Chapter 26

26

There is a saying that to defeat an enemy, one must first know the enemy. With people all around me eager to tear me apart, I couldn't afford to remain ignorant and do nothing. No matter how much I might have no expectations of life and feel powerless, I refused to be a target for the crowd to tear apart.

In this household, I was the target of a witch hunt. Whether the witch to be burned was truly innocent was often irrelevant. What people needed was just a scapegoat, and the dark pleasure that came from tormenting others.

So I made up my mind. Rather than be reduced to rags by that despicable malice, I would set fire to it myself.

What gave me the courage was Charlotte's presence. I was no longer alone; Charlotte was by my side. She was my only friend, my ally, and someone I had to take responsibility for. In fact, I was more angry at the malice directed at Charlotte than at the one tormenting me. Just like now.

"The person who stole the knight's gold ornament is Serena, but the one who instigated her was you. You made Serena an accomplice and tried to frame Charlotte."

"W-What do you mean? I... No, that's not true...!"

Aila, flustered, blinked her eyes rapidly and stammered. Dealing with an opponent who had been cornered and could no longer think rationally was as easy as eating cold porridge. I spoke without hesitation.

"I knew from the beginning, Aila. You planned to use the money from selling the gold ornament to pay off your lover's debt. But you thought it would be easier to use Serena rather than steal it yourself. Serena, with six dependents to feed, would need the money to support them, and in the end, she accepted your proposal and stole the gold ornament. Am I wrong?"

"..."

Aila bit her lip hard, her face pale. In fact, everything I said was speculation. But because it was based on accurate facts, I was confident that my speculation was correct.

People, when in a bind, often do things they never thought they would or only thought about. Aila, in particular, was desperate. After all...

"Serena, is this true? Did Aila really instigate you?"

Lady Seymour looked down at Serena and asked. Serena, who had been sitting on the floor in a daze, glanced at Aila, shivered, and nodded. She lowered her gaze to the floor and answered in a barely audible voice.

"Yes, it's true... Lady Aila ordered me... to steal something valuable from the knight's belongings..."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke, and Serena prostrated herself before Lady Seymour.

"Lady Seymour, I only followed Lady Aila's orders. It's true, if I don't, my younger siblings will starve to death...! A few weeks ago, my youngest sibling got pneumonia, and I couldn't afford the medicine with my salary... Please forgive me, Lady!"

"..."

Lady Seymour looked at Serena silently, then sighed heavily, pressing her forehead. She pressed her temples with her index and thumb and spoke softly.

"First of all..."

As Lady Seymour's gaze fell on Aila, Aila flinched and turned even paler. She was visibly trembling as much as Serena. Lady Seymour continued.

"Aila, who is your lover? Are you talking about your fiancé?"

"..."

Aila bowed her head deeply and said nothing. Of course, she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to answer truthfully. Aila's 'lover' was not her fiancé.

Aila originally had a fiancé, chosen by none other than Lady Seymour herself.

Aila was a maid from the hometown of the former duchess, and for some reason, Lady Seymour favored her. She even found her a husband.

However, Aila seemed to have no feelings for her fiancé and recently fell in love with an actor from a traveling theater troupe. This actor was Aila's lover.

If it had just been a temporary affair, it would have been fine, but Aila ended up sleeping with the man. Recently, she discovered she was pregnant with his child.

Aila kept this fact a secret from everyone and consulted a village doctor without revealing her identity, but the information somehow reached me.

'Of course, it was by chance.'

Although I had been consistently investigating Aila... In any case, after further investigation, it turned out that Aila planned to break off with her fiancé and run away with the man.

However, the man had a debt to the merchant who sponsored the theater troupe, and he couldn't leave until the debt was paid off.

The merchant, a meticulous person, had branded the actors with a magical mark. If an actor tried to run away, the mark would burn.

So Aila had been stealing from the Valentinno estate to pay off her lover's debt. The silver earring that Lucy had mentioned was also stolen by Aila.

Now, the one who needed to confess was not Charlotte but Aila. However, Aila still said nothing. Though her head was bowed, I could imagine the look of despair on her face.

"Aila, what exactly happened? I won't blame you, so tell me everything."

Lady Seymour urged her gently. Since she favored Aila, she must have felt sorry for her in this situation. But...

"L-Lady... Hic..."

Aila, barely lifting her head, wept and sobbed weakly. As Lady Seymour comforted her by wrapping her shoulders, Aila began to mumble her story.

"..."

After finishing her story, Aila looked at Lady Seymour with a desperate expression. Lady Seymour remained silent, her face hard and her eyes growing colder.

Yes, I knew this would happen.

Lady Seymour, who had been favoring Aila, roughly pushed her away and stood up, looking at her with disgust. She then spoke coldly to Aila, who was staring at her in a daze.

"Filthy and vulgar creature."

"L-Lady..."

