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Chapter 9
I was so shocked that I barely managed to clamp a hand over my open mouth.
What did she just say?
Kneel on the floor?
I had to have misheard.
There was no way anyone would order the third son of House Kereis to kneel on the ground.
“Hold out your arm.”
“…Okay.”
Then came another horrifying sound.
Smack! Smack!
I couldn’t believe my ears.
The sharp cracks sounded exactly like a teacher striking a student with a switch at school.
And mixed in with them were Crimu’s pained whimpers.
No…
Suppressing the anger boiling inside me, I focused every one of my senses on what was happening behind the curtain.
“Now wipe the table.”
The nanny’s true nature was utterly disgusting.
She wore the mask of a kind, gentle woman whenever other people were around.
But the moment she was alone with a small child…
She transformed into someone terrifying.
Why…?
My anger quickly turned into hatred.
But why did no one in this household know what she was doing?
The answer came a moment later.
“If you don’t obey me, I’ll abandon you in the Forest of Darkness. His Grace has already approved it. Second Young Master Ron didn’t disappear, you know. The Duke deliberately threw him away.”
“Hic…”
“That’s enough. Do you want to be kicked out of this estate too?”
“…”
I was horrified.
She was threatening to throw out a four-year-old child.
She must have repeated those words countless times.
Otherwise, there was no way crybaby Crimu would stop crying so instantly.
But it wasn’t over yet.
The nanny’s final remark made my blood boil all over again.
“Hmph. No matter how much I look, there’s barely anything worth stealing. I expected more from the greatest ducal house in the West. But His Grace doesn’t care about his own children at all. Tsk.”
That bitch…!
I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms.
She must have been planning to run away with the servant I’d seen fooling around with her in the warehouse.
Judging from what I’d overheard, this wasn’t the first time they’d pulled a stunt like this.
Got you.
Morning arrived as usual.
As always, I glanced at the Duke, whose expression remained as indifferent as ever.
His miniature look-alike, the eldest son Shebert, still hadn’t returned from training.
The dining room felt quieter than usual.
I looked across the table at Crimu.
He’s barely eating.
The little boy had never been much of an eater, but today his appetite seemed especially poor.
You need to eat if you’re going to grow.
Watching him sit there with his head hanging so low it nearly disappeared into his soup bowl made my heart ache.
Then I turned toward the Duke.
Can you really enjoy your salad right now?!
As though he had no concern whatsoever for his own child, he calmly ate while reading documents.
Then why insist we all have breakfast together?
I wanted to grab him by the collar and demand an explanation.
Soon the Duke finished his meal and stood.
After he left, an even heavier silence settled over the room.
“My lady, shall I bring you some hot soup instead?”
“Hm?”
Looking at the maid beside me, I realized I hadn’t taken a single bite.
I’d only been absentmindedly stirring my soup.
The steam had long since disappeared.
“It’s fine.”
I set my spoon down and looked at Crimu again.
He had briefly lifted his head after hearing my conversation with the maid.
I heard him being beaten yesterday.
She had almost certainly struck the inside of his arms where no one would notice.
The tender skin of a four-year-old must have hurt terribly.
Seeing him remain silent made my chest tighten.
“…Crimu, did you sleep well last night?”
The moment I finally voiced the question that had been circling in my mind…
Every eye in the dining room turned toward me.
It wasn’t surprising.
Not long ago, rumors had spread that I was the one who had bullied Crimu until he cried.
Completely false rumors, of course.
I could feel the maids becoming visibly flustered behind me.
Crimu also looked up in surprise, his red eyes peeking out beneath his blue bangs.
“…How’s your dessert?”
I stubbornly kept trying.
This was the best I could do.
The best way to get closer to him.
If he’d been a little older, I would have asked outright whether the nanny had been abusing him.
But Crimu was still far too young.
If I wanted him to trust me…
I first had to become his friend.
Please… let this be the right approach.
I forced the gentlest smile I could manage.
“…Not tasty.”
It was the very first thing Crimu had said to me.
“…!”
Emotion swelled inside my chest.
We finally had an actual conversation!
That’s it.
We’ll take things one step at a time.
Trying to contain my excitement, I copied him by popping a piece of cake into my mouth and chewing exaggeratedly.
