Chapter 30………………………………………..
After widening my heart a little, I picked up one of the paintings that had fallen to the floor and handed it to the head maid, who looked as though she had finished her conversation with Laura.
“This is the only one that’s still intact.”
It was the smallest of the eight paintings.
“I’m only giving it to you without breaking it because Laura agreed to accept your apology.”
The head maid hugged the most pitiful-looking painting tightly, her face filled with emotion.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you, young madam. And thank you too, Laura.”
“Make sure you never appear before me again.”
“Yes, I will remember that!”
This was my strategy of ‘insult them thoroughly, then receive gratitude afterward.’ Normally, if you do ten good things and make one mistake, you get cursed at. But if you do the opposite, people end up viewing you far more favorably.
Now then… before they had time to sit and think about how strange all of this was, shouldn’t we run?
If they contacted the Cassius town house in the capital and received orders to keep me here, things would get troublesome.
After driving out the head maid and the three maids, I grabbed the jewelry box I had kept inside the safe in my room. I stuffed in anything valuable—things Leandro had given me as gifts.
Surely, someone as grand as the heroine’s wonderful older brother wouldn’t do something as pathetic as taking back gifts after a breakup, right, Mr. Leandro?
Besides, once a gift is given, it becomes mine.
Other than that, I didn’t have many belongings I was attached to, so I only packed my diary and one or two small items.
“Let’s get out of here quickly!”
“Yes.”
“Ah—let’s go now!”
Leading Terrence and Laura, who helped carry the luggage, I left behind the residence where I had stayed for two years. Somehow, I felt I would never return.
“This way.”
We moved only through passageways that servants rarely used.
Since I hadn’t been able to play the role of mistress properly and had been terribly idle, people-watching had become one of my hobbies. Thanks to that, I roughly knew who passed where and when according to the staff’s work routines.
If someone saw us leaving, it was obvious we’d be stopped and questioned endlessly about where we were going.
“There’s a small hole in the wall over there.”
I had found it during my countless walks through the garden, unable to contain my boredom.
I wasn’t sure if the hole was large enough for Terrence to fit through, but someone like him could probably leap over even a high wall.
But just as we were about to reach it, we had no choice but to stop.
“It has been a long time, young madam.”
An elderly man stood blocking our way, bowing politely.
“…Chief Butler.”
He was the one responsible for managing all of Cassius’s servants—the duke’s most trusted right hand: the chief butler.
This is bad.
If the chief butler made a fuss, other servants would gather. They couldn’t harm me, of course, but if they clung to my skirts and delayed us, departure would be impossible.
As if unaware of my concern, the butler calmly swept his gaze over the fresh garden scenery.
“This reminds me of when you first came here after your marriage, young madam.”
His demeanor was unshakably composed.
“When you told me this castle—one I devoted half my life to maintaining—was beautiful… I was quietly pleased.”
Talking about memories at a time like this… I realized instinctively.
The chief butler knew about the divorce situation.
“So Leandro told you.”
“The young master—no, the young duke—briefly explained the situation to me alone.”
“Are you going to call people and stop me from leaving?”
“Of course not. If that had been the intention, all transportation to the station would have already been canceled, or the roads around Ashton would have been blocked.”
…To that extent?!
It might have been possible to keep me trapped until the trial, but the losses the city and Cassius territory would suffer would have been enormous.
Well, we have Terrence, so the worst-case scenario won’t happen.
If Terrence contacted the emperor once, it would be over. No matter how powerful Cassius was, they couldn’t detain the emperor’s son without justification.
Still, it would become extremely annoying, so I asked tensely,
“Then what is it that you want from me?”
“…Nothing in particular. I simply came to offer my final farewell.”
“Final? There’s no guarantee I’ll succeed in divorcing.”
“Even if the marriage remains, a couple does not necessarily have to live under the same roof. There is also separation.”
And more than that—
“Whether you succeed or not, it is as clear as day that your heart will never return to this place.”
The chief butler, who looked older than my own age and somehow carried the air of a sage, stepped aside as if urging me onward.
Just then, the voices of Cassius soldiers on patrol echoed faintly in the distance.
“Madam…!”
“Please, hurry.”
At Terrence and Laura’s urging, I passed the butler with lingering unease and headed through the hole in the wall.
