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Chapter 08
Psyche tried to recall the times she had repeatedly checked the accounting ledgers the head maid had kept.
The numbers didn’t add up, and excessive amounts had been recorded for nonsensical expenses.
There weren’t many people in this mansion who could have done such things. It would only take a moment to catch the culprit.
“Miss, I can explain that…”
Each time Psyche pointed something out, the head maid’s face turned paler.
As the head maid mentally reviewed each wrongdoing she had committed over the years, she must have remembered the price she would have to pay for them.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t know anything just because Mother entrusted so much to you?”
“……”
“Mother knew, too. She simply chose not to say anything.”
Her mother had been lonely. She didn’t want to face the truth that the person she had relied on all this time harbored impure intentions, so she chose the lie she had built for herself.
Ignoring things was easier. If she just closed her eyes, if she endured it once more, there would be no need to create unnecessary conflict.
But Psyche wasn’t that kind of person. Even if she had kept silent all this time out of consideration for her mother, she could no longer overlook the head maid’s filthy misconduct.
Even someone you care about must be cut off if they become harmful.
“Pack your things and leave as quickly as possible.”
“…You’ll regret this, Miss. You know what will happen if I leave the count’s estate. Madam won’t last even a day without someone attending to her. Besides, aren’t you still inexperienced with managing the household?”
“I’ve been gradually taking over your duties in preparation for today. Your concern sounds rather presumptuous. I am the acting head of this household.”
“Ha! You, the acting head? To hear that from someone who ultimately couldn’t endure this situation and decided to marry the Grand Duke! Then whose doing is it that you even became engaged to him?”
“Head maid.”
“You hated marriage proposals. Didn’t you only end up engaged to the Grand Duke because I hid his proposal letter in advance, knowing you would reject it?”
Psyche listened calmly to the head maid’s outburst and looked at her with tired eyes.
“It isn’t worth answering. Leave this estate immediately. Even the smallest courtesy is wasted on you, Head Maid.”
Soon, her soft voice—strained as though suppressing anger—blended into the reddish sunset.
Following the shadows cast by the colorful dusk through the window, she walked past the head maid.
“…Miss!”
“……”
“You’ll definitely regret what happened today. I—I’ll make sure of it!”
Psyche never answered.
* * *
“So, I’m not even worth basic courtesy?”
The sound of angry footsteps echoed through the darkened streets.
Mixed with them were harsh breaths from someone carrying a large load.
“She doesn’t even realize she got the chance to become the Grand Duchess because of me… That little girl got arrogant and dares throw out her benefactor?”
Granted, her fiancé was a man rumored to be a monster—but what did that matter? Becoming the most noble woman in the nation was more than glorious enough.
Struggling with her luggage, the head maid suddenly shouted in anger and threw the bundle from her shoulder to the ground.
“Damn it! After all the years I devoted to that estate, this is all the money I get?”
She opened the envelope Psyche had left behind and checked the amount inside.
“If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve stolen another piece of jewelry!”
In truth, the severance payment Psyche gave her wasn’t small at all.
The head maid knew the estate’s financial situation better than anyone and was almost puzzled as to how Psyche had managed to gather that amount.
Still, considering her own contributions, the head maid felt it was absurdly little.
She’d heard other noble families gave enough severance to even low-ranking maids for a lifetime of comfort.
“When everyone else left the estate, I was the only fool who stayed by that stupid noblewoman’s side and suffered through all of it… Ugh! What was that?!”
Whoosh—
A fierce gust of wind blew through. The lantern light illuminating the darkness flickered violently.
The head maid hunched over, worried the shawl draped around her shoulders might be swept away.
She had taken the shawl favored by Countess Clement when leaving the estate, and it was surely valuable.
“W-Who’s there?!”
“Did you come from the Count Clement estate?”
The wind stopped instantly.
Because she had been crouching, the head maid slowly raised her head. A dark figure appeared as though swallowing her whole.
“E-Excuse me?”
“I asked whether you came from the family of the young lady who received a marriage proposal from Grand Duke Hayer.”
When she looked up, a man cloaked in a black robe had approached.
One step. Then another.
With each step closer, the sound of coins clinking echoed.
“You seem lost. Did something unfair happen to you there?”
“Th-that…”
“To be cast out so miserably by the family to which you devoted your loyalty. Your end is truly pitiful. I’ll resolve your grievance. In return, grant me one favor. It won’t be difficult.”
The head maid hesitated as she faced the mysterious man.
His promise to avenge her grievances sounded sweeter than honey.
She had devoted her entire life to the count’s estate.
Even when the servants gradually left one by one, she had stayed.
And yet, this was the reward for her loyalty—to be thrown out in disgrace.
How infuriating it was.
“It isn’t worth answering. Leave this estate immediately. Even the smallest courtesy is wasted on you, Head Maid.”
Grinding her teeth, the head maid recalled Psyche’s clear voice.
She had watched Psyche grow from a small child into the woman praised as the Empire’s Swan.
When Psyche’s nanny ran away, it was the head maid who took her place. That made her anger impossible to suppress.
Ungrateful brat. Who do you think raised you like this?
In reality, the head maid hadn’t done much.
Psyche’s nanny fled when Psyche was around ten years old. Psyche had matured early and was never a difficult child.
Besides, stealing behind the scenes was easier and more profitable than leaving the estate.
Still, compared to the countess—who thought children simply grew up by themselves—the head maid had indeed invested more effort in raising Psyche.
“What do I need to do? How can I get revenge?”
The head maid, who had treated the black-robed man with hostility, gradually softened.
The reason was simple.
The man looked anything but ordinary.
Having served the count and countess more closely than anyone, she had developed an eye for expensive things—an eye sharpened by years of secretly taking valuables.
“What I want is simple. Tell me when the young lady you served plans to depart for the Grand Duchy of Hayer. Then I’ll give you a chance for revenge.”
“How can I be sure I should trust you?”
“Of course. I only make promises I can keep.”
The man wore nothing but a black robe covering him from head to toe, yet the fabric seemed more precious than anything she had ever seen.
Not only that, but his gentle voice, though youthful, rang through the darkness like a song—clear and elegant.
Almost like Lady Psyche’s…
Lady Psyche? Why am I thinking of that insolent girl now of all times?
“Then…”
Recalling Psyche’s bright face, the head maid decided to take the man’s hand.
The head maid had disliked Psyche for a long time.
Whenever she remembered Psyche’s expressionless face watching her with sharp eyes, making sure she couldn’t do anything suspicious, her teeth clenched in resentment.
To be looked down on by a child.
Thinking back, resentment and hatred toward Psyche had always lingered somewhere in her heart.
I’ll make sure you regret this, Miss.
