#157. Eye Level (1):
“From what I’ve heard, a charity event will be held at the castle soon. Is that correct?”
Sasha quietly looked at Naina, who had come unannounced and asked the question outright.
“I’d like to attend as well.”
Where had she heard about it? She had only been staying here for a week, and she hadn’t even gone out, so it wasn’t as though she knew many people.
Suddenly, a report Nikolai had submitted came to mind.
That rumors were spreading unusually fast, as if someone had deliberately released them.
Sasha had asked Nikolai to look into it separately, but she herself hadn’t been idle either.
She had received no suspicious or questionable reports from the mid-level spirit assigned to monitor Naina. If Naina had secretly met anyone, Sasha would have known.
If that wasn’t the case, then either she had her own information channel—or she might have already known about the charity event from the start.
While Sasha considered the various possibilities, Naina confidently flipped her hair and smiled.
“Isn’t it better for meaningful events to have as many people as possible? Besides, if I attend, it’ll become a hot topic.”
That much was true. With Naina currently drawing so much attention, her attendance would indeed become news.
Words without legs travel a thousand miles; already, talk of a prophet was circulating among the people of the North.
Knowing that rumors would spread no matter how hard one tried to stop them, Sasha hadn’t bothered trying to silence anyone.
“You wouldn’t refuse me for no reason, right? I’m not a prisoner—I’m a guest. A guest who’s free to go outside whenever she wishes.”
Even without her saying it, Sasha had no intention of confining Naina indoors.
As she said, Naina was being treated as a guest, not a captive, so Sasha couldn’t forcibly restrain her.
Besides, giving her freedom and watching her is the faster way to understand her.
That was why Sasha thought it would be more convenient for gathering information about Naina.
Still, she had been deliberating over Naina’s first external activity.
It’s best to reduce variables as much as possible. In that sense, the charity event isn’t a bad option.
Since Sasha herself was hosting it, it would be easy to control. The guest list was limited, and the scale of the event was small.
What bothered her was the fact that Naina herself had specifically requested to attend.
After a moment of consideration, Sasha made her decision.
“…All right.”
“A wise decision.”
With a victorious smile, Naina left with light steps, once again ignoring any polite farewell.
It was as if she had decided not to bother wearing a mask in front of Sasha at all.
But Sasha wasn’t interested in that.
More importantly, she had finally realized the source of the lingering sense of unease she’d been feeling.
Staring at the teacup filled with yellow tea that tasted and smelled different from usual, Sasha pulled the bell cord.
The door immediately opened.
“…Is Olga here again today?”
“Yes.”
Olga, wheeling in a tray, asked belatedly in surprise.
“Is something wrong? Am I troubling you?”
“Of course not. Honestly, it’s more comfortable having you attend to me in the bedroom as well… I was just wondering if it might be inconvenient for you to tend to me all day.”
“Not at all. It actually makes me happy to take care of you personally again, madam.”
Olga had cared for Sasha since she was very young, but because she’d been busy with her duties as head maid, she had entrusted Sasha’s daily care to Nina.
She’d never expressed regret before, but being able to look after Sasha closely again seemed to stir fond memories.
Watching Olga hum softly as she tidied the teacups, Sasha let out a small laugh.
Still, something puzzled her.
“By the way, Nina hasn’t been around lately. What on earth is she doing?”
At Sasha’s casual question, Olga’s movements froze for a split second.
Noticing something was off, Sasha narrowed her eyes.
“Olga.”
“……”
“Tell me. What happened to Nina?”
Unable to withstand Sasha’s persistent gaze, Olga finally gave in.
“I can’t hide it from you any longer, madam. Nina is currently being held by a guest.”
“A guest? By whom?”
Sasha asked in shock.
There were many guests staying at Velikordo Castle—most of them people who had returned from the battlefield.
Even if they were knights, they were still hot-blooded men whose self-control had been dulled by harsh and violent experiences.
With someone as especially cute and gentle as Nina, it was impossible to know what kind of incident might occur.
As Sasha paled, Olga hurried to reassure her.
“It’s not anything serious. It’s just that…”
Olga glanced toward Pavel, who was fully dressed and preparing to leave, then lowered her voice.
“She’s been busy attending the woman our master brought here.”
“…Miss Naina.”
Sasha pressed her forehead in relief.
“How did Nina end up serving Miss Naina?”
