Chapter 004
Rosetta Coco Bennetra (4)
A pungent smell wafted through the air; it seemed that wicked girl had added something like vinegar instead of scented oil.
“Hey, you. How long have you been working here?”
“Ha… It has been a little over a year.”
Perhaps my slap lacked strength, as the maid who had been struck answered with a sigh of ease.
“I see. Over a year, huh… That is enough time to know your master’s tastes even with your eyes closed.”
Judging by that look in your eyes asking ‘so what?’, you’d think you were the master here, you rotten thing.
I acted calm on the surface, but internally, it was difficult to suppress the fire-like rage, so I once again gripped my thighs with my fingernails.
Having gripped them so much, they were covered in a mountain of scars.
“What is your name?”
“…It is Temari.”
“Fine, Temari. Go out and bring the Head Maid.”
“The Head Maid is on vacation, so she is not at her post yet.”
Vaca-tionnn?
Somehow, I was appalled by where she got the nerve to be so defiant.
Since the person in charge was absent, she seemed to think that even if she were reprimanded, it would just blow over as me throwing a tantrum like usual.
“When did she say she would return?”
“Haa… I believe it is sometime this morning. I do not know the details.”
“Really? Well, if that’s the case, there’s no helping it. I’ll just have to call the Butler right now.”
If the one in charge is absent, I just have to bring another person in charge, don’t I?
At my command to call the Butler, Temari’s eyes widened.
“……Right now, My Lady?”
“Are you questioning me right now?”
“The Butler is currently bus—”
I cut her off and fairly struck her left and right cheeks once each.
Whether she was red from resentment or from being hit, Temari glared at me with a beet-red face.
“I will order you one last time. Bring the Butler.”
In less than a few minutes, a couple of knocks were heard from outside.
I tilted my head once, signaling the remaining maid to open the door.
The Butler’s stiff face, as he offered a polite morning greeting, scrambled into a flustered bow upon discovering me clad only in a robe—it was quite a humorous sight.
Temari, standing behind the Butler, wore a confident expression as if she were a concubine who had gained a powerful backer.
She had likely blabbered to him whatever suited her while bringing him here.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“Is it true that this maid, who is glaring insolently behind your back, has worked here for over a year?”
“Y-yes. Roughly so.”
“Fine, Butler. Then, do you know what scented oil I use?”
“…I believe you mainly enjoy Romeo Garden from Orphedom.”
“You know well. Then I shall ask again. Is there a reason to keep a fool in the Ducal House who hasn’t even learned a single scented oil their master enjoys over the span of a year?”
Was it thanks to burning all the Panilnia in my room?
Until just before my death, I had been poisoned by Panilnia for so long that it was difficult to think or act properly.
But now, I felt as if my tongue were literally taking flight.
‘I’m going to crush them all starting today.’
I waited for the Butler’s answer with a triumphant expression, and he cast a brief, mysterious gaze toward me.
Well, naturally… For his young master, who would usually vent her anger by screaming at servants and kicking them out of the room, to be scolding with such logical reasoning today must have seemed extraordinary.
“…I will take her and educate her strictly, so how about you generously forgive her this once, My Lady?”
The Butler replied that he presumed I must have been sufficiently displeased, while sending a disapproving look toward Temari.
Hmm, I guess the Butler thinks I’m an easy target too. He’s setting conditions.
I sighed as if troubled and replied.
“I don’t think someone who couldn’t be taught despite a year of thorough education will learn anything just by adding a few more days. If you will not comply, I shall go and report this directly to Father.”
As I turned back toward the bathroom after finishing those words, Temari finally cried out as if it were unfair.
“The disposition of servants is the Madam’s domain!”
When she went beyond shouting and started huffing at her master, the Butler quickly scolded Temari, asking where she got the nerve to raise her voice.
No, don’t be like that.
I’m so grateful to this rotten girl who actually knows how to say the right thing right now.
“Did you say it is currently Mother’s domain?”
“……Ah! That is not what I— I, I misspoke.”
“Was it a slip of the tongue? Then that means it is not Mother’s domain.”
“…….”
“Tsk, how reckless.”
The maid named Temari eventually clasped her hands tightly together and hung her head in a helpless daze.
I shook my head, pressing my hand to my forehead as if in lamentation.
“The negligence of you servants is proof that the mistress of the house has been lax in managing the household. Therefore, I must run to Father immediately, report Mother’s negligence in detail to have her qualifications revoked, and hand down a more fitting punishment to you.”
At this, Temari looked back and forth between the Butler and me with a face pale with horror.
With tears welling up in her eyes, she looked like she had never expected her one reckless comment to lead to questioning the qualifications of the current Duchess, Rianna.
The Butler also seemed to feel that things were becoming too grand, as he hurriedly bowed his head and appealed to me in a desperate voice.
“My Lady. I was inexperienced and made a poor judgment. I will report today’s events to the Madam in detail and punish Temari.”
“…It is troublesome if even you, the Butler, are inexperienced.”
“I am deeply sorry. I will take extensive measures to ensure such a thing never happens again.”
