“I do not know what the maids may have done, but I have not done anything that would harm you, my lady.”

Right. She wouldn’t have done anything directly, not yet.

In her past life too, she hadn’t done things “directly” in the beginning. Other than telling the maids to speak ill of her and treat her with contempt, she hadn’t done much herself.

“What utter nonsense. Oh. No, that’s not right. I feel bad for dogs every time I say that.”

“…My lady. I genuinely do not understand why you hold such hostility toward me. In places you cannot see, I have been doing my very best for the marquisate…”

“I wonder how you can keep trotting out the exact same excuse. There are exactly two people who have said to me, ‘I did my best for the marquisate.’ One is you, and the other is the butler. But is what you two actually did truly for the marquisate?”

She tapped the desk with her neatly trimmed nails. Then she tilted her head and met Pertra’s eyes.

“I didn’t realize until now that a butler and a head maid who lost sight of their duties, curried favor with a mother-in-law, and pocketed money on the side were doing it all for this household.”

“…I have never done any such thing.”

“Same thing every time. Do you think I would say this to you without evidence? If it truly isn’t the case, then why did all the suppliers delivering goods to the marquisate get replaced with the butler’s and your relatives? And why did you hide the fact that you and the butler are distant relatives? How do you explain the price of the wine supplied to the marquisate jumping tenfold after the suppliers were changed to your relatives?”

She turned through the documents one by one.

“The jeweler received orders under Mother’s name for over fifty pieces of jewelry. Why did only thirty actually arrive?”

“…That… I wouldn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t know… right. That’s not a bad excuse either. I don’t know, someone is trying to frame me, that sort of thing. But tell me… did you know about this? That the butler has been going around promising people the position of head maid?”

It was then that the color drained from her face, the face that had shown no sign of alarm, as though she wore a mask of brass. She had moved her lips, ready to fire back the moment Evian spoke, but snapped her mouth shut.

“Were you about to say you didn’t know about that one too?”

“…That is correct. That was something I did not know about.”

“Right. If you had known, you wouldn’t have let it stand. Either way… well, it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“…What do you mean by that. Surely you’re not thinking of dismissing me? You cannot do that. I am a maid, yes, but I have documentation confirming that I am bound to Lady Rose Chenples.”

So that was it.

She had been wondering why Pertra was carrying herself with such confidence, and that was the reason.

She had heard recently that Pertra had been making frequent visits to her mother-in-law’s room.

She had given orders that no one was to be let in, but apparently Pertra had been coming and going freely under the pretext of attending to her mother-in-law. Since she claimed to be attending to her, those standing guard had no choice but to allow her entry.

‘And the result of all that was getting a document of indenture.’

Being bound to an individual rather than to a household was no different from becoming that person’s servant until the individual chose to void the contract.

‘She’s quick on her feet.’

It was almost certain that the fear of being dismissed at any moment, now that she had taken control of the household, had driven Pertra to do something she would not “normally” do. To put it kindly, it was indenture; to put it plainly, it was no different from becoming a lifelong servant.

“A document. Could you show it to me?”

“…H, here it is. It may look rough since it was made in a hurry, but she has already agreed verbally to enter into a contract with me.”

She pushed a sheet of white paper toward her. Simple as it was, the document bore her mother-in-law’s seal. She must have rushed to press her mother-in-law the moment she was summoned. What an amusing thing.

‘Well, Mother would have had no reason to refuse Pertra becoming her servant. She was a maid who had always gone out of her way to earn her favor. She must have been delighted.’

“I see.”

“So you cannot remove me from this household.”

“Pertra.”

“Yes.”

So that was why she had been so bold all day. And it amounted to nothing more than this.

“I have no intention of dismissing you. It would be the butler who goes around looking for someone to replace you as head maid.”

“……”

“But to think you would draw up a document like this with Mother.”

“Regardless, I am Lady Rose Chenples’s person.”

“How convenient.”

“Pardon?”

Whether she had expected her to back down at this, the boldly composed Pertra gave a small flinch.

“I said, how convenient. Is there something wrong with what I said?”

