🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 11
Serra answered in a voice that carried a hint of hesitation and stood there awkwardly, unable to settle herself.
“Sh-should I bring it back?”
“No. Why would you bring it back when it isn’t salty? The Felix family does not tolerate unnecessary waste.”
Emily deliberately answered a little louder, as if she wanted Leah to hear, then turned toward her.
“Lady Dalia. Everyone says it isn’t salty. But should I bring it back anyway?”
Leah clenched her molars at Emily’s unpleasant attitude, using the Felix family’s dislike of waste as an excuse while asking such a malicious question.
‘Emily really isn’t someone I can take lightly.’
But unlike before her regression, hadn’t their positions changed now?
“Then, Emily, why don’t you try it yourself and see whether it’s salty or not?”
Emily had probably expected Leah to back down after that much pressure. Instead, she only slightly raised and lowered her eyebrows.
“Yes. I will do that.”
Taking another fork, Emily approached and picked up the smallest leaf before putting it into her mouth.
As Leah watched closely, searching for even the slightest grimace on her face, Emily smiled brightly.
With a cheerful expression, as if proving something, she showed that it wasn’t salty at all. In fact, it seemed delicious.
“It is very delicious, Lady Dalia.”
‘Hmm, so that’s how it is.’
Leah looked at Emily with a faint smile, gently lifting the corners of her lips.
“If it’s so delicious, then Emily, you eat all of it.”
She casually crossed her arms and leaned comfortably against the back of the sofa.
“I’m giving this to you specially, Emily, so don’t leave anything behind. Eat every last bit.”
Watching Emily’s face slowly twist, Leah delivered the final blow.
“What are you doing, Emily? Hurry and sit down.”
If Leah had still been the daughter of a poor baron’s family, she would have had no reason to obey. But Leah Dalia was Caspian Felix’s future marriage partner.
“Yes. Thank you. I will enjoy the meal.”
Emily sat on the sofa opposite Leah, clasping her trembling hands together.
The salad plate pushed toward Emily came into view.
It was clearly a salad that had been mixed with an entire container of salt.
And since Emily herself had done it, the reality she was facing now must have felt hopeless.
“I’d like you to finish eating quickly and leave.”
Despite the cold words, Leah’s expression looked pleased.
Emily’s anger boiled over even more at that sight. She grabbed the fork and began shoving the salad into her mouth as if she would devour it all at once.
‘Ugh! It’s so salty!’
The unbearable saltiness made her tongue feel like it was shrinking.
After barely forcing herself to swallow, Emily worried that drool might accidentally be dripping from her mouth.
The taste was so overwhelmingly salty that she couldn’t even maintain her expression. With trembling hands, she gathered up the remaining leaves and stuffed them into her mouth.
“Ugh!”
She tried to endure it, but her body refused to accept it, and eventually she became sick.
“Oh my! Emily, are you alright?”
Leah asked with an innocent, worried expression as if she knew nothing. Emily glared at her for a brief moment before quickly looking away.
“I-I’m fine. I think I’m feeling unwell, so may I step outside for a moment?”
“Yes, go.”
Leah readily agreed while looking down at the empty plate.
“Ah, take the plate with you on your way out.”
When Leah deliberately made Emily clean up the mess she herself had created, Emily visibly shuddered.
“Yes.”
After giving a short bow and leaving the room, Leah finally relaxed her crossed arms.
“Ha…”
She let out a quiet sigh and slumped down.
She had tensed her entire body while pretending to be confident, and exhaustion suddenly washed over her.
Perhaps tormenting others simply wasn’t suited to her nature.
After Emily left, the maid Jane hurriedly followed behind her without even offering a greeting.
Only Serra remained in the room.
‘Does she have something to say to me?’
Serra kept glancing at Leah and fidgeting nervously. It was suspicious.
She was very different from her usual self. Somehow, she seemed more human than before.
“Um…”
After hesitating for a long time, Serra finally spoke and timidly approached.
“Your name was Serra, right?”
“Yes! That’s correct.”
Serra quickly lifted her head. Her face was filled with determination.
“If you have something to say, then say it.”
While Leah quietly looked at Serra, wondering what she was going to say—
Growl.
A loud sound echoed through the room.
Leah’s stomach had growled.
