Chapter 17
Mallea giggled as she brushed cookie crumbs from the corner of her lips.
“Oh my, I was so startled when you suddenly appeared, miss. I thought you’d be in the dungeon.”
“Shouldn’t the first thing out of your mouth be an apology?”
Odette gave a dry smile at the shameless response, and Head Maid Dolly stepped in.
“Miss, don’t make such a fuss over this. She was just surprised and made a mistake. The tea wasn’t even that hot, it had already cooled down. Do you really need to come down so hard on a new maid over something like this? This is what we call throwing a tantrum—”
“Oh, is that so… ‘not that hot,’ you say.”
Odette lifted the teapot from the side table by the bed. It had cooled slightly, but it was still hot.
Without hesitation, she poured it directly over the head of the maid lying on the bed.
“Kyaa! H-Hot! M-Miss! What are you—!”
“I was startled too, made a mistake. After all, you’re all somewhere you shouldn’t be.”
A housekeeper, alarmed, tried to stop Odette, eyes wide.
“Miss, don’t be reckless! You must not forget we’re favored by the madam! If you behave like this, we’ll report every last detail to her!”
“Oh, are you talking about your madam who was just put under house arrest this morning? I’m so frightened by her favor. I wonder if your precious benefactor will even get out of that room.”
The housekeeper was flustered by Odette’s icy demeanor.
They had seen her briefly rebel yesterday, but assumed the trip to the dungeon would have subdued her.
As the housekeeper floundered, Odette tilted the teapot and shook out the last drops of tea onto the maid’s head.
Even the bed was soaked now, and the housekeeper quickly rose to avoid getting her own skirt wet.
“T-Too hot…! W-Water! Cold water!”
“Oh, come now. The tea’s barely warm. Don’t be so dramatic. As the head maid, you should be setting an example for the newer girls.”
When the head maid tried to rise from the bed in a panic, Odette calmly pressed a hand to her shoulder, holding her down.
“Let me go! I want to rinse it off with cold water!”
“Shouldn’t an apology come first? If you all offer me a satisfactory apology, then I’ll let the head maid go.”
With just her slender arm, Odette effortlessly kept the woman pinned. Then she met eyes with each of the new maids.
“H-Head maid…”
The maids were stunned, looking between the head maid and Odette.
It must be humiliating, she thought, to apologize to someone they’d just mocked.
She had to sear that humiliation into their bones so they’d never dare sneak into her room again.
“Mallea, why don’t you start? You’re the one who spilled tea on my leg, after all. Oh, and you did a lovely job mimicking me pulling Paula’s hair. You should consider acting.”
Mallea flinched and looked between the head maid and Odette. The head maid screamed.
“What are you doing?! Apologize right now! Can’t you see I’m in this state because you spilled the tea? Apologize to the lady!”
Worried about her own skin now that the tea was clearly hot, the head maid switched sides in an instant.
If the housekeeper and head maid worked together, they could probably drag Odette out by force. But the new maids were watching, eyes wide.
Just moments ago, they had mocked Odette together and said she was so vicious they had to gossip behind her back just to stay sane. Now, if they suddenly pushed and fought her, it would be suspicious.
A maid laying hands on a noble was an absolute taboo.
Mallea’s eyes welled with resentment.
“You’re the one who organized this meeting, Head Maid. You said you’d take full responsibility… So why…”
“Shut up! Just apologize already! Or do you want your life here to become hell? The daughter of a criminal fence pretending to be a maid!”
The secret Mallea had confided in the head maid spilled, and her expression turned to one of betrayal.
That tears it between Mallea and the head maid, Odette thought.
The other new maids looked disillusioned with the head maid too, clearly thinking she should never have held this gathering if she couldn’t handle it.
With a humiliated expression, Mallea stammered out an apology.
“I-I’m sorry, miss. I’ll never mock you again.”
“And?”
“I-I won’t come into your room without permission ever again. I’m sorry for making fun of you.”
One by one, the other maids knelt down and bowed their heads to the floor.
“We’re sorry, miss!”
Odette glanced at the housekeeper.
“What do you think, Courtney?”
Normally, she would never apologize. She was spoiled by the madam’s favoritism and considered Odette beneath her.
“Please let go of the head maid, miss.”
At that, Odette addressed the head maid sweetly.
“Oh dear. I thought you two were close. I guess Courtney doesn’t care much about your skin.”
“M-Miss, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise! Please let me go!”
Clearly desperate to escape the situation, the head maid pleaded, her face twisted with hatred for Odette.
“Courtney! Apologize, now! We were wrong to barge in here. The lady is completely right!”
So much so that she even turned on her once-close housekeeper.
“Everyone else heard that, right?”
“……”
“Don’t ever come into my room without permission again. If any of you ever act disrespectfully toward me again, I’ll show you what real viciousness looks like.”
They called me terrible when I played the pushover. But now that I’m truly vicious, look how quiet they’ve gotten.
Kneeling on the floor, they kept their heads bowed in total silence.
Servants spread rumors fast. They’ll know to behave themselves soon enough.
“Courtney! I said apologize! Miss, I’m truly sorry! We were completely wrong! Please let me go!”
Odette watched calmly.
Mallea and the head maid were now at odds. Like in her previous life, Mallea would never become the madam’s favored maid thanks to the head maid’s recommendation.
And I’ve already cut off Mother’s financial supply, so that’s handled.
On top of that, there was no way the head maid and housekeeper would let the humiliation slide.
They can only torment me with the madam’s approval. So they’ll go running to Fernan, begging him to release her.
If they plead for the countess’s release, they’ll mark themselves as her loyal dogs in Fernan’s eyes.
And that’s exactly what I want.
Completely unaware of Odette’s calculations, the housekeeper just glared at her like a fool.
Eventually…
“…I’m sorry, miss. We were wrong. We won’t enter your room again.”
The housekeeper finally bowed her head.
Courtney’s bow, with all the new maids kneeling behind her.
Finally, things are back where they should be.
Odette let go of the head maid’s shoulder at last.
“You may leave.”
The head maid fled from the room in a hurry. Odette gently patted Courtney’s cheek and spoke.
“Remember this day, this moment. No matter what you do, you’ll always be beneath me.”
The housekeeper bit her lip in humiliation.
“No matter how much you mock me, no matter how you look down on me, this is the best you’ll ever have. Bowing to me.”
With that, she ordered the maids:
“Clean up the mess you made in this room. And while you’re cleaning, shout loud enough to shake the mansion: ‘Miss, we’re sorry! We’ll never enter your room without permission again!’”
“Yes, miss!”
She wanted every servant and maid to hear it. This was how she would correct their bad habits.
The faster the rumors spread, the greater the fear.
All the other maids need to hear about what happened today if it’s going to serve as a real warning.
Her mother was under house arrest, and her father and brother were at the imperial palace, unreachable for the time being.
Which meant no consequences, no matter how loud things got.
“Courtney, you clean with them too.”
Courtney’s face went pale. Being told to do menial work herself—when her role was to supervise others—was the ultimate insult.
How funny. They don’t think twice about humiliating me, but the moment they’re insulted, they can’t take it.
Odette pressed for an answer.
“Well?”
“Yes, miss…”
“Mallea, once you’ve finished crying, come to the kitchen. I have something to say to you in private.”
Mallea was sniffling, her eyes full of tears. The shame and pain of her father being a criminal were clearly crushing her.
“We’re sorry, miss! We’ll never enter your room without permission again!”
With the chorus of apologies echoing behind her, Odette left the room with a cold expression and headed toward the kitchen.
