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Chapter 10 …
The Villain’s Future Makes Me Anxious
A few days later.
“What on earth happened in the head maid’s room?”
Alicia asked me, suddenly acting much friendlier than before.
“How did that maid end up getting kicked out of the castle? The other maids are practically screaming with joy.”
Just as she said, after that day, the maid who had ruled over all the others packed her belongings and was forced to leave the castle.
No matter who asked her why, she left without offering a single excuse or explanation. Everyone watched her go with stunned expressions, unable to understand what had happened.
Neither the dormitory witch nor I revealed anything about what had taken place that day, so the maids let their imaginations run wild.
After that, peace returned among the maids, though I could feel them cautiously watching me.
Of course, they didn’t suddenly start treating me especially well or forcing fake smiles while pretending to be friendly.
It seemed they were afraid that if they got involved with me, they’d end up just like that maid.
Thanks to that, life became much more comfortable. All I had to do now was focus on my own work, and I finally had a pleasant working environment.
Like before, I woke up with the morning bell, yawned as I pushed my empty cart around, and went to bed at the same hour every night, almost like livestock being raised on a schedule.
Although…
There had been one change in my daily life since that day.
Whenever she had the chance, Alicia would trail after me everywhere.
Once work ended, she started dropping by my bed every evening, like a sparrow visiting a mill.
Today, she came over before work had even begun and immediately started chattering.
“Um… can I talk to you more casually?”
“How exactly have you not been talking casually?”
“…You’re right.”
Realizing how strange her question sounded, she covered her mouth and laughed.
“But… were you really the lord’s wife? I’ve never talked to someone that important before.”
Without answering, I continued making my bed.
She hesitated for a moment before asking another question.
“The Grand Duke killed Lord… I mean… your husband, right? Then… do you not have any other family?”
Alicia carefully watched my expression as if she’d committed an unforgivable sin.
“I don’t.”
“Oh… I see. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
When I answered indifferently, she hurriedly changed the subject.
“So… did you really see the Grand Duke in person?”
“I did.”
“I’ve never seen him even once. Doesn’t he have horns on his head and look like some kind of monster?”
Seeing her ask so earnestly with wide, round eyes, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
In a castle this large, it wasn’t easy for an ordinary maid to encounter the Grand Duke.
There were probably people who had lived here their entire lives without ever seeing him.
Of course she’d be curious.
I stared blankly into the air as though recalling the memory before answering.
“He looked better than I expected. I was too distracted to get a good look, though.”
“Wow… You’ve really got nerves of steel. If I’d seen him, I would’ve fainted from a heart attack.”
A small smile spread across my lips, and Alicia grinned even wider.
Sunlight streamed through the wooden window frame, sparkling across her smiling face.
Watching her somehow filled a quiet corner of my heart with warmth.
Had I… found someone like a friend in this world?
Ever since Grandfather died, the thought that I was completely alone would occasionally leave an empty ache inside me…
Perhaps, without even realizing it, that loneliness was slowly beginning to heal in this world.
Stretching as she looked out the window, Alicia sighed.
“The weather’s so nice today. It’d be perfect to pack something delicious and go play on the hill behind the castle! Ugh… I seriously don’t want to work.”
She reminded me of my college friends who always tried to convince me to skip class and go hang out.
Will I ever be able to return to the real world?
Even as the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help questioning whether I truly wanted to go back.
Even if I returned…
Grandfather was gone now.
There wasn’t a single person waiting for me at home anymore.
Suppressing the melancholy rising inside me, I finished making the bed.
* * *
The only sound echoing through the spacious office, thick with the rich scent of mahogany, was the scratch of a quill moving across paper.
Tap.
Setting his quill down with a sharp sound, Shiraz suddenly looked toward Huey as though he’d just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, what happened to that woman? The wife of that traitorous bastard.”
“You mean Lord Willinger’s wife?”
“Ah. Right.”
Huey recalled the maid they had encountered in the castle not long ago.
Even though she was dressed as a maid… I can’t believe His Grace didn’t recognize her at all. The Grand Duke really is astonishingly indifferent.
Then again… considering how she looked, maybe it wasn’t that strange.
Pushing aside the stray thought, he respectfully answered,
“She is currently working as a maid inside the castle.”
Shiraz stopped what he was doing and looked at him.
“Working as a maid?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Huey hesitated.
