Chapter 4

“Even if she’s an outsider, I think her behavior toward Your Grace was inappropriate. I’ll go speak to her quietly.”

The head maid, who was still standing nearby, added her opinion.

“No.”

The unexpected answer made the head maid pause.

Normally, whenever something like this happened, Yulias would simply tell his staff to handle it themselves.

“I’ve already made my point. Prepare a carriage so she can return home safely. More importantly… how is Sheyla?”

“The maid assigned to her brought a meal, but she refused to eat.”

After leaving the room, Yulias instructed the head maid to head toward the staircase at the end of the corridor and hurry.

Elysia could not have gone very far yet, so he intended to send her home in a carriage.

After that, he planned to visit Sheyla’s room.

Sheyla May Demint.

Yulias’s younger sister and his only remaining family.

Perhaps because there was a considerable age gap between them, or because she was now ten years old and entering a rebellious phase…

Lately, he found it difficult to understand what she was thinking.

As he headed toward the central staircase, a commotion suddenly broke out from the opposite corridor.

“What is all that noise?”

That corridor led toward Sheyla’s room.

Assuming he already knew the cause, Yulias abandoned the idea of going downstairs and instead headed straight toward the disturbance.

No doubt Sheyla was once again being rude to the servants.

“Sheyla, there are guests in the mansion right now, so—”

Turning the corner to assess the situation, Yulias’s narrowed eyes widened in surprise.

“Ah, um…”

Bowls and dishes were scattered across the floor.

And standing there was Elysia, covered in food as if it had been dumped all over her.

Behind her stood Sheyla, looking startled and hesitant.

“Sheyla May Demint! What kind of outrageous behavior is this?!”

Yulias raised his voice.

Faced with his obvious anger, Sheyla shrank back, her face turning pale.

At that moment, Elysia stepped in front of the child and spread her arms.

“Your Grace, please wait.”

“Move aside.”

A cold aura radiated from Yulias as he frowned.

Standing directly in front of him, Elysia was trembling slightly, no different from Sheyla.

Anyone would be intimidated by his overwhelming presence.

Yet her eyes remained calm and steady as she met his gaze.

“With all due respect, Your Grace is the one acting aggressively right now.”

“…What?”

Yulias let out an incredulous laugh and glared at her.

“This is ridiculous.”

Despite his sharp criticism, Elysia’s gaze never wavered.

“The person behind you is the daughter of the Demint Grand Ducal House. This is a family matter. Step aside.”

“…Does the Grand Ducal House always solve problems through force?”

The arms Elysia had spread protectively slowly dropped.

“This isn’t something an outsider should concern themselves with.”

“…This may be presumptuous of me, but Your Grace is attempting to punish a child without first understanding the situation.”

“A child?”

Yulias scoffed.

“Do you really see a ten-year-old noble lady as merely a child?”

Startled, Sheyla unconsciously hid behind Elysia.

Her fingers had somehow grabbed onto Elysia’s clothes, and she was visibly trembling.

“…Your Grace, I don’t think it’s too late to hear what happened before making a judgment. Would you listen to me?”

“…Fine. But whatever explanation you give had better convince me.”

Seeing Yulias’s icy stare, Elysia swallowed nervously.

* * *

The incident had happened only ten minutes earlier.

As Elysia was heading toward the first floor to leave the mansion, she heard a disturbance coming from the opposite corridor and followed the sound.

If it had merely been servants chatting, she would have ignored it.

But the voices sounded serious.

“How long do you expect His Grace to keep cleaning up after you?!”

Hearing someone being scolded, Elysia turned the corner and accidentally bumped into a maid coming from the other direction.

The maid frowned, brushed off her clothes dramatically, and walked away.

“Was that really necessary?”

Elysia sighed and rubbed her shoulder before peeking around the corner.

Dishes and bowls were already scattered across the floor.

Standing before them was a young girl.

The child had her head lowered and was gripping her clothes tightly with both hands.

Judging by her trembling fingers, she looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

Worried, Elysia approached first.

The girl quickly wiped at her eyes and looked up.

“Did something happen?”

The child said nothing.

While examining her condition, Elysia noticed the girl’s hands were bright red.

Concerned, she stepped closer and grabbed one of them.

Startled, the girl immediately pulled away.

“Wait a moment. It looks like you’ve hurt your hand. Shouldn’t it be treated?”

For some reason, the child seemed wary of her and shoved her away.

Unfortunately, right beside them stood a serving cart that had apparently been left unattended.

Elysia crashed into it.

The remaining food tipped over and spilled all over her, leaving her a complete mess.

That was what had happened ten minutes earlier.

“…If anyone deserves a scolding, it isn’t the young lady. It’s the maid who behaved rudely.”

“I understand.”

Having listened with his arms crossed, Yulias nodded.

Relieved, Elysia’s expression softened.

“Then since you understand, perhaps we can settle this peacefully and—”

“But I can’t say the young lady is completely free of fault.”

“Huh?”

Yulias flinched faintly.

Her expression now was completely different from the nervous one she had shown earlier.

“The young lady merely mistook me for a servant. If anything, I was wrong for trying to inspect her injuries without permission—”

“You can’t judge a situation based solely on one person’s account.”

“Your Grace.”

Elysia bit her lip at his firm response.

Ignoring her reaction, Yulias gestured toward Sheyla.

“Sheyla May Demint. Tell us yourself.”

“…”

“Is everything she said true?”

Startled, Sheyla peeked out from behind Elysia.

Seeing the child’s hesitation, Yulias’s eyebrow twitched impatiently.

“Sheyla.”

“…”

When he called her name again, Sheyla apparently realized she could not remain hidden forever.

Slowly, she stepped out from behind Elysia.

Keeping her head lowered, she nodded.

The maid’s thrown dishes had apparently splashed her as well. Her hands were red as though burned, and stains of soup marked her clothing.

Only now noticing her condition, Yulias sighed.

Hearing that sigh, Sheyla quickly hid both hands behind her back.

“How long do you intend to refuse meals?”

“…”

“Answer me.”

The heaviness in his voice made Sheyla’s shoulders jump.

Once again, Elysia stepped in to mediate.

“Your Grace, do you now understand that everything I said was true?”

“Yes.”

“Then you also understand that the person at fault is the maid, not the young lady.”

“But you’re still covered in food because of the young lady’s actions.”

Yulias still looked dissatisfied.

Before he could say anything else, Elysia turned around.

She crouched down so she could meet Sheyla at eye level.

“Your Ladyship.”

“…”

“You had every reason to mistake me for a servant. But you understand that pushing people can be dangerous, right?”

Elysia spoke gently.

Looking at her, Sheyla nodded.

Without hesitation, she admitted her mistake immediately.

The one who looked surprised was Yulias.

Sheyla admitted fault so easily?

“It’s alright. I accept your apology.”

Elysia smiled.

She didn’t say, Thank you for apologizing.

She didn’t say, I’m grateful.

She simply said she accepted it.

Sheyla blinked in confusion.

At that moment—

Grrrrr…

A loud growl came from Sheyla’s stomach.

Her face turned even redder than her injured hands.

Hearing it, Elysia held out the paper wrapping she still carried.

“It’s just some cookies, but would you like one? Since you’ve skipped your meal, it might be better to eat something light first.”

Sheyla accepted the cookies with both hands.

“You really should have those injuries treated.”

As Sheyla nodded while looking at Elysia, her eyes sparkled brightly.