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Chapter 21
After some time passed and her body finally calmed down, the door opened. There were only a few people who could enter the Duke of Weekend’s office like this, so Orte didn’t bother turning her head to see who it was.
“Orte?”
The person who found her walked closer.
“Why are you here?”
At Cliff’s gaze, Orte slightly tilted her head.
“Hello, Young Master.”
“I asked why you are here.”
“The Duke ordered me to.”
At those words, Cliff stopped questioning her, but his displeased expression didn’t change. He walked forward and sat in front of Orte. Soon, the door opened and the butler brought tea.
There was only one teacup.
Orte naturally watched as the teacup was placed in front of Cliff.
After the butler left, Cliff lifted the teacup.
Not long after, the Duke of Weekend entered.
“Father.”
Cliff stood up from his seat, but Orte remained seated and watched him enter.
Only after the butler came in again, placed another teacup, and left, did the Duke speak.
“What did you talk about with the Vice Captain? Why did he come?”
Orte looked at the two cups with steam rising from them and answered.
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask the reason.”
“Then are you saying the Vice Captain came here himself without any reason?”
“Well… I guess so.”
Orte answered indifferently.
Cliff frowned at her attitude.
“Orte. Can’t you answer Father properly?”
“I can’t make something up when I don’t know.”
Orte just wanted to leave this office as quickly as possible, where she was surrounded by people who hated her.
“I’ll say it again—I don’t know. Before we could even properly talk, the Duke came in.”
Unlike Cliff, the Duke, who had been silent despite her careless answers, asked in a low voice,
“What was that scene I saw when I entered?”
Cliff, who didn’t know what he meant, stayed quiet and looked at Orte. It was an unexpected question, so Orte, who had been looking at the floor and empty space, finally turned her gaze to the Duke.
It felt like it had been a while since she looked at his face.
Facing a younger version of the Duke than in her memories, Orte turned her gaze away as she answered,
“The Vice Captain just caught me when I almost fell.”
“Were you talking while standing?”
At the persistent questioning, Orte looked back at the Duke again.
She looked at the cold yet beautiful golden eyes of the Duke of Weekend—the person she had loved more than anyone.
After a short silence, she spoke.
“You already know, don’t you?”
The Duke surely knew that she wouldn’t have talked with Yones for long.
“You’ve already heard everything from your subordinates.”
He must already know what they talked about and what happened.
He had probably received reports through the people he secretly placed there, so she didn’t understand why he was asking her.
“Ah, or was the Vice Captain too skilled, so you only heard voices?”
Tilting her head slightly, Orte turned away from the Duke, who was staring at her, and stood up.
“I don’t understand why you’re wasting time when you won’t believe me anyway.”
Orte slightly nodded her head.
“I’ll stay quiet until the Young Master’s coming-of-age ceremony. So please don’t show unnecessary interest in me either. I’ll be leaving.”
As Orte turned around, she briefly saw the Duke moving his lips, but she didn’t hear his voice before leaving the office.
Outside the office, several of the Duke’s close subordinates were waiting. Orte stopped in front of them.
“Miss?”
Orte looked at one of them.
“I staggered near the window, and the Vice Captain caught me. Now you have something to report to the Duke, right?”
At those words, the ordinary-looking subordinate’s face stiffened. His gentle eyes became sharp, and Orte let out a small laugh without realizing it.
That expression was more familiar to her.
The man who always stayed behind Yvonne, lowering his presence and bowing his head. Someone who looked so ordinary and incompetent that it was hard to believe the Duke had assigned him to Yvonne.
“Miss, please admit your crime now. I have already testified that you put poison in Miss Yvonne’s teacup. Who do you think the Duke will believe?”
As that memory surfaced, a deep feeling of injustice rose inside her chest.
Orte had never forgotten the man who came with a kind and ordinary face to crush her hope.
Looking around, Orte saw another person holding a thick stack of documents, about two finger joints thick. She snatched it.
And without hesitation, she threw it.
Thud—!
The subordinate, who had been startled by her words, couldn’t avoid it and was hit in the face.
Orte looked at his cheek, which quickly turned red, and smirked.
“This is the price for telling me.”
She turned around and headed back to her room.
The day had been much longer than she expected. She just wanted to rest now.
Anna had been having a very hard time these past few weeks since entering the Duke of Weekend’s household.
“Anna, come here and do this!”
“Anna! Wake up quickly!”
“Anna!”
Anna couldn’t keep her mind straight with people calling her from all directions. Before she could even finish one task, more work kept piling up.
By the time she worked nonstop, it was already lunchtime.
Holding a boiled potato, Anna slumped down. She didn’t even have the energy to bite and chew, but she knew that if she didn’t eat even this, she might collapse in the afternoon, so she tried to open her mouth.
“Not going to eat? Then give it to me.”
But a passing maid quickly snatched the potato from her hand.
Startled, Anna stood up.
“What are you doing?”
“What? You were just holding it, so I thought you weren’t going to eat it.”
The maids in the laundry room were very harsh.
Anna clenched her teeth.
“Oh my, look at her eyes.”
“Do you even know who I am to act like this?”
The maid who took Anna’s potato only found it amusing.
The laundry room was a place where servants who made mistakes were sent, and it required heavy labor.
So those who came here for the first time often didn’t understand the situation, like Anna. Usually, they would give up after a few days, but Anna was different—she still hadn’t lowered her pride.
“Who do you think you are?”
“I used to serve Miss Orte. The one and only Miss Orte of the Duke of Weekend family!”
Even Anna didn’t expect she would use Orte like this. She lifted her chin proudly.
“I’m only here because the butler told me to stay for a few days! I’m completely different from you!”
“A few days? It’s been almost three months.”
At that sharp remark, Anna hesitated.
She had already been thinking of going to see the butler, since she had stayed in the laundry room much longer than expected.
When Anna couldn’t respond properly, the maid mocked her.
“How foolish. Do you really believe that? You must have seriously offended Miss Orte.”
“….”
“Ahh!”
Unable to hold back her anger, Anna pushed the maid’s shoulder and ran away.
Anna, who ran out of the laundry building located in a remote corner behind the mansion, was breathing heavily in anger as she went to find the butler.
‘This time, I’ll properly confront the butler.’
Over the past three months, Anna had gone to see the butler several times, but she always had to return without meeting him.
But after being humiliated like this, she was determined to confront him today.
“Ellen.”
On her way to the butler’s room, Anna stopped when she heard Cliff’s voice.
“The preparations for the coming-of-age ceremony are almost done.”
“Ah, yeah. I trust you, Brother.”
Since Cliff and Ellen held the most power after the Duke of Weekend, Anna held her breath and waited for them to leave.
“Brother, that worm isn’t coming to the ceremony, right? I don’t want that thing to come.”
Ellen’s voice was full of discomfort as he said that.
