THIEM 40

Chapter 40

“Hmm-hmm, hmm…….”

Gini hummed happily, her heart burning with excitement. The surrounding maids glanced at her curiously, but Gini paid them no mind.

‘As expected… As expected of Young Lady!’

Her eyes sparkled.

Starting with Roni, then Rena, Zella, Nei, and the maids who had been dismissed one after another afterward.

Who were they?

They were the ones who had tormented her every single day.

Before all of this happened, they had forced her to handle mountains of bed linens she couldn’t manage alone or made her clean the entire mansion corridor.

And that wasn’t all. They had deliberately sought her out just to mock and bully her.

But now, those very people had disappeared one by one.

‘There’s no way this is a coincidence.’

Gini was certain.

The young lady she served had planned and carried out all of this!

There was no doubt about it. Otherwise, how could this situation possibly be explained?

‘She knew all along. Even though she never said anything, she noticed everything.’

Sniffling, Gini dabbed at the tears in the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. Her nose tingled.

Although the young lady appeared cold on the outside, she was warmer than anyone else inside. She simply had difficulty expressing herself, but her heart was deeper than anyone’s.

“Young Lady……”

Gini clasped her hands tightly together and closed her eyes as if praying.

While this situation would surely be terrifying to the other maids, to Gini, it was salvation.

Without saying a word, the young lady had paid for her mother’s medicine and had protected her from being bullied behind the scenes! There could be no stronger support than this.

She felt genuine respect for the young lady welling up from the depths of her heart.

If there truly was a saint in this world, then it was undoubtedly the young lady! Even the Saintess said to exist in the Valter Empire couldn’t compare to the tips of the young lady’s toes.

Even that Saintess, who stood somewhere between god and human, whose very existence was said to be a miracle!

‘Hmph, but our young lady is definitely prettier.’

To begin with, she had never heard rumors about the Saintess being beautiful. People only spoke of her aura and presence.

Comparing her to the young lady, who was praised as the continent’s greatest beauty, was absurd. Of course, Gini had never actually seen the Saintess, but she didn’t need to.

“Alright! From today onward, this Gini will live for Young Lady’s sake!”

She clenched her fist determinedly. Once they arrived in the capital, she would make sure everyone knew about the young lady’s righteous nature.

With renewed determination and a lightened heart, she hurried off. She wanted to go to the young lady immediately and convey these feelings.

Ding!

[ Maid ‘Gini’s’ Loyalty +100 ]

“…?”

…What?

While organizing the quest windows, I accidentally closed the suddenly appearing notification before I could read it properly, causing me to tilt my head in confusion.

‘Well… it probably wasn’t anything important.’

After finishing organizing the quest windows, I picked up my quill again.

Scratch, scratch!

I crossed out another name.

Names densely packed across the paper.

Like some sort of death note, names were lined up neatly, each one crossed out from top to bottom.

As if to indicate that they had been dealt with.

And beneath them, only a few names remained untouched.

“Hehehe……”

I gazed at the paper proudly with an evil grin.

“Only three left!”

That meant only three more people remained before completing the quest.

The event quest titled ‘Purge for Gini.’

‘I never thought something like this would become a quest……’

The quest had appeared immediately after I witnessed Gini being bullied alongside Rakiel not long ago.

Apparently, witnessing the bullying firsthand had been the condition for triggering it, since it hadn’t appeared when I had merely seen her bruises before.

Well, because of that, rumors like ‘The Serial Dismissal Incident’ and ‘The Duke’s Castle Curse’ seemed to be spreading among the maids.

And deliberately making use of Evelynn’s image had been quite successful.

I had intentionally lengthened the hem of my dress, sharpened knives, oiled the stairs, and had been rather busy catching insects.

“Though Kilian reacting so immediately was unexpected.”

It was as if he had been waiting for the opportunity. Whenever I was in danger, he would appear and furiously punish the maids.

‘…But why?’

His reactions were strangely excessive.

No, to be precise, ever since the laxative incident shortly after I arrived here, he had been overprotective. The moment I appeared hurt or in danger, he would rush over without hesitation.

‘Though it certainly made things easier……’

Knock, knock.

“Young Lady, it’s me!”

Startled from my thoughts, I quickly hid the paper.

It would be a disaster if someone discovered the paper where I had written down the quest details.

No sooner had I stuffed it into the drawer than Gini entered.

