TMH Ch#04

. I Won’t Leave So Easily

As Marie opened the study door, a towering figure came into view.

“Dwayne…?”

“Miss… Marie.”

Dwayne was huge in size but barely a teenager.

On top of that, his speech and movements were so slow it made one feel short of breath just watching him.

“A-Are you… okay…?”

He had been left behind at the Whitehouse estate by his parents in exchange for their debts when he was young.

There weren’t even any slave documents—he was just too timid to leave on his own.

“So you were still here. If you were staying, you should’ve come to me sooner.”

“I’m… sorry…”

Despite having done nothing wrong, Dwayne bowed his head, visibly intimidated.

“No need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“S-Sorry…”

“Well, this is perfect. Dwayne, come with me.”

“O-Okay…”

Marie didn’t offer a long explanation and simply started walking.

Mildred and Dwayne followed her, confused by her sudden determination.

—

Inside the study, a few scattered books lay on the floor.

Further in, a middle-aged man with glasses and a thin frame could be seen struggling to pull a bookshelf from the wall.

“John. I thought I’d find you here.”

“M-Miss?”

Startled, John’s face showed a flash of guilt. But he quickly recovered and looked away, ignoring her.

“What is it? Have you come to beg for my help?”

“Beg? Me, from you?”

“Then what business do you have with me?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask. What business does John have in my study?”

At Marie’s pointed question, the butler looked up.

“What? I was just… going to read some books…”

“You said you were resigning as the butler of the Whitehouse family. I don’t quite understand why someone who quit is still using the study.”

Mildred and Dwayne turned to look at Marie.

“…?”

Their expressions said it all—they still couldn’t get used to the way she was speaking.

John also seemed shocked. He’d never heard her speak like this before.

‘What is this? She’s like a completely different person.’

But it didn’t matter. It was too late for her now.

‘She’s lost her status and wealth. She has nothing left. With no education or sense, she can’t even argue properly.’

A few harsh words, and she’d likely shrink back and flee.

“I worked here for 20 years. Isn’t it natural to read a few books in the house I’ve devoted myself to? You don’t even have the courtesy to treat me like a guest?”

John sneered openly.

But Marie stayed calm.

“A loyal servant of twenty years, huh… You’re right. Someone like that deserves to be treated properly.”

“Of course.”

“But tell me…”

“Yes?”

Just as he turned his back to leave, her voice stopped him.

“If you were truly loyal, shouldn’t you have come to me and resigned properly?”

“…What?”

“You haven’t submitted a resignation letter. So legally, you’re still employed by this household. That makes this dereliction of duty, doesn’t it?”

Mildred and Dwayne looked back at Marie, stunned.

“Miss Marie…?”

Was this really the same shut-in noble lady they had known?

“Th-That’s because… I was sick… I didn’t get the chance to…”

“Yet you had the strength to come to the study and read books?”

“W-What…?”

John started sweating nervously.

Dereliction of duty? Negligence?

How did this uneducated girl even know those terms?

“Or maybe… you’re trying to steal something from my house?”

“D-Don’t falsely accuse me! What could I possibly steal from a bankrupt noble house?!”

Then, Marie pulled something out of her pocket and held it up to his face.

“Probably this.”

“T-That…!”

John’s face instantly went pale.

In her hand was a thin key.

‘Just as I thought…’

Marie had recalled the key the moment she heard John was in the study.

In the original novel, the princess had discovered a hidden space using that very key after arriving at Whitehouse.

And now, Marie’s own memories had begun to surface.

The key had been left to her and Henry by the previous Count in case the family ever faced danger.

“I knew it. You stayed in the house to break into the family vault.”

“N-No, never!”

John’s thin wrists began to tremble.

“The bookshelf behind you is fixed into the wall. That’s why it survived the incident.”

“…”

“But you didn’t know I had a second key.”

“A s-second… key?”

John’s eyes widened before he could stop himself—and then he clapped both hands over his mouth.

Marie nodded.

“Yes. You need both keys to open it.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll be going now.”

John turned to flee, but Marie’s voice rang out firmly.

“Dwayne. Grab him.”

“Yes.”

Dwayne stepped forward without hesitation.

Thud.

The massive shadow of the giant engulfed the butler.

“G-Get out of my way! You dare?!”

“Ugh…”

Dwayne picked up John with one hand and flipped him upside down.

“Ahhhh! P-Please!!”

He shook the butler violently.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Clink.

A sharp metallic sound rang out as something fell from John’s inner pocket.

“Agh…!”

John’s face turned ghostly pale as he saw the key hit the floor.

“F-Forgive me, Miss! Please!”

He was hanging upside down, hands clasped together, begging desperately.

He looked like a man on death row.

“Spare me! I was wrong!”

Mildred, who had been watching from the side, looked between Marie and John, completely stunned.

The butler, who had always been so domineering, was now groveling at Marie’s feet?

“Dwayne.”

Marie gave him a silent signal to stop.

Dwayne instantly released his grip.

“Ugh!”

Thud.

John fell to the floor headfirst.

“Argh!”

“Take him to the guard station. He tried to steal private property. Have them investigate in case he took anything else.”

John, groaning in pain, suddenly sat upright.

“P-Please don’t do that! Miss, I beg you! Think of our history!”

“History? Did we have any of that?”

“M-Miss Marie!”

Dwayne picked him up again, like a sack of potatoes.

“P-Please! You’ll regret this!”

“Hmm. Funny how the people who say that are never scary.”

“Please!”

The butler was dragged off like a load of firewood, kicking and screaming.

A faint cry echoed from beyond the hallway.