“Your Grace! I was merely trying to clear the dishes when the slave tripped me and made me fall.”

Lucifer looked back and forth between me and the maid. His eyes observing me remained in their own private winter, despite spring having already arrived outside.

“Princess, did you cause trouble again as soon as you woke up?”

Lucifer scolded me. I felt both wronged and hurt. He blamed me without even hearing my side. Was this the second time already?

At his reaction, the maid smugly shrugged her shoulders at me. I could almost hear what she wanted to say without her speaking.

“I simply asked for an apology from someone who tripped me, a possession of Lord Croisen, and then pretended not to notice.”

I had learned something from my past experiences. When wronged, speak up immediately before misunderstandings pile up.

“No, Your Grace! I did apologize!”

“And then deliberately poured dishes over my head. I am Lord Croisen’s private property.”

She emphasized the last statement clearly, word by word. Though it wasn’t particularly pleasant to acknowledge my position, it was a statement of my reality.

Lucifer’s eyebrows gathered in a peculiar shape. My confidence faltered at his somewhat mocking expression. He probably wasn’t on my side, right? He’d likely take the obedient maid’s side over mine, against whom he held a grudge.

“What property is a slave anyway.”

I heard the maid quietly muttering and sneering.

Lucifer either heard it or didn’t; he simply crossed his arms and moved his eyes slightly. His gaze, which had been darting around examining something, suddenly fixed in place.

“My possession has clearly been damaged. And by the hand of a maid I pay to employ.”

He bent down and took my hand. The dish fragments embedded in my palm had somehow dug deeper into my skin. I must have clenched my fist in excitement when shouting earlier.

Lucifer put down my hand and glared at the maid, making her flinch.

“An employee who damages my property has no place in my house.”

At Lucifer’s declaration, the expressions of the maid and I reversed. The tearful maid had to pack her belongings and leave the mansion immediately.

Shortly after, a new maid named Kelly entered the room. With a businesslike face, she cleared away the broken dishes without any unnecessary comments. 

She rolled up my sleeve and bandaged my right hand where the brand was imprinted, and also cleaned the food from my hair using a hot towel.

After changing my clothes in front of Lucifer, she bowed to him.

“I’m finished, Your Grace.”

“You may go.”

“Yes, please call me again if you need anything.”

After the maid left, Lucifer looked down at me sitting quietly on the sofa with a very displeased face.

He had returned to his original indifferent self, different from the tense appearance I last remembered. His gaze toward me seemed even colder than before.

“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance.”

“When did you wake up?”

“A few hours ago.”

Sudden silence.

When Lucifer closed his mouth, the air in the room seemed to stop. Only the sound of his breathing and the friction of his twitching fingers spread through the room.

Feeling I shouldn’t speak first, I quietly waited for him to speak.

“You look remarkably fine for someone who was in a coma for over ten days.”

The same comment the maid had made earlier.

That triggered my anxiety.

“Did His Majesty the Emperor fail to properly purify me?”

“Are you thinking of slandering His Majesty? Do you know that’s blasphemy?”

“That’s not what I meant… In the purification room, His Majesty said I was severe while purifying me. I wondered if I might be beyond salvation, too far gone to overcome.”

My anxiety seemed to make the surrounding air turbulent. Though the windows were closed, I felt like a cold wind was entering from somewhere, making my body tremble.

He still looked down at me with an angry face.

“Since His Majesty said he purified you, you can believe it. His words have never been wrong. You probably survived the coma without dying thanks to the holy power.”

“That’s a relief.”

A long sigh escaped me, seemingly from the reassurance of his answer. As the anxiety faded, another issue came to mind.

“By the way, Lord Croisen.”

Lucifer’s eyes slightly rose at my call.

“Is this room really mine?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It seems strange. I wonder if it’s appropriate for a slave to stay in such a lavish room on such a high floor.”

My master is a man who promised to deliver hell to me. His gaze toward me is always contempt or disgust.

Although he hasn’t openly tormented me, he’s still someone who holds a grudge against me, so why is he treating me this way?

“The clothes in the wardrobe, and the maid earlier complaining about having to attend to a slave…”

I couldn’t finish my sentence under his chilling gaze. His cold eyes were scanning the brand above my bandage. The mark that grotesquely revealed my status.

I wanted to cover it, but the sleeve of the clothes Kelly had changed me into was too short to hide it.

“Do I need to explain my intentions behind every action even to a slave?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

I must have crossed the line again.

I immediately backed down, which must look pathetic, right? My declaration that I wouldn’t give in, even striking Lucifer’s cheek, had become empty bravado.

Feeling utterly worthless, I slightly clenched my hand. The wound on my palm throbbed in response.