“Well, actually…”
Olga explained what had happened.
“After escorting Miss Naina to the guest room, we sent up a kind, diligent maid to attend her. But not long after, she came back down crying.”
“She cried?”
Sasha’s expression grew grave.
Olga nodded.
“Yes! When we asked why, she said Miss Naina screamed at her, calling her useless and demanding another maid! Her feelings were hurt, her pride crushed—she couldn’t endure it and came down in tears, saying to send someone else.”
Recalling it, Olga frowned.
“I was angry too, but I thought perhaps the child had made a mistake, so I sent another maid. But the same thing happened again—several times.”
“She came back crying again?”
“Yes. And I heard it only got worse. Eventually, she even started throwing things.”
Sasha’s expression turned icy in an instant.
I didn’t realize she had such bad manners…
Though, in truth, it wasn’t that surprising.
Still, to reveal her true nature so openly from the very first day—
What exactly is that woman trying to do?
If she wanted to hide it, she should have worn a perfect mask like Count Tula before her.
Or if not, she could have been openly cruel.
But Naina’s half-measures made her intentions unclear.
“So no one wanted to attend her anymore, and while everyone was hesitating, that woman came to me herself, angrily asking why no one was coming. And at that moment, Nina happened to be beside me.”
Olga sighed, then lowered her voice further.
“I was teaching that child about marital matters. She’s reached the age where she needs to know, and it would make things easier when serving you in the future.”
“…That’s what you had Nina doing?”
“Yes.”
Olga gave an awkward smile, then continued.
“Anyway, that woman singled Nina out and ordered her to attend her. As if she had the right! I said Nina was your exclusive maid and couldn’t be spared, but she kept insisting, causing a scene…”
“……”
“In the end, Nina stepped forward herself. She said she’d do it. She probably thought the standoff would drag on otherwise.”
Olga let out another sigh, clearly frustrated even recalling it.
Sasha could vividly imagine the scene without seeing it.
“So Nina was dragged off by that ill-mannered, foul-tempered woman and is now being harassed?”
“Yes.”
Having grasped the situation, Sasha rose from her seat and silently called to a spirit.
Shaaa—!
Bound by contract, the spirit appeared instantly before her.
A gust of wind swept through the room, tossing hair and hems into the air.
“Oh my, what is this—?”
As Olga hurriedly straightened Sasha’s disheveled clothes, a blue wolf invisible to others opened its jaws.
[What is it?]
At the spirit’s calm voice, Sasha narrowed her eyes.
Didn’t I clearly ask you to monitor Miss Naina?
[You did. That’s why I stayed by her side all day, watching for suspicious behavior.]
The spirit snorted.
[She’s a very strange human. A few days ago she shredded all her pillows while screaming, and today she yelled at another human woman, saying the room was still dirty because the pillow she herself destroyed hadn’t been cleaned properly—even though it already was!]
Sasha had heard this before.
But now, it felt different.
At first, she’d merely thought, As expected, she has a bad temper, and filed it away as a trait to exploit.
But now, the “other human woman” the spirit mentioned could only be Nina.
Sasha bit her lip.
Why didn’t you tell me that Nina was being held by Naina?
[Nina? The squirrel-like human who usually stays by your side?]
Brown hair, small frame—Nina did resemble a squirrel.
[If so, then yes. She’s been stuck beside that human for days.]
…Why didn’t you tell me earlier?
[Was that something I needed to report? I judged that you wouldn’t find it important. Was I mistaken, Alexandra?]
Sasha realized her mistake.
Mid-level spirits often made independent judgments, and without detailed instructions, issues like this arose.
You didn’t do wrong. But from now on, even things you think are trivial—report everything to me immediately.
[Understood.]
After correcting the spirit, Sasha pressed her forehead.
She now had a good grasp of Naina’s true nature.
Hot-tempered, arrogant, and cruel to anyone she deemed beneath her—very different from her polished exterior.
That made Sasha even more worried about what Nina might be enduring.
I need to go before something serious happens.
Sasha quickened her steps and soon arrived at the guest room where Naina was staying.
The door was slightly ajar, voices leaking through the gap.
“What on earth can you do properly? You can’t even manage something this simple.”
“I’m sorry.”
Before Sasha could even open the door fully, the exchange reached her ears.
Her mood sank to its lowest point.
