~Chapter 30~
“Shariette. I’ll come in for a moment.”
It was Nixia. Every time Shariette insisted she was fine, Nixia only gave her a bitter look and shut her mouth. It was maddening.
“Before this incident, I heard you were unfairly harassed by the servants in the mansion.”
What kind of nonsense was this? Shariette sighed.
“Nixia, I swear honestly, that never happened.”
“You don’t have to cover for them. I already know everything.”
This was insane.
Then things got even crazier.
The maids and servants she had seen around the mansion came crawling in one by one, bowing their heads, begging desperately.
“I’m so sorry, I was stupid!”
“I’ll make up for my wrongs, please forgive me!”
“You risked your life to save Madam and Lady, and I treated you like that… I deserve death!”
Shariette realized they were the ones who often made mistakes at work. One of them had even spilled the mop water Joseph ended up cleaning.
“Shariette, I want to apologize for failing to manage the servants properly. Their punishment will be decided by you. Speak freely.”
It was Marian, arms crossed, watching Shariette’s bewildered expression as she looked between the servants, Nixia, and herself.
After thinking seriously, Shariette finally spoke.
“Marian, these people made some mistakes, but not so bad they deserve ‘punishment.’”
To her, punishment only meant two things: being sent to the lab, or being discarded.
Not knowing Shariette’s frightening thoughts, Marian smiled bitterly.
‘So she wasn’t hiding it. She truly didn’t feel offended or malice at all.’
Beside her, Nixia slapped her forehead in disbelief.
“Shariette, what are you saying? This deserves dismissal!”
Dismissal? Better than “punishment,” but still wrong. Shariette rolled her eyes.
‘If you get fired for every mistake, how do people survive?’
She herself had been fired as a maid within a week. That’s why she ended up selling medicine without a license, until she came here.
‘These nobles don’t understand the weight of making a living!’
While Shariette misunderstood, the servants wept, moved.
‘She’s calling our bullying mere mistakes to cover for us!’
Ever since the day the young duke’s physician drank poison in place of Madam and Lady, they had been wracked with guilt.
‘What have we done?’
‘How could we be so petty to someone like her?’
‘I’m trash. I should die…’
Their tearful faces showed guilt and gratitude.
“Your kindness only makes me more ashamed.”
“We’ll sincerely repent. Please give us another chance!”
Shariette leaned back, looking at them like they were strange creatures.
Nixia shook her head in exasperation.
Marian calmly corrected the facts.
“Shariette, they admitted to intentionally harassing you.”
“Me? When?”
“They ruined your clothes, hid your things, pushed you down stairs, blocked passages, put filth in your food… Those weren’t accidents.”
Now Shariette was dumbfounded. All this fuss over that? Besides, since Joseph had started hanging around, most of it had stopped anyway.
‘Wait… who’s the soft one here?’
Shariette and the Rubellot mother and daughter stared at each other, each worried for the other’s sanity.
Marian gave ground to Shariette’s disbelief.
“Fine. Since that’s your wish, this time it will end with discipline instead of dismissal. But Shariette.”
She looked at the apothecary who had drunk poison in her place.
“If Noxian or Nixia had suffered the same, would you say the same thing?”
Of course not. Shariette answered firmly—it would be dismissal, no question.
Marian nodded.
“Exactly. Remember, Shariette—you’re no different from them.”
“……?”
Shariette tilted her head in confusion, but Nixia understood her mother’s meaning. Her face darkened briefly, then she quickly changed the mood.
“Anyway, Shariette, we’re assigning you a personal maid.”
At her signal, a small maid stepped forward from the line, head bowed.
“I thought someone uninvolved would be best. This girl was brought from the castle just recently. Father recommended her.”
Actually, it had been Noxian, not their father, who recommended the girl.
‘There’ll be changes. Attach this girl to Shariette.’
Yesterday, after interrogating the prisoner in the dungeon, Noxian had looked as if it was two years ago all over again.
‘Why not do it yourself?’
‘…I have things to sort out.’
Though Nixia wasn’t usually the kind of sister to follow him blindly, she nodded out of subtle guilt.
“The head maid says she’s diligent and capable. Her name is Mia.”
The girl with braided brown hair bowed.
“Yes, Lady. It’s an honor to serve you.”
Shariette gasped sharply.
“…!”
Though the girl had grown taller in two years, she was unmistakable.
‘Shasha, wake up! Don’t die, Shasha!’
The tear-streaked face she remembered so vividly.
‘No! I won’t go!’
‘If you stay, you’ll die. They discovered the Verona potion. I can’t help you anymore. Just go the way I told you. I’ll distract the guards.’
‘Let’s go together, please!’
‘Don’t look back. I’ll follow soon.’
‘Shasha! Shasha…!!’
She had survived. Relief washed over Shariette—then tension struck.
‘Why is she here of all places?’
Shariette swallowed dryly.
This girl knew Shasha’s true face and voice—her real self.
‘Maybe she forgot, too busy trying to survive?’
The maid raised her head. A faint scar stretched across her cheek. Their eyes met.
“…!”
Shock and disbelief filled her dark brown eyes. Shariette quickly looked away at the ceiling.
‘It’s over.’
Mia Delon. Seventeen.
If she had to name the two most unforgettable people in her short life, one would be Shasha.
Her savior, the only hope in the castle she had been trapped in her whole life. Maybe even a friend in her own mind.
She thought Shasha was dead. But here she was—alive.
“Shasha, it’s you, isn’t it? Really you?!”
Once they were alone, Mia grabbed her arm with tearful eyes.
“…It’s been a while, Mia.”
Shariette gave her an awkward smile.
Her hair was now white, her emerald eyes shining, her true face without magical disguise. Different from before only in longer hair and more life in her expression.
“I thought you were dead…!”
Mia threw her arms around her. Warmth of a living body pressed against her.
The faint scent of medicine, the stiff greeting, even her awkward, frozen posture—it was all the same as she remembered.
Even while dying, Shasha had tried to push Mia and others out to safety.
“I told you not to worry about me.”
“Even that cold line sounds just like you, Shasha.”
“……”
Mia is right~