“Y-You…!”
The maid who had been slapped glared at Elizabeth, her eyes filled with venom.
The sight of such insolence only made Elizabeth angrier.
“Who do you think you are, daring to look at me like that?”
In the ten years she had spent enduring countless insults, she had never experienced anything this utterly outrageous.
The chicken dish looked perfectly fine on the outside, but the food was undoubtedly spoiled.
No, even the word spoiled was too mild to describe its revolting taste. Rotten would have been far more accurate.
Overwhelmed by the sheer humiliation of it all, Elizabeth trembled with rage. She turned on the maids standing nearby, their faces still frozen in confusion.
“I’ve known for a long time that you don’t consider me a member of the Lianette family. But how dare you deceive me into eating rotten food by pretending it’s perfectly fine?”
“Not as if you’re much of a noblewoman to begin with.”
At that moment, one of the maids who had been standing silently spoke up.
“Why don’t you stop pretending to be a noblewoman? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Elizabeth stared at the maid in disbelief.
Perhaps because she came from a fallen baron’s family, the woman was treated as the second-in-command among the maids, right after Bailey. If Elizabeth remembered correctly, her name was Betty.
“You’re still just a bastard, after all. In a way, you’re no better off than the rest of us, are you?”
Betty had always found Elizabeth irritating.
Elizabeth was nothing more than a commoner who had been lucky enough to catch the eye of Marquis Lianette and secure the position of his adopted daughter. Betty was consumed with jealousy over it.
Convinced that she was far superior to Elizabeth, Betty had always looked down on her while working at the Lianette estate.
Honestly, if we’re talking about bloodlines, aren’t I the better one?
After learning that Elizabeth was an illegitimate child, Betty became even more convinced of that belief.
“Once you’re disowned, you’ll be nothing. What makes you think you can go around acting so high and mighty?”
“…Yes, you’re right. If I’m disowned, I really will be nothing.”
Betty blinked in surprise at Elizabeth’s unexpectedly agreeable response.
Elizabeth even smiled as she took another step toward her.
“But until my father returns, I am still Lady Lianette.”
At last, Elizabeth stopped directly in front of Betty and asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Betty.”
“Very well, Betty.”
With a bright smile, Elizabeth pointed toward the door.
“You’re fired. Leave this estate immediately.”
“…What did you say?”
“You’re fired.”
Elizabeth repeated herself kindly, but Betty still looked as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“As Lady Lianette, dismissing a single servant from the estate is hardly difficult. Especially when that servant has been insolent toward her mistress.”
“My lady, you can’t do this!”
Betty’s tone suddenly became respectful.
Looking flustered, she protested.
“I went through the proper hiring process to get this job. You can’t just throw me out on a whim!”
“Apparently, you lack even the most basic qualifications required of a maid.”
Elizabeth spoke in a deliberately regretful tone.
“You’d be wise to leave of your own accord. Unless you’d rather have your fellow servants drag you out.”
“Hah! And who’s going to listen to you?”
Betty protested in disbelief.
“Mrs. Henton is on my side, too. There isn’t a single person here who would take your side—!”
“What is all this commotion?”
At that moment, an unbelievable voice rang out.
Everyone present turned toward the speaker in shock.
“…Father.”
It was the Marquis of Lianette.
That evening, Bailey waited impatiently for the Marquis of Lianette to return, her face twisted with resentment.
Just you wait. Once the master returns, you’re finished. A filthy fake like you will be thrown out by the marquis himself!
Bailey was fuming, practically snorting with anger, and praying to the Goddess Elistathis to bring the Marquis of Lianette home as quickly as possible when—
“Mrs. Henton! The master is on his way back to the estate with the young masters!”
Good heavens! Her wish had come true!
But how?
It should take at least another two months for them to return…!
“What are you waiting for, Mrs. Henton? There’s no time! All three carriages have just arrived at the estate!”
Urged on by the butler, Bailey had no choice but to hurry and gather the maids.
A short while later, the enormous gates of the estate swung open, and three towering men of the Lianette family appeared.
Each of the direct heirs stood well over 190 centimeters tall. Seeing all three of these massive Lianette men walking into the estate together was an imposing sight—almost intimidating.
Their expressions were all blank, but the servants who had attended them for years could tell at a glance.
Their masters were in a very bad mood.
The eerie calm of their expressionless faces was nothing short of the silence before a storm.
“My lord, I was under the impression that you wouldn’t be returning for another two months because of the monster subjugation. What happened…?”
“Butler.”
The Marquis of Lianette interrupted him.
His voice was dry and emotionless, yet there was unmistakable anger beneath it.
The butler hurriedly fell silent and looked at the marquis.
“Where is Elizabeth right now?”
At those words, everyone understood.
They finally realized why the Lianettes had abruptly returned to the capital in the middle of their monster subjugation campaign.
So this is about Lady Elizabeth.
