HST 28

Chapter 28

“What was that noise?”

Rose tilted her head in confusion, having no idea what was going on as piercing screams echoed through the mansion.

“Could something terrible have happened?”
“It sounded like it came from over there.”

The nearby knights approached Rose and formed a protective circle around her.

“Aaaargh!”

With screams ringing out in chaos, the atmosphere in the mansion grew extremely unsettled.

“I think we should go check where the sound is coming from.”

The people of the mansion began murmuring as they flocked toward the source of the noise. As Rose slowly walked in that direction, she soon felt something was off.

“Huh… that’s my room.”

The scream loud enough to tear eardrums was coming from her own room. Under the knights’ protection, Rose quickened her pace. What on earth had happened—especially in her room? By the time she reached the door, she saw the butler, Gwen, running toward her from afar, out of breath.

“Madam, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Gwen.”

Having rushed over in fear that Rose herself was screaming, Gwen let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s a relief. Then who on earth is inside…?”

At Gwen’s words, Rose shook her head as if she didn’t know either. Exchanging glances with the knights, Rose nodded—a signal to open the door. One knight stepped forward and grabbed the doorknob.

“Excuse me, Madam.”

With that, he flung Rose’s bedroom door open. The person revealed the moment the door opened was Doana.

“…Doana?”

Rose frowned at the sight of Doana screaming at the top of her lungs in her room.

“What are you doing here?”

Rose couldn’t hide the bewilderment in her eyes. It was bad enough that Doana had entered her room, but she was also wearing one of her dresses. Gwen let out a deep sigh as he looked at Doana causing a scene in Rose’s room, rubbing his temple with a troubled expression.

“Kyaaa! What do I do?! What am I supposed to do?!”

Gwen gestured toward the screaming Doana.

“Take Doana out immediately.”

At his words, the knights moved toward her. Staring into the mirror in despair, Doana only then realized Rose had arrived. She shook off the knights approaching her and ran straight toward Rose.

“Rose!”

Desperation filled Doana’s eyes as thick tears streamed down her face. Seeing her like that, Rose’s eyes widened.

“Your… what’s wrong with your face?”

On one side of Doana’s once pale, beautiful skin, red blisters were spread everywhere—from beneath her right cheek down along her jawline. The inflamed welts looked horrific.

“It’s your fault! Because of you, my skin ended up like this!”

Doana lunged at Rose with a fierce momentum, as if she were about to strike her. The knights grabbed both of Doana’s arms as she rushed toward Rose.

“You have to take responsibility! Aaah!”
“How dare you speak to the Madam like that!”

Gwen shouted angrily at Doana as she screamed.

“Sniff… hic….”

Startled by the butler’s outburst, Doana lowered her head and began sobbing. Gwen clicked his tongue in displeasure as he looked at her.

“Call a physician.”

He ordered a nearby maid, then fixed his gaze on Doana.

“This matter will not be let go lightly, Doana.”

Having seen Doana even steal and wear Rose’s dress, Gwen could no longer overlook her behavior.

“For now, receive treatment. Your punishment for what you’ve done will come afterward.”

Suppressed anger lay heavy in the butler’s low voice. The knights dragged away the limp Doana.

“I’m sorry, Madam. I should have disciplined her better.”

Gwen let out a low sigh as he watched Doana’s retreating figure.

“No, it’s not your fault. It’s mine for not drawing proper boundaries with someone who’s lived so lonely without friends.”

Rose spoke calmly to the butler, who couldn’t hide his apologetic expression.

“I’ll make sure this never happens again.”

He bowed deeply to Rose. As Gwen lowered his head, his eyes had grown cold.

“I’ve administered emergency treatment.”

The physician spoke as he gently dabbed Doana’s face with a thin piece of cotton.

“My face—did you fix it? Did you fix it?!”

Doana still hadn’t calmed down. Grabbing the physician’s sleeve, she screamed hysterically, revealing the true nature she had hidden until now—the side she had only shown servants she considered beneath her. Losing her sanity at the thought of her face being ruined, she clung to him.