"How could a maid serving the Valentinno family sleep with a rootless wanderer and even bear his child?"

Lady Seymour was like this. She pretended to be affectionate but was actually cold and ruthless, with clear boundaries. She was also a thorough aristocrat.

When she judged people, she valued their background more than their character. The reason she favored Aila was because of her background.

Aila came from a decent family in her hometown and was a flawless maid. If Aila had been a low-born servant, Lady Seymour would not have given her a second glance.

In fact, the reason Lady Seymour disliked me and Charlotte was the same. She wasn't just upset because I was the daughter of Duke Everett. Of course, that was part of it, but probably 50% of her dislike was because I was the daughter of a low-born servant.

"Aila, you will be confined to your room. Do not step out until I give you permission. And Serena, the same goes for you."

"Yes, Lady..."

"L-Lady... Please forgive me. I was wrong...!"

Unlike Serena, who obediently accepted Lady Seymour's order, Aila clung to Lady Seymour's dress, pleading desperately. Lady Seymour, looking down at Aila, who was crying, coldly pushed her away. Her cold voice echoed through the Avery Hall.

"How dare you touch me with those dirty hands."

"..."

"What are you all doing? Take Aila and Serena and lock them in their rooms!"

Then, other maids and servants, who had been watching the situation, grabbed the two by their arms and started to drag them away. A few more people, who had been hiding behind the pillars, joined in.

Serena went along without resistance, but Aila, claiming she had something to say to Lady Seymour, struggled and resisted. However, she couldn't overcome the strength of several people, and soon her figure disappeared from the Avery Hall.

"..."

Lady Seymour, who had been looking in the direction Aila had disappeared, turned to me. Her eyes were like sharp blades. I should have apologized for wrongly accusing Charlotte without evidence, but I didn't want to, even if I were to die.

As expected, Lady Seymour brought up a different topic.

"I didn't know Lily knew so much about the servants of this Valentinno estate."

It was as if she was asking if I had been investigating the servants. I smiled.

Thanks to the magical tool Owen gave me, it was easy to disguise myself, and investigating the servants was as easy as eating cold porridge.

I gathered information by disguising myself as different people and sometimes Charlotte helped. Charlotte had a natural talent for breaking down people's defenses and getting close to them. She was also a great actress. Although Lady Seymour might think lowly of Charlotte.

"As the mistress, I need to know the people who work for the family well..."

"..."

Lady Seymour, who had been surprised by my answer, soon put on a calm mask. Although anger still lingered in her eyes, she couldn't question why I was investigating the servants. It wasn't unusual for a mistress to know the personal lives of the servants.

"Yes, Lily seems to have been quite busy. I'm surprised."

"..."

I smiled silently. Lady Seymour, taking her eyes off me, looked at Charlotte. Charlotte stood quietly, holding the gold ornament. Lady Seymour spoke to her.

"Charlotte, I will return this gold ornament to the knight. Hand it over."

She didn't seem to have any intention of apologizing to Charlotte. Even a few words of regret or acknowledgment of her mistake wouldn't have damaged her dignity.

I felt the anger that had subsided rise again. Lady Seymour must have known Charlotte was innocent but still tried to punish and frame her. She wanted to cut off my limbs when the opportunity arose.

She pretended to be noble, but in reality, she was more petty than anyone.

Charlotte hesitated and extended the gold ornament. Just as Lady Seymour was about to take it, I stepped in front of Charlotte.

"Is there something else you want to say, Lily?"

Lady Seymour asked, showing her displeasure. I spoke clearly, having organized my thoughts.

"Never touch my people again, Lady Seymour."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm warning you. If something like today happens again... I won't stand by. As I said, I know a lot."

I emphasized the last sentence and looked directly into Lady Seymour's eyes. This should be enough to convey that I know her secrets.

"..."

Lady Seymour's mask crumbled, and her raw expression appeared. Her face, twisted with anger, looked like a demon's. Her usual dignified appearance was gone, and she stood before me, teeth clenched, looking like a madwoman.

Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, and then, unexpectedly, something happened in an instant.

Slap!

"You, you dare to...!"

My cheek stung and felt numb. It took a moment to realize that Lady Seymour had slapped me. It happened so quickly. I felt the corners of my mouth curl up as I lifted my head. Charlotte called out to me in a scream.

"Lady!"

"..."

I felt a burst of laughter, but I didn't expect 'that fact' to be such a sore spot for Lady Seymour! I wanted to laugh out loud at this unexpected gain, but instead, I held my cheek and put on a pitiful expression.

Just then, a person of interest arrived.

I met Theodore's eyes, who was standing across the room, looking shocked.

I suppressed the corners of my mouth from twitching and forced tears to roll down my eyes. Crying was as easy as breathing. I fixed my gaze on Theodore and mumbled.

"Your Grace..."

Only then did Lady Seymour flinch and hurriedly turned around. Her face turned pale when she saw Theodore.