The Grand Duke clearly ordered that she be taken away as a maid… Don’t tell me he actually forgot?
Now thoroughly confused, his reply slowed.
“She was… assigned to the kitchens, where she manages the food supplies.”
Shiraz looked even more surprised than before.
“That woman?”
“Y-Yes…”
Shiraz let out a bewildered sigh.
She wasn’t even serving as a castle maid in the main residence. Managing food supplies was said to be one of the hardest, most exhausting jobs in the castle.
She would practically be treated like a slave.
Shiraz unexpectedly laughed.
He had already thought so before, but she was completely different from the noble ladies he had known all his life.
“So she’s working as a maid in my castle?”
He repeated the words quietly to himself.
He had ordered her brought here to do menial labor, but for a woman who had lived as a noble, that was little different from telling her to die.
No.
In some ways, it was even more humiliating than simply killing her.
I thought she’d either curse me—’You should’ve just killed me along with my husband!’—before taking her own life… or try to escape and get caught.
“What a strange woman.”
Seeing the Grand Duke showing considerable interest in her, Huey continued carefully.
“Do you remember the woman who dropped the apples the other day?”
The moment he heard that, Shiraz stared at Huey with a look that clearly said, Don’t tell me…!
A woman covered in dust, wearing ragged maid’s clothes.
The maid who had been too frightened to even meet his eyes properly.
“Don’t tell me that maid was the lord’s wife.”
“It was indeed her.”
“Ha!”
Shiraz tried to recall her face from that day.
Truthfully, he had never paid much attention to the faces of servants in the first place.
The only thing he vaguely remembered was her hurriedly spreading out her apron in surprise when he tossed her the apples.
“I had no idea.”
“Actually, I looked into her background. It felt uncomfortable bringing someone into the castle without knowing anything about her.”
“Go on.”
Interested now, Shiraz pushed the documents aside and folded his arms.
“I investigated her family. Her father was a low-ranking noble from the Principality of Mahat. He studied medicine and eventually drifted into Willinger’s territory, where he raised his daughter alone. Her mother died early, and there wasn’t anything particularly unusual beyond that.”
“Hmm. So she was the only daughter of a widower.”
“Which is exactly what made it strange.”
Shiraz raised his eyes, silently asking what he meant.
“The Willinger I know cared more than anyone about appearances. He would never have married a woman of unknown background.”
“Now that you mention it…”
“It turns out there was another woman acting as his wife publicly. In other words, this woman was the lord’s wife in name only.”
Only after hearing the hidden circumstances did Shiraz finally understand her situation, letting out a quiet, mocking laugh.
“So that’s why she abandoned her husband without looking back.”
“He wasn’t her husband.”
“He was her enemy.”
Huey nodded cautiously.
“Every situation is different, of course, but it’s not uncommon even among royalty and nobles. Having two or three mistresses while already having a wife is practically—”
Before he could finish speaking, he realized he had made a terrible mistake.
His breath caught as he nervously examined the Grand Duke’s expression.
You idiot… How could I say something so thoughtless?
He cursed himself inwardly.
Sure enough, the Grand Duke’s expression suddenly turned icy.
He had spoken words that were practically taboo.
Regret came too late.
With a voice stripped completely of emotion, the Grand Duke spoke.
“So Lord Willinger’s wife is still living among the maids?”
Huey, who had been tense to the point of suffocation, quietly let out a breath of relief before answering.
“Yes. They say no one even realized she had once been a noblewoman. However…”
Shiraz shot him a sharp look.
“It seems there was a small incident recently. Apparently, she invoked Your Grace’s name and had another maid expelled from the castle.”
“Of course, we can’t completely trust the servants’ gossip.”
Hearing that, Shiraz let out a scornful laugh.
“So that was her real intention.”
“What a cunning woman.”
For a brief moment, he had genuinely found her interesting because she seemed to be adapting so well to life as a maid.
But that interest vanished just as quickly, replaced by a deep sense of disgust.
Thinking back, he now believed that dropping the apples in front of him had also been one of her shallow schemes to catch his attention.
His contempt only deepened.
The kind of woman he despised most was one who used a man’s power and position to satisfy her own ambitions.
His own mother had been exactly that sort of woman.
The quill in his hand suddenly snapped with a sharp crack—
breaking cleanly into two pieces.