The physician shook her hand off and brushed the spot she had grabbed with clear displeasure. Though he knew she was Eric’s concubine, he didn’t appreciate being treated so rudely by someone who was merely a maid.

“I did the best I could. The blisters should subside soon, but the red scars won’t disappear.”

At his words, Doana’s face turned utterly despairing, as if she had lost the whole world.

“…So you’re saying you can’t fix it?”
“That cream seemed to be full of toxic substances. Your skin will never return to how it was.”

“What…?”

The physician’s words struck like a bolt from the blue. Doana’s face turned pale as she stared at herself in the small hand mirror she was holding. The blisters covering the area beneath her right cheek—those marks would never disappear…?

“And you call yourself a doctor?! A doctor?! You should be doing laser treatments or skin resurfacing or something—anything! Why are you saying it can’t be done without even trying?!”

Laser? Resurfacing? The physician had no idea what she was talking about and had no intention of listening any longer.

“I think you need more rest. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Where do you think you’re going?! Hey! You quack doctor!”

Doana hurled insults at the physician as he left without looking back. Panting with rage, she couldn’t accept the reality she was facing.

“Why… why did this have to happen to me…?”

It was all Rose’s fault. If she hadn’t used that cream on Rose’s vanity, her skin wouldn’t have been ruined like this. Ignoring her own wrongdoing, Doana directed all her resentment toward Rose.

“Sniff… it’s so unfair…”

She covered her face with both hands and sobbed pitifully. At that moment, the tightly shut door opened and Eric walked in.

“Doana!”
“My lord Count…”

At the sight of Eric, Doana burst into even more sorrowful tears.

“What in the world happened?”

Eric approached her and moved her hands away from her face. When the blister-covered skin was revealed, his pupils wavered. The severity of her condition left him speechless.

“My lord… what exactly did you give Rose as a gift? Because of that, my skin ended up like this. Sniff…”

As Doana leaned closer while speaking, Eric instinctively stepped back. He asked, genuinely confused.

“A gift? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You gave Rose a cream as a gift! Saying you were sorry for not paying enough attention to her—I even saw the letter you personally wrote!”

Despite Doana’s words, Eric only tilted his head in confusion. He hadn’t given Rose anything, so he couldn’t understand her.

“I didn’t give Rose any gift.”

At his firm reply, Doana’s eyes trembled violently.

“That can’t be true! I saw it clearly! My skin—everything—this cream did this to me!”

If he hadn’t given her anything… Eric’s expression grew serious.

“The cream you’re talking about—where is it now?”
“I left it in Rose’s room. On her vanity.”

He called over a servant nearby and gave an order.

“Bring me every cream on Rose’s vanity.”
“Yes, my lord.”

The servant bowed and hurried off. When he opened the door to leave, Rose was standing right outside.

“I came to see if Doana was all right.”

The servant stepped aside to let Rose enter, then quickly excused himself to carry out Eric’s order.

‘So Eric was here too.’

Seeing someone she didn’t welcome already there, Rose frowned unconsciously.

“Doana, are you okay?”

She hadn’t come out of concern. After everything she’d suffered because of Doana, Rose felt no sympathy—she simply wanted to know what had happened. Why Doana had entered her room, why she wore that dress, and what had caused her face to become like that.

Doana, however, only felt hatred toward Rose, believing her to be the root of everything. She glared without saying a word. Heavy silence filled the room. Eric stood between the two women, watching without speaking.

Before long, a servant returned carrying an armful of cosmetics.

“My lord, as ordered, I’ve brought all the creams from the Madam’s room.”

“…?! Why are you taking creams from my room?”

At Rose’s question, the servant hesitated and glanced at Eric.

“Well… the Count ordered it.”
“Eric?”

Rose looked at him in confusion. Eric replied indifferently.

“Doana said she used your cosmetics and developed blisters, so I wanted to check.”

“My cosmetics?”

Rose couldn’t hide her shock. So… she’d stolen and used my cosmetics without permission? Ignoring Rose’s expression, Eric asked Doana,

“Which one of these did you use?”