Bailey smiled.
She was the one who had informed the Marquis of Lianette about the situation in the capital while he was away fighting monsters.
“She is having dinner in her room at the moment.”
Bailey answered promptly.
Even if the Marquis of Lianette discovered that rotten food had been served to Elizabeth for dinner, it wouldn’t matter.
It’s not as though I personally instructed the maids to do it.
She had plenty of ways to avoid taking the blame.
No, perhaps this is even better.
What if the marquis witnessed Elizabeth throwing a tantrum, just as she had earlier, after discovering that she had been served rotten food?
It would be the perfect catalyst to bring forward Elizabeth’s disownment.
With a triumphant smile, Bailey watched the Marquis of Lianette head upstairs toward Elizabeth’s room.
“What is all this commotion, Elizabeth?”
“…Father.”
The unexpected appearance of the Marquis of Lianette caught everyone off guard.
Elizabeth was especially startled.
When the marquis questioned her, she instinctively answered at once, as she always had.
“I apologize, Father. It’s nothing impor—”
Elizabeth had been about to smooth things over as she usually did, but she abruptly fell silent.
Oh, no.
She had promised herself she would never live that way again.
And yet, the moment she stood before her father, her old habits had resurfaced without her realizing it.
Feeling miserable with herself, Elizabeth bit her lip.
“Eli, what’s—”
“I was disciplining a maid who served me rotten food for dinner, Father.”
Elizabeth spoke clearly and concisely, explaining what had happened without unnecessary details.
“During the process, I dismissed one of the maids for her insolence toward me. However, she refused to obey my orders, which caused a brief disturbance.”
“Rotten food?”
The Marquis of Lianette asked in a surprised voice.
“What do you mean? A maid brought you rotten food for dinner?”
Elizabeth said nothing. Instead, she pointed toward the chicken dish on the table.
Silence fell over the room as the 198-centimeter-tall Marquis of Lianette strode toward the table with his long legs.
A moment later, the marquis picked up a small piece of chicken and put it into his mouth.
The maids watched him anxiously, all of them looking terrified.
“…”
Exactly three seconds later, his expression twisted into something terrifying.
He quickly pulled out a handkerchief and spat out the food in his mouth.
Then he turned to Elizabeth and spoke.
“Eli.”
“Yes, Father?”
“So this is what they served you for dinner tonight?”
“Yes.”
After Elizabeth’s quiet reply, a dreadful silence descended upon the room.
The maids turned deathly pale, as though the silence itself were choking them.
If the marquis had erupted in a fit of rage, perhaps they wouldn’t have been so terrified.
But he merely stood there, lost in thought, without saying another word.
Everyone wondered what on earth was going through his mind when—
“You lot.”
His voice was chillingly low.
And yet, there was no discernible anger in it.
Even so, the maids who had been addressed flinched, their faces so pale that they looked ready to collapse.
“I think it would be best if each of you waited in your own room for the time being.”
It was an exceedingly gentle request, yet the maids turned as white as if they had just received a death sentence.
They were so frightened that they couldn’t move an inch.
“Now. Immediately.”
At that soft but insistent prompt, the maids gasped and hurried out of the room as though fleeing for their lives.
Soon, only two people remained in the room: Elizabeth and the Marquis of Lianette.
“Elizabeth Lianette, I have returned because there is something I need to ask you.”
The marquis broke the silence.
Elizabeth tried her best to remain composed, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. Her gaze fell helplessly to the floor.
Did he hear about what happened in the capital and return immediately? Did he actually interrupt the monster subjugation to come back?
Elizabeth bit down hard on her lip and knelt before the Marquis of Lianette.
The marquis’s eyes widened at her unexpected action.
“I apologize, Father.”
“…Elizabeth?”
“You specifically told me to be careful… but in the end, you found out anyway.”
Elizabeth clenched her hands tightly in her lap.
Her well-manicured nails dug into her delicate skin, leaving tiny scratches.
She had been adopted out of kindness, yet she had ended up becoming the one blemish on a great family’s reputation. She felt as though she had committed a grave offense against the person who had raised her all these years.
Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong herself, she was too ashamed to face him.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do everything I can to resolve this without causing any further trouble for the family. So, please…”
“…What on earth are you talking about?”
The Marquis of Lianette sounded utterly bewildered.
Startled, Elizabeth lifted her head and saw the marquis looking at her as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Just pick one. You have three options. Number one: that so-called prophet who couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Number two: the emperor who handed that woman your birth certificate and medical examination records. Number three: the nobles who dared to criticize you.”
“…Pardon?”
“Just give me the names. Oh, you can choose more than one. There are four of us in the family, after all.”
“Father, I… What exactly do you mean?”
“What do you mean, what do I mean?”
The Marquis of Lianette replied, looking at her as though she were deliberately pretending not to understand.
“I’m asking who you want us to crush first, obviously.”
