HST 63

Chapter 63

“Argh! That old fox, seriously!”
Doana, having returned to her room, could no longer contain her anger and screamed. She then began throwing objects around the room recklessly.

With the clattering of broken items scattering across the floor, the head maid quietly approached, as if trying to stop her.

“Please stop. Such behavior isn’t good for your prenatal health.”

Doana’s gaze trembled with fury as she looked at the head maid standing in front of her.

“Hey, are you laughing at me too?”
“What do you mean?”

Doana looked arrogantly at the woman, who was much older than her. She scanned the head maid up and down and spoke quietly:

“So, you still find me amusing? Answer me, quickly.”

Her voice was calm, yet full of sharp tension. Doana glared intensely at the head maid, her eyes now brimming with a wild mania.

“When we’re alone, I told you to call me Countess, didn’t I?”

The head maid had no choice but to remain silent at Doana’s absurd demand.

“Why do you keep annoying me? Acting all arrogant. If I wanted, cutting someone like you down would be nothing.”

Doana’s words were threatening. Facing someone with power over her livelihood, the head maid could only shrink back. She couldn’t respond and simply clenched her lips.

“Oh? And what’s with that look in your eyes?”
Already in a bad mood, Doana snapped at the head maid over a trivial matter.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Doana decided she must trample the head maid for no reason other than her own displeasure.

Wearing heels over 10 centimeters high, Doana stepped on the maid’s foot.

“Answer me. Before I rip your eyes out.”

She pressed down on the maid’s instep with the flat sole of her shoe.

“I hate it when people try to climb over me, so why do you keep crossing me?”

Doana giggled as she watched the head maid, who didn’t know how to react.

With a cruel smile, Doana pressed down harder on her foot—once, twice.

The head maid, humiliated by someone much younger who worked under her, turned bright red. Though it was her foot being pressed, it felt as though her head were being crushed.

“I despise people like you,” Doana said, her faint smile turning into a cold glare.

The pressure increased, causing the head maid to frown involuntarily from the pain.

“Pretending to be proud, pretending to be happy when you have nothing,” Doana’s eyes were full of contempt.

“Why even exist? If I were born as you, I’d just die.”

She poked the head maid’s forehead with her index finger.

“You’re short, fat, and your face is ugly.”

Once, twice, thrice—her words made the maid tilt her head back.

The maid bit her lips, unable to respond to the insults raining down on her.

“If only you had money, you could at least get plastic surgery… oh wait, there’s nothing like that here, right?”

Doana chuckled and looked at the maid with a disdainful gaze. The maid remained crouched and powerless, but Doana still wasn’t satisfied.

Doana lifted her foot slightly, then slammed down with the sharp heel on the maid’s instep.

“Ugh! Ahhh!”
The maid cried out in pain, struggling. Doana watched with a satisfied smile.

The sound of the maid’s voice, strained and pained, delighted Doana even more.

“People who don’t know their place don’t understand words. You have to be crushed like this to come to your senses.”

She bared her white teeth as she laughed at the maid struggling beneath her.

Doana, with her sociopathic tendencies, grew more pleased as the maid suffered. She giggled with a childlike innocence.

The maid tried to push Doana away, but Doana’s cold voice stopped her.

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on me! If you cause a miscarriage, the Count might kill you.”

A sharp, bitter smile played across Doana’s face as she looked down at the crying maid.

Once the maid’s face was streaked with tears, Doana finally lifted her foot with a satisfied expression.

The maid staggered and collapsed onto the floor, covering her bleeding foot with her hands. Transparent tears rolled down her cheeks, mixing with the blood on her instep.

Doana watched her silently and commanded:

“A napkin.”

The maid, still crouched and unmoving, was told again with more force:

“Can’t you hear me? Bring a napkin.”

The maid slowly got up, limping, and picked up a napkin from the shelf. She tried to wipe the blood from her foot, but Doana interrupted:

“What are you doing? Bring it to me first. Don’t you see the blood on my precious shoes?”

The maid stared blankly at Doana’s dark red shoes. The blood wasn’t very visible, but still…

“If it dries, it’ll be harder to clean. Someone like you couldn’t afford these shoes even if you worked a year. Shouldn’t you clean this first?”

The maid, still dazed, limped over and handed the napkin to Doana.

“Are you telling me to clean my bloody shoes? You should do it yourself.”

Doana whispered mockingly to the maid. Without a word, the maid slowly knelt and began wiping Doana’s heel.

“That’s right. Make them spotless.”

Doana smiled in satisfaction as the maid knelt before her.

• Meowww…

Doana’s cat trembled and let out a faint cry.

“Oh, were you scared?” Doana reached out, and the cat tried to dodge her hand. But Doana was faster than the weak little kitten.

“That ugly lady scared you? Don’t worry, sister will teach her a lesson.”

Doana rubbed her face against the fleeing kitten’s face.

“I won’t leave that stupid brat alone! How dare he set foot here? I should… deal with him properly!”

The one swearing violently was Rose’s mother.

“Mother, please calm down,” Rose said, bewildered by her unfamiliar behavior.

“Looks like he’ll keep coming. Seeing how he said he’d return with fire in his eyes till the end.”

“After getting soaked and still not coming to his senses… Demon, I think I must step in.”

Rose’s mother, Libera, stood with a resolute expression. Rose quickly sat her down in shock.

“What are you thinking? That’s the Wens family. You can’t act so emotionally.”

Rose understood her mother’s fury at how her precious daughter was treated, but she couldn’t support such impulsive actions.

“Hah! Wens family! Thirty years ago, they were nothing! Our Serbiart family is far more prestigious!” Demon shouted, unable to contain his anger.

But clinging to past glory was only more miserable. No matter the past, Rose’s family had fallen, while the Wens family thrived. Demon knew this well. He slammed the table in frustration.

“Father, calm down. The Wens family will collapse soon. Don’t be so upset.”

In the original story, the Wens family would fall. Though the timeline was twisted, their collapse was inevitable. As long as the Archduke Artium and the Wens family were at odds, one had to fall.

Rose had no intention of breaking her promise to the Archduke. She was on his side, determined to save him. Demon didn’t question her, thinking she was simply trying to appease him.

“…I’m sorry for showing such a sight as your father,” he said, regaining composure. Libera silently took his hand.

Demon was deeply anxious.

‘What if Rose… falls into that rogue’s hands again?’

Rose had shown strength before, but remembering her previous attempt to marry Eric, run away at night claiming she’d have a baby, and all the chaos she caused… her parents couldn’t help but worry.

If her anger was only a momentary reaction to Eric’s betrayal, she might return to him.

‘Eric… I need to hide Rose somewhere he can’t find her.’

Moving together was risky, alone even more so. He couldn’t allow Eric to seduce his daughter and bring her back to the Wens family. Demon wanted to sever Rose and Eric’s bond completely.

‘If it’s somewhere Eric can’t reach…’

A face came to his mind.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Demon finalized his plan and, with a serious expression, spoke to Rose:

“How about staying at Archduke Artium’s estate for the time being?”

“What?!” Rose accidentally spat out her coffee at her father’s sudden words.

“Honey, what do you mean? Why send our Rose so far away?” Libera thumped his chest, incredulous.

Rose, still staring blankly at her father, didn’t even wipe the coffee from her lips.