Chapter 6
“You……?”
Bailey stared at Elizabeth in shock.
Elizabeth had always spoken to her politely, using honorifics and treating her with courtesy. When Elizabeth addressed her informally for the first time, Bailey could hardly believe her own ears.
“Yes, you. Who else here has been more insolent toward me than you?”
“Lady Elizabeth, have you lost your mi—?!”
“I’m not the one who’s lost her mind. You are, Bailey Henton. How dare you speak to a young lady of the Rienette family like that?”
When Elizabeth interrupted her once again and spoke to her informally, Bailey’s face turned deathly pale.
Watching her reaction, Elizabeth felt a thrilling sense of satisfaction mixed with indignation.
Bailey was this shocked by something so perfectly natural.
Now that was what she called madness.
“Go outside and ask around. Do you think anyone would call it madness for a young lady of the Rienette family to speak informally to a maid? Just how little did you think of me to believe you could treat me this way?”
Bailey couldn’t say a word. Everything Elizabeth had said was true.
“Until now, I’ve patiently overlooked your arrogant and insolent manner of speaking. But I have no reason to do that anymore. Bailey Henton, from now on, watch your tongue and mind your behavior. Do you understand?”
“……It’s not as if you’re even the real young lady!”
Bailey shrieked.
Rationally, she knew Elizabeth was right.
But her heart, which had despised Elizabeth for ten years, refused to accept it.
“You fake mongrel! Who do you think you are to order me aro—!”
SMACK!
At that moment, Elizabeth’s hand flew out without the slightest hesitation.
Bailey’s head snapped to the side, and a vivid red mark appeared on her cheek.
“Eek!”
With a short scream, Bailey collapsed to the floor.
For a while, she couldn’t even process what had just happened.
Perhaps it was because she had suffered such humiliation at the hands of a woman she had believed would never dare lay even a fingertip on her cheek.
Bailey stared at Elizabeth in stunned disbelief.
“You……!”
SMACK!
Once again, Bailey’s head whipped to the side.
Now she looked as though she were on the verge of fainting.
The other servants watching nearby were equally horrified, staring at Elizabeth with faces so pale they looked ready to collapse themselves.
Elizabeth, however, remained expressionless, perfectly calm, as though she hadn’t done anything at all.
“Show your mistress the respect she deserves, Bailey Henton. Who gave you permission to wag that insolent tongue of yours so carelessly?”
Elizabeth reprimanded her in her characteristic, elegant tone.
“I am still a young lady of the great Rienette family. Mind your manners.”
“I-I’ll tell the marquis everything…….”
“Go ahead. Tell him.”
Elizabeth smiled as she bent her knees slightly, looking down at Bailey.
Bailey must have been deeply shaken, because her body was trembling uncontrollably. The sight was immensely satisfying.
“Do you think Father will take your side when he hears that you, a mere maid, spoke rudely to your young mistress and repeatedly insulted her?”
Bailey couldn’t answer immediately, and Elizabeth scoffed at her.
“I think you’re mistaken about something, Bailey. I didn’t keep my mouth shut and put up with your insolence for ten years because I thought you were pretty or because I was afraid of you. The only reason was……”
Elizabeth paused for a moment before finishing her sentence.
“Because you were the nursemaid of the real Elizabeth, who died.”
The real Elizabeth had been cherished as though she were her own daughter. Then she died, and a lowborn fake took her place.
I can understand how much she must have hated me.
But Bailey had crossed the line long ago. It was just that……
“If Father finds out that you’ve been tormenting me because you can’t forget the real Elizabeth, how painful would it be for him to have to dismiss you?”
Elizabeth had never wanted to be compared to the real Elizabeth in that way again.
If the real Elizabeth had still been alive, the family wouldn’t have been plagued by this kind of discord.
She didn’t want her father to think that. The thought would make her feel too miserable, too guilty.
“But things have changed now. So, Bailey, you’d better start behaving yourself.”
“Why should I……? Why would I……!”
“You’d better. Otherwise, when I leave this place, I’ll take you with me.”
“You think you can do that to me?!”
“Of course.”
Elizabeth smiled leisurely.
