Chapter 27
A faint rustling was followed by the sound of paper being turned.
“On X month, X day. While cleaning up a broken vase, I slandered Lady Eloise in front of the servants. On X month, X day, the lady expelled a maid on charges of theft, but I reported to the duke that the lady was being vicious. On X month, X day, the lady grabbed the butler by the collar, and I spread rumors for a week that she was unladylike.”
The sound of pages turning accompanied the reading of the notebook.
Hans, what a meticulous personality. He must be excellent at butler work.
Listening to the account of the butler’s actions, Eloise took a deep breath. Hans’s records did not seem to be finished yet.
“On X month, X day, an invitation arrived for the lady, but I ‘accidentally’ discarded it and reported to the duke that the lady refused to go out of spite. On X month, X day, the lady…”
“Wait. Why is it only about Eloise?”
“Forgive me for saying this, but the butler thinks himself above the young lady.”
“I’d like to see the notebook myself.”
“My apologies. The notebook contains even harsher words, and also includes things I personally said against the butler. It would not be proper for you to see it, my lord.”
Not only was he strikingly handsome, but everything Hans did seemed perfect.
If that man were to become butler, I’d have to treat him well.
The duke dismissed Hans after ordering him to organize the notebook’s contents into a proper report.
Next came Sophie.
“Sophie, sit down. I think you’ll have the most to tell us.”
The duchess’s calm voice echoed in the drawing room.
Sophie had been Eloise’s maid since she was very young.
As the eldest daughter of a baronet family, she had spent more time in the duke’s household than in her own home.
That meant she knew Eloise well, and had shared in the cold treatment Eloise endured.
“The butler tormented the lady in ways that weren’t obvious. He would deliberately give her the wrong time for banquets, and when she dined alone, he would instruct the chef to send food she couldn’t eat. He even placed extravagant orders at jewelers the lady never visited. All of these petty tricks he twisted into accusations of wastefulness or misconduct, which he reported to you, my lord.”
Her voice trembled as she continued.
“I wanted to tell you both that the butler was slandering the lady. But when the butler realized I meant to report him, he beat me. That very day, the lady herself tried to tell you, but all she received was scolding. By then, your trust in her had already been broken. Since that day… the lady has given up.”
Eloise shifted slightly and glanced past the partition. The duke’s face was stricken with shock.
How many years had he scolded his daughter while blinded by the butler’s words?
The parts of the original story I didn’t know were unbearably bitter.
“Very well. Take Eloise upstairs now.”
At the duke’s command, Eloise rose and stepped out from behind the partition.
Her fingertips were pale and bloodless.
“I’m a Monclaire too.”
“How much more shame will you bring to your father?”
“…You brought this on yourse—”
“I’ve heard enough. Eloise, you look unwell. Go rest, hm?”
“Lizette…”
I was truly worried. With the interviews going on, Eloise’s name was bound to come up.
If the butler had singled her out so persistently, then the stories would all be about her. Listening to them must have stirred up countless emotions. Her health was already fragile—better for her to leave.
“Sophie, please take Eloise upstairs first?”
I spoke brightly, and Eloise, with no other choice, let Sophie guide her out of the drawing room.
The duke watched his daughter’s retreating figure with a troubled expression.
“My daughter listens to a cat more than her father.”
“That’s because you’re too harsh.”
“What a cheeky tongue.”
“Just count it against the favor I did today.”
Now that the duke had been exposed as having been manipulated by the butler, he didn’t seem frightening at all.
I chirped back, then plopped myself down right beside the duchess.
The duke let out a disbelieving sound.
“Hmph.”
“Hurry to the next one. There are plenty of servants to hear from…”
Raoul’s face twisted into a scowl as he glared at me. Stare all you want, what good will it do?
The duke rang the bell on the table, and Hans called in the next attendant waiting outside.
The duke, having been dealt a heavy blow, skipped his meals and personally oversaw the interviews.
Meanwhile, one of the butler’s hired men was dragged in from a tavern and confessed everything.
“If you look at the contract, you’ll see I only did what the butler ordered! I already paid for it with twenty years in prison for threatening the duke’s life!”
Even after his testimony, the interviews continued.
The duchess nibbled on refreshments from time to time, while Raoul stubbornly refused to eat.
But when I teased him—saying he’d never grow taller if he didn’t eat—he grew red-faced and eventually wolfed down a sandwich.
The questioning had begun in the morning and only ended once night had fallen over the estate.
“The interviews are finished. Raoul, head upstairs now.”
“What about you two?”
“Your part is done here. Go on upstairs.”
The boy opened his mouth several times, but in the end obeyed his parents and went up to the second floor.
Clinging to the duchess’s dress, I drew both their gazes.
“Take me with you. You’re going to the basement, aren’t you?”
“You’re sharp.”
What else would be left for the duke and duchess after the interviews?
The testimonies all aligned.
Despite enjoying countless privileges for saving the duke’s life, the butler’s greed had gone too far.
He had neglected his duties, and pinned false accusations on Eloise to cover up his own embezzlement.
Why had no one reported him sooner?
The answers to the duke’s question were all the same.
First, the duke’s trust in the butler had been absolute.
Second, anyone who tried to blow the whistle was beaten or dismissed.
Third, Eloise was a despised daughter in the household.
The more I thought about it, the more my teeth ground together.
“You mean to come along?”
“I won’t feel satisfied until I tear out every last one of his whiskers.”
“It won’t be a pleasant sight.”
“That’s fine! I’m older than Raoul, after all!”
“Very well.”
Unable to resist my stubbornness, the duchess gave permission. Together, they took me to the basement.
The space was larger than expected, filled with an ominous air.
It seemed to be used as a storeroom now, but traces of its former use as a dungeon remained.
“Ugh, open this at once! Tell the duke I’m innocent!”
From the farthest cell, still intact, the butler’s furious voice rang out.
Spotting the duke, he shook the iron bars.
“My lord, you cannot do this to me!”
“Do you not admit your crimes?”
“I have committed none—what is there to admit?”
At those words, black smoke rose at the duke’s feet, coiling around the butler’s body like a massive serpent.
It was magic. The first time I had truly seen it, and it chilled me to the bone.
Completely different from the mana resonance training Marcel and Etienne practiced.
“Each time you lie, a bone will break. That day—you were the one who ordered the attempt on my life, were you not?”
“I would never… GAAAH!”
With a scream and a sickening crack, the smoke snapped his left shinbone in two.
This magic was unlike the five elemental magics spoken of in the original story.
It was almost like Marianne’s light magic—but the duke’s was its exact opposite.
“Ghhhk…”
Even at the horrific sight, the duchess only stood coldly, watching like carved ice.
The duke’s face, however, was flushed scarlet with fury.
“For years, did you embezzle the ducal estate’s wealth?”
“I did not—ghhhaack!”
This time his right arm snapped, dangling grotesquely.
The sight was too gruesome—I turned my head away. My stomach was weaker than I thought.
“Did you frame Eloise, covering up your thefts by blaming her?”
“I nev—AAAAH!”
Another crack rang out. I shut my eyes tight.
