Episode 10
After leaving the Duke’s mansion, Brianna took a carriage down to the city square, then walked the rest of the long road back to the Count’s estate.
It was still quite a distance, but thanks to the Duke’s small kindness, she didn’t have to walk the entire way.
When she finally reached the front gate, Herben—who happened to be standing nearby—flinched.
“…Y-you’re back, my lady.”
His greeting was awkward.
Well, that was only natural. He had never treated Brianna like a mistress before.
And it wasn’t just him.
Most of the servants in the mansion had started treating her differently.
‘So my punishment of Rosa had some effect after all.’
Polian might still be venting his frustration on her—snapping at her whenever he could since he didn’t get the rewards from the Emperor he wanted—but the rest of the staff no longer dared to flip on her so easily.
“Please, go in.”
Herben opened the door.
Brianna’s eyes flicked briefly to his waist as she passed.
Then she tilted her head in curiosity as she stepped inside.
Around his belt hung a pocket watch—pure gold, with a distinctive engraved cover.
She recognized the design immediately.
‘Montre…’
Montre was a famous clockmaker in the Adelaide Empire.
His watches were so exquisite that they were basically art.
He made each one by hand, alone, no assistants.
They were sold only by special order and took a long time to complete.
Rare, expensive, and highly sought after.
So expensive, in fact, that even many minor nobles couldn’t afford them.
‘And yet a mere butler in this household has one?’
Yes, the Clark estate was wealthy, but that wealth belonged to the family—not to the butler.
Polian, being who he was, would never pay servants more than necessary.
No matter how good Herben was, he wouldn’t hand out such luxuries.
‘Something’s off… I need to learn more about Herben.’
She’d need someone trustworthy to look into him.
Lost in thought, Brianna climbed the stairs to her floor.
Then she heard voices.
“You do it.”
“No, you clean this room yourself.”
“Why should I?”
The argument came from right in front of her own bedroom.
“We’ll go rest, so you handle the lady’s room cleaning.”
“Yeah, it’s not that big anyway. You can do it alone.”
From the sound of it, two maids were trying to dump the work on another.
Normally, it wasn’t wise to step into servants’ quarrels.
If you defended one, the others might bully her worse when no one was watching.
Brianna was about to quietly turn away when a small, timid voice spoke up.
“Big room or small, that’s not for you to decide. The head maid told all three of us to clean it together. So you should help too.”
The voice was soft, but clear and firm.
And it sounded familiar.
‘That voice…’
Yes—when she had first woken up in Brianna’s body, it was this maid who had brought her washing water.
Instead of leaving, Brianna approached.
“A-ah! My lady!”
The three girls all jumped in surprise.
Normally, they wouldn’t be so flustered, but since Brianna had already dismissed Rosa, they seemed afraid of ending up the same way.
Ignoring them, Brianna walked into her room, picked up her notebook and fountain pen, and wrote:
[Why are you making a scene outside my door?]
The two girls who had been trying to pass off the chore just stared blankly.
Finally, one of them spoke:
“We… were assigned to clean your room today, my lady. We were just discussing it.”
The one answering wasn’t either of the bossy two.
It was the pale-skinned, white-haired maid.
Seeing her hair, Brianna immediately understood.
Another girl spoke, freckles dotting her cheeks.
“She’s good at cleaning, so we were just saying she should do it.”
The second chimed in with a nod.
“She has white hair. She’s a slave, so of course she can work harder than us.”
Brianna’s eyes narrowed.
She wrote again:
[Isn’t it a task for all three of you?]
“Yes, the head maid told all of us to do it,” the white-haired girl answered quietly.
The other two snorted.
“A slave like her? She should work harder than us.”
“Yeah, slaves are good at chores anyway. We were just letting her do what she’s best at. Isn’t that right, my lady?”
Both of them looked at Brianna with complete confidence, like they expected her to agree.
Instead, Brianna calmly scribbled, then showed the note to the white-haired girl:
[Tell them that today’s cleaning is for the other two to handle.]
The girl’s eyes widened, glancing nervously at Brianna.
Meanwhile, the other two smirked, assuming it was an order for the slave girl to handle the room alone.
“Today’s cleaning is for you two,” the white-haired girl said at last.
“What?!”
“That’s ridiculous!”
They both raised their voices.
“Why would we have to do it by ourselves, my lady?”
Brianna didn’t even spare them a glance.
Instead, she wrote again, this time holding the notebook directly to the white-haired girl:
[Because I have something else I want you to do for me. So come with me.]
“M-me, my lady?”
She nodded.
The two girls immediately jumped in.
“What task? We can do it instead!”
“Yes, my lady. We’re much better than some slave!”
But Brianna ignored them completely.
Her eyes were only on the white-haired maid.
[It’s a letter I need written. I want you to help me with it.]
The girl blinked at the words, looking between Brianna and the other two.
“She says… she wants me to help her write a letter,” she murmured.
At the mention of “letter,” the other two fell silent.
Neither of them could read or write.
That wasn’t work they could do.
So all they could do was sulk, lips jutting out in a pout.
Brianna walked away first, and the white-haired girl quickly followed.
They stepped into the small private parlor connected to Brianna’s bedroom—a room Anastasia had visited a few times, but Brianna had apparently never used.
Brianna sat on the sofa.
The girl hovered awkwardly nearby, unsure if she was allowed to come closer.
“What kind of letter should I write, my lady?” she asked timidly.
Brianna picked up her pen and wrote:
[That was a lie.]
Then she smiled as she showed the page.
The girl blinked in confusion.
[Those two annoyed me for trying to dump all the work on you. I just wanted to teach them a small lesson. Don’t worry.]
