WBESFL 21

Was Vanessa the one standing behind them?
That’s what Eleanor asked back, indirectly.

But the simple-minded Daisy took the question literally and, with tears clinging to her lashes, stammered out her answer.
“Y-Yes. I think she does know…”

So she knows…

It was a vague answer, but it meant that Vanessa was aware of everything.

She knew, and still did nothing.

There was only one reason she would’ve done that—because Vanessa had her eyes on the barony too.

The reason she had always drawn lines between them and acted coldly was ultimately because of the barony. Eleanor let out a sigh.
It felt so empty, realizing she had projected herself onto someone like Vanessa.

It really was because of the barony.

“I’ll announce your punishment tomorrow morning. Until then, stay confined to your quarters and reflect.”

“Miss, we’re sorry. Please forgive us…”

“You sullied my name with lies and acted arrogantly. Why should I forgive you?”

The four maids couldn’t argue with that. They just wept quietly.

“And ask Vanessa directly what that conversation was really like.”

Eleanor knew they wouldn’t believe her no matter what she said. That’s why she deliberately suggested they ask Vanessa.

Since Eleanor already knew everything, Vanessa wouldn’t be able to lie about what happened that day.

“Oh, and clean this place thoroughly before you go back to your rooms. Understood?”

She helpfully pointed out the long hallway that needed scrubbing by hand, just in case they forgot.

Normally, being confined meant you weren’t allowed in the dining hall either, so they wouldn’t get meals—and now they had to clean too. The four maids drooped at the added punishment.

“Yes, Miss…”

“Have Emma inspect your cleaning when you’re done.”

Emma, the head maid of Oklama Castle and a long-time loyal servant of the Baron, was naturally on Eleanor’s side.

After all, Baron Pongpouri had chosen Eleanor as his successor himself.

Eleanor, having already told Emma to inspect their cleaning meticulously, smiled sweetly.

“What are you doing? Get cleaning.”

The moment she finished speaking, the four maids scrambled into action, grabbing rags and scrubbing the floor.

They were probably hoping to earn some forgiveness by showing sincere remorse.

Fat chance.

Eleanor hadn’t delayed their punishment to see their repentance.

She wanted time to report to her aunt and, as she’d said, let them question Vanessa.

After watching them angrily scraping at the grime stuck to the floor, Eleanor turned and walked off without another glance.

The maids kept their heads down, scrubbing silently in case she looked back.

But Eleanor didn’t spare them a second look as she went straight to her aunt’s office.

Baron Pongpouri looked up from the documents she was reviewing and greeted her niece with a gentle smile.

“What is it?”

“Aunt, I’m going to fire four of the maids.”

Even at the sudden announcement, the Baron didn’t look surprised.

She was aware of the unrest inside the castle lately.

She’d been planning to intervene herself but decided to wait and see how Eleanor handled it.

“Why?”

Even though she already knew, the Baron asked anyway, curious how Eleanor would explain.

Eleanor spoke calmly.

“If generosity and kindness are virtues of the nobility, then having the clear judgment to dismiss unfit servants is a responsibility of a lord.”

The days of saying childish things like “They badmouthed me!” were long gone.

Eleanor knew her aunt already understood the situation but recognized that she wanted to see how Eleanor would frame it.

“They slandered me—your niece—and behaved insubordinately, forgetting their place as maids.”

She kept her tone neutral, without emotional charge.

“If such people remain, the castle will descend into chaos. If we can’t unite within, we can’t manage the outside either. No matter how many years they’ve worked, those who disrupt the atmosphere must be cut off decisively.”

“You’re right.”

Baron Pongpouri looked at her niece with pride.

She really has grown up.

Then again, even as a child, Eleanor had never tattled or whined.

Seeing her clearly and logically explain her reasoning filled her aunt with admiration.

“I won’t ask who they are. Inform the butler and the head maid and have them dismissed.”

“Thank you.”

“But… are you only going to fire them?”

She was asking if Eleanor intended to punish them further.

Eleanor nodded slowly.

She had considered punishing them under imperial law, as she’d warned.

But if she wanted to maintain a good reputation with the other servants, firing them without beating was the better route.

Besides, those four had been friends and colleagues to others in the castle.

Eleanor didn’t want to be the first to administer a harsh punishment that hadn’t been seen in the peaceful territory before.

“I want to take into account the service they’ve given the castle.”

“You’ve truly embodied the virtues of nobility. Very well, do as you see fit.”

The Baron agreed fully and supported her niece’s decision.

After three inspections from Emma, the four dismissed maids finished cleaning and went to see Vanessa.

Vanessa, who had been reading a book, looked up with slight disbelief at the crying maids.

“What are we supposed to do? We got fired for protecting you!”

As if they hadn’t been gleefully badmouthing Eleanor, they tried to sound righteous.

“Why would you spread something you weren’t even sure about?”

“I didn’t say it like that! Bianca heard it and twisted the meaning.”

Ivy pointed accusingly at Bianca, claiming it wasn’t her fault.

“You misheard it from the beginning. And who told you to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation?”

Vanessa shot back coldly.

This whole situation had started because Ivy added her own assumptions to what she’d misheard, and then Bianca twisted it further.

Just like Eleanor, Vanessa wasn’t wrong either, and the maids had nothing to argue with.

“We did it for you, Vanessa. We were thinking of you since you’re getting pushed out as heir.”

