~Chapter 27~
Marie wanted to shout, “That can’t be!” But she held herself back and whispered,
“But there’s already proof in the herb garden that Miss Camilla touched things, isn’t there?”
Ignoring Camilla’s cold stare, Marie raised her voice.
“The fountain pen! It should be on the greenhouse floor!”
The Grand Duchess just looked at Marie and gave a crooked smile.
“It seems you’re mistaken about something.”
“…What?”
“I never said there was a fountain pen on the greenhouse floor.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the Grand Duchess pointed at Marie.
“Seize her.”
The waiting maids quickly grabbed Marie’s arms and forced her to her knees.
‘What is this?!’
But it didn’t end there.
The Grand Duchess spoke to her maid.
“Did you check that maid’s bedroom?”
“Yes, we just finished. We found the missing herbs. They were in her closet.”
Marie’s face turned completely pale.
‘They even searched my room? In there…!’
“And besides the precious herbs from the Eastern Continent, there were also dried herbs hidden there.”
Everyone in the room stared at Marie.
“So we had a thief living in the mansion.”
The Grand Duchess’s voice was icy. Marie clenched her teeth.
‘I can’t be the only one to go down!’
Marie struggled and jerked her chin toward Carrie.
“But Carrie said she saw Miss Camilla in the greenhouse last night! How do you explain that?!”
Camilla stepped forward.
“Actually, I wanted to look at the greenhouse again at night. I was a little embarrassed, but I went there with the Young Duke’s permission. Carrie must have seen me then.”
Then Camilla looked at Marie and whispered,
“And when I was leaving the greenhouse and heading back to the mansion, I saw Marie hurrying toward the greenhouse.”
“That’s a lie, that’s—mmpf!”
A maid couldn’t stand it anymore and covered Marie’s mouth with a cloth.
“Marie wasn’t even in charge of the greenhouse. I never thought she’d do something like this…”
‘No! This is a lie!’
The Grand Duchess couldn’t hold her anger any longer and shouted,
“How dare you try to blame all this on a guest of the house!”
“Mmph, mmph!”
“The thing found on the greenhouse floor wasn’t Camilla’s fountain pen. It was your brooch.”
‘What?!’
Every servant’s brooch had their initials on it. The brooch Marie carelessly dropped was the one Camilla picked up and kept.
‘I made good use of it yesterday.’
She picked up her own pen, but left Marie’s brooch instead. Camilla gave Marie a cold look.
“I wanted to get along with you. That’s too bad, Marie.”
Marie felt a chill down her back from Camilla’s cold eyes.
‘She looked innocent, but it was all an act!’
“Take her away for questioning and punishment.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
‘No!’
But Marie could only let herself be dragged out. Carrie also left, and soon, only Camilla and the Grand Duchess were left in the room. The Grand Duchess let out a sigh and whispered,
“…I’m sorry.”
She pressed her hand to her forehead.
“I never expected to have such a brazen servant. This happened because I was careless in managing the mansion.”
“No, Your Grace. Sometimes things happen that no one could expect.”
The Grand Duchess was already busy caring for her unborn child and her health. Managing the whole mansion was too much.
‘Still, I’m glad I got rid of the Empress Dowager’s spy.’
Now, Marie’s betrayal event from the original story was gone.
“Camilla, dear.”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
Camilla was surprised to hear the Grand Duchess call her by name so kindly.
But she answered calmly. The Grand Duchess softly said,
“Thanks to your wisdom, everything was resolved. I owe you. If there’s anything you want, tell me.”
Camilla hesitated, then spoke carefully.
“I don’t want anything for myself. But I did find someone who could help with my research and treatment.”
She smiled.
“Could you let one of the mansion servants help me as my research assistant?”
When Camilla left the room, Carrie was waiting anxiously outside. As soon as the door opened, Carrie ran up, tears in her eyes.
“Miss!”
When their eyes met, Carrie bowed her head and shouted,
“Thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”
Camilla answered,
“No, Carrie. It was because you did a good job.”
Camilla had been the one who smelled the herbs and found the rare herbs from the Eastern Continent under the bed.
She had secretly called Carrie early in the morning, and when Marie left her room, Camilla told Carrie to hide the herbs in Marie’s closet.
‘And thanks to the big search, they found even more herbs.’
Carrie looked up at Camilla with grateful eyes.
“And last night, I gave my sister the sample you gave me…”
“How was it?”
“Her fever went down! If it weren’t for you… I don’t know what would have happened. Thank you so much!”
Carrie kept bowing, not knowing how to repay Camilla. Watching her, Camilla spoke quietly.
“Then… why don’t you work with me?”
“Huh… what?”
“While I’m staying here, I’ll be doing research on medicine. The Grand Duchess said she’d let me choose someone to help. I’d like that person to be you.”
Carrie knew a lot about herbs, and she was used to the mansion. She could be Camilla’s eyes and ears.
‘And she’s kind, too.’
She might seem awkward, but Camilla liked that pure side.
“I hope it’s you. What do you say?”
Carrie’s face lit up with joy. Through her tears, she shouted,
“Yes, Miss! You’re my savior! I’ll do my best—no matter what! I’ll never betray you!”
Camilla answered firmly,
“No, you don’t have to go that far.”
After all, life was the most important thing.
“-That’s what happened.”
Dawn.
After calming Dane’s pain for a while, Camilla lay next to him in bed and told him everything that had happened that day.
She didn’t realize Dane’s face was growing darker as she spoke.
“Camilla.”
“Yes?”
“Are you only telling me this now, after everything is over?”
‘Oh.’
“Yesterday morning, you borrowed my name so you could go to the greenhouse at night. Was that what this was about?”
Yesterday morning, after everything with Carrie, Camilla met Dane for his treatment as usual.
After helping with his pain, she asked for his permission to go to the greenhouse. When he asked if something was wrong, she said she’d tell him after it was over.
But now, seeing Dane glaring at her…
‘Did I mess up?’
Was he… upset?
As Camilla grew flustered, Dane whispered coldly,
“I guess your friend wasn’t so trustworthy?”
Feeling his disappointment, Camilla quickly waved her hands.
“It’s not that, Dane! I just didn’t want you to worry…”
“What if I hid my symptoms from you because I didn’t want you to worry?”
“Don’t you dare!”
Camilla burst out. Dane snorted.
“That’s what I mean.”
‘Oops.’
Camilla wanted to argue that this was different—it wasn’t like being a pharmacist and patient, or something that could risk their lives.
But hearing the disappointment in Dane’s voice, she fell silent.
“You better not do this again.”
Camilla, feeling a bit wronged, asked,
“What would you do if I did?”
Dane flicked her nose.
“You’d get in trouble.”
“…?!”
‘In trouble?’
That seemed even more unfair.
She remembered Mrs. Milliam beating her before and was speechless, when Dane pulled her hand.
“I’ll make you stay by my side all day. No breaks.”
“Huh?”
“And you’ll have to tell me everything. No secrets.”
The blue light of dawn shined softly. Dane’s eyes glowed in the morning.
“If you hide anything from me again, I won’t forgive you.”
