Chapter 6
Amid the crowd of people from the Duke’s mansion filling the hallway, the voices gradually grew louder, starting with gasps and evolving into a roar.
Ashley shouted with a quavering voice, “Ah, even if you call yourself a noble lady, there can’t be such a law in the world! You can’t dismiss me so easily overnight!”
“Don’t worry, Ashley. I’m not just dismissing you. I’m dismissing everyone.”
I stuck my head into the corridor and spoke to the familiar faces, cupping my hands over my mouth in case they couldn’t hear me.
“All of you…are dismissed.”
The expressions on the faces of the Duke’s servants varied greatly.
Ah, those expressions. It seemed as if they could go without eating for a week and still be full.
“Miss!”
Thud.
Ashley quickly changed her approach, no longer biting her lips. She fell to her knees, desperately grabbing onto my ankles.
It seemed she expected me to care about maintaining appearances in front of outsiders.
Intermittently sobbing, she glanced toward Obert, her intentions transparent. And yet, she clenched her hands tightly.
“Please, please just reconsider! I have three young children at home! Will you let my children starve to death? I was wrong, Miss! I made a mistake! I deserve to die!”
“Then you shouldn’t have committed a crime worthy of death.”
“My Lady!”
As I opened my eyes wide and responded, her face froze as if struck by lightning.
I personally knelt down beside her as she seemed at a loss for words. I brushed her sweaty side hair behind her ear and asked,
“Do you truly seek forgiveness from me?”
“Yes, yes. Of course, I do. I really do, Miss!”
“Do you want to wash away the sins you’ve committed against me?”
“Just tell me anything! I will do anything.”
She reflexively touched her head several times. Thump, thump, thump. The sound of her forehead being knocked resonated throughout the room.
“Then let’s do this. It’s said that children pay for the sins of their parents. If your precious three children participate in the ‘Atonement Feast,’ perhaps your own sins will be erased. How does that sound?”
Thump. Ashley continued to lie at my feet and did not lift her head.
I waited for a moment for her response, but she remained silent, trembling more and more.
There was no need to wait any longer. I stood up straight.
Thud. Thuduhuhu. Thuduhuhuhuhu….
Unfathomable sounds flowed from Ashley, who was lying on the ground.
I let go of her. My apron smoothly covered the back of her head.
“Never show your face to me ever again.”
As I walked out of the room, countless people stared at me. Disgust, contempt, astonishment, fear, awe, sadness—various emotions were conveyed in their fixed gazes upon me.
I couldn’t see Obert’s face behind me.
Was his expression similar to the one he had when he heard my vow yesterday, declaring that I would expel everyone from the Duke’s mansion? I became somewhat curious.
However, there was no need to pay attention to anything. Compared to what awaited me in the future, Ashley and the lackeys of Viscount Barden were nothing.
Suddenly, for a brief moment, everything felt distant. I chewed my lips and murmured.
“This is just the beginning.”
I took a confident step forward.
As I descended the spiral staircase to the main hall, the scene that unfolded before me was a spectacle.
Servants of Desmier were scattered everywhere, bustling about, carrying the belongings of the County.
Standing in the center of the hall where I was slapped the night before, I stood with my hands behind my back, leisurely observing the scene.
Amid the line of Obert and Desmier’s servants behind me, they stood silently.
My heart throbbed. The corners of my mouth twitched upward. I felt a surge of excitement, as if a song were about to burst forth from my lips.
“Lady, snap out of it!”
“What should we do now, our Lady, our young mistress… How could something like this happen?”
Just then, I heard a commotion from the stairs.
Looking up, I saw Helena, clad in a hastily put-together dress, descending with the support of the maidservants.
Some of the maidservants, who had been particularly close to Helena, sobbed and comforted her, their own futures bleak and uncertain.
“Hello, Helena.”
As I approached them and greeted them unexpectedly, the maidservants screamed.
“Ahhh!”
“You scared us like we saw a ghost.”
How uninteresting. I pursed my lips.
Surprisingly, seeing the maidservants who had always looked down on me and treated me like a little monkey now trembling in fear did not bring me much joy.
With anticipation, I tilted my head slightly to the side.
When I met her gaze, a bright smile formed on my lips.
Ah, this is what I wanted to see. That was why I came back.
“…Is this your doing?”
My noble and beautiful cousin, always dignified and graceful.
