“Prepare yourselves. We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

Head maid Caroline urged the maids to hurry.

The news had come: the duke would be departing this villa the next day.

“We’re finally going back to Muenher Castle!”

“About time—keeping up the old fireplaces here has been such a hassle.”

The maids chattered as they bustled about, packing their things.

Caroline shook her head.

“No. You won’t be going to Muenher Castle. You’ll be going to Ideana.”

At that instant—crash! The sharp clatter of porcelain shattering rang through the air.

Every gaze turned toward where Liana stood.

“I-I’m sorry.”

She bowed quickly and scrambled to clean up the broken pieces. Though whispers broke out among the others, Liana barely heard them.

‘Ideana…?’

Her mind went stark white.

She had heard rumors that Shed Lester had been granted a new territory for his merits. So it was Ideana.

As she bent to gather the shards, Caroline’s steps halted in front of her.

“You’ll be going to Ideana as well.”

“…What?”

Startled, Liana nicked her finger on a jagged edge, though she had no time to feel the pain.

“The Master gave direct orders. You’re to be assigned with the group bound for Ideana.”

Caroline gestured toward the pile of luggage already set aside for the journey there.

At the word Ideana, Liana’s heart pounded as though struck by a drum. It was her birthplace, her ruined homeland—the land where her ill-fated tie with Shed had first been sown.

The place she had barely managed to escape from. She could not go back.

“Um… I submitted my resignation…”

She recalled handing it in herself only days ago. Since Shed had given no decision about her fate, she had resolved to quit on her own.

“That was rejected.”

Caroline didn’t bother adding that the Master had torn it to pieces and burned it. It wasn’t her duty to be so generous as to explain every detail.

“And to hand in a resignation without even proving yourself at work… With that kind of attitude, you won’t last as a maid anywhere. You should be grateful instead.”

Caroline’s warning was sharp and cold.

In truth, securing a position as a maid in a noble household was no mean feat. It required an education, knowledge of etiquette and meticulous attention to detail. Without a letter of recommendation from one’s former employers, finding work elsewhere was almost impossible.

Moreover, this was the Lester household, one of the Elector families of the Empire with a long and honourable history.

Serving here was one of the greatest honours a maid could hope for. Others would give anything for such an opportunity.

And yet, this girl — who had been personally recruited by the duke — had the audacity to say that she wanted to quit?

Caroline clicked her tongue at such a pitiful lack of resolve. Without perseverance, she would never achieve anything in the future.

“Then I wish to go to Muenher Castle instead.”

Those serving at the villa were divided: some would return to Muenher, others would go to Ideana. Liana had to avoid being sent to Ideana at any cost.

But at her words, Caroline’s face hardened into an icy mask.

“How bold of you. Barely here a few days, and you dare to interfere in a decision already made?”

Never before had Caroline seen a new maid so insolent. Ordinarily, a newcomer would be busy lowering her head, meekly gauging her place, yet this girl had the audacity to openly object to the master’s command from the start.

“Surely you’re not saying you intend to defy the Master’s orders?”

In a ducal estate, the duke was king and emperor both. His word was law. A maid had no right to overturn his decree.

Liana knew this well. She had once lived as a noble, and for years had lived as a maid. She understood perfectly well how reckless her demand was.

But still—

“I cannot go to Ideana.”

She clenched her skirts in her fists. She didn’t care if they called her arrogant or tactless.

“Please allow me to go to Muenher instead…”

Smack!

A harsh slap cut off her words.

“Impudent girl—know your place.”

Heat seared across her cheek.

Caroline glared down at her, her eyes blazing.

The head maid, who placed utmost importance on the Lester family’s honor and reputation, could not abide the sight of this girl.

That the one Duke Shed Lester—who had never once looked at a woman—had personally carried into his arms should turn out to be a low-born maid… it was intolerable.

“Thrown out of the bedchamber and still you don’t know your place?”

Caroline’s words dripped with scorn.

‘So you think you’ve caught the Master’s eye and grown arrogant? When in truth, you couldn’t even share his bed before being cast out.’

She resolved to crush this insolent newcomer completely. Otherwise, the girl would only continue running wild without knowing her station.

Liana bit down on her lip under the weight of the insult. But soon, she straightened her posture, lifted her head, and met Caroline’s eyes squarely.

“Since you’ve gone so far as to slap me, I’ll make myself perfectly clear. I will not go to Ideana. Dismiss me instead.”

Her crisp, unyielding reply struck like a blow.

Caroline froze, as if stunned. So did the other maids around them. No one had ever dared talk back with such brazen defiance.

