Chapter 17 – The Duchess’s Return
“I wasn’t actually planning to go that far…”
Ruby’s voice trailed off as she looked nervously at her mother, Marchioness Camilla.
She rubbed her palm as if it still stung.
“I… I hit someone.”
Camilla froze.
“Hit? Who?”
“…A maid.”
The drawing room went silent.
Ruby glanced up timidly. Her mother’s face was stiff.
Frightened, Ruby quickly added, “But it was that commoner’s fault first—!”
“Well done.”
“Eh?”
Camilla patted Ruby’s shoulder twice.
“The lower they are, the more strictly they must be taught their place.”
Ruby’s eyes went round.
“R-really?”
“Of course. I’ve told you this before, haven’t I? And it was even better that you hit the maid instead of that girl herself.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that girl is your aunt’s protégé—her ward. It would only cause trouble if you were too rough with her directly.”
Ruby’s expression brightened instantly.
So she hadn’t done anything wrong after all!
Feeling pleased, she asked eagerly, “Mother, did you already meet with Lady Sharon?”
“Not yet. She’s busy, so we’re waiting.”
Camilla patted the seat beside her. Ruby sat down obediently.
The Abner family’s sofa was so soft and luxurious—it felt even better than the one in the Coel mansion.
“Mother,” Ruby said suddenly, “what if we lowered our expectations a little?”
Camilla turned her head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean—what if we asked her to take me in as her ward, like that commoner girl?”
Camilla blinked, caught off guard. “As her ward?”
“Yes! She agreed to sponsor that weird kid, didn’t she? If she’d take someone like me instead, she’d be even happier!”
Camilla’s face grew thoughtful. Ruby continued, excited.
“She could grow fond of me later. I just need to get into the mansion first.”
“…That actually makes sense,” Camilla murmured slowly.
“That kind of request would sound harmless enough. And since our Coel family is the biggest buyer of her magic stones, she can’t refuse easily.”
A smile spread over her lips.
“My clever Ruby. How did you become so smart?”
Ruby grinned proudly. “Because I take after you, Mother.”
The two laughed brightly together, then looked around the elegant sitting room.
Banners of the Abner family hung on the walls—each one scarred and torn from past battles.
Medals and gifts from the imperial court filled the spaces between them.
They were priceless treasures—symbols of generations of sacrifice and bloodshed.
Camilla thought to herself: money can buy almost anything,
but one thing it can’t buy is honor.
“If a successor from the Coel family were to rise in the Abner line,” she whispered dreamily,
“that would be truly magnificent.”
It was true. In the capital, countless noblewomen were desperate to push their children into the Abner family.
That was what happened when a powerful house had no heir.
“What’s the point of standing at the top of power,” Camilla muttered, “when there’s no one of your own blood to inherit it?”
Ruby nodded confidently, matching her mother’s proud smile.
But just then—
“How amusing,” came a cold voice. “You really do talk nonsense, don’t you, Camilla?”
The door opened soundlessly.
Camilla flinched and stood up in alarm.
She had been told the Duchess would take another hour to arrive—
but there, in the doorway, stood Sharon Abner herself.
“S-sister…” Camilla stammered.
The Duchess strode into the room, draped in a coat made of northern wolf fur,
her sharp violet eyes blazing.
She stopped before them and said evenly,
“I’ll give you a chance.”
“…A chance?” Camilla whispered.
“Explain yourself. That ridiculous thing you just said—say it again. With your own mouth.”
Thirty minutes earlier.
“I-I’m fine, my lady.”
Soya’s left cheek was swollen bright red.
My hands clenched into fists.
Ruby Coel.
That eight-year-old brat had slapped her so hard that her palm must’ve burned.
“Still, it’s a relief she didn’t hit you, my lady,” Soya said with a shaky smile.
“With her temper, it could’ve been worse…”
She was trying to comfort me, even though she was the one hurt.
Miel sat beside us, pale and silent, pressing an ice pack together for Soya.
Watching them, I turned abruptly and walked to the door.
“My lady?”
I grunted and pushed it open.
“My lady! Where are you going?”
They rushed after me, but I tripped over my own feet and fell flat on the floor.
“My lady!”
Miel hurried to help me up, but I shook off her hand firmly.
“I’m going to see the Duchess.”
Both of them froze.
Soya stammered, “B-but I’m really fine!”
She looked desperately at Miel for support.
“T-the young lady didn’t mean to—right, Miel?”
Miel nodded uneasily. “Right. And… Ruby’s always like that. She treats all the servants terribly.”
I didn’t answer. My lips pressed into a hard line.
Of course, I knew nobles like that existed—
the kind who treated servants like animals, nothing more than tools.
And even if the servants belong to another household, as long as it’s covered up, no one cares.
Usually, these incidents got buried quietly with hush money.
I’d even seen it happen before—back in my previous life.
But this… this is too much.
I frowned, my small fists trembling.
Miel took my hands gently, looking serious.
“My lady, you’re very smart, so I’ll speak honestly,” she said.
“We’re grateful you care about us, but… the Coel and Abner families are very close. More precisely, the Duchess and Lady Camilla are personally close. It’s best not to make this a big issue.”
“…”
“You saw it yourself earlier—Lady Camilla called our mistress ‘Sister.’ That’s how familiar they are.”
I frowned deeply.
“But… isn’t that wrong?”
Miel went quiet.
“When you talk to a duchess, you should say Your Grace or Duchess, right? Not ‘sister.’”
Miel and Soya exchanged uneasy looks.
Of course they did—they knew I was right.
How familiar. It’s always the same.
When Sharon Abner came to the orphanage to take me in,
Duke Longton had called her “Madam.”
At first, it sounded polite—until I realized what it meant.
Sharon Abner wasn’t a mere lady; she was a Duchess and the official head of her house.
Calling her “Madam” was a deliberate insult, a refusal to acknowledge her authority.
It was the same in my past life.
Even then, Sharon Abner had been constantly undermined.
Duke Longton, especially, enjoyed belittling her.
In noble meetings and social gatherings, those who disliked her used “Madam” instead of “Duchess,”
a subtle but cruel form of humiliation.
Camilla might have used “sister” with the same intention.
“If you were close to the Emperor,” I muttered, “would you call him brother too?”
Miel and Soya fell silent.
I sighed.
And then there’s the matter of that mana stone mine…
“The reason the Abners discovered so many mana crystal mines was thanks to my mother!”
When Ruby had said that, something clicked in my memory.
In the northern part of Abner territory, there was a large mana stone mine.
In my past life, by the time I was a teenager, that mine had been sold off cheaply—
because the mana crystals inside had become contaminated and useless.
But then something unbelievable happened.
Right after ownership changed hands, the contamination “miraculously” disappeared.
My eyes narrowed.
I remembered reading about it in an old article.
The buyer of that mine… was Camilla Coel.
