Chapter 12
And then, without hesitation, I grabbed Tess by the collar.
“Kyaa! M-Miss! What are you doing?!”
I yanked her forward by the collar.
“M-Miss, please calm down and let go of—! Urk!”
I pulled harder, and Tess began making choking sounds as if she were being strangled.
Other maids tried to stop me, but since none of them could use magic, they were no match for me.
“D-Don’t do this! What are you—?! Help! Someone help—!”
“You’d better shut up. I’m barely holding back my anger right now. I don’t know what I might do.”
My very first room, the soft pajamas Mary had given me, and the warm, cozy bed… had all been taken over by cockroaches.
Tess, sensing how serious the situation was by the cold look on my face, spoke with a pale face.
“Haha, Miss… what’s wrong? You’re scaring me when you say things like that…”
I dragged her by force and stopped in front of my room.
Realizing what I was about to do, Tess clung to my arm desperately.
“M-Miss, I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! Please, just this once, please forgive me! Miss, please?”
“What’s the point of apologizing now?”
The room was already ruined.
“N-No! Please spare me! Miss is going to—! Mmmph!”
I pressed down on her throat with magic, silencing her immediately.
“Mmmph! Mmm!”
I grabbed Tess, who struggled violently, and shoved her into my room.
“Mmmmph!”
Tess tried to resist, grabbing the doorframe, but I overpowered her and threw her inside.
Then the cockroaches in the room scurried around to welcome her.
Finally, the door shut. Just as Tess had done, I made sure to lock it from the outside.
“Mmmph! Mmm! Mmm!”
Inside, Tess pounded on the door like a madwoman.
BANG! BANG! BANG!—a loud ruckus.
‘No one’s going to come help her anyway.’
They’d think it was just me knocking.
After locking Tess in, I returned to the maid’s room where she had been staying.
The maids inside hadn’t fallen asleep and were looking at each other nervously.
I sat down on Tess’s bed and looked at them.
“What are you waiting for? Turn off the lights.”
Startled, they scrambled to switch off the lights.
Darkness settled in the room, and after some time, one of the maids cautiously got up from her bed.
She waved her hand over me as if checking if I was truly asleep.
“If you touch me, I’ll throw you into that room too.”
Startled, the maid rushed back to bed.
I could feel how wary they were of me as I drifted off to sleep.
The next day, I woke up, but unlike usual, I felt awful. I must’ve been too tense while sleeping.
After grabbing a meal from Swell and finishing my physical training, I went looking for Mary.
Following what the other maids had told me, I headed toward the laundry area and found Mary doing an impossible amount of laundry all by herself.
“Mary!”
“Miss?”
Mary, crouched down and working hard, stood up the moment she saw me.
“Miss, what are you doing here? Huh?”
“You didn’t come, so I came to find you.”
“Oh, Miss…”
“Are you doing all this by yourself?”
I pointed at the mountain of laundry piled up to her waist.
It was a task too much even for three people, but Mary was alone.
“I’m fine. I used to do this before I was assigned to you. But how are you, Miss? Are the other maids bothering you a lot? I should be preparing your meals… You’ve already lost so much weight…”
Mary reached out to gently caress my cheek, but realizing her hands were cold, she quickly pulled back.
“I’m okay. Swell’s taking care of me instead.”
But Mary’s face had also thinned noticeably.
“Mary, eat this.”
I handed her a candy—the same one she gave me when I first arrived.
“This is the one you were saving, Miss.”
“And take this too.”
I placed a small diamond—one the Duke had given me—in her hand.
“Use it to buy something nice to eat, and get some ointment for your hands, okay?”
Her hands were red and cracked from doing so much laundry.
“Goodness, Miss! I can’t accept something so valuable!”
“It’s okay. You’re more precious to me than that.”
It was basically all the money I had, but I could always earn more later.
“Miss…”
With a deeply moved expression, Mary returned the gem to me.
“I can’t take something so precious. But I’ll take the candy.”
“Mary…”
“Please keep the gem and use it when you really need it, okay?”
“Then I’ll bring food every day. At least let’s eat together, okay?”
If I asked Swell, I could probably get food for Mary too.
“Okay.”
Mary gently brushed my hair and said,
“I’m really lucky. For a lowly maid like me to have a kind mistress who treasures me.”
