Chapter 22: [Chapter 022] What are you standing there for?
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The dining room of the Grand Duke's mansion was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The servants all stood with their heads bowed low, holding water jugs, wine bottles, glasses, and napkins. Their heads hung even lower than their hands. The atmosphere was chilling.
"Why is your hand like that? Won't you tell me?"
"I just... I got a little cut while arranging flowers."
It was true that I had handled flowers. I had used them to beat the walls of the manor, thinking of Noebian. I swallowed the last of my drink, along with the lie. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but then seemed to give up and gestured towards the prepared food.
"I didn't know what you'd like, and since you said you were coming early, I told them to prepare everything..."
How could he, who conspired to kill me, have never shared a meal with me? He didn't even seem surprised by my lie about arranging flowers. If it had been the maids at the manor, they would have put their hands to their foreheads as soon as I mentioned arranging flowers. Instead of answering, I pretended to look around the table and scanned the necks of the servants standing nearby. As expected, none of them were wearing necklaces.
"It looks delicious. Thank you."
I forced a smile. A faint crack appeared in Noebian's normally impassive face.
"...Eat."
He spoke in a low voice but didn't eat anything himself. I cut the huge piece of meat in front of me into small pieces. I had to pretend to eat something, even though nothing was going down my throat. While I was doing so, I carefully examined the servants near Noebian. Something seemed off. The arrogant servants of the Grand Duke's mansion were usually somewhat afraid of Noebian, but not to this extent. And besides...
"They're badly bruised."
The maids and servants had dark bruises on their wrists and necks whenever they were visible. Some of them were even limping. As soon as they made eye contact with me, they turned pale and bowed their heads deeply. Clink. When I loudly set down my fork, all eyes were on me.
"The atmosphere is quite... lively."
"Is it?"
He neither affirmed nor denied my statement and turned to the butler, Gaspal. Gaspal, who had been standing at the entrance, nervously watching us, went to a corner and started a record player. Grand and magnificent music. Romantic and sweet music. He skipped through the music until a gentle tune played, and Noebian nodded. It was not directed at Gaspal but at me. It was as if he was asking if I was ready to eat now. As if.
How can I eat when I'm looking at your face?
But I nodded in satisfaction and pretended to eat again. In the end, no one finished their meal.
***
As I was escorted to another room after dinner, I realized that it wasn't just the servants in the dining room who seemed out of place.
Was it because of that day?
The day I got my jewels back. In the end, no one was found guilty, and they were all punished. If you stole the property of a noble, you could be punished by having your hand cut off. Neither I nor Noebian had ever inflicted such punishments in this mansion. In my case, I didn't know that a theft had occurred in the mansion, and even if I had, the butler wouldn't have listened to my orders. Noebian probably didn't know much about what happened inside the mansion either. While he was staying at the mansion, he might have seen the true nature of these demons in the manor. That would explain it. Some of the servants must have been punished severely. For example... that butler, Gaspal, with his oily eyes who would grin if I gave him just a little bit. I turned my head away. Thankfully, no one had their hands cut off, but most of them had been beaten badly. Whenever Gaspal passed by or when Noebian's gaze fell on them, they trembled. Among them was Annie, the maid with faded wheat-colored hair who had tormented me for two years. She was already half-crazy from yesterday, but she still glanced at me fearfully.
I thought I would be more terrified when I saw Annie.
It's nothing.
Looking down at her trembling figure, I felt nothing but contempt. She was so pathetic and insignificant. How could I have been so afraid of such a lowly maid? As I watched Annie trembling with fear and anger, I realized that this was exactly what I wanted.
I'm not Adrien anymore.
Blier could enjoy these things. She could throw away the dignity of a noble. And I didn't feel sorry for any of them. In this mansion, the most miserable person was me. Me!
"What's wrong?"
"Just a moment."
I was following Noebian up the stairs when I suddenly stopped. My blood boiled. I was filled with an overwhelming urge to release the rage and energy coursing through me. I let go of Noebian's hand and walked towards Annie, who had just passed by.
"You, over there."
Annie, who had been glancing at me, tightened her grip on her hands and slowly raised her head.
"!"
"You know me, don't you?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Answer me."
Noebian, taken aback by my sudden action, quickly joined me. I leisurely fanned myself and looked down at Annie. She hesitated, unsure whether to admit that she knew me or not. It was unthinkable that Annie, unlike the other maids, wouldn't recognize me. Noebian stepped close to me and discreetly tugged on my arm. I looked at him with slight irritation. His eyes flickered, seemingly provoked by my gaze.