“Truly, what a brazen girl you are.”

Caroline furrowed her brow and let out a sharp laugh before raising her hand again.

Smack!

The head maid struck her cheek once more. Liana’s body swayed, her head snapping to the side. Yet she straightened again, steadying herself.

Caroline stared at her with a look of unease, unsettled by the fierce determination blazing in her eyes. Even after being slapped, there were no tears, not even a flicker of emotion on her face.

“Seeing you now, I understand why the Master cast you out. It seems I’ll need to give you a proper lesson, or else this will only end in trouble.”

Resolute, the head maid rolled up her sleeves. With a glance to the servants nearby, two of them rushed forward and seized Liana by the arms.

“Let me go…!”

Her struggles were useless.

“How dare you.”

Smack!

“A low-born wretch.”

Smack!

“To defy the Master’s command!”

Smack!

Her head snapped side to side with each blow. The last one must have landed poorly; her ear rang, and both cheeks burned until they felt numb.

From the violent shaking of her head, pain throbbed in her skull, and her vision blurred. She could hear Caroline’s voice, but the words were lost to her.

Shutting her eyes tightly, she struggled to drive away the ringing.

With the faint taste of blood on her tongue, she forced her lips to move.

“I…”

At that moment—smack!

The sharp sound split the air again.

But there was no sensation in her cheek. It hadn’t struck her.

Liana’s blurry gaze lifted.

A broad back blocked her view. A shadow stretched over her like a sheltering shroud.

‘…You.’

That familiar, longed-for figure.

“…Who told you to do this?”

The heavy voice rumbled into her ringing ears.

“Shed…”

Before him, Caroline knelt on the floor, clutching her stinging cheek with both trembling hands.

“M-Master…!”

Her hands shook as they pressed against her face, her shock so great that not even tears would come.

“I asked you—who told you to do such a thing?”

“That girl defied your order, Master.” She was being stubborn, so I was just teaching her a lesson.”

“My order?”

“She begged to be sent to Muenher Castle instead of Ideana. But you, Master, had clearly commanded she be assigned to Ideana, so I only—”

Caroline pointed a trembling finger at Liana.

Following the gesture, Shed’s gaze shifted toward her.

The servants holding Liana by the arms released her at once, shuddering.

Freed, her small body staggered, and Shed’s fingers twitched as though to reach for her but she caught herself on her own, standing firmly on both feet.

Both her cheeks were flushed so red they had already begun to turn a bruised, purplish hue.

Shed’s teeth ground together.

“So. You claim it was because of my command?”

“I—I only wished to follow your will as head maid, Master…!”

“Be silent.”

At Shed’s words, Caroline shut her mouth as if sewn shut, not daring even to breathe. The others followed suit, heads bowed. None of them had ever seen Shed Lester so enraged.

“If my orders are so important to you, then you dare lay hands on what belongs to me?”

Caroline’s lips quivered.

‘Step.’

Shed moved closer. His towering frame alone pressed down on her, leaving her powerless.

“Tell me. Did I ever give you permission to treat what’s mine however you like?”

Caroline had never struck a maid before. She had been strict, yes—punishments of extra duties, sharp warnings, at worst dismissal. But this time she had gone too far.

Because Liana was an intruder here. A pretty-faced woman brought in by the duke himself, rumored for a fleeting moment to be favored—only to be cast out of his bedchamber in disgrace.

A discarded doll.

And yet, instead of knowing her place, she had the gall to defy orders. So Caroline had decided to put her in it.

But the Master, it seemed, had never intended to discard the doll completely.

“I-I beg your forgiveness, Master…!”

Caroline pressed her forehead to the floor and pleaded, tears gathering in her eyes.

The head maid looked down in silence at Caroline, who was kneeling with her hands clasped together. The icy hush that followed made every servant in the room tremble, their hearts pounding under its weight.

Slowly, he turned to address the knight behind him.

“Carlisle.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Take her away.”

With a tilt of his chin toward Caroline, Shed gave the order.

Carlisle bowed and stepped forward, seizing the head maid.

“M-Master!”

Her cry rang out as she was dragged away, but no one spoke a word.

The air pressed down on them like a block of iron, crushing their chests.

While the servants stood frozen, Shed turned his gaze to Liana. Her cheeks, a ruined mess, lifted as she raised her eyes to him.

His jaw tightened as their eyes met.

“Follow me.”

Brushing past the servants, Shed strode toward the door.

When Liana hesitated for a moment, he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

His voice, edged with anger, cut through the air.

With that warning, he turned and continued on.