After leaving Cassius Castle without incident, we climbed into the carriage we had arrived in earlier. Thanks to the generous tip I had given beforehand, the driver pretended to leave after dropping us off, then waited nearby outside the castle grounds.
“Where to?”
Terrence was about to answer.
“To Ashton Station—”
“Wait.”
Strangely, something tugged at my heart. I didn’t know why, but it felt like I shouldn’t leave just yet.
“I think I need to speak with the chief butler more.”
“He let us go now, but he may change his mind at any moment.”
Terrence was right.
The chief butler was a deeply loyal servant who had served the duke for over twenty years, since the duke was young. There was a reason the duke entrusted him with that position.
He was in a place where he knew the household’s affairs in greater detail than even the lord and lady. Depending on his judgment, information was either passed to the master—or quietly buried.
Though the head maid currently held more influence due to Riena’s favor, the butler’s eyes and ears—those who had served Cassius the longest—were scattered throughout the estate.
Someone like that is not a person you can afford to lose.
In this world, recruiting servants to uncover rival families’ weaknesses was commonplace. Surely countless people had tried to lure the Cassius chief butler with lavish rewards.
And yet, he remained unwaveringly loyal. Even in the novel, when the ducal house faced crisis after crisis.
Naturally, a question arose.
Then why…?
“Why did he let me go so easily?”
Holding me back would have been Leandro’s wish—and the choice best for Cassius.
Somehow, I felt like I knew the answer.
“The chief butler feels guilty.”
Toward me, who had lived like a doll all this time in Cassius. As a bystander who did nothing but watch.
“Maybe… he might even take my side.”
It sounded like hope, but the moment I said it aloud, I began to believe it.
If someone asked what kind of person the chief butler was, I wouldn’t have a clear answer.
He was difficult to read. A man who always stood a few steps back, quietly observing.
What was surprising was that this applied even to matters involving Riena.
It wasn’t that he disliked her, but compared to the other servants who practically went mad with adoration for the young lady, he was remarkably restrained.
And once—just once—I had seen him look at Riena with an inexplicable gaze.
How to describe it… it was a look full of complex emotions beyond words, as though staring at something distant and unreachable.
Sometimes, the butler himself would request we share tea. I tried probing gently then, but gained nothing.
Experience could not be underestimated. He redirected conversation with effortless ease.
Still, I continued accepting his invitations. We never spoke of anything special, but the time was oddly comfortable.
“At the time, I thought it was simply part of his duties as chief butler—serving those above him.”
Since I was still the young duke’s wife, after all, even if I hadn’t fulfilled the role properly.
“But now that I think about it… perhaps it was an expression of guilt toward you, my lady…”
Terrence murmured thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
“That’s what you mean?”
“Yes. Is it too reckless a guess?”
“It’s not impossible. If even the slightest conscience exists among them, at least one must feel guilty. At least one.”
He smiled, but the words carried sharp emotion.
Laura added quietly,
“I think it could be true too… Come to think of it, the chief butler treated me well.”
“The chief butler treated you?”
“Whenever you went to the capital and left the castle, he would give me errands. And if I finished early, he’d even give me pocket money and tell me to enjoy myself in town. They were always simple tasks, so I went out every time.”
It was practically a legal vacation for Laura, who had been guarding empty rooms.
Perhaps because Laura wasn’t originally from Cassius, she always seemed slightly outside the servant circles. Maybe he had considered even that, giving her time alone.
Encouraged by their words, I decided to gamble on this hopeful theory.
“I have to meet him. It can’t hurt to ask him to become my witness.”
Truthfully, I’d been worried that Laura alone wouldn’t be enough.
The judges and spectators could easily assume Laura’s testimony was biased, since she had served me since the Wallace family.
Her words wouldn’t be dismissed entirely, but it would still be lacking.
If someone originally from Cassius testified in my favor…
And if that person were the chief butler?
That would be perfect.
Among nobles, it was well known that the chief butler was so loyal he would give his life for Cassius. Many enemies had tried—and failed—to sway him.
“…But where could we meet him?”
Returning to the castle wouldn’t allow a quiet conversation with all the servants around.
Laura suggested,
“What about the chief butler’s home?”
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered hearing that unlike most servants who lived within the ducal estate, the chief butler commuted from a nearby private residence.
“I don’t know the exact address.”
“I do! I’ve delivered errands there before.”
And so, the carriage carrying us set off toward the chief butler’s house.
