Episode 28 of The Male Lead Obsesses Over the Wicked Maid
Kiera let out a sigh. Ever since the maids had been replaced, it hadn’t been easy to give orders. Especially after she witnessed how her commands became gossip in the mansion within an hour.
In the end, she had no choice but to handle communications with the temple herself. She barely managed to shake off Sornia and Carde, who clung to her begging her not to leave.
“Phew. Seriously, what kind of suffering is this?”
Kiera gritted her teeth. But she had to do this—for the sake of her beloved children.
“You’re really coming in three hours, right? Mom, if you’re late, I’ll seriously die! I really hate being alone with Grandpa!”
Considering the time she wasted soothing the whining Carte and getting rid of the maids, she didn’t have much time left.
Kiera glanced around and moved quickly. The priests greeted her with smiling faces.
“Where is High Priest David? I informed him I’d be coming.”
“He’s waiting for you! I’ll take you to him!”
Kiera nodded and handed the priest a gold coin.
The temple was ruled by the principle of money. And Kiera was someone who made full use of that principle.
High Priest David was the most well-known figure in the capital’s temple. It was said his divine power was the highest, and people believed that anyone who received his blessing and consecration would neither fall ill nor die for a year.
And in the underworld, he was famous for his exorcisms. He only moved for money, but his results were guaranteed.
Kiera planned to use this to drive out Amy’s spirit—and frame Taybern for being possessed by it. Since Amy’s vengeful ghost was allegedly clinging to him, he had to be expelled to the north.
If she brought up Amy, even Herden wouldn’t be able to ignore it. That name was like Herden’s reverse scale. He also believed that Taybern had killed her.
“So he’s shaking in fear of his father, huh.”
Kiera found Herden frustrating, yet she couldn’t bring herself to abandon him. To her, he was love.
Kiera had chosen Herden first and pushed for the marriage herself.
She had even begged the Empress, who was close to her father, Marquis Aites, to force the marriage through.
Back then, Taybern had been too distracted by the war with the monsters to care about the wedding.
In the process, Kiera eliminated Amy, who was in her way. She couldn’t believe a man like Herden was so enamored with a mere maid.
“I thought he’d come to his senses once that wench disappeared.”
But Amy’s shadow still loomed heavily over Herden. Kiera let out a long sigh.
This time, she planned to cleanse the entire duchy of that shadow.
“Duchess, you came in person!”
“There’s a matter in the ducal house. I came to speak with you, High Priest David. Do you have a moment?”
The temple and Marquis Aites had long maintained a close relationship.
In exchange for supporting David’s activities and the temple, they used him to build ties with various noble families.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship, so David naturally welcomed Kiera warmly.
“I’ll make time even if I don’t have any! Aple, go tell the worshippers outside to wait.”
“Yes, High Priest!”
As Aple left, Kiera gave a faint smile.
“Now, shall we talk?”
“It seems the duchy has been haunted by a cursed spirit. You said before that the stronger the grudge, the harder it is to drive them away?”
“Yes, Duchess. I did say that. Don’t tell me…”
“It’s a lowborn wretch with no reason to hold a grudge—but people like that never know their place.”
Kiera’s voice overflowed with fury, as if it were the absolute truth.
Something about Duchess Kiera’s recent solo outing had been strange. Carte had cried and wailed, but Kiera still left on her own?
That didn’t make sense.
That fox would never leave Carte alone in the same house as Taybern out of fear of what might happen.
Even now, she hated the idea of Carte and Taybern encountering each other.
My gut was telling me something was definitely going on.
If only I had a skill like Mind Reading. But since I didn’t, I had no choice but to wander the hallways cloaked in stealth.
Right now, Hider was training diligently with Sir Hilden.
Taybern had driven out all of the duchess’s servants. How was she planning to pull anything off?
Where had she gone?
After several days of undercover investigation, I finally uncovered something.
“That—that’s a ghost, right? That apple’s floating in midair!”
“Am-Am-Amy! Go back to where you belong! Do you think I wanted this?”
“I didn’t want this either! You know what a maid’s life is like!”
Apparently, more people were involved in Hider’s mother’s situation than I expected.
I watched the maids scream and run while I casually munched on an apple.
I hadn’t cloaked the apple with stealth, so to them, it must’ve looked like it was floating.
Another day passed.
While wandering around the mansion, I finally discovered what Kiera was plotting.
“Duchess, you called for me.”
I happened to see the head butler visiting Kiera early in the morning. I’d just been heading to the bathroom. I immediately activated my stealth skill and followed them in.
Even though I was sleepy, I forced myself to stay alert.
It was more important to eavesdrop than to startle people with ghost tricks here.
So all the maids had been replaced, huh.
The head butler had been working for Kiera all this time. Grandpa kicked out the head maid but left that guy? Didn’t he know? I’ll have to ask him later.
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“Yes, you mentioned the exorcism ritual. I also remember you saying you’d visit the temple yourself recently.”
Exorcism ritual…? Temple…?
She’s trying to exorcise Amy’s spirit?
But can that even work?
“Yes. High Priest David is coming to the duchy today. He’s supposed to arrive around 3 p.m. But as you know, exorcisms must be kept secret.”
She was indirectly saying that it would be considered heresy if it got out. The head butler understood immediately.
“Understood. I’ll control the maids and clear the hallways so no one’s around.”
“Good.”
Kiera gave a sinister smile.
“That ghost is attached to that foxy old man anyway, so he’ll find out eventually. But with that personality of his, he’d never accept heresy so easily. That’s why he can’t know. It shouldn’t take too long.”
So the plan was to buy time while David came and performed a phony exorcism?
Of course. That’s exactly the kind of thing Kiera would do. She thought I’d fall for something like that? I’m not even a ghost. What’s the point of an exorcism?
Tsk. Grown adults falling for superstition. What a waste of money.
“Understood, Duchess.”
“Take care of yourself. If this works, we won’t have to see that damned old man anymore. No matter how capable he is, the Duke is Herden. All he needs is a justification. Then everything will fall into place.”
The duchess’s eyes gleamed with ambition. How could someone look so villainous?
I shook my head in disbelief.
“And I’d love to see that half-blood too. That brat needs to know what kind of mother he has—maybe then he’ll be put in his place.”
How could Sornia and Carte grow up properly under a woman like her?
To sum it up, all of this was just a scheme to kick Taybern out.
No way. Not happening.
Taybern was Hider’s teacher, his protector, and most importantly, the hero who made me rich.
The one who needed to be kicked out wasn’t Taybern—it was Kiera.
I’ll protect him—no matter what!
