“No way, did you come looking for me on purpose?”
It was nonsense. He sarcastically asked if she was excited about things like that when she was already a grown woman, but Edith said it as if she were going to disappear.
“It’s thrilling to have someone who cares about where I’ve disappeared, isn’t it?”
It seemed that Killian would never be able to forget her lonely expression. However, his softened heart toward Edit was stiffened by the words of Lise, who came late and opened her mouth with difficulty.
“I don’t know if this is my mistake, but it was at Count Ermenia’s house earlier.”
“What happened?”
“That is… I was passing by while talking with Cliff, and I definitely overheard the successor of Count Rigelhoff talking about Duke Ludwig to Count Rigelhoff.”
“What…?”
Lise wiggled her little hand before continuing with Killian’s request to talk in more detail.
“It was really accidental, so I didn’t listen closely. It was such a short moment that even Cliff couldn’t see it. However… I’m sure I heard the words of Duke Ludwig and Edith’s name. Did he meet Edith yesterday?”
A cold uneasiness chilled the center of his chest. And a few days later, from the morning, Shane brought one of their corrupt maids, and he didn’t dare to put that maid next to Edith.
‘Have you decided this beforehand…’
It reminded him of Count Rigelhoff, who had been trying to attach a maid to Edith even before her marriage. Her maid, whom Shane brought in, wasn’t even a normal maid at first glance. He wondered what kind of maid in the world could act so wickedly in front of a Duke’s family.
‘Edith could have complained about her situation to Shane. That’s why Shane, angry at the Duke of Ludwig, offered to attach a maid, and Edith might have been moved and shed tears…’
As he thought, the blushing of her cheeks may have been because of the sunlight. Perhaps because of that suspicion, he saw Edith rejecting the maid several times as acting. There were even rumors that they were persecuting Edith, but there was no way they wouldn’t accept her maid.
‘If I watch her, I will know. Is Edith’s attitude acting or is it sincere?’
From the next day, Sophia became Edith’s exclusive maid, and the Duchy secretly increased the number of watchers around them.
* * *
It’s a thought she’s had a few times in her previous life, but she has the thought that living as Edith was harder every day.
‘It’s better when I’m working.’
It wasn’t until the morning shift, when she could avoid Sophia’s watch, that she finally caught her breath.
‘Besides, if I come to Renan’s office, at least I can have tea and snacks!’
Originally, she didn’t enjoy refreshments when she was working, but since she was hungry, she couldn’t see anything. Because Sophia was starving her.
“Today, depending… The refreshments seem to suit your taste.”
Renan said with a face that didn’t know what the hell he was thinking.
“Ah, haha, that, that’s right. It’s delicious today…”
I was about to eat all the cookies and madeleines on the plate, but out of conscience, I left one for Renan.
But it seems that I was looking at the nasty leftovers with anxious eyes.
“You can eat it all.”
“Uh? What about Renan?”
“I don’t normally like sweets.”
‘Yep, that’s what it looks like.’
He said that they deliberately look for bitter and tasteless things to eat. But why did that face look so handsome today?
“Then… It’s a waste to leave behind…”
She ate the rest of the cookies and madeleines while adding such lame excuses.
‘Ha, I think I can live now.’
She barely filled her hungry stomach, but in fact, she wanted to eat meat and bread. To be honest, she felt like she wouldn’t have a wish if she ate a bowl of hot soup. Pork soup, cow head soup, bean sprout soup, sundae soup, oyster soup…
‘Ah, I’m going crazy.’
Just thinking about it made her salivate.
“Would you like more?” askes Renan.
How did he know I was just spitting? However, baking flour that was only sweet was over.
“No. Then… Shall I work?”
But when that evening came, she regretted thinking about the cookies and Madeleine that she couldn’t refill. It was clear that she would not be able to eat even that, since the next day she would take a break from work for a few days.
“Isn’t it too mean to starve?”
He glared at Sophia and complained, but that only made her feel better.
“If you want to eat it, you have to prove your usefulness.”
“You treat people like animals?”
“Even a beast can recognize its master orders to this extent. It seems that the young lady is not even as good as a beast.”