“N, no. Not at all, but…”

For the first time since entering the room, she let her bewilderment show.

“Then why do you look like that?”

“You said how convenient… I simply find it puzzling.”

“There’s nothing puzzling about it. I just thought of something that suits you perfectly. A place that fits you exactly as Mother’s servant, just as you wanted. You’ve heard that Mother will soon be removed from this household, haven’t you?”

“…That…!”

“Why? Perhaps you heard that Dertosse would change his mind, that there was no chance of her being sent away, something like that.”

She drew out the end of her words slowly and watched her.

Seeing Pertra’s face, so composed until just a moment ago, shift in an instant made her feel nothing but satisfied.

‘I disliked you far more than the butler, you know.’

Not only did she cling to whoever held power like a bat, but she had led the charge in tormenting her, and that was something she could never forget no matter how much time passed. This was the woman who had openly tormented her right in front of her mother-in-law. 

But taking full revenge right now was not something she was fully prepared for yet.

“……”

“Seems I’m right.”

She looked at Pertra’s tightly pressed lips, then at the document she held in one hand.

“Either way, no matter how much you try to deny it, Mother being sent to the villa is unavoidable. Dertosse has already decided, and my own mind, as the one entrusted with everything in this household, has not changed.”

“M, my lady is ill!”

“Yes. She’s ill, so she should go to the villa and recuperate. She has carried the burden of this household alone for far too long.”

“You’re truly going to drive her out?!”

Unable to maintain her composure any longer, Pertra’s voice climbed higher and higher.

“Watch your words. It’s not driving her out, it’s sending her to recuperate. And you, as her servant, will go with her. How does that sound? Isn’t that exactly the kind of position you wanted?”

“I, I cannot.”

“Oh? Not ‘I don’t want to go’ but ‘I cannot’?”

“Because I am the head maid who oversees this household. A head maid cannot simply leave like that.”

“The nerve. Until just a moment ago you were acting like you needed to stay by Mother’s side, and now you’re saying you can’t leave?”

“Yes.”

She was remarkably firm about it. As though cutting away what was no longer of use to her. And she shook her head at the sight of her.

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Is there any real need for you to stay here?”

“I am…”

“Not things like, because I’m a maid here, because I’m the head maid. Setting all that aside. Can you prove your own necessity?”

A steely resolve settled in her eyes.

“Yes. I am needed here.”

With that, Pertra drew herself up, as though about to explain her indispensability. But she shook a finger at her side to side.

“There’s no need to say it.”

“I can prove that I am necessary!”

“There’s no need. Even if you were indispensable to the marquisate… I would still dismiss you.”

She looked at her with a bright smile.

“…That is…!”

“I’ve been thinking of dismissing you from the very beginning. That’s what power is, it turns out.”

“Ha… ha. You’re going to dismiss me?”

“You understood me perfectly well until just a moment ago, and now you’re pretending not to? It means exactly what it says. Is ‘dismiss’ a difficult word? Oh. Of course, it’s not dismissing you, it’s sending you to the villa together with Mother, as befits her servant.”

She moved her quill across the paper with a flourish, right in front of her. Whether she thought it was a document concerning her, Pertra moved toward the desk where she sat.

“You cannot do this. Dismissing me!”

“If you had come to find me even once after Mother fell from power and bowed your head before me the way you did for her, I might have had a change of heart, but…”

She shook her head slowly, as though the whole thing were pitiful. Only then, as though sensing something had gone wrong, did Pertra clench her fist. Though she still had some pride left in her, Pertra did not easily lower her head before her.

‘In the end, you will bow your head before me.’

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You are still Mother’s person, and it seems that hasn’t changed. I’ll give you what you want. Get ready. I’ll at least give you the freedom to choose two or three maids to take with you.”

“……”

“How nice it will be. A butler and a head maid who skimmed money from the marquisate, sent off cozily to the villa together. Won’t that suit you both just fine?”

“……”

“Then you may go. I don’t want to waste any more of my time.”

Whether from how much she was thinking, how much she was agonizing, the document in her hand had already been crumpled beyond recognition.