Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 20

Just when she was glancing around happily.

“Ah, it’s so hard…”

Someone’s great lament was heard. Startled, Liliana raised her head. Not far from the bench where she was sitting, some of the maids gathered to sweep the floor.

One of the maids lamented.

“Have you heard? This time the kitchen has become a mess.”

“They said the cookie dough was sticking all over the place?”

At the voice filled with resentment, Liliana shrugged her shoulders without knowing because it was her mother and her who made cookies recently.

“After cleaning all the dough, the chief maid couldn’t even lift her arm.”

“Oh my God, is that because of muscle pain?”

“What a poor thing, the chief maid is suffering so much…”

‘No way, is Meg suffering muscle pain because of me? Though when she saw her before, she looked fine…’ Liliana swallowed dry saliva.

“Madam was an aristocratic person, right? She didn’t even do anything in the kitchen…”

“That’s right, that’s right. Besides, I’m so sorry for the young master.”

‘…Why Elliot?’ She glanced at the maids.

The maids were now raising their voices as though wanting Liliana to hear them.

“That’s right. I mean, right now, his mother was stolen by Miss Liliana, right?”

“Because of Miss Liliana, I don’t think the young master is getting any attention from her.”

The maids talked to each other as though Elliot was pitiful.

It was a dirty method.

The other day, when Anriche warned, ‘don’t talk about Liliana from the back,’ they are now swearing by using the form of complaining.

‘Because Miss Liliana came in, the work increased, and the maids are suffering from excessive work.’

‘The madam who was aristocratic changed because of Liliana.’

‘I feel so sorry for Young Master Elliot, who had not been receiving attention from the madam.’

After all, it was no different than saying that all the problems were caused by Liliana.

In fact, if she thought about it, she would realize that those complaints were absurd.

Not only did they not make the kitchen dirty enough to make Meg suffer from muscle aches while cleaning, and Anriche had even cleaned up before leaving. In the first place, Meg was the chief maid who oversaw the townhouse and was also Elliot’s nanny. So, she could not be in charge of cleaning the kitchen.

Above all, before she came in, his relationship with Anriche was the worst. Rather, with her coming in, Elliot approached his mother a little more than before.

However, Liliana was still young, and her head wasn’t smart enough to make rational judgments. She also feared that she was hated by the people of Valois.

‘After all… I’m the problem.’ Liliana bit her lips tightly and huddled her whole body. Everyone treated her warmly, spoke with a friendly voice, and smiled kindly.

So, she forgot.

‘Because of me, there is an uproar in the Valois Duchy.’

Without anyone noticing, there was one gaze staring towards Liliana’s sloppy look.

It was Anriche.

‘Wow, they really.’ She squeezed her fist. ‘I warned them not to be mean to the child, so now they’re using this method?’

Why would they bully a kid?

‘…Anyway, something a little weird.’

Anriche narrowed her eyes.

On the first day Liliana entered the Duchy, she had warned directly to the maids who had spoken behind the child’s back. She told them not to treat Liliana with carelessness. Since then, the maids have been polite to Liliana, at least outwardly.

‘But now, they’re so rude to Liliana?’

Anriche couldn’t hide her suspicious expression and took her step.

However, just then.

“…Stop it, Miss Liliana will hear that.” A small maid opened her mouth while swallowing her dry saliva.

Oh?

At that moment, Anriche turned into an unexpected look.

‘Look at this. There is a maid who is on Liliana’s side?’

Liliana was also surprised, looking around with her eyes wide open. ‘Oh, that maid…’ At the same time, her eyes were filled with light. She was the new maid whom Liliana had help from Meg the other day.

The maid who led the gossip opened her eyes.

“What did you say now?”

“What you said was a little bit harsh, right? You don’t have to say that much…”

Though the maid, who tried to defend Liliana, couldn’t keep up with her words until the end and dropped her head to the floor.

It was because some of her maids stared at her fiercely.

“No way, are you against me now?”

The maid, with her both hands on her waists, burst into stupid laughter and asked questions. Following that, the other maids added.

“Aren’t you a newcomer who has only been in townhouse for a month?”

“I mean, the newcomer has a big heart.”

“You don’t know how not to get involved in what your seniors are talking about?”

Those gazes were so fierce that the maid couldn’t even look at their lips.

Hmm. Anriche looked at the maids as if she was observing them. Apparently, not all maids seem hostile to Liliana. There were also a handful of maids who liked her.

But…

‘The problem is that the ones who like her are the new recruits, and the tough ones are the maids who have worked for a long time in the townhouse.’

She swallowed her sigh.

On one side, it’s the maid who has worked for at least one month and the other for at least five years…

From the beginning, it was a situation in which the person with likability would be inevitable. Meanwhile, the situation was getting worse and worse.

“Do you think too lightly? Making fun of your seniors’ words.”

“That’s not it!”

“You’re making fun with your mouth like that. Why don’t you just go and clean the warehouse?”

“What? But how do I get to the warehouse by myself…!”

The face of the maid who had received the orders turned blue. It should be so because the duke’s warehouse was huge. Once a year, the maids and servants would come together to clean up the place since it required a lot of manpower.

Besides, the items in the warehouse were also a problem.

There were many items in the warehouse that were too expensive to be managed by just the maids, even though they were not valuables by Valois standards

If she handled those things wrongly…

“That’s right, it should be enough for that blind thing to come to mind?”

“If you’re a newcomer, you should just stay quiet!”

Just when the maids shot sharply.

“Do-don’t do that!” A young voice interrupted.

It was Liliana.

Liliana, who ran to their side, covered the maid who was being cornered.

“Well, you’re angry with this person because of me. Don’t do that.”

She talked clearly again, even though she was nervous.

The maids’ eyes were distorted. At the same time, they wanted to shoot back, ‘you’re a fallen aristocrat, aren’t you.’

‘…But, the madam cares for that little girl.’

They were afraid of Anriche, who was on Liliana’s side.

“Everyone, you don’t have to look so dissatisfied.”

At the same time, another calm voice was heard.

‘Ugh!’

‘My, my God?!’

The maids looked back. Anriche was staring at the maids with a sharp glance.

“Because you are in a position to follow Liliana’s command from the beginning.”

“Ma-madam…!”

“This is ridiculous to hear. No matter what, you shouldn’t be mean just because she’s a newcomer.”

Having said that, Anriche took her step and approached them. The maids were nervous. With her chin gesture, she pointed to the maid shrugging her shoulders behind Liliana.

“Isn’t the act of making that maid clean the warehouse, beyond your authority?”

“Well, that’s. So…”

“The ones who have the authority to issue orders in this townhouse are the master, me, and Elliot.”

The sweet purple eyes stared at Liliana.

“And Liliana.”

Hearing that calm voice, tears filled up in Liliana’s light-colored eyes. Because Anriche was clearly declaring that ‘Liliana is a member of Valois.’

“I’m very disappointed with you.”

Disappointed.

At that word, the maids’ hearts rattled because, until now, Anriche has never used the word ‘disappointed’ in dealing with the maids.

Of course, it was because the former Anriche didn’t see the employees as more than ‘things that can be put on her toes,’ though…

‘…I guess the madam was really angry.’

‘What should I do?’

Her choice of words was enough to blind the maids’ eyes.

Her calm voice continued.

“The other day, I thought I said it clearly. We talked about speaking behind the scenes, I should have fixed that…”

“…”

“…”

“Rather, on top of that, you’re using another method by complaining behind Liliana.”

Anriche looked around at the maids, who bowed their heads in front of her with cold eyes.

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