“Ah, um… should I bring you something to eat?”
Hearing the sound, Serra became flustered and her face turned red.
“Alright. But bring me proper food.”
“Yes, understood.”
Leah wasn’t sure what exactly Serra understood, but after bowing deeply, Serra immediately left the room.
“Hmm… what is this?”
Serra was definitely someone under Emily’s control, so Leah couldn’t understand why she was being so obedient.
However, right now, she needed to think more about what Emily would do next.
Emily probably never imagined she would be defeated by Leah. After suffering such humiliation and leaving, she was surely grinding her teeth in anger.
“I’ll have to be even more careful from now on, right?”
Leah felt slightly uneasy because she had no idea what kind of scheme Emily might prepare, but she couldn’t keep being taken advantage of forever.
“Haah… I wish I had even one person on my side…”
That was the thing she regretted the most.
Inside this castle, there wasn’t a single person who stood on Leah Eleanor’s side.
At times like this, she missed Ashilia even more.
Or perhaps her close friend, Assi.
“The kingdom must have been turned upside down, right?”
Thinking about how everyone must have fallen into chaos because Leah had disappeared in an instant made her heart ache.
She could vividly picture her six older brothers, her father, and her mother.
Knock, knock.
After hearing Leah tell her to enter, Serra opened the door and came in carrying a tray.
“I brought some consommé soup and bread.”
Clatter.
Serra placed the dishes on the table, then stepped back while holding the tray.
Leah, who normally didn’t eat much besides vegetables, hesitated.
Bread and desserts were still fine, but she was afraid of the soup.
She remembered eating something that looked so pale and watery before, only to immediately throw up afterward.
Still, her stomach was painfully empty, so she picked up the bread and put it in her mouth.
Without even touching the soup, Leah looked up at Serra and spoke.
“What was it you wanted to say earlier?”
“Ah… that… well…”
When asked what she wanted to talk about, Serra immediately became anxious again and glanced at Leah’s expression.
“It’s alright. Just speak comfortably.”
Leah calmly replied, thinking that surely Serra couldn’t be worse than Emily.
“It’s about Lady Emily.”
After saying that, Serra nervously glanced toward the door before looking back at Leah.
“Emily?”
“Yes, that is… um…”
Serra looked at the door once more and lowered her voice.
“Actually, Jane and I have been taking the supplements Lady Emily gives us every morning.”
“Mm. And?”
“But today, I accidentally dropped mine on the floor. Since it got dirty, I threw it away and didn’t take it.”
“Hmm…”
Leah made a small sound, feeling like she was beginning to understand where this was going.
“On the days I took that supplement, I don’t even know how I managed to work through the entire day. But today, without taking it…”
Serra struggled to continue, and Leah looked at her before speaking.
“You’re saying the supplements Emily gave you are suspicious?”
“Ah! Th-that’s… yes. That’s right.”
Although flustered, Serra eventually nodded. She clasped her sweaty hands together.
“And when I saw Jane in her current state, it felt so strange.”
“What part was strange?”
“Even when I spoke to her, she didn’t answer. She wasn’t the cheerful Jane I knew. She looked dazed… almost like she wasn’t fully awake.”
‘So the way I saw them before really was abnormal.’
Leah had always thought it strange that both Jane and Serra looked dazed and empty, almost like drunk people.
“Then, did you also know about the trick Emily played with the salad earlier?”
If Serra’s mind was clear, she probably knew.
“Th-that…”
Serra’s eyes darted around anxiously. She looked terrified that the blame might fall on her.
“I’m not trying to blame you. I’m only asking what happened.”
Serra’s trembling eyes slowly looked at Leah.
“Yes, I saw it. Lady Emily poured salt into it and mixed it.”
After confirming that Serra had clearly witnessed everything, Leah nodded slightly.
“I’m sorry. I lied earlier.”
Thinking Leah would punish her after remaining silent and lost in thought, Serra dropped to her knees and begged.
The salad had indeed been unbearably salty, but she had lied and said otherwise. Remembering that, tears gathered in her eyes.
“Serra.”
At Leah’s quiet call, Serra raised her head.
“Yes, Lady Dalia.”
Seeing Leah’s emotionless expression, Serra thought everything was over and tears streamed down her face.
“From now on… won’t you become someone on my side?”