“Take her out.”
As if her own situation was pitiful, Temari eventually showed tears.
As the Butler left the room with her, all that remained was the silence between the orange-haired maid and me.
Having witnessed her colleague’s sudden notification of a downward spiral right before her eyes, the young maid just pressed her lips together and waited for her own fate.
“What is your name?”
“……I am called Penny Hafne, My Lady.”
“Fine, Penny Hafne. What do you want to do from now on?”
“Th-the bathwater has cooled, so I will reheat it… and prepare the scented oil that suits you, My Lady.”
She spoke clearly despite trembling like a rabbit; she seemed to have a decent amount of wit.
I assigned Penny to handle my bathing and dressing for the time being.
Her reply that she would serve me with all her heart wasn’t a total lie; while Penny was washing me, so much built-up grime came off that the bathwater had to be changed twice more.
It was a refreshing scent of skin I hadn’t felt in a long time.
* * *
While heading to the main building, I was feeling a bit intoxicated by the freshness.
That Penny girl, she had quite the hand for this.
Normally, three or four maids should have been clinging to me to help me dress. Setting aside the fact that it took quite a while for Penny to do it alone, I had overlooked the fact that I had no indoor dresses fit to wear due to my long period of seclusion.
However, the thought of going in a dress that was long out of style made me feel disgusted, as I could already see Odette’s “Saintly Act” clearly.
— “Sniff, Rosetta-unnie. If there’s anything among my dresses you desire, you are free to take as much as you like.”
Crazy, absolutely not!
I’d rather go naked. My neck felt stiff just imagining Odette acting piteous to gain the servants’ favor.
I was just about to use the excuse that I had woken up too early and fallen back asleep, even if it meant getting scolded.
Penny, whose face had become a bit smudgey, brought out a dress from the dressing room.
It was a very lovely Tiffany Blue dress.
“It looks like a gift, but it was sitting there without even the packaging being opened. Thanks to that, no dust gathered, and it’s very clean.”
Are you informing me of your colleagues’ negligence like this?
Aside from the dress, Penny looked happy as she skillfully gathered a few matching accessories and placed them in front of the mirror.
She had reason to be excited. Servants serving a young lady should at least have the fun of looking at pretty and sparkling things…
But all I had shown her was a room that was a mess five minutes before a disaster and pajamas yellowed with waste.
“Is there no name of the person who sent the gift?”
“Yes. There was no separate note.”
Since there was only one person in the world who could send me a gift without a sender, I decided not to ask further.
How much time had passed while I left my body to Penny?
At Penny’s word that I could open my eyes now, I was able to check my reflection in the mirror.
【 Oh, you’re pretty. 】
I didn’t say that.
It was a compliment from Shing, who had appeared behind me at some point and was standing there like a philanderer, saying, “Hey, what’s the name of the lady passing by? What’s your mailing address?”
It wasn’t that I didn’t deny it because of Penny being next to me—I just couldn’t become a person who screams “Shut up!” at thin air.
‘I looked like skin and bones just a moment ago…’
As she applied a soft pink hue over my hollow cheeks and protruding collarbones, I looked quite healthily filled out.
Even a glow that hadn’t existed before had appeared on my parched skin, thanks to whatever she had applied.
That wasn’t all. To hide my unpleasantly thin frame, Penny pulled a thick shawl from the corner of the dressing room and draped it over me.
Thanks to that, I looked roughly like I did when I was crying and shouting for the confinement order to be given, so I let out a low laugh.
“Your skills are quite something.”
“Ah… Th-thank you, My Lady.”
What’s with her? Why is her face getting so red?
Around the time Penny, whose cheeks were suddenly dyed red, felt like a young girl experiencing her first love, she hurried to fasten a pearl necklace with fine gold settings.
It wasn’t too flashy, yet it was bright and subtle—an outfit perfectly suited for formalities. I didn’t hold back on the praise, telling her she should be the one to handle my dressing next time, and stood up from my seat.
In the middle of that, Shing, who was staring so intensely my head felt like it might get a hole in it, was so bothersome that I shot him a glare. He rested his chin on his hand and muttered seriously.
【 As expected, you must become my darling… 】
What is this crazy guy babbling about?
Since I couldn’t become a delusional young lady who mutters curses while looking at empty space, I kept my mouth shut.
Afterward, with Penny and Shing following in line behind me, I headed to the main building and arrived in front of the dining hall.
“I have been waiting for you, My Lady.”
The Butler, who had experienced the commotion earlier, lowered his head upon seeing me.
The dining room doors seemed to open very slowly.
Was it purely because of my heart not wanting to enter? Or perhaps it was because the gatekeeper looking at me with disapproval was bothersome.
“You are late, Rosetta. Are you still not feeling well? You could have eaten in your room…”
“I should have gone to get you. Unnie, please sit down quickly. Everyone has been waiting.”
But what mattered now was the fact that my heart was racing violently again at the sight of those women before my eyes.
Rianna and Odette.
Those snake-like things who dared to crawl into this Bennetra like rats and brought ruin to Father and me.