“You were the one who cared for me first.”
“I couldn’t help it. How could I not love someone as sweet as you?”
I hugged Mary tightly and thought,
‘I need to deal with the head maid as soon as possible.’
Waiting for that duel with Denson or whatever his name was would take too long.
I just wanted to get back to my normal life.
“Swell, I think I need to take a break from sword lessons for a while.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Mm, I’ll tell you later.”
If Swell found out, he’d worry and try to intervene, and that might alert the others.
I preferred working alone, as always.
“But still…”
“Instead, could you look after Mary while I’m away?”
If Mary ended up in the cockroach room too, I’d throw the head maid in there without a second thought.
“…Understood. If you ever need help, please tell me. I will protect the path behind you, Miss.”
“Thanks.”
From that day on, I began tailing the head maid.
Back then, Regan had often made me gather nobles’ secrets, so I was confident in tailing people.
‘Looking back, he probably did that to use it for becoming the pope.’
My physical ability had declined, but now I was younger and lighter.
Of course, I wouldn’t stand a chance against a skilled opponent, but fortunately, the head maid was just an untrained commoner.
Her routine was simple.
She’d wake up around 7 a.m., enjoy a lavish breakfast prepared by the maids, and wander around the castle inspecting their work.
In between, she chatted with the knights and enjoyed tea time.
I skipped meals and survived on jerky Swell had given me while I followed her around.
When she was with the knights, I made sure not to get too close and blow my cover.
Maybe she was being cautious these days, because I couldn’t easily catch her doing anything suspicious.
‘But everyone’s got dirt on them somewhere.’
A few days later, the head maid went to the village to buy supplies for the castle.
“When did these carrots arrive?”
“Just this morning. They’re very fresh.”
“The quality’s good, but… the price has gone up. 5 gold for carrots?”
“Don’t even get me started. Monsters have been swarming lately, so all prices are up.”
“Is that so?”
She seemed familiar with the merchant and chatted naturally as she placed her order.
When she returned to the castle, she gave simple instructions to a maid.
Then she went to her room and wrote down the payments she made in her ledger.
‘Well, she’s in charge of the household budget. It makes sense.’
I clung flat against the ceiling and watched her.
Then she pulled out another ledger.
‘A second ledger?’
I held my breath and kept watching.
Just then, a voice called out from outside.
“Head maid, the master is looking for you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Just like before, she opened the bottom drawer of her desk and stashed the second ledger inside a safe.
She locked it securely and left the room.
The moment she was gone, I jumped down from the ceiling.
I quickly broke into the safe and compared the two ledgers.
‘The amounts are different.’
The first ledger had the carrots listed as 7 gold each. But the second ledger said 5 gold.
‘The first one has inflated prices.’
She was reporting inflated prices and pocketing the extra money.
‘This could be the weapon I need to bring her down.’
Heart pounding, I waited for her return.
Soon, the head maid returned.
As expected, the moment she saw me sitting at her desk, her expression turned furious.
“Who let you into my room? How rude. This is why people like you—whose bloodline and origins are unknown—should never be allowed into the castle.”
“Why wouldn’t a noble lady be allowed in the head maid’s room? You’re acting so sensitive, it’s almost like you’ve got something to hide.”
“Hah. What nonsense. Miss, do you think I’ve left you alone because I can’t lay a hand on you?”
She crossed her arms and sneered at me.
“Soon enough, Denson will teach you a lesson. You’ll be lucky if your arms and legs are still working.”
“We’ll see. I think you should be worried—about being kicked out for embezzling castle funds.”
Her expression froze at the accusation.
“W-What are you talking about…”
“You forged the ledgers and stole money.”
She glared at me with terrifying eyes.
Then suddenly, she burst into laughter.
“Well, I don’t know how you found out, but so what? Are you going to tell the master? Between someone who’s worked for him for 20 years and you, who do you think he’ll believe?”
She laughed even louder.
“Honestly, you should be grateful if he doesn’t kick you out. Everyone knows the master couldn’t care less if you live or die.”
I knew that.
No one would believe me.
If it came down to me versus her, the Duke would surely take her side.
I didn’t bother with any more words—I simply raised the hidden ledger.
At first, she looked puzzled.
Then, realizing what I was holding, her face went completely stiff.