“What? This isn’t tasty? It’s delicious!”
I put on the kind of over-the-top reaction children usually loved.
Maybe it was my imagination…
But Crimu’s expression slowly softened.
“I have a cherry.”
“What fruit is on your cake, Crimu?”
“…Cherry.”
Yes!
This time he answered while tightly clutching the cherry in his tiny hand.
Our little conversation continued…
Until—
“Young Master, it’s time for your lessons.”
The nanny entered the dining room.
For a split second, I shot her a cold glare.
Then I looked away.
Not yet.
The time hasn’t come.
I immediately went to find Dubuye, the Kereis family’s butler.
Up until now we’d exchanged nothing more than polite greetings whenever we passed each other.
This was the first time we’d ever spoken privately.
Adjusting his monocle with the back of his hand, Dubuye looked at me curiously.
“What can I do for you, my lady?”
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
His elegant brows drew together slightly.
Understandably so.
A thirteen-year-old girl had suddenly come to him wearing an unusually serious expression.
But he was about to be much more surprised.
“Show me House Kereis’s account books.”
“…Pardon?”
“The ledgers.”
“The accounting ledgers.”
Before he could question me again, I deliberately repeated the word.
Dubuye was one of the few people in the mansion who had realized I was far more mature than most girls my age.
Resting his chin on one hand, he silently gestured for me to continue.
“I understand this sounds strange.”
“But there’s no time for a long explanation.”
“M-My lady… I’m not exactly—”
His tone suggested he was trying to humor me.
I interrupted him.
“Hasn’t money been disappearing from the ledgers over the past few weeks?”
“The amounts weren’t large enough to attract attention.”
“But little by little, more and more small sums have gone missing.”
For the first time…
His monocle visibly trembled.
He stared at me in astonishment.
“Kunu Marketplace.“
“When are you supposed to deliver the money listed in the ledger?”
“I’m guessing it’s a considerable amount.”
“My lady… what exactly are you saying?”
“What I’m telling you is critically important to House Kereis.”
“So please don’t ask me to explain every detail.”
“…Understood, my lady.”
Though he answered obediently…
His eyes remained filled with shock.
His thoughts had become a tangled mess.
Everything the young lady had said…
Was true.
But these were confidential internal affairs of the family.
There was absolutely no way someone who had only recently joined the household could know them.
Then how…?
How does she know?
Straightening his crooked monocle with trembling fingers, Dubuye looked at the small girl standing before him once again.
He had always thought she was unusually mature for a thirteen-year-old.
Her speech.
Her way of thinking.
Everything about her felt different.
Still, he’d assumed he was imagining it.
Now…
He began to believe this calm, perceptive girl was showing her true self for the first time.
“The payment to Kunu Marketplace is scheduled for today.”
“What?!”
Realizing the urgency, Dubuye immediately opened the account books for her.
Showing a family’s ledgers to an outsider should have been unthinkable.
Yet instinct told him it was the right decision.
“Look here.”
“Today’s date.”
“If you combine this month’s payment with last month’s…”
“Gasp… One hundred thousand cro?!“
That was an enormous sum.
Equivalent to well over ten million won.
The butler explained that Kunu Marketplace was paid quarterly rather than monthly because House Kereis purchased such massive quantities of materials from them.
“Who took the money?”
“A servant named Weil.”
“He’s excellent with numbers and extremely reliable, so surely…”
He stopped.
The expression on my face had darkened.
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the first place Dubuye took me was the Duke’s office.
There, he repeated everything I had told him.
If I’d tried telling the Duke myself, he probably wouldn’t have listened.
But when the household butler—who managed every aspect of the estate—spoke so seriously…
The Duke had no choice but to pay attention.
“Is this true?”
“We’ll have to verify it.”
The Duke’s face darkened with fury.
“Send men to Kunu Marketplace immediately.”
“If this proves true…”
“…That filthy rat.”
“Capture him.”
“And tear him limb from limb.”
His voice remained calm.
Yet the words themselves were terrifying.
Standing beside Dubuye, I felt even my breathing tremble.
“…Why is that child here?”
In his haste, Dubuye hadn’t yet explained my involvement.
Only then did he answer.
“…Actually…”
“It was Lady Maryanne who uncovered all of this.”
“…Maryanne?”
