Okay. So in the fairy world, every prominent figure has an aide.

The aide is basically the back up you.

They are usually from small families that aim to make connections in high places even without marriage and sign the equivalent of a slave contract in order to never betray their lord or any blood relations.

The Aide is never ranked higher than the children of the person they aide but is also sworn to protect the children and assets of their lord.

The contracts are set so that if the Aides even try to harm any of the people they serve, the contract would activate and they would die an instant but incredibly painful death.

To take Lillian as an example. She represents Mei’s mother in the dukedom as well as in the castle and in relationships with her children.

The aide basically takes on all of the responsibilities of their lady without any of the privileges. So in the case of the duchess Ruan, Lillian acts in the place of the mother for important cases such as the displacement of Jaya but still has to heed Mei and Aruna’s orders.

So in the case of Esmeralda, she was Belphoebe’s aide and has therefore been managing the Queendom in her absence and once Finley returned she also took over responsibility in his upbringing. This is why despite her dislike for him she has still generally been giving him everything he needs and has taught him everything he needs to know.

But this brings up the question, doesn’t Esmeralda plotting to have Finn assaulted by Mei fall under not protecting Finn?

And the answer is that to her she really was doing what was best for him. Similarly to what Lillian’s mother did to her brother.

Yes, it was unfortunate but she probably thought she was doing him a favor; Marrying him to a decent person and gaining a powerful ally in return.

So that is why despite how irritated anyone is the fact that the contract didn't activate and kill her meant that her actions were not recognized as malicious or wrong.