked you to do?”
Once a betrayer, always a betrayer. Not someone worth keeping.
✦ ✦ ✦
All the servants at the mansion were replaced.
‘Now the young lady won’t have to suffer anymore.’
Anna smiled and handed something over.
“Oh right, miss—here.”
“What is this…?”
It was a small box, prettily tied with a ribbon. Linaria hesitated, confused, and Anna explained.
“It’s a little late, but it’s a birthday gift from the Duke.”
“From Father?”
“Yes.”
“But my birthday’s already passed… Why now?”
“I guess he couldn’t make it in time for some reason. He seemed a little shy about it, so he asked me to give it to you.”
“…”
“You’re not disappointed that I’m the one delivering it, are you?”
“Of course not.”
It was the first gift she’d ever received from her father.
Even if it turned out to be a useless lump of clay, she would’ve accepted it happily.
Rustle.
She unwrapped it.
Inside was a ruby necklace.
“The color matches your eyes, miss! The Duke must’ve picked it specially!”
For a moment, Linaria was speechless.
She couldn’t even hear Anna’s excited voice clearly.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes… I really, truly do.”
It was the first birthday present of her life.
Her face showed little change, but her cheeks were faintly flushed. She was thrilled.
Anna smiled warmly and moved behind her.
“I’ll help you put it on.”
Once Anna clasped the necklace, she handed Linaria a mirror. Linaria stared at her reflection for a long time.
‘Anna said the gem matches my eyes…’
But for Linaria, the necklace would always remind her of her father.
The one who had given her a gift, who had always stood by her side.
Her beloved father.
And the reason she couldn’t be completely happy, even while wearing it, was because his time was running short.
Even without Maximilian, her father’s life was in danger.
She needed to find a skilled physician as soon as possible to save him.
‘And to do that, I need to provoke someone first.’
Linaria turned and pulled a book from a tower of them stacked on the table.
A book on magi-engineering, a subject her mother had loved.
She opened it, then—
Rip.
Tore out a page.
She could sense Anna’s panic beside her.
Unfazed, Linaria folded the paper carefully, preparing to send a letter.
“Send this for me. Since your leg hasn’t fully healed, don’t go yourself—send someone else. Understood?”
“H-Huh? Miss, wait—this is…”
Anna froze, having checked the recipient.
“I just want to be sure… You really want to send this to the Ivory Tower Master?”
“Yes.”
The Tower Master was known as an eccentric old man.
He had a grudge against House Obel, so much so that even hearing “Obel” made him growl.
Now Linaria was picking a fight with a man no one should antagonize.
Anna glanced at the book’s cover—sure enough, the author’s name was boldly printed.
It was the Tower Master himself.
“Ah… I see now. Then I, Anna, shall risk my life and deliver your letter.”
Yes. This was a challenge.
