Chapter 20
‘Why on earth did the Brough Count’s family take that girl in? This makes no sense at all!’
People whom Heather would never dare lay a hand on had become Rosalyn’s shield.
She could hardly describe how surprised she had been when she met her at the McCallen Count’s party.
Even so, she had first behaved graciously and apologized for what had happened in the past, yet Rosalyn had not even known how to be grateful and had instead painted her as a shameless person.
‘I even had to be interrogated by the police over a fire that had nothing to do with me. How shameless.’
She was angry, but she could no longer openly mock or ostracize her.
It was because of those who were wary of the Brough Count’s family.
Besides, Rosalyn was currently seeing Arthur Gottfried, of all people.
The handsome, refined, and well-born popular man of high society.
It was called a ‘meeting,’ but it would be fair to say that the marriage was almost decided.
She was so furious about that that she had let Briana Wells’s name slip out just to claw at Rosalyn’s feelings, but that country bumpkin remained completely unfazed, as though it meant nothing.
‘Let’s see if you can act like that even after you’re married. If your husband goes around meeting women because they’re childhood friends, you’ll want to die then, won’t you?’
Yet even as she thought that, Heather could not feel at ease.
‘But at this rate, could that country bumpkin end up getting married before me?’
No matter how much the times had changed, a woman’s worth was still determined by marriage, her husband’s family, and her husband.
In such circumstances, being late to marry became embarrassing in front of others.
Of course, as the daughter of the Dartmouth Count’s family, she had received several marriage proposals, but the problem was that there was a particular man she wanted.
‘Ah, I think I’ve made my intentions clear enough already, so when will Young Master Colton propose?’
Just as Heather sighed and turned her gaze toward the man she had a one-sided love for, Blake Colton, she saw him laughing as he talked to a maid.
A maid, of all people, not even a noblewoman!
“Why is she…… talking to Young Master Colton over there……?”
She did not know the girl’s name, but she had only been there for a little over a year.
Eighteen, nineteen years old?
As luck would have it, she was quite pretty, too.
Suddenly, Heather remembered something a relative had once said: that the ultimate goal of maids was to become the mistress of a nobleman.
‘If she isn’t trying to seduce him, why would a maid have any reason to exchange words with a guest at a party?’
Heather’s anger, which had been wounded by Blake several times, was directed toward that maid for no reason at all.
Of course, she was aware enough to know that it would look strange to suddenly confront her.
Heather quietly watched the maid move elsewhere, then slowly headed toward a passage where she could cross paths with her.
It was somewhere completely out of Blake’s sight.
And when they finally came face-to-face, Heather deliberately bumped into her.
The plate of food the maid was carrying fell onto Heather’s dress, smearing it with dirty scraps of food before shattering into pieces on the floor.
“Eek!”
The maid cried out in surprise, but Heather, forgetting even to pretend to be surprised, slapped her hard across the cheek, just as she had intended.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
“M-My lady, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”
“You think saying you’re sorry is enough?”
Heather slapped her again, and the tip of her long fingernail left a long, thin scratch across the maid’s cheek.
Like a bolt from the blue, the young maid, suddenly attacked by her mistress, could do nothing but shed tears in confusion.
No matter how others might have seen it, the maid herself had clearly felt Heather deliberately bump into her.
“What are you going to do if you can’t even carry a plate properly? This is what happens when you don’t know your place and keep sneaking glances at gentlemen!”
The maid could not understand why Heather was treating her this way, but she had no choice but to beg for forgiveness.
Heather looked down at the maid and raised one corner of her lips.
She had only recently learned exactly how to ruin the life of a poor servant with no money.
“This is absurd, but I don’t want to make a big issue out of it. This dress costs about forty million gulden, you see? So…….”
“Are you going to make the maid pay compensation again?”
At the sudden voice, Heather frowned and spun around.
Rosalyn was leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed, having apparently arrived without Heather noticing.
“Rosalyn?”
“Were we really only on a first-name basis? Well, I certainly don’t mind, Heather.”
Heather’s expression twisted even further at those words.
