🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
When the girl with long dark brown hair appeared in the hallway, all the maids tensed up and pressed themselves flat against the floor.
“Oh my, young mistress!”
“Hurry and clean the floor! No, we don’t have time to clean everything—just the path where the mistress will walk! Quickly!”
“That’s right! How dare we let the mistress walk on dusty floors!”
Some who had been cleaning other areas also joined in, insisting they couldn’t let Kasia’s dress get dirty.
They flattered her until it hurt the ears.
“This must be the new outfit you had made! But it still doesn’t compare to your beauty, Mistress!”
“You’re dazzlingly beautiful!”
“Your radiance is blinding!”
After Moretti was dismissed, the behavior of the villa’s staff toward Kasia had indeed changed a lot.
But nothing compared to this moment.
By now, the maids’ words and actions had become almost overwhelming for Kasia.
“They’re practically ready to lick my shoes.”
The reason was obvious.
“I replaced a third of the staff, so now everyone’s walking on eggshells and flattering me.”
Moreover, the upper-ranking staff at the villa, led by Marsha and Paul, had all been swept away.
Some who had risen in rank were anxious about being dismissed overnight.
Some hoped that by flattering Kasia, they might get a scrap of benefit.
In short, everyone left in the villa was busy currying favor with her.
However, once Kasia passed by with her nanny, those who had been flattened against the floor slowly lifted their heads.
Then, lowering their voices so no one would hear, they began whispering.
“Another new outfit, huh?”
“Yeah. Look at how shiny the fabric is.”
“I heard she even bought all new accessories?”
“Really?”
“They say she’s been calling in tailors and jewelers every day.”
After those who had been embezzling were all dismissed, the villa’s budget fell entirely under Kasia’s control.
From then on, she had started buying new clothes, shoes, and accessories more noticeably.
Naturally, many gossiped about this.
“Buying luxuries as soon as she got money—typical of someone not born into a noble family.”
“But she’s from a minor family, so I guess she lacks good taste.”
Malicious speculation began to pour in.
“They say she bought flashy clothes rather than truly luxurious ones.”
“And she bought as many accessories as possible, so there weren’t really any proper jewels.”
“So she has no eye for good things.”
“True, she’s hardly a proper noble—raised almost as a discarded daughter in a marquis family.”
Jealousy and gossip about the young mistress, who had quickly gained real authority at a young age, were spreading like mold throughout the mansion.
-That’s what they’re saying, the maids reported.
And these words reached Kasia directly.
Some of the new maids, who had caught Kasia’s attention, were secretly tasked with delivering rumors circulating in the villa to her.
“Hmmm—so that’s what they’re saying.”
Kasia smirked.
It wasn’t to hide displeasure, nor was it mockery.
It was more a sense of satisfaction that things were going according to plan.
“Just as I expected, it’s going well.”
The rumors about her new clothes and accessories were true.
Kasia had deliberately bought a wide variety of items in large numbers while staying within the budget.
This was to ensure that no single item had too high a value.
The simple jewelry and plain gold rings and bracelets she now wore were proof.
“Jewels are hard to sell and easy to trace. So I buy lots of low-value, ordinary things instead.”
These items had one advantage:
“They’ll be easy to convert into cash later.”
That was the purpose of the items Kasia was buying.
Things that could easily be turned into money.
It was risky to skim from the budget.
After Kasia exposed the embezzlement, security and scrutiny had tightened.
Even minor suspicions from the main household could lead to being caught.
So she spent the budget fully—but bought only items that could be disposed of easily.
This would be very helpful months later for Edmund’s escape.
“In the original story, he ran out of money midway and struggled. This time that won’t happen.”
There was another effect:
“Everyone is so busy complaining about my shopping that they don’t even notice Edmund’s treatment has changed.”
Kasia grinned, recalling Edmund’s neat appearance a few days ago.
The changes in his clothes and shoes weren’t her direct order.
She had simply dismissed the embezzlers and left things as they were.
Yet the improvement was already far beyond the previous situation.
“Of course, he still falls far short of the status of Viscount Cohen…”
Recalling Patrick’s splendid attire from his last visit made her bitter.
Compared to that brilliance, Patrick seemed like a proper viscount, and Edmund was treated worse than a servant.
“Still, it’s better than wearing old, ill-fitting clothes.”
Edmund himself seemed fairly satisfied, too.
Then, Kasia suddenly remembered Edmund’s pitiful face yesterday, when he had blushed scarlet and shouted.
“Y-You startled me! I thought you were grabbing my collar!”
It must have been trauma from past abuse.
Perhaps the reason his face would sometimes flush intensely in her presence was also due to fear from past abuse.
“I’ve been too careless until now.”
Kasia clenched her fists.
“From now on, I’ll be more considerate! I’ll do my best!”
A maid watching Kasia silently clench her fists with various expressions trembled quietly.
“W-Why is Mistress acting like that? Could it be she didn’t like me reporting her gossip? Surely she won’t dismiss me just for that…”
The maid trembled in front of the villa’s fearsome young mistress.
Outside, sounds of commotion could be heard.
The nanny shouted:
“Viscount! I clearly told you the mistress isn’t feeling well—”
“Why is she in the study instead of the bedroom if she’s sick?!”
The other voice arguing with the nanny was someone Kasia knew well.
“Edmund?!”
Edmund had stormed into the study like a bull, and the nanny was trying to stop him.
Kasia sprang to her feet.
“I can’t let that happen! I have to protect him!”
“Eh? Eh? Mistress?”
The maid, employed for less than a month, trembled in fear at the thought of being dismissed.
Kasia asked in a blunt voice:
“Eh? You’re still there?”
“I-I’ll step back!”
“Good. Okay.”
Once the maid stepped back with an expression of relief, Edmund broke free from the nanny’s restraint and entered the study.
“…Kasia?”
The study was empty.
Seeing the terrace window open and the curtain swaying, Edmund cautiously approached.
And he saw her—Kasia swiftly crossing the garden.
“This is the second floor! Did she… jump down?!”
From the past few days, the boy now understood painfully:
Kasia had been doing her best to be considerate of Edmund.
He avoided her because he thought she might be frightening due to his trauma from abuse.
“I haven’t seen her face at all for nearly three days!”
She was overdoing her consideration!
I, having successfully kept a considerate distance once again, reentered through the garden and reached the front gate.
Running so quickly made me a little dizzy.
“Maybe climbing down from the second-floor terrace was a bit too much.”
But it was for Edmund.
I had to help this child struggling with abuse trauma!
Feeling a bit proud, I suddenly remembered a troubling fact.
“Then… how do I conduct lessons now?”
Until now, I had successfully avoided Edmund.
But lessons were different. They couldn’t proceed without being in the same space.
“I can’t skip lessons either.”
Edmund had not received proper education for nearly seven years.
I had been quickly compressing the education that should have been provided to the lawful heir of the dukedom.
These basic lessons were essential for Edmund’s future.
Soon, I realized my concern had been a bit excessive.
“Ah, he’s listening from behind the curtain anyway. That’s fine!”
I didn’t even have to face him directly, and we were still some distance apart.
So I could continue the lessons from farther away, and it would be fine.
“Good!”
At a little past lunchtime, I went to the library—and was shocked.
“What? Why is he here?”
Edmund, who had stubbornly been hiding behind the curtain during lessons, was now outside.
Right in front of my usual seat, lurking.
Was it just my imagination, or did his red eyes burn like flames?
