Born as the daughter of an unaccredited noble, Luigi, who became Helena’s maid at a young age, was not inherently a person who bullied others from the start.
He merely envied the lives of noble ladies who were served by attendants and received special treatment simply because they were born into that status.
Ariana, a convenient scapegoat for Luigi, was the daughter of the Marquess of East and the Marchioness of West, but was treated worse than an ordinary maid.
Luigi felt a twisted joy whenever he saw the noble blood flowing through Ariana, trembling and begging before him.
However, recently, Ariana had been acting strangely. No, quite a lot.
Since a few days ago, Ariana began to behave as if another person’s soul had entered her body, as if she had become someone else entirely.
“Here, eat this?”
His voice cold, eyes icy. Calmly placing her hands on her thighs and sitting upright with a straight posture, she radiated an imposing presence that made even this shabby room feel like a grand palace just by her presence. Her slender shoulders, which used to shrink at the sight of Luigi, now exuded a dignity that made it difficult to look her directly in the eyes.
Ariana, who once trembled and shed tears at the mere thought of being scolded, now seemed as if she had no fear at all.
Just a few days ago, she would grimace and tear up at the sight of spoiled food, but now she shows no emotion even when faced with rotten dishes.
Instead, she twisted the corner of her lips into a slight smile as if she found it amusing.
Luigi felt a chill from Ariana’s cold smile but quickly dismissed the feeling and spoke.
“Now that you’re acting so elegant, do you think the Duke and Duchess will still see you as a pretty lady?”
Ariana slowly looked up at Luigi.
Her deep blue eyes were as clear as a winter lake.
For some reason, Luigi found it difficult to meet her gaze directly and shyly looked away.
“Do I look elegant to you?”
Ariana’s changed tone grated on Luigi’s nerves.
Until just a few days ago, Ariana had always spoken to Luigi with respectful language, like a maid.
He couldn’t understand why she suddenly acted this way.
“Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly! I’m busy too!”
Suddenly, Ariana stood up abruptly, causing Luigi to instinctively take a step back.
Embarrassed to be pushed back by Ariana, he bit his lower lip and glared at her, but she strode forward and stood firmly in front of him.
Though she was still a young girl, shorter by about a span, Luigi somehow felt she was several times bigger than him.
A quiet anger emanating from this small girl seemed to grip Luigi’s throat.
“Luigi.”
Ariana’s hand lightly brushed past Luigi’s dress.
“Your dress is pretty.”
“Y-yes. It’s a dress you’ll never be able to wear in your life.”
“Do you think so?”
Luigi, irritated by Ariana’s condescending attitude toward someone of lower status, pushed her shoulder sharply.
Seeing her body waver and collapse into a chair, Luigi chuckled happily.
‘She’s just a mere child. I don’t know why I was so afraid.’
He didn’t know what kind of emotional change caused Ariana to pretend to be a noble lady, but in the end, she was just Ariana.
Even if pushed and pinched by a maid, no one would care for her—Ariana Bronte.
“It looks like you’re stalling because you don’t want to eat. Don’t do anything unusual and just eat neatly!”
In response to Luigi’s rough words, Ariana answered.
“Fine, I guess I can stop stalling now.”
“What?”
“Say I won’t do anything unusual and just eat.”
Surprisingly, Ariana picked up her fork without crying.
She began to eat the rotten food piled high on the plate little by little.
Her delicate movements made Luigi think that the food she was eating was high-quality banquet fare.
He had only picked the oldest discarded items from the kitchen trash as per Helena’s orders, but Ariana ate everything without a single grimace.
This was the first time Luigi saw her calmly consume everything like that, and he felt a chill.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
At that moment—
“Ugh!”
Just as if she were eating delicious food, Ariana suddenly bent her waist and started to vomit.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“Hey… Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
“Ugh… Cough! Ugh!”
Finally, she stood up abruptly and, collapsing to the floor, vomited. Luigi’s face turned pale at the sight.