Bianca pouted as if she’d been treated unfairly.

“We’re both commoners—we were just trying to support each other.”

“Did the lady really not say anything that day?”

Vanessa set her book aside and looked at Bianca.

“In Rubin, the lady helped me. I said something presumptuous and apologized.”

Just as Bianca had claimed, Eleanor had neither bullied nor looked down on Vanessa for being a commoner.

She simply…

Was someone fundamentally different from me.

Vanessa thought bitterly of Eleanor.

If anyone knew how vast the difference was between a noble-born girl and an orphan raised on charity, it was Eleanor herself.

“I can’t help you. Go back.”

“Vanessa!”

The maids had come to her as if she were their last hope, but Vanessa truly had nothing to offer.

They were the ones who’d twisted words and spread rumors—what were they expecting her to do?

Vanessa turned her head stubbornly and picked up her book again.

“Are you really okay with the lady? Do you really like her?”

Without looking up, Vanessa flipped a page.

“I never said I liked her.”

Her reply dashed Bianca’s faint hope.

“But still, I can’t help you.”

“You’re so mean…”

Emily’s head drooped as she choked up. Daisy gently patted her friend’s shoulder and asked,

“Anyway, you don’t like her, right?”

“Who knows.”

Vanessa didn’t even read the words—she just kept turning the pages aimlessly.

To her, Eleanor wasn’t someone she could categorize as “like” or “dislike.”

If anything…

It was more about whether she hated her or didn’t.

The next day, it was officially announced that the four maids were dismissed for misconduct.

Bianca, Daisy, Emily, and Ivy.

Three from Vanessa’s camp, and one neutral.

They were expelled from the castle for slandering a noble lady.

They didn’t receive a single coin of their final month’s pay, though at least they weren’t made to return their prior wages.

“Miss, are you going to let the others off?”

Lisa asked. Those four had just been the most vocal. The others who supported Vanessa had also been unpleasant to Eleanor.

Lisa felt furious just thinking about it.

Honestly, she thought even this punishment was too lenient.

“Of course not.”

“Then…”

“But I can’t fire too many at once. I have to start with an example.”

That’s why Eleanor dealt with the maids before the attendants.

The maids had played a bigger role in shaping public opinion inside the castle. So she rooted them out first.

She planned to deal with a few ringleaders among the attendants soon.

“Still, the punishment feels too light. They’ll just go home and live happily.”

“Not necessarily.”

Eleanor smiled at the grumbling Lisa.

Word will get out that they were kicked out of the castle. People will gossip about it for months.

All four of them were from Oklama, so they’d remain in the same region even after leaving the castle.

It would soon become common knowledge that they’d been dismissed for slandering Eleanor out of envy and jealousy.

This is fair enough.

Unlike the bustling capital, Oklama was a quiet, rural territory.

In such stagnant waters, the people’s sentiment mattered more than anything.

So this level of punishment was appropriate.

And after all—they were no longer in the castle.

More important than the remaining maids is Vanessa.

Eleanor thought of her when she returned after ordering the dismissal.

“Hello, my lady.”

Vanessa had greeted her calmly, carrying a thick book in her arms.

Despite having lost her closest supporters, she seemed unaffected.

“Hello, Vanessa. Where are you headed?”

“To the bookstore.”

“I see.”

After that hollow exchange, Eleanor cut straight to the point.

“Four maids are being dismissed today.”

“I know.”

“I heard you were close to them. You don’t seem bothered.”

When she probed lightly, Vanessa gave a small smile that felt like she’d just put on a mask. Her expression turned stifling.

Eleanor found that smile oddly unpleasant.

It wasn’t because it was fake—it was because it felt like seeing her own reflection through someone else.

That was the discomfort.

“I was only allowed to stay in the castle thanks to the Baron’s generosity. I’m not in a position to have personal maids.”

“…”

“I’m in a different position than you, so I can’t be like you.”

Vanessa bowed politely.

“I could never become like you, so don’t worry. I’ll take my leave.”

Eleanor still frowned at the memory of that small back turning away from her.

I can’t become like the lady.

That phrase lingered in Eleanor’s mind.

She felt a strange discomfort again.

I can’t be the protagonist of the story.

It was the same feeling Eleanor once had when she looked at Lydia.

Back then, Eleanor had felt deep defeat and despair—and accepted it.

An extra sister could never take the protagonist’s place.

Since then, until she came to Oklama, Eleanor had never once stepped out of her “extra” role.

That deeply rooted sense of defeat had defined her.

But after coming to Oklama, she hadn’t felt that way again—until now.

It was strange that someone else now felt that way about her.

Is that right? Aren’t we both just extras in this world?

Whenever she stood in front of Vanessa, she felt like she was Lydia, and Vanessa had become her.

But I’m not Lydia.

Which meant Eleanor had to consider all possibilities.

The world wouldn’t love her like a protagonist.

Just because she says she can’t become like me doesn’t mean she doesn’t want the barony.

Eleanor weighed her options.

Should she start keeping Vanessa in check—or not?

She added weight to one side of the scale. It tipped.

“I’ll make sure those who treated you badly get what’s coming.”

Lisa clenched her fists with adorable determination.

“Thank you, Lisa. If one person falls, the rest will follow.”

“Just one? Who?”

Eleanor rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window.

“Vanessa.”

The scale had tipped toward keeping her in check.