“No, Miss Rosalyn. I misspoke. Was the party boring? Why did you come out here?”
“I was looking for somewhere to wash my hands when I heard a noise, so I came over. So, are you going to make her pay compensation again? If the dress costs forty million, then about sixty million gulden including damages?”
“I don’t think this is something Miss Rosalyn needs to concern herself with.”
At that, Rosalyn slowly approached, pulling down the corners of her mouth.
“No, I’m just a little worried. Our Emma, after all, went completely mad at the thought of that fifty-million-gulden compensation and set fire to the townhouse.”
“That……!”
“Where would a young maid have gotten that kind of money? Telling her to repay such an amount is practically the same as telling her to die, in my opinion…….”
Rosalyn had already come right up in front of Heather and was looking up at Heather, who was taller than her.
“Wouldn’t it be better to be careful? When a person is driven to the edge of a cliff, they can sometimes turn extreme. Like Emma.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“I mean that this girl might set fire to this mansion because she can’t come up with the money. If she’s going to die anyway, she might as well get revenge first!”
Rosalyn suddenly stepped one more pace closer, making Heather flinch and step backward.
‘Just my luck…….’
She did not believe the maid would be capable of doing something so audacious, but she hesitated because Rosalyn had witnessed the entire scene.
If she made the maid pay compensation or imposed a severe punishment on her like this, Rosalyn would surely go around telling everyone about it.
Then Blake would learn about it as well, and he might misunderstand her.
Heather clenched her molars in frustration before forcing a smile onto her face.
“I think Miss Rosalyn has misunderstood something. I had no intention of making her pay compensation. However, a maid this incompetent is not qualified to work for the Dartmouth family.”
Then she cast a cold gaze at the maid.
“Pack your things. I hope I never have to see your face in this mansion again from tomorrow onward.”
“M-My lady!”
“There is no recommendation letter for someone like you. Be grateful that I’m not making you pay compensation and disappear.”
The maid then dropped to her knees on the floor, clutching the hem of Heather’s skirt and pleading.
“Please forgive me, my lady! I have younger siblings I have to support!”
“That is your problem, and there is no one in this world without problems of their own.”
Heather ruthlessly pulled her skirt free from the maid’s grasp and turned away.
She felt extremely irritated by Rosalyn staring at her so intently, so she threw a remark at her as well.
“And you, my lady, should learn to distinguish between when you should and shouldn’t interfere.”
“If you didn’t want to attract other people’s attention, you shouldn’t have made such a commotion.”
Heather glared at Rosalyn, who refused to yield even a single word, then gave up on saying anything more and turned away.
And there, only the young maid sobbing as though the world had collapsed around her, the broken plate, and Rosalyn remained.
***
‘Heather Dartmouth is the Rosalyn Tessis of Herona.’
As I watched Heather’s back as she headed to the second floor to change her clothes, I let out a hollow laugh.
How had someone who had everything ended up becoming so twisted?
I clicked my tongue in disapproval, then turned my head and saw the pitiful maid.
It was truly by chance that I had witnessed what happened between Heather and this maid.
I had only broken a cookie in half, not knowing it was filled with jam, and my hands had gotten sticky, so I wanted to wash them.
But perhaps because I had been slapped so many times myself, my ears perked up at the sound of a slap coming from somewhere.
I wondered what on earth could be happening in this elegant and refined mansion and rushed over, only to find a maid facing the same fate I once had.
And at the hands of the exact same kind of person.
‘Even if I’m someone who sold my conscience long ago, how could I possibly turn around and pretend I didn’t see that?’
So I had interfered, but now what?
“Um……. Is the place where you were hit all right? It doesn’t look all right, though.”
“Sniff, sob, th-thank you…….”
“N-No. I didn’t say that because I wanted you to thank me in a situation like this……. Haah…….”
I grabbed the maid’s wrist as she was about to pick up the broken pieces of the plate from the floor and pulled her to her feet.
“You’re already flustered enough as it is, and if you touch the broken pieces, you’ll definitely cut yourself. You stay right here.”
°°°
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