"What do you think is the reason why your master, the wife of the gods, has personally invited me to this mansion?"
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"!"
Several of the servants around us looked up in surprise. Although I had been officially invited, those who were observant would have gathered that Noebian and I were in a peculiar relationship, and that I resembled the late Grand Duchess Adrien. The mouths of the ignorant servants in this mansion were especially loose. In the past, I wouldn't have said such things to protect Noebian's reputation, but now I could say anything I wanted. With this healthy body, I felt like I could fight anyone.
"Are you so deaf that you can't even hear?"
I pushed Annie's forehead with my folded fan. She stumbled but managed to regain her balance. Her eyes were filled with confusion and anger. Her face twitched as if she was having a seizure.
"Madam."
Noebian tried to stop me, but my ears were too filled with excitement to hear him. I simply said,
"It was you. You, who was so disrespectful to the wife of the Grand Duke, the noblewoman of the Acacia family, during the Grand Duchess's memorial."
"No, no! I wouldn't! Your Highness, I swear! I only saw Madam for the first time in the Grand Duchess's chambers that day!"
"...There are many witnesses..."
"I too have suffered humiliation in front of many people."
Grand Duchess Adrien had kept quiet for the sake of appearances. As long as it didn't leak outside the mansion, it didn't matter what happened inside. After all, I was nothing but a pawn who couldn't change anything. It had terrified me to be hated by the people I depended on.
"You invited me to this mansion as an apology, thank you."
"Madam..."
"But I've never received an apology from anyone. I doubt that His Highness, the Grand Duke, would apologize on behalf of a lowly maid. I'm quite satisfied with a simple apology from a lowly girl like you."
"..."
Noebian looked troubled but remained silent, as if he had expected this reaction. As expected, Blier Acacia was not an easy woman to deal with.
"It's not proper for a man to interfere in a conversation between women, Your Highness?"
"...When you're finished, report to the butler."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Noebian gave up and stepped aside. Suddenly, only the butler Gaspal, Annie, and a few maids were left on the second-floor stairs. Annie was trembling and crying. Her face was flushed with anger and disbelief.
"His Highness the Grand Duke is a righteous man. No matter how much you lie, he will never believe you."
Her words were absurd. I covered my mouth with my hand and laughed.
"Oh, really? So that's why he left you to me, the so-called mistress?"
"I don't believe it. I don't believe that Madam is the Grand Duke's mistress or secret lover..."
Her fist was clenched, and tears streamed down her face. She looked like a betrayed wife.
"There's another fool in this mansion like the Grand Duchess."
I said coldly, without hesitation. Seeing Annie's desperate face, believing such absurd things, was truly a sight to behold.
"Madam..."
Gaspal stepped forward, looking horrified.
"Why are you doing that?"
"How dare you say such a thing in the Grand Duke's mansion!"
How arrogant these servants of the Grand Duke were. I raised an eyebrow and scoffed.
"Who are you to interfere? Even the Grand Duke agreed with me when I said it's improper for a man to butt into a conversation between women. You fool."
Gaspal, always with his oily face, widened his eyes in shock and gaped like a stunned fish. The other servants nearby looked on with a mix of amusement and fear, covering their mouths with their hands and staring wide-eyed.
"Madam, insulting me is insulting the Grand Duke's household!"
"Who are you?"
"I am someone who has been with the Trovica Grand Duke since the very beginning of the establishment of this house..."
"You seem too stupid to understand... let me ask you differently. How do you see me?"
"!"
"Insulting me is insulting who?"
Gaspal, who seemed to have known about the relationship between Noebian and me from the beginning, instantly lost his defiance. He must know better than anyone else in this mansion that insulting Blier Acacia was tantamount to insulting the Grand Duke. Without the Grand Duke to protect him, he would have to rely on the servants. But Blier had no need for that.
"When this is over, please have someone ring the bell, Madam."
Gaspal gritted his teeth and bowed slightly before leaving. It must be humiliating for someone who had reigned like a king in the Grand Duke's absence to be so humiliated in front of the servants.
"Well then... shall we continue what we were doing?"
With no one left to stop me, Annie stared at me blankly.
"What... what were we doing?"
"What do you think?"
I pointed at the shiny floor with my folded fan and smiled.
"Why aren't you kneeling?"
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