The kind and elegant mask she always wore was nowhere to be found, replaced by a pale face, flushed with anger and a hint of lost composure.
Though I didn’t know the details, I smiled and answered her, sensing that she had caught on to something.
“I did say we would meet again soon, didn’t I?”
Helena bit her lip.
Without lingering for long, she rose from her seat and passed by me without a word. As she walked away, she glanced back and asked.
“Are you running away now?”
She halted at the question. She turned her head quietly to look at me.
“…”
Her intense emerald eyes met mine, refusing to break away. It was a peculiar sight.
The sobbing maidservants, the servants sneaking away with valuable items, all seemed distant, as if submerged in water.
Only Helena, standing in the sunlight that streamed through the wide-open doors, captured my focus.
She slowly averted her eyes from me and stood upright.
Then, she screamed, causing a ruckus, and rushed through the mansion with sounds of crashing, screaming, and chaos following her.
I followed her. The noon sunlight was intense.
As I shielded my eyes with my hand, I heard a piercing cry, “Helena!” and the familiar voice of someone drew nearer.
“Hello, Aunt and Uncle.”
The Viscountess embraced Helena, holding her tightly in her arms, like a mother protecting her young from a predator, wrapping her in the folds of her skirt.
As she looked at me her face was filled with terror.
The Viscount asked stupidly.
“You, you, how dare you… do this to us? Is this something you did?”
I felt Obert standing behind me.
Is this the moment when all the lead actors of the play have gathered?
I smiled, squinting my eyes beneath my folded hand.
“This is… this cannot be true. Khalia! What is this all of a sudden? Desmier? You have no connection with them!”
“I can explain that part.”
Obert stepped forward in front of me. The Viscount was visibly flustered. The elderly butler made a brief bow.
“Nice to meet you, Viscount Barden. I am Obert Miller, the butler of the Desmier Duchy.”
“…Nice to meet you, Obert Miller.”
The Viscount seemed hesitant but accepted his greeting.
In reality, he had no choice.
Although Obert’s position as a Junior Viscount was lower than the Viscount’s, his influence in high society was undeniable.
As the Duke’s butler for decades, overseeing the affairs of the family and being the Duke’s closest confidant, his influence surpassed that of any lesser nobles.
Even the well-off nobles were envious of Obert, unable to establish connections with him.
Moreover, he was originally the son of a Viscount who managed the Miller territory, the same lineage as the Viscount.
Obert spoke calmly.
“You must have read the morning newspaper.”
The Viscount, who had been frozen, stiffened at his words.
He protested, spitting out words. Spittle flew from his excited mouth.
“Of course, I read it! That, that… it’s unbelievable!”
“You don’t think the Duke’s words are lies?”
“My words… of course not. That’s not it.”
At Obert’s calm question, the Viscount froze again and then regained his composure.
He resumed pointing his finger, but this time, his arm was lowered by 15 degrees from before.
“But, yes. My sister. Our dear Marina, I can’t seem to recall how she was so close to the Duke’s wife, how they got along so well.”
“You both started with a chance acquaintance at a party, and even after marriage, you exchanged letters regularly. And…”
Obert gestured to one of the Desmier’s maidservants who stood behind me.
An old woman in a plain outfit stepped forward. He pointed to her and spoke.
“That connection deepened to the point where the Countess called for the Duke’s wife on the day of her giving birth.”
“Who is this woman…?”
“She is a midwife who assisted the Countess during childbirth. She personally delivered Khalia. The Duke’s wife testified that she was there together.”
Was this testimony really true?
Although it was unlikely, I looked at the woman claiming to be my midwife with curious eyes.
This was news to me as well.
It was only natural. I only told the Duke to “become my guardian,” leaving all the specifics up to him.
It was possible because I had confidence in the Duke’s abilities.
Indeed, he didn’t just idle around; he created such a commotion in just one day.
The midwife spoke slowly but distinctly.
“I still remember it clearly. The Countess held the Duke’s wife’s hand tightly, covered in cold sweat, and said, ‘Please be the godmother of our child.’ The Duke’s wife nodded and said, ‘I will.’”
“You’ve gone too far, really! I’ve never heard of such a thing happening during childbirth!”
Obert interjected as the Viscount shouted angrily.
“Naturally, he wouldn’t know. The Duke was not present in the Countess’ chamber, and he never met her after she gave birth.”
Noting the Viscount’s flushed face, he smoothly added.