TMGD 24

Chapter 24

From that night onward, Janet began her overnight surveillance.

She had placed tea leaves in both the storage room and the kitchen, so someone would surely make a move sooner or later.

Although Janet herself held the key to the tea storage box∀, it was highly likely that a spare key had been duplicated back when Sien had been in charge.

However—

‘It’s already been four days, and no one’s come.’

“Haah…”

Janet let out a small sigh and rested her head against the wall with a soft thud.

Was four nights of sleepless watch already her limit?

Still, there was no helping it. If she let her guard down even for a moment and missed the culprit, she would be so frustrated she wouldn’t even be able to sleep.

Though, as it was, she couldn’t sleep anyway.

‘No matter how I think about it, it should be about time they acted.’

Through Nia, the kitchen maid, she had been checking during the day whether anyone accessed the storage room, but there seemed to be no unusual activity.

As expected, the culprit was likely to move at night…

“Haah.”

Another yawn escaped her, and tears welled up in her eyes. Her head leaned more heavily against the wall.

Her eyelids felt heavy as well.

This was bad. At this rate, she would fall asleep right here…

Hah.

Janet snapped her eyes open and quickly looked around.

‘Oh no. I must have dozed off without realizing it.’

And that wasn’t all.

What had woken her was the sound of footsteps. It was a faint presence, but she had clearly heard it.

‘Don’t tell me… they already came?’

There was no time to hesitate. Janet shot up and rushed out of the kitchen.

The storage room was inside the kitchen.

There were no windows in the storage room, so the only ways in were the kitchen door or the kitchen window.

‘They wouldn’t have just walked out through the front door.’

As expected, the lock on the kitchen window had been opened.

At this point, hesitation was pointless.

Janet opened the window and leapt out.

Her eyes flashed sharply.

Footprints that hadn’t been there during the day were visible.

From not far away, she heard hurried footsteps running.

‘They’re leaving after finishing the job.’

No. She had to see their face before that happened, no matter what.

Was it because she had been half-asleep just moments ago? Or because she had just snapped awake?

Her senses were strangely sharp. Her vision felt clearer than ever, and even her hearing and smell felt heightened.

‘Grass being stepped on.’

That way.

‘Light footsteps.’

A woman? Or a small-framed man?

Fortunately, the target wasn’t very fast. They likely hadn’t expected to be watched in the middle of the night and had let their guard down.

‘Getting closer.’

Soon, Janet saw them.

A short maid with short hair.

A silhouette that felt strangely familiar.

‘That person is…’

Recognizing who it was, Janet immediately sprinted forward and grabbed the maid.

“Eek—mmph!”

Startled, the maid let out a scream, but it was quickly muffled by Janet’s hand.

“Shh. Be quiet, Sandy.”

At Janet’s warning, Sandy slowly nodded.

*****

The two of them moved to Janet’s room.

Perhaps having resigned herself to being caught, Sandy obediently followed behind her.

“Alright then. Let’s hear it.”

Why she had done such a thing.

At Janet’s words, Sandy flinched. Tears quickly gathered at the corners of her drooping eyes.

“I… I mean…”

“Sandy, you do understand what you’ve done, don’t you?”

Seeing her trembling silently, Janet let out a sigh.

“You put medicine into the tea of a noble young lady from a duke’s household. This is not something that can be brushed off lightly.”

“B-but…!”

“But?”

“It… it wasn’t poison or anything like that…”

Sandy’s voice, which sounded like she was trying to defend herself, gradually faded. Even she seemed to realize how ridiculous the excuse was.

“Whether it’s poison or not isn’t the issue. The important thing is that you intended to harm the princess.”

Sandy’s face turned pale as tears of fear streamed down.

“I-I’m sorry, maid-nim! I didn’t mean to harm her at all! Please, please believe me!”

She broke into sobs.

“A-and I… I haven’t actually done anything to the princess’s tea yet!”

Janet, who had been looking down at her with a cold gaze, blinked.

“Is that true?”

“Y-yes. Today I was going to… I was really going to do it…”

Shaking uncontrollably, Sandy pulled a small bottle from her clothes and handed it over.

Inside was a greenish-brown powder.

Its color was such that it would be hard to notice if mixed into tea.

“I just couldn’t do it… sob…”

“I see.”

Only then did Janet’s expression soften slightly. In truth, she too had been shocked to learn Sandy was the culprit.

Even if she had been somewhat clumsy, Sandy had always been a diligent young maid.

Janet didn’t dislike her. She had even felt pity, thinking how hard it must be for a child to work in such a place.

And yet, to think she was ordered by Nova to mix something into the princess’s tea.

The sense of betrayal and disappointment was hard to put into words.

But—

‘She hasn’t actually done it yet.’

That fact alone eased Janet’s heart a little.

“Sandy.”

“Sniff… y-yes, maid-nim.”

“Why did you do this?”

At Janet’s now gentler tone, Sandy fidgeted with the bottle in her hands.

“Sandy. If you tell me honestly, I can protect you.”

“…R-really? If I tell the truth… you’ll protect me?”

“Of course. I swear on my position as a maid.”

Her position as a maid.

Sandy knew how significant that was. For someone like her, to swear such a thing…

After a moment of hesitation, Sandy finally spoke.

“T-the truth is… Head Maid Nova ordered me to do it.”

Sandy’s story was as follows:

A few days ago, she had been secretly summoned by Nova to the main house, where Nova handed her this powder and ordered her to mix it into the princess’s tea.

Terrified, Sandy had tried to refuse.

However—

“Isn’t Mary, who works in the main house, from the same hometown as you?”

At those words, Sandy could not bring herself to refuse.

Mary was her childhood friend from the same village. They had grown up together, always by each other’s side, and had even applied together to work at Ludwig.

Although they were assigned to different places—the main house and Julieta’s annex—their friendship had remained unchanged.

“Mary seems to be having a hard time adjusting lately.”

“M-Mary…?”

“Yes. Look over there.”

At Nova’s gesture, Sandy looked out the window.

What she saw shocked her deeply.

Mary was staggering while carrying a mountain of laundry, followed by two tall maids.

They jabbed her back with their fingers and laughed when she stumbled and fell hard to the ground, before walking away.

Left alone, Mary gathered the scattered laundry while crying.

“Sandy, if you do well this time, Mary won’t have to suffer like that. I’ll take care of her.”

“….”

“But if you disobey my order…”

Nova let out a heavy, pitying sigh that pressed down on Sandy’s shoulders.

Her friend’s fate was in her hands.

In the end, Sandy had no choice but to obey Nova’s command. If she refused, Mary would suffer even worse treatment—that was her overwhelming intuition.

Finishing her story, Sandy wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

“But… when it came time to do it, I was too scared and felt so guilty…”

At Sandy’s story, Janet could barely contain her anger.

Sandy was only fifteen. Mary must be the same age.

And yet they were being forced into something like this through abuse and manipulation.

Nova was far more horrifying than she had imagined.

“Thank you for telling the truth, Sandy. I will protect you and Mary somehow.”

“R-really, maid-nim?”

“Of course. So don’t worry and go rest. And don’t tell anyone about what happened today.”

“O-okay! I will!”

As Sandy rubbed her tear-stained eyes, Janet handed her a handkerchief.

Taking it, Sandy’s eyes filled with tears again.

“I’m… I’m glad you caught me before I actually did it…”

Sob.

With a sorrowful cry, Sandy bowed her head.

“Thank you… thank you so much, maid-nim.”