TBRFC 17

“Originally, I wasn’t planning to go that far…”

Ruby trailed off as she looked at Camilla.

Then, she pressed her still-stinging palm with her thumb.

“…I hit her.”

“Hit? Hit who?”

“…A maid.”

Silence fell over the drawing room.

Ruby cautiously looked up at Camilla.

Camilla’s face had gone stiff.

Suddenly frightened, Ruby hurriedly added,

“But that commoner started it first…!”

“Well done. I thought it was something serious.”

“…What?”

Camilla patted Ruby on the shoulder a couple of times.

“You have to discipline servants strictly, especially the lower ones.”

Ruby’s eyes widened.

“…Really?”

“Of course. Haven’t I told you that over and over? And instead of striking that child directly, you hit the maid instead. That was very smart.”

“Why?”

“On the surface, that child is still your cousin’s ward. There’s no benefit in treating her too roughly.”

Ruby’s expression slowly brightened.

As expected, she had not been wrong.

Feeling secretly pleased, Ruby asked excitedly,

“By the way, Mother, have you already met Lady Sharon?”

“Not yet. She must be busy, so I was waiting.”

Camilla patted the seat beside her.

Ruby sat there neatly.

The sofa in the Abner family’s drawing room was incredibly soft and plush.

Maybe because it was made from real beast hide, it felt even finer than the furniture at the Marquisate of Coel.

“Mother. What if we lowered our standards a little?”

Camilla turned to look at Ruby.

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of how we’ve been doing things before, what if we ask them to take me in as a ward too? Just like that beggar commoner.”

“…A ward?”

“Yes! They might even agree willingly, don’t you think? If they’re supporting that strange child, then they’re definitely going to like Ruby even more!”

A strange look crossed Camilla’s face.

Ruby, excited, continued chattering.

“As for being cute, I can just learn that slowly after I move into the mansion.”

“…Yes. That does make sense.”

Camilla murmured as though she had reached a great revelation.

“That would make it much easier to bring up casually. Besides, the biggest trading partner of those mines is our Coel family anyway. Refusing us won’t be easy.”

A smile slowly spread across her lips.

“Our Ruby, how are you so clever?”

“I take after you, Mother.”

Smiling brightly, the mother and daughter looked around the drawing room together.

The ducal banners hanging on the walls.

Each one bore tears and scorch marks from fierce battles.

The medals and decorations filling the spaces between them were the same.

Every single item was priceless, bought purely with the blood and flesh of House Abner.

Camilla thought to herself.

Money could buy almost anything in this world.

But there was one thing it could never buy.

Honor.

“If the next heir of House Abner came from the Coel family, it would be truly extraordinary.”

Camilla murmured dreamily.

Already, countless noblewomen in the capital were desperate to push their children into House Abner.

That was simply what happened when a ducal house lacked an heir.

“What’s the point of standing at the peak of power if you can’t pass any of it down to your own bloodline?”

Ruby nodded proudly.

And then—

“You certainly say amusing things, Camilla.”

The door to the drawing room opened soundlessly.

Startled, Camilla immediately rose to her feet.

She had said it would take another hour, yet Sharon Abner was already standing at the entrance.

“B-Big Sister.”

Camilla stammered.

Sharon Abner, draped in the pelt of an expensive northern wolf, stared sharply at her.

Then she strode into the room.

“I’ll give you a chance.”

“…”

“A chance to explain those words yourself.”

30 Minutes Earlier

“I-I’m really fine, Young Miss.”

I looked at Soya, whose left cheek was swollen bright red, and clenched my fists tightly.

Ruby Coel.

Despite being only eight years old, the force behind the slap she gave Soya had been vicious.

“I-It’s okay! At least she didn’t raise her hand against you, Young Miss! With Lady Ruby’s personality, s-she could’ve done much worse…”

Soya kept smiling the whole time, trying to reassure me.

As though she truly was fine after being hit like that.

Of course, I couldn’t smile at all.

Miel seemed the same.

With a pale face, Miel silently prepared an ice pack for Soya.

Watching that, I suddenly turned around.

“…Young Miss?”

Then I struggled to push the door open and stepped outside.

“Young Miss! Where are you going?!”

The two of them hurried after me.

Trying to walk faster, I tripped over my own feet and crashed onto the floor.

“Young Miss!”

Miel rushed over to help me up.

Firmly, I shook off her hand.

“I’m going to see the Duke.”

Miel and Soya’s eyes widened.

Fidgeting anxiously, Soya met my gaze.

“I-I’m really okay!”

Then she turned toward Miel and continued hesitantly,

“H-Hitting me in the first place… i-it’s not even that serious of a wrongdoing, r-right, Miel?”

Miel nodded with a dark expression.

“…That’s true. And Lady Ruby has always been like this. To all the servants in this mansion.”

I said nothing and pressed my lips together tightly.

Of course I knew.

Among nobles, there were occasionally people who treated their servants horribly.

To them, servants were nothing more than livestock to be used when convenient.

‘Even if they’re servants from another household, it’s not hard to cover it up.’

Usually, people just kept quiet about it, or silenced the issue with money.

I had seen cases like that in my previous life too.

‘But this is too much.’

As I frowned and clenched my fists tighter—

“Young Miss. You’re clever, so I’ll speak honestly.”

Miel seriously took both my hands.

“We truly appreciate that you care about us. But House Coel and House Abner are very close. More specifically, our mistress and Lady Camilla Coel are extremely close. So we can’t let a small issue like this grow into something bigger.”

“…”

“You saw it earlier, didn’t you? Lady Camilla calling our mistress ‘big sister.’ The two of them are just that familiar with each other…”

I frowned before she could finish.

“But that’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

Miel fell silent.

“When you call the Duke, you’re supposed to say ‘Your Grace’ or ‘Duke.’”

Miel and Soya both looked deeply flustered.

I knew exactly why they were making those expressions.

Because deep down, they understood it too.

‘Why is it always the same?’

When Sharon Abner came to the Evehill Orphanage to take me away—

The Duke of Longton had consistently referred to her as “madam.”

At first glance, it sounded harmless.

But it wasn’t.

Sharon Abner was the legitimate Duke of Abner and the head of the house.

Yet continuing to call her “madam” instead of acknowledging her title was essentially refusing to recognize her authority.

‘Wasn’t that pretty well known in my previous life too?’

As far as I remembered, Sharon Abner had experienced countless incidents like this before as well.

The Duke of Longton himself had enjoyed insulting her in this manner.

At social gatherings.

At meetings of high nobles discussing important matters.

Those who disliked her would subtly demean her by calling her “madam.”

Their petty form of harassment was never once referring to her as “Duke” or “Your Grace.”

I wasn’t sure what exactly Camilla intended by using that title…

“But if you’re really close to the Emperor, can you call His Majesty “big brother” too?”

Neither Miel nor Soya could answer.

I exhaled slowly.

‘Besides… more importantly, that mana stone mine.’

“House Abner only managed to discover all those mana stone mines because my mother helped them!”

The moment Ruby mentioned the mines, something flashed through my mind.

At present, there was a fairly large mana stone mine in the northern territory of Abner.

According to my memories, that mine had been sold off dirt cheap around the time I entered my teens in my previous life.

Because the vein had become contaminated, making all the extracted mana stones useless.

But the truly absurd part happened afterward.

The moment ownership changed hands, the contamination miraculously disappeared.

I narrowed my eyes.

At least the things I had read in newspapers were still relatively clear in my memory.

‘The person who bought that mine… was definitely Camilla Coel.’