Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 24

The girl from Marquisate Saxony suddenly appeared. Then, casually, she took the seat of the Duchess of Valois.

It was the place that Meg had been longing for.

‘…It can’t be helped since it’s common for high-ranking nobles to have political marriage.’

However, the only thing the girl, who became the duchess, did was showing off all sorts of luxuries and ignored the mistress’ duties that were necessary for a devoted companion.

After that, what was it like when the girl gave birth to the duke’s successor?

As her arrogance of pride has reached its peak, she kept on boasting, ‘I am the mother of the Heir Apparent.’ Though she had no slightest interest in the child!

Nevertheless, the master was faithful to the woman and did not even consider depriving her of the status of the duchess. And even now…

‘The master even covered for her!’ What the hell is that girl even saying to him! ‘I’m so much better than that girl!’

Meg couldn’t overcome her frustration, and she was seized by the urge to scream.

‘The biggest problem is that I couldn’t get rid of that girl on my own.’ Because the opponent was the Duchess of Valois, it was too difficult for a head maid like her to compete.

Although…

‘You can step on the buds that haven’t bloomed yet.’ Meg coolly lit her eyes.

Liliana.

It was that hateful kid who was stealing the heart of Young Master Elliot. To achieve something big, you must start with small steps.

So, Meg was now planning to deal with that kid.

***

That day, late evening.

In the maids’ lounge, a voice full of anger was streaming out.

“How can the madam do this?”

“That’s right, how many years we’ve been working in this townhouse!”

Each of the maids complained.

“We’ve been dealing with all the tricky personality of the madam, but this kind of treatment!”

“No, she wasn’t very sensitive or would care about things like this before, right? Why is she doing this all of a sudden!”

Previously, Anriche had never had an emotional exchange with anyone. To be accurate, she was indifferent to everyone in the townhouse. That meant the employees only had to serve well. Thus, whether the townhouse management was neglected or the employees weren’t doing their jobs, she did not rebuke anything if things were comfortable for her.

However, the problem was, Anriche was now slowly being interested in household matters.

“Honestly, all we did was complain, right?”

“I mean, did you see how the madam treated us earlier? How can she be so cold!”

Because Anriche cared for Liliana as her family, so she did not let anyone treat her with disrespect.

Hence, now all the hostility from the maids turned to Liliana. It was because the young and gentle Liliana was an easier target than Anriche, the mistress of Valois.

“It’s all because of Liliana, that little girl!”

“That girl blinded her!”

“Isn’t this like taking out the stone with a rolled stone?”[ T/N: The proverb meant ‘an outsider trying to chase out or harm someone who has been there for a long time before.’ ]

Without looking back on their behavior at all, the maids continued to raise their voices. Then, they heard a relaxed voice.

“You guys are right.”

It was Meg.

She gently pushed the tip of her lips up.

“Honestly, the Count Aberyt family has already fallen, right?”

“Oh, isn’t it?”

“Does the head maid think so, too?”

“Of course. To take a girl from such a family to be the next mistress…” She sighed lightly and slowly shook her head disappointedly.

“Valois have pride, don’t they?”

Her intention was to set a fuse on fire. As if the explosives ignited, the maids were agitated, one by one.

“The head maid is right.”

“Why the hell do we have to take the lady of the fallen family as superior?”

The maids began to cruelly express their true intentions.

Meg listened to the complaints, and before long, a satisfactory sign stood over her eyes. Since no one would be more prone to impulse than those, who had a lot of complaints about their lives.

“To take a girl from such a family, and make her become a fiancée…”

With everything going according to her plan, at the perfect moment, Meg spoke with a sad voice.

“The madam doesn’t think about Young Master Elliot’s future at all.”

Meg, who leaned her body, looked around, and the maid knew their queue. Everyone gathered around her.

“I think it’s better for our young master to be with a lady with a better family.” A voice whispering secretly ticked the maids’ ears.

“Because in the end, this is also for our Young Master Elliot.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Right now, he’s young, so he doesn’t know much about the world.” She lightly shrugged her shoulders.

“How long do you think he will be close with Liliana?”

“Oh, that’s…”

“Everyone, think carefully. If he grows up a little more and his judgments become clearer.”

She said firmly.

“He will definitely appreciate us doing this for him.”

“Young Master…will be grateful to us?”

“Well, we are helping him so that he wouldn’t get entangled with the lady of the fallen family, right?”

Words sweet like honey began to seep into the maids’ ears. One by one, they nodded as if they had been compelled by something.

“I think the head maid is correct.”“Because the head maid is the nanny of Young Master Elliot, she must know his heart much more than we do.

“Of course, did you not see the young master chasing the head maid?”

Eventually, the maids fell into the idea that they ‘did the right thing.’ Without missing that opportunity, Meg once again kept the maids on edge.

“To do that… We’ll have to send that girl back to where she was.”

“What should we do, head maid?”

“Do you have any good ideas?”

The eyes of the maids were all at Meg. Pretended to be deep in thoughts, she tilted her head. “Well, that’s a good idea.”

After a while, a smooth smile was visible on her lips.

“How about doing this?”

***

Knock, knock.

At the sound of a cautious knock, Anriche raised her head slightly.

‘Who is it? At this late hour…’

When she glanced at the clock, it was already over eight o’clock. Usually, it was a very personal time to wash up and get ready for bed. That meant, it was quite rude for someone who was not a family member to be visiting at this time.

Anriche opened her mouth, narrowing her brow.

“Come in.”

The door opened with a click. With a cold sweat in her hands that were clasped tightly together, the maid slumped her shoulders nervously.

“Oh, you were in the garden earlier… Did you say your name was Jane?”

Anriche opened her eyes wide. She was the only maid who sided with Liliana earlier today. The maid looked up at her with trembling eyes.

“Yes, yes. That’s right. Madam, I’m really sorry to come to see you so late.”

“No, it must be something urgent. What’s going on?” Anriche tilted her head.

Gathering her courage, Jane shut her lips for a moment, then opened her mouth again with a determined voice.

“Well, this may sound weird, but…”

“Don’t worry, tell me.”

Hearing so, the maid closed her eyes tightly.

“The-the head maid is planning something.”

“…What?”

Anriche couldn’t hide her surprised expression. The maid crouched her tensed shoulders and peered at her eyes to see her reaction. After a while, Anriche, who breathed a long sigh after gathering her thoughts, straightened her waist. She looked straight into Jane’s gaze and continued her words.

“No matter what you say in this room, it will never leak out.”

“Ma-Madam…”

“And there would be no penalties for you either.”

With that firm voice, the fear that had filled the maid’s eyes disappeared a little.

“So, tell me everything you know.” Anriche smiled coldly.

“Without leaving any single detail behind.”

***

And the next morning.

Raymond, the butler of the Duke of Valois, welcomed an unwelcome guest in the morning. The guest was Anriche, the mistress of Valois.

“I’m sorry to have to come here at an early hour.”

She started with her apology. Unexpectedly, the butler opened his eyes wide without realizing. Of course, that would be the case, because Anriche was a person who would never apologize and said ‘I’m sorry’ to people who were below her. For her, the people under her were no more than someone who just served her.

Truthfully, apart from Meg’s suspicious acting this time, it was true that he did not like her behavior. He didn’t know what kind of whim for her to bring the abused Miss Liliana here out of nowhere…

‘It would be a moment of interest, anyway.’

When she lost her momentary interests, undoubtedly, Anriche would relentlessly throw Liliana away without hesitation.

He would have to take care of things himself again.

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