I'm So Tired Because of My Contract-Breaking Husband - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
The maids of the Florin Marquisate had their work tripled because of Adelina. Since Stephan had lived alone without marrying for ten years, the Marquisate, which had no concern with women, was like a heavenly workplace for the maids. Then, a woman with an appearance different from others, whose origin was unknown, came to them as their mistress.
As the morning fog lifted in the sunlight, larks began to sing on the almond tree right in front of the main building of the Marquis’s residence. Five maids, carrying newly prepared dresses, knocked three times and entered Adelina’s bedroom.
“I’m not wearing a corset. Either let me wear it without one or redesign it.”
Adelina said, lying on the newly acquired cozy white bed, before the white lace canopy was even drawn back.
At Adelina’s voice, one maid, startled, dropped the dress she was holding onto the floor. Another maid nudged her waist, signaling her to quickly pick it up.
“But… Miss… the ball is in two days…”
The middle-aged head maid, though a hint of annoyance flickered across her forehead, answered politely with a bow, as befitting a maid dispatched from the Imperial Palace.
Adelina slowly got up from the bed and gestured for the canopy to be drawn back. Except for the trembling maid, the other maids approached the bed, tied the canopy curtains to one side, and stood in line.
As Adelina descended from the bed, her hair, shining like silver thread, flowed down and stopped at her waist. Her golden eyes, round in shape, scanned the maids one by one.
‘Hey! I’m a woman who’s read romance novels! I’ve even read four rated 19+!’
Adelina picked up the vase on the bedside table. Then she removed all the lilies that were abundantly arranged in the vase.
“Mi… Miss?”
The head maid, losing her composure at Adelina’s actions, called her with a trembling voice.
Splash-. Adelina splashed the water from the vase onto the maids’ faces.
“Ah! My eyes! It got in my eyes!”
“Hurry, wash it off with water!”
The maids, splashed with water on their faces, panicked and went into the bathroom to wash it off.
The head maid’s face twisted as she watched the maids, but she soon wiped the water off her face with her sleeve and looked at Adelina.
‘Does she know? But how did she find out?’
The head maid’s clasped hands tightened involuntarily.
“Head maid. I don’t need flowers in my room.”
Adelina, as if nothing had happened, picked up each dress the maids had brought and examined them.
‘Tacky yet… not… just excessively flashy.’
The dresses brought yesterday were also adorned with jewels and frills. Whether this was the trend here or not, Adelina didn’t find them particularly pretty.
In fact, wearing them out would likely advertise oneself as someone with money but no taste.
The five dresses brought by the maids today were all the same.
“But… Miss. A noble lady’s room without flowers… If others hear, they will laugh.”
The head maid, seeing Adelina drop the dresses one by one onto the floor and the other maids returning after washing their faces to stand beside her, closed her eyes tightly.
The maid who had water splashed in her eyes already had eyes turning red. Perhaps… she might go blind…
“Head maid. I am the flower. Would such words be spoken?”
Adelina lifted the head maid’s chin with her fingertip and made her look at her face. Then she gave a very bright smile as if nothing was wrong.
“And head maid. What’s laughable to others… is going to a ball in dresses like these.”
As Adelina nudged the dresses on the floor with her foot, the head maid bowed her head deeply and gritted her teeth.
“Head maid. You say you’re from the Imperial Palace… but you have no sense. Send these dresses back. If you send me such dresses again, I’ll consider it as looking down on the daughter of a marquis family of the Empire, so make sure to send proper dresses this time.”
“But, Miss… with the ball so near, there may not be any dresses available.”
“No… as a head maid dispatched from the Imperial Palace, you must have that capability. Show your ability. I’ll bathe alone today, so everyone go and do your work.”
“Yes, Miss.”
As Adelina waved her hand dismissively, saying everything was bothersome, the head maid took all the maids out.
Adelina plopped down onto the bed.
“I’ve been scammed…”
Even today, following yesterday, Adelina clutched her head. She trembled with anger as she called the names of the swindlers Lexion and Stephan in her mind.
+++
In fact, when Adelina first entered the marquisate as the Marquis’s daughter, she was excited about the rosy life that lay ahead.
-“Oh my, oh my! Why am I so pretty!”-
In the wide and gloomy room introduced as her own, Adelina, upon seeing the full-length mirror, clung to it so closely that Stephan worried she might go back inside the mirror.
The room… only the bedding was white, and everything else was walnut-toned, which didn’t quite match her taste, but well. Since she would soon move to Lexion’s house, she didn’t care much.
-“I’ve hit the jackpot in this life! I could live just off my looks!”-
When alone, she stuck to the mirror, examining her face thoroughly.
-“What’s this. Lexion. Did you fall in love with me at first sight? Did you propose after seeing my face?”-
Ha. This is troublesome. As soon as I get a new mirror, I’m going inside it. Lexion will be left alone.
While thinking alone like this, she touched her silver hair with her hand and stared intently at her own mysterious golden eyes.
Just for one day.