“Young Lady!”

“…What is it?”

Gini seemed unusually excited.

‘Hmm, I guess life is more bearable now that the people bullying her are gone?’

She approached me immediately and began chattering away.

“Young Lady, have you been outside today? The flowers in the garden are blooming beautifully! And Sir Maren discovered an incredibly delicious bakery when he went into town before! Since you like desserts, would you like me to buy some for you later? Oh, and before that, at another place……”

…Was she always this talkative?

Letting Gini’s words enter one ear and leave through the other, I opened a thick book.

Ah, come to think of it, Rakiel was leaving for the capital today.

A week had been an appropriate length of stay.

Among nobles, it wasn’t uncommon to remain as a guest in someone else’s estate for over a month. It was part of their culture.

Telling someone to leave was rude, but leaving too soon supposedly made one seem impatient or lacking in composure.

‘It’s all just appearances anyway.’

Thinking to myself, I continued turning the pages of the book.

<The Noble Genealogies of the Bernhardt Empire – Revised Edition Commemorating Year 300 of the Imperial Calendar>

It was a noble genealogy guide I was reviewing again in preparation for the Emperor’s upcoming birthday banquet. There was no harm in preparing in advance.

Meanwhile, Gini continued talking.

“…So, I decided to buy Anne a gift. Did you know this region specializes in handicrafts? Ah, of course you would know, Young Lady. You’re Lady Rosenthal, after all. Anyway, when I visited a workshop yesterday, there was a wooden carving that looked exactly like Anne! So I……”

“Gini, when did His Highness the Second Prince say he was returning?”

“…I was going to buy it… Huh? What did you just say?”

Gini blinked in confusion.

Enjoying the sudden silence brought about by my question, I spoke again.

“I asked when His Highness the Second Prince was returning to the capital.”

“Ah, in an hour…… Oh my! It’s already this late!”

This girl had certainly grown bold.

Chatting endlessly in front of me and making me repeat myself—once upon a time, she wouldn’t have even dreamed of such behavior.

‘Though I’m deliberately overlooking it to some extent!’

Since I had become skilled at acting like Evelynn while keeping an eye on the system, this much was easy.

“You need to start preparing now if you’re going to see His Highness off, Young Lady!”

“I know already.”

I sighed and rose from my seat.

After seeing Rakiel off, I should slip away from Gini and go out for a while. My ears were starting to hurt.

“Ah, Lady.”

Rakiel, who had been speaking with Kilian, turned toward me.

After seeing my slightly aloof expression, his brows twitched.

“I wonder if you’ve been able to rest comfortably. There hasn’t been a single quiet day here.”

Gracefully brushing my hair aside, I spoke.

Rakiel responded with a complicated expression.

“Indeed. I’ve never stayed somewhere this chaotic before. And……”

“…?”

“…Do you normally dismiss maids this frequently?”

He asked cautiously.

At that moment, I immediately realized that Evelynn’s image in his mind had returned to normal.

And understandably so—Rakiel looked thoroughly exhausted.

‘Hmm… perhaps I should make an excuse here.’

After a brief moment of thought, I snapped open my fan and smiled behind it.

“Of course not. I simply felt that, after returning to my territory for the first time in a while, it was necessary to replace those incompetent individuals.”

“Oh…? Is that so?”

“Indeed. They’re people who can’t even properly perform the tasks assigned to them. I have little patience for incompetence.”

After all, they had dumped all of their own work onto Gini. How useless could they be?

People like that weren’t needed in our household.

Rakiel interpreted my words in his own way and let out a quiet chuckle.

“I see.”

That was all he said.

Just then, Hagen, who had been giving instructions to the servants behind him, approached.

“Your Highness, preparations for departure are complete. We should leave soon.”

Rakiel nodded before turning his gaze to Kilian.

“Then, Young Duke, I shall see you in the capital next time.”

“Ah, the Emperor’s birthday banquet is truly approaching quickly. Please have a safe journey back to the palace.”

“And the same to you.”

Hmm, more importantly, I should be hearing from the Duke soon as well.

Just as Rakiel naturally turned to leave, he suddenly paused.

“Ah, right. By the way……”

As if recalling something, he glanced at Gini, who was standing quietly behind me, before asking,

“Doesn’t the Lady have another personal maid? The one who always wears a hood……”

“…!”