SWMD 15

Chapter 15 

“…Your daughter…?”

Yulia blinked slowly, her expression dazed.

“Yes. My daughter.”

Diana glared at her and responded. Yulia tilted her head sluggishly, then slowly opened her mouth as if something had come to mind.

“…Ah.”

“Speak. You know, don’t you?”

Surely she knows. Diana nervously swallowed as she looked at the vacant-eyed Yulia.

“She… ran away.”

“What?”

Diana’s hands trembled. Ran away? That meant her daughter had definitely been in this mansion until recently.

“If she ran away…”

Just as she was about to explain further, Yulia began to laugh, as if losing her mind, mumbling in broken phrases.

“She was… in Lady Catherine’s room…”

“In Catherine’s room…?”

“Heehee… said she was… used like a maid… Isn’t that hilarious?”

Yulia, who had been snickering quietly, now let out open chuckles. Diana’s emerald eyes turned cold.

“Funny…? You think that’s funny?”

Seeing Yulia laughing so hard her shoulders shook made Diana’s skin crawl. Alicia, Yulia, even Catherine—they all looked like beasts.

They took someone’s precious daughter and used her as a servant, and now they find it funny?

“…Ha!”

A hollow laugh escaped Diana’s red lips. It was getting hard to breathe. Yulia’s laughter filled the room more and more.

It was a bone-chilling sound, enough to make Diana want to plug her ears. She wanted to strangle that neck right away. But there was still something left she had to ask.

“What did the child look like…?”

“She had light platinum hair… emerald eyes… like yours…”

Eyes like mine. Hair and eye color like mine. Diana tightly shut her eyes.

Even though she had only just learned the hair and eye color, it felt like she could already picture the child’s face if she closed her eyes. A child who looked just like her, smiling brightly.

“But she said… she ran away.”

Of all times, now…! Diana’s brow furrowed slightly. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder—just how terrible had it been for the child to risk her life and run?

Unaware of Diana’s inner turmoil, Yulia giggled and continued, as if telling a joke.

“Heehee… just imagining it is funny, right? It’s obvious how Lady Catherine must’ve treated her!”

Yes, it’s obvious. Diana’s eyes burned with fury. She had heard enough. She didn’t want to listen to another word from this trash.

Someone who found joy in others’ suffering wasn’t even worth pity.

“Belinda!”

Diana called loudly for Belinda, who was standing outside in the hallway.

“Yes, Your Grace?”

A single tear fell from her eye. At the unusually sharp tone, Belinda quickly entered the room, blinking in confusion at the sight of Diana’s tears.

But what Diana said next shocked her even more.

“Kill her.”

“…What?”

Belinda’s mouth fell open at the unthinkable command. But Diana was serious.

It wasn’t an impulsive reaction driven by emotion. Looking at Yulia didn’t feel like looking at a person—she felt no humanity from her.

She was trash without a shred of compassion. And trash belonged where it should go.

“Please… take her out of my sight…”

Diana covered her face with both hands and sobbed. Yulia was still laughing.

“It’s so funny! That’s why I like Miss Alicia! She’s so cruel—so wicked!”

Still under the effects of the truth potion, Yulia continued her babbling.

Diana’s tearful gaze turned to Belinda. Once more, she pleaded.

“You said you’d do anything for me, Belinda…”

Belinda looked toward Yulia, who continued her senseless rambling like a lunatic.

Then, as if deciding something, Belinda clenched her jaw. After a pause, she drew the sword at her waist—and without hesitation, swiftly struck Yulia down.

“Urgh!”

Yulia collapsed, choking on blood. Even in death, she smiled as though she’d just watched a great comedy.

“I’ll clean this up right away, Your Grace.”

“Thank you, Belinda.”

After hearing the situation from Belinda, Shane and Milan quickly came in to help clean up.

Once everything was cleared, they glanced at Diana, who wore a complicated expression, before quietly exiting the room.

A storm of emotions swirled in Diana’s trembling eyes.

For nobles, punishing or even executing a servant wasn’t an unusual thing. Some even tortured their servants to death.

But for Diana, this was the first time she’d ordered someone’s death. The first time she’d seen someone die in front of her.

Of course she was confused.

Suddenly, the sound of raindrops tapping against the window began. Then came a downpour.

Diana slowly turned her head toward the window. The endless rain felt like a reflection of her own heart.

She blankly stared outside. The garden was in full view. Roses drenched in rain shimmered as the droplets fell.

Ironically, it looked heartbreakingly beautiful.

Her hands still trembled. Diana clenched her fists tightly. She couldn’t let herself falter like this.

She had to let go of the title of “saint.” She vowed to become wicked—cruel if needed.

If she was this shaken already, how could she deal with those worse than Yulia still in the mansion?

That thought calmed her trembling. Determination returned to her eyes. Strengthening her legs, Diana stood and walked into the hallway.

“Your Grace.”

Belinda, Shane, and Milan looked at her with concern. Diana smiled faintly, as if to assure them, and slowly opened her lips.

“Tell Catherine to meet me in my room.”

“Lady Catherine?”

“Yes. Tell her to wait for me. I have something important to say.”

“Yes, understood.”

With that, Diana headed toward Catherine’s room—but not to enter it. Instead, she slipped into the empty room next to it.

Diana perked her ears, listening carefully from inside.

Soon, she heard Milan calling Catherine.

Moments later, Catherine’s footsteps echoed through the quiet hallway as she followed Milan.

Diana quietly slipped out of the empty room and entered Catherine’s chamber. Luckily, it wasn’t locked.

“…She said the girl worked here as a maid.”

Yulia had said so. There was no sign of the child in the maids’ quarters. Which meant there had to be a secret space somewhere in Catherine’s room.

Diana searched thoroughly. But nothing stood out.

Then, a faint blue glow caught her eye between the bookshelves.

“…What’s that?”

Cautiously, Diana approached. Light was seeping through the gap between the wall and the bookshelf.

She gently lifted and pushed the bookshelf aside.

A small hidden room appeared.

It was just barely big enough to fit a single child.

“…Ha.”

They built a hidden room like this… to lock up a child? In such a damp, moldy place?

Diana slowly turned her head.

There was a thin mat on the cold hard floor—barely even a blanket. In the corner sat a filthy basket. Inside were rock-hard, dried-out pieces of bread and half a bottle of spoiled milk.

She couldn’t say anything. No words would come. Not even enemy slaves in war were treated this poorly.

As Yulia said, it was now clear how Catherine and Alicia had treated her daughter.

With their twisted personalities, they must’ve tormented the child endlessly.

And even so, she had brought me that piece of bread…? My poor baby…

Diana’s face twisted in rage. This was no place for a child—certainly not her daughter.

Her daughter, who should’ve bloomed more beautifully than anyone and grown up loved.

Hoping to find any trace of her, Diana gently explored every corner of the small room.

Eventually, she hugged the blanket the child must have used and broke into sobs. Like the rain tapping at the window, her tears fell endlessly.

“…How much did it hurt…? How hard was it…?”

Diana bit down on her lip as she sobbed. At that moment, her emotions triggered her mana. She had been practicing mana control lately, so it was more sensitive than usual.

The magic pouring from her caused the floor inside the secret room to slowly freeze.

“…Huh?”

Startled by the unintended mana surge, Diana reached out to pull it back—but then her teary eyes turned toward the wall.

There, written in a way only someone with magic could see, glowed faint blue words.

Had her mana not been released here, she never would have seen it.

“No way…!”

Reading slowly, Diana covered her mouth.

Glowing clearly in blue light were the words:

“Mother, I miss you.”