“At the very least, I’m confident I can take one person with me, Bailey. Surely Father can grant the one final wish of the daughter he raised for ten years.”
At those words, Bailey ground her teeth, her face contorted with fury.
But that was all. For now, she decided to swallow the humiliation.
The marquis is on my side anyway. There’s no way he’ll take that fake’s side, is there?
There was no way the marquis would cast out the woman who had personally received the real Elizabeth when she was born and raised her like her own daughter until the day she died.
Once the marquis returned, everything would be resolved.
Bailey would get her revenge then.
By that time, the decision to disown her will have been made, too. Then I’ll slap that ill-mannered little brat across the face as much as I please.
Bailey was confident.
At least, until a guest who would leave everyone at the Rienette mansion utterly astounded arrived a few hours later.
After finally putting Bailey in her place for the first time, Elizabeth ordered dinner to be prepared and returned to her room.
I should have done this ages ago.
How many times had she wanted to do exactly this?
It was amusing to see everyone so thoroughly shocked by the authority she had asserted for the first time in her life.
I foolishly chose to play the fool, thinking that if I just endured everything, things would remain peaceful.
She resolved never to live the way she had before.
Just then, she heard a knock at the door.
“My lady, your dinner is here.”
“Come in.”
A moment later, a tray of food was brought before Elizabeth.
However, the instant she saw what was on it, her expression hardened.
Good heavens. Do they expect me to eat this?
The bread was hard as a rock, as though it had been baked ages ago. Worse, it was completely burnt black.
The jam smelled sour, as if it had spoiled, while the fruit and salad vegetables had either turned brown or dried out terribly from being left exposed to the air for too long.
The main dish, a fish, had been grilled until all its moisture had evaporated. It was practically burnt to a crisp.
There were countless other things she could criticize, but the conclusion was simple.
This food was inedible.
Elizabeth let out a disbelieving laugh. The maid, whose lips curled into a sneer, asked her,
“Is something not to your liking?”
“Is something not to my liking?”
Elizabeth was even more appalled by the maid’s audacity.
“Yes. This hardly looks like food fit for human consumption. Are you honestly telling me you brought this here for me to eat?”
“I simply brought what the kitchen prepared.”
“Then go back to the kitchen and tell them to prepare it properly.”
Elizabeth coldly tossed the piece of charred bread onto the floor at the maid’s feet.
Until then, the maid had looked thoroughly displeased. But for the first time, she flinched in surprise. Muttering complaints under her breath, she stormed out of the room.
Left alone, Elizabeth gave a derisive snort.
It seemed everyone had decided to band together to torment her after what had happened earlier.
……Well, it’s not as though things were any different before.
When she had first arrived at the mansion, Elizabeth had been deeply grateful to finally have a family that didn’t beat her.
That was why she had always been kind and gentle, not only toward her family but also toward the servants in the mansion.
Yet in all ten years, the servants had never once treated her as a true member of the Rienette family.
In front of the men of the Rienette family, they exercised restraint. But whenever the men were absent, they always ignored and belittled her.
The reason I never corrected them was that I was afraid.
Afraid that her father might be displeased with her for failing to earn the servants’ respect and decide to disown her.
I was always desperately trying not to upset Father.
The comfortable home she had found as a child had meant far too much to her.
She had been terrified that even the smallest mistake would get her thrown out. So, no matter how unreasonable or unfair their treatment was, she had endured it again and again. Eventually, putting up with everything had become a habit.
But I have no reason to do that anymore. And I don’t want to keep doing it, either.
She would live a life in which she was respected for who she was.
“My lady, your dinner has been brought again.”
“Come in.”
Elizabeth carefully inspected the new meal with a sharp gaze.
At first glance, the chicken dish looked quite appetizing.
Only then did Elizabeth pick up her fork.
But……
“Ugh!”
The moment she took a bite, Elizabeth immediately grabbed a napkin and spat out the food in her mouth.
Even after spitting it out, the foul smell lingered in her mouth, making her stomach churn.
This is……
Clutching the napkin containing the food, Elizabeth rose from her seat, her face contorted with anger.
She strode toward the maid, who wore a strangely mocking expression, and raised her hand.
SMACK!
With a sharp crack, the maid was sent sprawling to the floor.