Even if Ariana was not receiving the treatment of a noble lady, her dying from this was a different matter. If she died because of the food Luigi brought, he would also face severe punishment.
He hesitated, unsure whether to run away, pacing anxiously, unaware that someone had opened and entered the door.
“What on earth is going on here?!”
Suddenly alert at the stern voice, Luigi turned his head and saw Lady Kielle Bronte, Countess Rachel, and the maids of the old lady standing in front of the door.
Meanwhile, Ariana was clutching her stomach in pain and vomiting again.
But her mother, Rachel, approached her to ask what was wrong, instead of doing so she simply stood quietly next to the old lady with a subtle smile.
The old lady, meanwhile, covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief and asked in a stern voice.
“What is that smell?!”
“Th-that… It’s just that… Miss Ariana suddenly felt stomach pain and vomited… so that smell…”
“Yes, mother. It seems that what Ariana vomited out is causing this strong odor. I will handle it, so please go to the garden and rest.”
Honestly, the old lady didn’t want to interfere in such matters and intended to pretend she didn’t know, following her daughter-in-law’s wishes.
But Ariana did something unexpected.
“Please… save me… Please, grandmother… I ate rotten food… I think something… went wrong…”
The small girl, lying down and pleading for help, looked very pitiful, and the maids standing behind the old lady quietly sighed.
All of the maids were of noble birth, and since the old lady cared a lot about appearances, she couldn’t ignore the situation any longer.
No matter how much they kept their mouths shut, words would inevitably slip out.
If they pretended not to know about Ariana and turned away, rumors would spread that the Duchess of Bronte’s lady was abusing her foster daughter.
The old lady didn’t particularly like the idea of Ariana, born from her son’s affair, but seeing the child begging for her life softened her heart.
“Call the doctor.”
Before the doctor arrived, Rachel ordered the maids to move Ariana to another room and discreetly signaled Luigi to go back.
Luigi quickly gathered his utensils to leave, but the old lady spoke.
“You stay. I want to know what exactly this child ate that made her like this.”
“Mother, she probably just ate too quickly and got indigestion. Ariana tends to eat greedily and sometimes swallows without chewing properly.”
Rachel tried to defend Luigi, but the old lady was firm. Many eyes were on her.
“Didn’t you smell that odor when you entered the room? Stop talking nonsense.”
Soon, the doctor arrived and examined Ariana.
When asked what she had eaten, Ariana answered weakly.
“It’s all mixed up… I don’t know what I ate. But… it had a terrible smell… I couldn’t eat it because it smelled strange.”
“You shouldn’t have eaten it, young lady.”
“But… if I don’t eat it all, Luigi will get mad…”
Watching Ariana carefully, everyone’s expressions changed moment by moment.
Rachel shot a look of irritation and anger at Ariana, Luigi’s face paled, and the old lady, maids, and doctor were all shocked.
“A maid… scolded the young lady?”
Ariana didn’t answer the doctor’s question. She just shrank back in fear.
At that moment, the doctor finally realized that Ariana looked unfit for a noble daughter.
“Don’t wear such thin clothes in this cold weather, young lady.”
Though he said “thin clothes” because many eyes were watching, strictly speaking, her clothes were old and ragged, not suitable even for maids.
Rachel’s face turned red, having not thought to change Ariana’s clothes.
After finishing the examination, the doctor’s expression was grim.
“Looks like she ate a lot of spoiled food and got sick. There are signs of malnutrition as well. Unless the Marquess’s finances are in trouble, I recommend you prepare fresh ingredients for her meals.”
His words were rude, but no one scolded the doctor.
He then prescribed medicine for food poisoning and, after hearing Ariana’s complaint about insomnia, took a few sleeping pills from his bag before leaving.
A heavy silence fell over Ariana’s room.
Luigi, restless, looked at Rachel and the old lady’s expressions, while Rachel was worried about how to lift the old lady’s mood.
Lying wrapped in warm blankets on the bed for the first time in this mansion, Ariana quietly observed them, planning her next move.
~·~·* . *^.^* . *·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