Doana examined the creams one by one. But the cream she had used was nowhere among them.

“Are you sure you brought everything? The one I used isn’t here.”
“I brought everything,” the servant replied urgently. “The Madam doesn’t have many cosmetics to begin with…”

“Look again. Are you certain the one you used isn’t here?”

At Eric’s question, Doana nodded weakly—then suddenly her eyes flashed viciously.

“…Rose, did you throw it away?”

She glared sharply at Rose.

“Throw away what?”
“That cosmetic! The one in the red bottle!”
“I don’t have any cosmetics in a red bottle.”

Rose frowned as she answered.

“I clearly left it on your vanity. Why are you pretending not to know?”

Suppressing the urge to curse, Doana glared at Rose. Then a spark of suspicion ignited in her mind.

‘Could it be… a trap Rose set from the start? Did she know I was sleeping with her husband and put a toxic cream on her vanity?’

No matter how she thought about it, that was the only explanation. Eric claimed he hadn’t given Rose anything, and the servant who brought the cosmetics had conveniently left out the cream she used. Doana’s mind grew cold.

‘…That crazy bitch!’

That fox-like Rose must have been jealous, ruined her like this, and destroyed the evidence. Tears of rage filled Doana’s eyes.

“Sniff… my lord Count.”

She looked at Eric pleadingly.

“I think Rose is the culprit. She lured me on purpose and did this to my skin!”

“What…?”

Being accused despite her innocence made Rose’s blood boil. Eric, seeming to find Doana’s words plausible, shot a sharp look at Rose. Fearing she might truly be blamed, Rose opened her mouth to protest—but just then, the butler Gwen appeared, stepping in front of her.

“That cannot be, my lord.”

He continued calmly,

“I’ve already confirmed with Jane, the maid in charge of the Madam. The Madam owns no cream in a red bottle. Not only Jane, but the other maids all testified the same.”

“It was a gift that came in today! So of course the maids might not know!”

“We searched the Madam’s room, but no red bottle was found, Doana.”

Gwen looked at her with disdain.

“I wonder if you really used the Madam’s cosmetics. It’s laughable enough that a mere maid would dare steal and use the Countess’s belongings.”

At Gwen’s blatant attack, Doana bit her lower lip. She wished Eric would step in, but instead—

“I’ll go find out how things really stand.”

Without staying by her side, Eric left the room. Once he was gone, Doana had no allies left. She continued to glare viciously at Rose.

Gwen could no longer tolerate the insolent look Doana cast toward Rose.

“Madam, I’ll take care of the rest. You must be tired—why don’t you go rest?”

“…All right.”

Rose had no desire to stay in the same space as the foolish woman accusing her. Gwen signaled to Rose’s maid to leave as well. Once they were gone, only Doana and Gwen remained in the room.

Doana was then forced to endure a barrage of scathing words from the butler.

“Doana, don’t you think you’ve gone far enough?”
“What did I do wrong? Can’t you see this? I’m the victim!”
“The victim? No matter how I look at it, you’re the perpetrator. Acting friendly toward the Madam while sneaking around with the Count behind her back—know your place. Do you really think a mere maid like you could replace the Countess?”

“Why bring that up now? I’m talking about what happened to me today!”
“If you hadn’t entered that room without permission, and if you hadn’t touched things that weren’t yours, none of this would’ve happened.”

He added coldly,

“And why did you steal and wear a dress that didn’t suit you in the first place?”

Every word from the butler was humiliating. Doana couldn’t tolerate an insignificant old man daring to scold someone she believed would become the future Countess.

‘…You think I’ll just take this lying down?!’

Grinding her teeth in fury, Doana vowed to drive the butler out for daring to look down on her.

And the next day, she put her plan into action. With just one claim from Doana, the entire mansion was thrown into turmoil.

“Sniff… it’s true. The butler… last night he dragged me away and…”

Unable to finish, Doana squeezed her eyes shut and let tears fall, tearfully accusing the butler of assault.

But absurdly enough, not a single person in the Count’s household believed Doana’s words.