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Chapter 10
Gray saw the moisture gathering in Anne’s eyes, already red and swollen from crying.
A sudden urge rose in him—to comfort her.
No matter how suspicious the situation seemed, he could not deny that his words had been too harsh toward someone who was clearly in pain.
But Gray pressed his lips shut.
A duke, even if the other person is “his own,” does not lower his head or apologize so easily. Among nobles, apology is replaced with compensation—that was what he had been taught.
Pretending not to notice, Gray turned and walked away with long strides.
Anne, on the other hand, had forced herself out of her room while enduring a body-wrenching pain just to face him.
And yet, the man she had hoped would come to her did not move even a step closer. In that moment, all of her remaining expectations shattered.
Anne finally accepted what she had known all along.
She had to acknowledge it.
“Gray Benton.”
She caught up to him at the center of the corridor, just as he was descending the stairs.
Gray Benton, standing at the top of the stairs, looked down at her.
It was only a few meters, but Anne was already out of breath.
Her injury had reopened; blood seeped between her legs.
“How dare you… how dare I. Why did I have to love you of all people?”
The hem of her dress was stained red, leaving crimson footprints where she stepped.
Anne walked slowly toward Gray.
“I regret loving you.”
Gray, startled, stepped up toward her as he saw her staggering body.
Anne’s cold gaze locked onto his movement.
It was a clear warning not to come closer now.
“If I could….”
“Anne.”
“I would turn back every moment I spent with you.”
A weak, breathless laugh escaped her lips, scattering emotions weathered by time into the air.
Anne, barely standing with her bloodstained skirt and trembling legs, leaned against the stair railing and slowly collapsed.
Through her dimming vision, she saw Gray shouting as he rushed toward her.
She wanted to laugh at how meaningless it all was.
It’s all useless.
It’s already over.
A shattered bond was like withered leaves—crushed underfoot, breaking into thousands of fragments, drifting away on the wind toward mountains, fields, and seas.
And so the two bound by love disappeared in the same way.
Blink. Blink.
Anne opened her eyes, then closed them again. She repeated it several times.
Since waking up as eighteen-year-old maid Anne, this had become a small morning ritual—about a minute of repeating the same cycle.
Still just “Anne.”
That’s fine. From now on, she would remain Anne Ferro. There would be no becoming the duke’s wife.
Morning light filtered through the maid dormitory window.
Anne repeated the thought and got up.
Summer had begun.
“Big sister, I heard the young master is entering the Knight Academy next year.”
On his way back from an errand, Jamie brought Anne a snack.
Since Gray had given money for both him and the other servants to eat while watching over their meals, the siblings sat on the back courtyard railing, cooling themselves with ice treats.
“Are you going too?”
“Yes!”
Jamie’s cheerful voice burst out immediately.
“Behave yourself there. It won’t be like here—they won’t go easy on you.”
Jamie was the youngest among the servants and had a bright personality, making him popular among the staff.
His master, Gray, treated him well too, which made Jamie even more cheerful and childlike than his age suggested.
If he had been a noble child, he would have been considered adorable—but servants were expected to act older than their age.
“I know. Meeting the master is the greatest luck I’ve ever had.”
“Can you remember I was the one who created that luck?”
Anne had warned him before, but it didn’t seem to sink in.
Perhaps he thought it was just her jealousy toward Gray.
“I know. Life at my aunt’s house was really hard. I’m so grateful you found me.”
Jamie’s legs swung loosely as he smiled brightly at her, revealing sharp little teeth.
But a shadow briefly crossed his face.
“Was it really that hard?”
He had been forced to work since he was very young, barely fed, treated like a burden.
Without a family to inherit, a boy without a dowry was often treated as useless, kept only if he could earn more than he consumed.
Anne had supported him financially since she began working at the Benton estate at fifteen.
Jamie had been around eleven when he started suffering that life.
Even though Anne herself had started working even younger, he was still her painful weak spot.
“I’m happy now because of you. I’m fine.”
He was her only family.
If there was anything Anne was grateful for in her second life, it was saving Jamie.
As long as he kept living, it didn’t matter whether he stayed by Gray’s side or anyone else’s.
Anne patted his head. Jamie’s laughter filled the air warmly.
But their brief peace did not last long.
The second half of the year was far busier than the first.
As summer ended, the duke’s birthday approached, followed by the duchess’s and the heir’s birthdays each month, along with preparations for the imperial autumn hunt.
Before winter arrived, nobles eagerly displayed their power and influence.
Among them, Duke Benton’s birthday was considered the most important event of the entire household.
As the date approached, servants began whispering.
“The duke’s birthday—His Majesty the Emperor is attending, right?”
The emperor’s attendance meant that the crown prince and all high-ranking nobles of the empire would gather.
Through this event, the Benton family was expected to display its authority while reaffirming loyalty to the imperial house.
Even the duke, who usually paid little attention to household matters, began occasionally walking through the estate to inspect preparations.
The servants were busy all day without a moment to rest.
Anne wiped sweat from her forehead while cleaning dust off a white marble statue in the hall.
The statue of a man with his head raised proudly toward the sun stood on a pedestal, so high that from Anne’s position only his jawline was visible.
That was the difference between her and the Benton family.
A maid who knelt on the floor, staining her skirt with dust, and a duke who only revealed his chin while gazing toward the heavens.
Heaven and earth.
Anne mentally reviewed the guest list for the banquet.
Though she had no position to serve in the party hall, she listened carefully to servants as they gossiped about nobles while stacking dishes.
This was her chance to gather information.
At the very least, she could look for households hiring new maids or nobles known for frequently replacing servants due to their temper.
Gripping her cleaning cloth tightly, Anne pressed it against the floor.
Sunlight shimmered across the white marble like rippling water.
Just before summer ended, the duke’s birthday arrived.
From the entrance gate to the main hall, white marble statues and gold ornaments lined the path, and newly planted trees were trimmed perfectly, every leaf in place.
Despite months of preparation, neither the duchess nor the duke seemed satisfied.
“Do not make a single mistake.”
“If you have a message, enter with your back bent, and leave immediately without hesitation once done.”
“If any servant tries to linger to catch the attention of nobles, they will be expelled from the estate.”
“Do not breathe loudly. Move like air and disappear when nobles appear. Understood?”
The steward and head maid gathered the servants and warned them strictly.
Still, young servants confident in their appearance—both men and women—were excited for the party.
There were rare cases where a night of attention led to becoming a noble’s lover or even marriage.
Most were discarded after a brief affair, but many still dreamed of escaping their status.
Anne had once been one of those rare, lucky few.
When she had loved Gray, she did not rely on luck or chance. She loved him purely, without calculation.
But when you have nothing, you must at least be wise.
If there was one thing she had learned from returning to the past, it was how to see reality clearly.
Anne thought of Gray, who would appear at this grand party for the first time.
After this event, Gray Benton would be publicly recognized as part of the ducal family.
And next year, he would enter the Knight Academy, gaining influence under the protection of the Benton name.
He would no longer risk everything to hold the hand of a maid.
“Anne.”
Gray approached her.
“Are you busy?”
The party would begin in a few hours. She was in the middle of checking preparations repeatedly.
Anne nodded.
Gray did not give up.
“Anne, could you take a look at my formal outfit once? Jamie checked it, but I’d like advice from someone with better taste.”
