Chapter 51
Katrina returned completely exhausted.
What on earth had happened in just a few days?
“When will Damian be back?”
When he returned, she would have to tell him about what happened today.
“He will probably be back by dawn, sir.”
“Then maybe tomorrow morning…”
“You’ll have to leave first thing in the morning. If you tell me, I’ll pass the message along.”
They’re really busy over there too.
With no other choice, Katrina returned to her room and collapsed onto the bed.
“Rina, is something wrong with the lady?”
“Shh! Louie, you shouldn’t talk about that here. Actually…”
Girls… I heard everything.
Though they were whispering as if trying not to be heard, Katrina caught every word.
Still, since there seemed to be no ill intent, she decided to let it slide.
“Rina, is there any way we can help the lady?”
“Louie, how could humble maids like us possibly help?”
She thought to herself that at least their hearts were in the right place.
“Miss, I’ll give you a massage.”
“I’ll help too.”
Katrina closed her tired eyes as the two maids attended to her.
Hardship seemed endless.
The Abiche family was now cornered.
It wasn’t just the problem of being entangled with the Carlo family.
The Abiche family had many enemies. As soon as they showed a weakness, other families took the opportunity to strike, making matters worse.
‘…Damian must be busy handling this too.’
The Duke of Abiche, trying to ease the tense atmosphere, devised a desperate measure.
It was confession.
And Katrina was to be the first example.
‘Why me…’
“Confess, sinner.”
Katrina was suffering visibly.
A snickering voice came from beside her. Katrina seriously considered leaving the room to slap him.
“Sinner?”
“…”
“Katrina.”
“…”
“Hehe.”
Grabbing the door handle, Katrina truly contemplated giving him a smack.
But a moment of reason stopped her.
“What exactly did you tell Raymond?”
The confessional room was quiet and solemn.
The walls were decorated with finely carved wooden panels, with sacred symbols engraved in gold.
Soft natural light filtered through the stained-glass windows, filling the room with a gentle brightness.
“You already knew?”
A laugh came from the next room.
It made her blood boil.
“Why… why is it that you all, back then and even now, just can’t leave me alone?”
Did it really have to go this far?
“Enough. Stop it already.”
She had no reason to endure this humiliation.
She just wanted to quietly leave, but she didn’t understand why things had gotten this messy.
“Do you remember when we played hide-and-seek here as kids?”
Lucife started talking out of nowhere.
“If you’re going to talk about that…”
“Do you know where I hid back then?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Under the chair you’re sitting on right now.”
“Why are you telling me that now…?”
“I thought I had hidden somewhere easy, but you couldn’t find me.”
“….”
“Maybe you never found me till the end, right?”
Katrina had no memory of that day Lucife was talking about.
It was too long ago.
“You still don’t know the reason, even now.”
“What reason?”
“It’s a secret. You have to find it. Hide-and-seek is always about the seeker finding, isn’t it?”
More nonsense.
Katrina stopped listening and left the room, flinging the adjacent door open.
“Ah.”
Lucife sighed.
The atmosphere in the confessional instantly changed.
Though it had been a quiet, sacred space, seeing Lucife sitting there made it feel anything but peaceful.
“Sister, you can’t just open the door like that.”
Lucife sat lazily in a corner of the room.
Her red eyes half-closed, she quietly watched Katrina in silence.
“You really are the worst.”
“Oh, I actually get excited when you say that.”
Katrina turned away without listening further.
“If you don’t come to me, things like this will keep happening.”
“….”
“I won’t give up, Katrina.”
Katrina exited the temple.
The servants in the Abiche mansion were largely divided into two factions:
Those serving Damian, and those serving the Duchess Berta.
Since Damian and Berta were at odds, the factions among their servants were also hostile.
“When Master Damian becomes Duke, he’ll probably kick out the Duchess and her servants. So of course we should serve Master Damian!”
“But will the Duchess just stand by? Don’t forget Master Beric. He might become the next Grand Duke.”
And a new wind had begun.
It was Katrina’s presence.
“Miss Katrina only has one maid, it seems. If we serve her, we might gain her trust immediately.”
“But Miss Katrina… wasn’t she almost expelled from the family? If we serve her, won’t that affect us too…?”
“That was long ago. Now even the Duke can’t touch Miss Katrina recklessly.”
“Is that really true? Well, thinking back, a few years ago, Katrina was the real power of the family.”
Perhaps Katrina could regain her influence in the family.
If they gained her favor now, even without serving Damian or Berta, they might rise to high positions together.
That’s how investment works.
High risk, high reward.
“Rina, really? Miss Katrina said I could come too?”
Excited, Louie held Rina’s hand tightly.
“I worked hard to appeal to Miss Katrina for you. And she said you could come too.”
“Rina, thank you so much. I’ll never forget this favor.”
Louie wanted to climb the ranks within the Abiche household.
But Damian and Berta already had loyal servants.
So the only option was to serve Katrina—perhaps an unclaimed lottery ticket.
Louie became Katrina’s second personal maid.
“Miss, you’ve worked so hard.”
Rina and Louie looked at Katrina, who had collapsed into a deep sleep immediately upon returning.
“When I first heard the rumors, I thought you were really a terrible person.”
“…”
“But you’re the kindest lady I’ve served. So sometimes, I worry about you.”
Louie quietly listened to Rina.
Her own thoughts were similar.
At first, she had chosen Katrina for ambition.
Even if Katrina was worse than the rumors suggested, she didn’t care.
But unlike Rina, Louie had not yet developed any special affection for Katrina.
Still, seeing Rina, she wondered—maybe she could become like Rina someday.
Louie opened the notes she had written:
The lady has insomnia.
She likes lemon tea.
She loves sweets.
She often suffers from headaches…
She had been observing Katrina and taking notes to gain her favor.
‘I should visit her at night.’
She had bought candles for better sleep, sure that the lady would like them.
In the dark night, Louie left the servant quarters to visit Katrina’s room.
Then a small voice whispered:
“Fortunately, the plan has succeeded up to this point.”
Plan?