“But you should give me at least minimal explanation so I can act according to your intentions.”

Courage brought by pain.

My heart pounded at the words I forced out. He would surely respond harshly again. But if I remained intimidated like this, I would be nothing but a frightened puppy tucking its tail and hiding in corners forever.

“True, you have a point. I should make things clear this time.”

I raised my head at Lucifer’s words. I felt somewhat happy that he seemed to be listening to me.

“Just do nothing, like I told you before.”

As always, my excited feelings quickly cooled.

* * *

Lucifer allowed me to move around only in the annex where I was staying and the small garden behind the building. Unfortunately, I didn’t yet have the strength to move around.

In my current state, I might somehow roll downstairs, but it would be impossible to return to my room on the third floor.

So I was in a state of confinement that wasn’t quite confinement.

“Here’s your dinner.”

Kelly the maid brought dinner with the same businesslike attitude as during the day. Unlike the dismissed maid, she wasn’t rude to me.

Not that she was warm either.

“Thank you.”

“Just leave it when you’re done.”

“Yes, I will. I’m sorry. This is something I should be doing myself.”

“The Duke ordered me to provide minimal care until you can move on your own, and I’m just following that.”

Though her attitude was stiff, I was still grateful.

After she left, I was alone in the room. Being alone wasn’t very pleasant. All sorts of unhappy thoughts came to find me.

No, Lea.

How is this different from being in the duchy?

I tried to pull myself together and ate the stew and bread. Then I got up from my seat and grabbed the back of the chair. To properly enjoy the warm spring sunshine, I needed to get outside soon.

This might be my last spring.

I took three steps, stopped, took another three steps, and rested. Still, a small smile appeared on my face.

Soon, I’ll be able to go outside. My desire for the green world motivated me.

Even though no one was watching these efforts.

* * *

For the next ten days, my daily life was a repetition of the same routine. Eat a lot, rest, and walk.

And I was still alone. Kelly didn’t come to my room except to bring food or clean.

“I wonder how the knights are doing.”

Suddenly I missed them.

Maybe I missed the bustling experiences of mingling with them. To have such experiences again, I needed friends. And friends don’t just appear if you stay still.

I gathered courage and went outside my room. I could walk fairly well now. But the quiet atmosphere momentarily halted my steps.

“Why is there no one…”

I was the only person walking around in this huge building. The corridor, dark even in broad daylight, was gloomy enough to be depressing.

Suddenly this annex felt like the palace of Belial Duchy.

A prison where I was isolated alone.

“Kelly? Where are you?”

In my anxiety, I called the only name I knew in this building. I also leaned over the railing by the stairs. A light was on in a room in the corner of the first floor. That must be Kelly’s room.

I grabbed the stair railing and started going down to the first floor. My steps were quite slow. I almost fell several times, making clattering sounds. Yet no one looked out from the room on the first floor.

“Kelly? Where are you?”

I called her name loudly. Then I sensed some movement from the room I had seen earlier. I thought I heard human voices.

But still, there was no response.

Could she dislike me like the previous maid? Kelly hadn’t shown such contempt toward me.

“Is she sick perhaps?”

At that moment, the door opened slightly and then immediately closed. I thought I glimpsed Kelly through the briefly opened door. But the closed door did not open again.

What’s going on?

I walked up to the door and raised my hand to knock. But from inside the room, I heard the voices of two or more women speaking quietly.

“Is someone outside?”

“I don’t know. Who cares whether someone’s there or not? So annoying.”

The second voice was definitely Kelly’s. My hand stopped in mid-air, shocked.

“Is it okay to ignore her? What if you get fired too?”

“Well, the Duke doesn’t seem to care at all anymore. I thought he might take her as a mistress since he hid her in the annex, but apparently not.”

“Maybe he’s trying to make the Imperial Princess jealous?”

“Come on, if I were the Imperial Princess, I wouldn’t be jealous of such a worthless slave. That would be an insult to Her Highness.”

“Haha. That’s true.”

My head lowered involuntarily.

I didn’t know what to do. She clearly saw me but spoke as if wanting me to hear.

“But why does the Duke keep that slave here if he’s not going to make her his mistress?”

“Who knows? Maybe he just abandoned her? He’s probably already forgotten she exists. That’s why she’s not doing even menial work despite being a slave and not a mistress.”

“Wow! I’m jealous! I’d rather be a well-fed slave like that too.”

My hand, lost in front of the door, trembled. The scab remaining on my right hand spoke of my situation.

A being ignored by everyone.

I raised my other hand. And peeled off the scab on my palm. The emerging red new flesh appeared. Slightly biting my lip, I knocked with my hand where new skin was growing.

“Kelly, I’m coming in.”