“That’s funny. You may be my father’s dog, but I am a person. I have my own free will.”
“I look forward to seeing how far that free will will go in the face of hunger.”
Sophia was taunting her, then suddenly she came up and grabbed her hair and shook it wildly.
“Bitch! Aww! Let go of this!”
After shaking for a while, Sophia let go of her head like throwing it onto a pillow.
“If you don’t like being beaten, you have to be docile.”
“Huh… uh… who is for you…”
“What really happened in between? You weren’t that stupid… Tsk.”
She was hit more with sharp fists on her bones and spine, but Sophia was holding her head against the pillow so she couldn’t even scream as much as she wanted. But it was a very strange thing. In her previous life, she would never have considered herself brave enough to face such violence, but now she never wanted to give in. She wanted to stand up to the violence the Rigelhoffs inflicted on Edith. She wanted to protect the self-esteem that Edith had to helplessly lose. At least she knew they couldn’t kill her. In fact, there was another reason besides that.
‘There’s no way the Duke’s family don’t have guards posted around here.’
It was because of the belief that there must be someone watching somewhere. Of course, no one knew what’s going on in this room, but mistakes happened in the blink of an eye. The guards might catch her pretending to sympathize with Sophia without even realizing it.
‘Of course, that story will reach Killian’s ears. How much more do I have to work to clear up that misunderstanding?’
Killian was the one holding her lifeline. She seemed to be more misunderstood by him than to be able to clear it up in a short period of time.
‘…I want to see Killian.’
When she thought of Killian, she missed him again. She wanted to tell him all about her situation and beg for help. But, it seemed like she could hear the voice of the narrator from somewhere.
[Edit Riegelhoff cannot reveal hidden settings about herself until she meets the three-step exception.]
Now it’s not enough to hear in dreams, did she even hear hallucinations?
‘I know, I know!’
She groaned as she lay face down on the bed and sighed.
* * *
Sophia let out a laugh as she beat Edith to her heart’s content.
‘What really happened? Doesn’t it seem like she has changed?’
She believed that no one knew Edith Riegelhoff better than she did. She was the one who raised her as her ‘attendant’, since she had been Edith’s close maid since she was 12 years old. However, the current Edith was not the Edith she knew.
‘Why did the kid who shivered and became obedient even with a single slap suddenly change like that?’
Edith, who grew up being severely punished by Count Rigelhoff from an early age, became infinitely weak in front of violence. Hitting her too much would cause her to fall, so outside of the mansion it was a matter of hitting her as much as she could stand and tightening her leash. But in just a few months, she changed completely, and even after being beaten like that, she rolled her eyes and said arrogant things.
“Because she was so stupid, she forgot her master. Tsk. I will have to train her more thoroughly in the future.”
She muttered in annoyance, but a smile filled with anticipation bloomed on her lips. In fact, Sofia hit Edith, and she felt the greatest joy and pleasure.
Being a commoner mercenary, she was able to mercilessly beat the aristocratic daughter, how much she satisfied her self-esteem!
‘It’s a bit annoying that I can’t show it on the outside, but…’
In order not to be discovered by the people of the Duke of Ludwig, she had to pick only the part that was covered by clothes and hit it just enough so that it wouldn’t bleed, but then somehow the intensity was weaker. She felt a bit sorry for that. However, since humans had more than one vital point, there were many ways to harass them without seeing blood.
‘Let’s see how long she can keep her cheeky face.’
Capturing her sneer, Sophia put on her maidly expressionless face and went down to the dining room for dinner. Then, on the stair landing, she was confronted by the rumored Lise Sinclair.
“Oh, hello? I heard you’re Edith’s new maid.”
“…nice to see you. This is Sophia.”
“Your name is Sophia. Nice to meet you.”
Her smile was flawlessly bright. Although she was dazzlingly beautiful, as rumored, Sophia seemed to have a twist inside her.
‘A girl like a fox.’
For Sofia, Lise was on the same level as Edith, or even lower.
‘She’s like a lustful prostitute who seduces men with an innocent face!’
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so besotted with Shane, who was always cool and rational.
How do you feel?