-“Miss, here is some plum tea. It will aid your digestion after the meal.”-
The day after arriving at the mansion, the maids who had prepared a lavish steak dinner for Adelina offered her warm plum tea. Adelina picked up the teacup absentmindedly, then paused.
-“Miss?”-
The head maid, who was waiting beside her, asked curiously.
-‘Does plum tea… have this kind of scent?’-
The plum tea, which was said to be soaked in honey, had a somewhat savory smell.
Adelina put down the teacup and looked up to see the maids, but her eyes caught the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. And then her whole body froze.
In the mirror, she saw a maid adding a lot of seeds while making the plum tea, and then the image disappeared.
-‘What is this…’-
She turned her head to look at the face of the maid who had poured her the tea. It matched exactly the face of the maid she had just seen in the mirror.
-‘Plum seeds… they contain cyanide!’-
Adelina felt her hands trembling, so she lowered them under the table and clasped them tightly.
Was it a mistake? Or, in this place, were plum seeds not poisonous?
-“You. Take a sip of this plum tea.”-
Adelina did not think it was a mistake.
She hypothesized that even Duke Lexion, who was said to be a Duke, could drink poison in his house. It seemed plausible that Stephan, who looked like his subordinate, could also consume poison at home.
-“Pardon? Miss. How could I dare?”-
The maid who brewed the tea turned pale and began to tremble slightly.
The head maid grabbed the maid’s wrist and moved her behind her.
-“Miss. How could a maid dare to touch the food of her master?”-
-“Is that so? It’s also outrageous for a maid to disobey my words. Tell her to drink it quickly. Or, you the head maid, can drink it instead.”-
-“…Drink it.”-
Reluctantly, the head maid pushed the trembling maid forward.
-“Ah!”-
Simultaneously, another maid pushed her, causing the maid holding the teacup to fall.
With a clatter, the teacup shattered, and the table became a mess. Fortunately, the tea wasn’t hot, as some time had passed.
-“Miss. I’m sorry. The children made a mistake. We’ll clean it up and bring new tea immediately.”-
The head maid and the maids hurriedly cleaned up the mess, repeatedly apologizing.
Adelina, who had moved to sit on the bed and was swinging her legs, watched them carefully as they cleaned the table and floor.
-“From now on, all the food I eat, you. You will taste it first. Understand?”-
-“Pardon?… Understood, Miss.”-
When Adelina pointed to the maid who had brought the tea, the maid looked on the verge of tears. From then on, Adelina kept the maid by her side and shared all her food with her.
That night, when Adelina went to take a shower alone, she saw another maid putting a red liquid into a vase in the mirror.
-“This time, are they trying to kill me with scent, not food?”-
No wonder they had placed so many lilies in the room…
She thought they were trying to suffocate her with the scent of lilies, but they had prepared a separate poisonous scent.
-‘Such thoroughness!’-
Indeed, the maids weren’t from the Imperial Palace for nothing.
Though it was still chilly at night, Adelina slept with the windows wide open. Then, in the morning, before pulling the bell rope, she closed the windows tightly and lay back on the bed.
She purposely didn’t dispose of the water in the vase.
+++
Stephan came to Adelina’s room after hearing the report that she had sent back all the dresses.
“Daughter. I heard you gave the maids a good lesson this morning too.”
Adelina glared at the swindler Stephan, showing her annoyance plainly.
“Father, if you know any good legal experts, please introduce them to me.”
As Stephan naturally sat on the upper seat of the sofa, Adelina sat to his right, crossed her arms, and continued to glare at him.
After the maids set the tea on the sofa table, they bowed and left the room.
“Legal experts?”
“Yes. I think I’ve been greatly deceived, and I want to consult on how to deal with this.”
“Hahaha. To think someone would deceive such a young lady. What a terrible person.”
The swindler Stephan chuckled, furrowed his brows as if truly sympathetic, and then lifted the teacup. It was warm plum tea, with steam gently rising.
Adelina covered her teacup with her hand and watched as Stephan took a sip.
“That tea contains cyanide.”
Puh… Stephan spat out the tea, then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth with an embarrassed expression.
“Is that true?”
“It’s a lie.”
Adelina lifted her untouched teacup and took a sip.
“They no longer tamper with the food. Instead, they tampered with the water in the vase.”
“Our maids are quite creative.”
Adelina glared sharply at Stephan, who joked in response to her words, but Stephan just smiled and followed her lead, drinking the tea.
‘Hey! I almost died! Is that the reaction you show when your legal daughter nearly dies and survives?’
Though Adelina was only a legal daughter, she imagined the rebellious thought of grabbing Stephan, her father, by the neck and shaking him.
“Daughter. Get ready. You have a date.”
Stephan, seemingly unfazed by Adelina’s round eyes glaring at him, continued to smile slyly and stood up, extending his hand.
“Oh! Is it a cozy father-daughter date?”
Adelina, feeling stifled by being surrounded by people trying to kill her, brightened at the thought of going outside.
“A date with your prospective husband, the Duke.”
“The Duke?”
Seeing the annoyance vanish from Amelia’s face, Stephan took her hand and helped her to her feet.