“Ma’am, young madam. Are you all right?”

“Karla.”

“Yes. Please, say anything. Anything… ah, but are you all right? I’m not sure I’m in any position to ask, but I… I…”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“R-really?”

“…Yes. Now, I’m going to wash up quickly, so could you raise the temperature in the room? I’m not feeling well. And have the butler come in thirty minutes. I don’t think I’ll be able to leave the room today.”

“I’ll help you wash up.”

She had surely overheard the somewhat meaningful exchange with the physician, yet her face held not a trace of suspicion, only worry.

Karla was a naive person. She also tended to wear her thoughts plainly on her face. The prepared blood had soaked only into the dress, and if Karla helped undress me, she would certainly notice.

So I shook my head at her offer to help.

‘If she finds out this was all a lie, Karla will try to hide it, but her face will give everything away. That relief of hers.’

The people of this household would swarm Karla the moment they caught a whiff of something, like predators closing in on prey. Even imagining it was a string of horrifying scenes.

“I’m fine.”

“…Understood.”

I moved deliberately and slowly in front of her, making sure she could see.

“Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t look well… I should have… I should have taken better care of you.”

“Karla. Don’t blame yourself. I was the one who told you to stay in the room.”

“But if I had known Lady Illia was coming sooner, I could have…”

“You came, even if late. That’s enough. There’s no need to say more about it. It’s already in the past. So please prepare what I asked.”

Only after I said that did Karla let out a deep sigh and step outside.

Once the door closed, I moved quickly, changed my clothes, washed up briefly, and came back out. I also made sure not to forget to break the emergency glass vial I had been carrying in my pocket and sprinkle its contents over the clothes I had taken off.

After that, I leaned back against the headboard with my hair still damp.

“You’ve already washed up?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll add more firewood right away. The butler said he’s ready to speak and is waiting outside.”

“Then have him come in. Everyone else, step out.”

“Your hair looks wet…”

“No, I’m fine.”

Karla, still worried, let out another heavy sigh and went outside.

Not long after, the butler came rushing in.

“Ma’am, young madam.”

“……”

“I-I heard you were looking for me.”

“A perceptive butler should already know why I called for him.”

“…That is…”

“Before Dertosse left, he must have given you instructions as well. What did he tell you?”

At that, he quickly lowered his head.

“…He said that all matters concerning the treatment of everyone involved in this incident would be handled by the young madam… and that there would be no exceptions, not a single one…”

“Good. And what did you think when you heard that?”

“W-would my thoughts matter?”

“They do. You were the one who brought the lady out. That’s why I want to ask. What was your reason for doing it? Was it the same thinking as Illia, the one you call ‘my lady,’ who caused my child to miscarry? Were you trying to drive me out of this household? You must know that your share of responsibility in this matter is not small.”

His lips drained to a pale, bloodless color.

A noble’s child had been lost to miscarriage. And it was the child of the very household he served. Even if he had no direct involvement, the responsibility would not be small. As it stood, his responsibility was enormous.

“…I… I only followed orders…”

“Yes. But you must know that the ones whose orders you follow are not Illia or the lady of the house.”

“…Young madam, I…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t drive you out of this household, as you fear. You need to stay here. But you will have to make reparations for what happened.”

“R-reparations? What kind of reparations…”

“I looked into it and found that you had been diligently siphoning funds from this household and used them to acquire a large mine. Quite impressive, isn’t it? Not only did you pocket the household’s money, but you had the audacity to buy a mine with it. It seems you siphoned quite a substantial amount.”

In that instant, his eyes went cold and flickered.

“That…”

“Or… did you not buy it yourself, but receive it directly from the lady of the house?”

“Young madam… No. Why would she give me something like that!”

“Then it’s one of two things. Either the lady of the house transferred that mine to you, or you bought it with the money you siphoned.”

“……”

“But if you bought it yourself, that’s quite strange. The mine originally belonged to the Chenples marquisate, and it suddenly went up for sale at a very low price. Somehow you got hold of that information and purchased it right away.”

Among everything I had investigated, this sort of thing was plentiful. The butler clenched his jaw so hard the skin creased at his chin, and his hands trembled.

“Don’t think this is the only thing that’s come to light. But if, as the butler of the marquisate, you feel a deep sense of responsibility for the miscarriage, and you transfer that mine to me as an expression of your remorse… I will accept that apology.”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

“What?”

“…The greater fault lies with Lady Illia. So why must I…”

Now, at this point, he was scrambling to insist he bore no fault.

“If you hadn’t brought the lady of the house, Illia would not have been able to cause such a scene.”

“…Isn’t that an overreach on your part? If I caused you harm, I will take full responsibility for that. But for something that didn’t happen, for something that isn’t my fault…”

“Then prepare to leave the marquisate.”

“……”

I gave him the order without a moment’s hesitation.

“Of course, once you’re dismissed from here, you’ll never set foot in a noble household again. I will open a noble tribunal over the matter of reparations. The lady of the house will not take your side.”

“…Are you… threatening me?”

“Yes.”

At my firm answer, the butler’s face twisted with disbelief.

“I’m glad the butler of a marquisate has enough sense to recognize that much. I was wondering what more I’d have to say if he didn’t realize it was a threat.”

“…Why have you changed so much?”

“You, the maids, and the people of this household treat me the way you do, and simply sitting there and taking it would be foolish. To think you all took me for such a fool. I thought you’d had enough time to reflect and decide which side to stand on, but it seems that wasn’t the case. Still, since you are the butler, I’ll show some consideration and give you until tomorrow before having you removed.”

“Young madam!”

“Get out.”

In any case, this man needs to stay here. He has to, so that even after I’m gone, he can keep muddying the waters of the marquisate. So I had no intention of actually dismissing him, but there was clearly a need to apply some pressure.

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

“…Are you truly going to expose everything about me?”

“So now you believe it. That I know everything about you. Then you should be able to anticipate what I’m thinking, at least to some degree.”

“……”

“Think it over, and think again. If I had truly wanted to bring you down, I wouldn’t have mentioned any of this directly. I would have simply taken everything from you. But the fact that I didn’t… there’s a reason for that.”

Worry and panic over my words. Squirm under the thought that the rug could be pulled out from under you at any moment. I’ll enjoy that unease. In the end, you’ll have no choice but to take my hand. The mine will naturally come to me.

I watched him in silence.

“I…”

“Did you not hear me say get out? I believe we have nothing left to say to each other.”

“Just a moment. Young madam.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Get out.”

“I’m sorry. I was entirely in the wrong. Please don’t dismiss me. The mine… I’ll give it to you if you want. So please, just don’t dismiss me.”

He lowered his head deeply and offered his apology faster than I had expected. He seemed to have decided this was better than a tribunal, and though his hands trembled with barely contained fury, he held firm. I could practically guess how thoroughly he was cursing me under his breath.

“What did you do wrong?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking what you did wrong that you’re apologizing to me for.”

“Everything. I did everything wrong.”

“Everything, you say.”

“…Please don’t dismiss me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Even at those words, he made no move to leave. He only stared at me, as though waiting for a definitive answer. So I held his gaze and continued.

“It depends on how you conduct yourself going forward. Whether you quietly hand over what you siphoned from our household and avoid dismissal, or whether I expose everything you’ve done and, on top of that, your relationship with the lady of the house…”

“I have no relationship with the lady of the house. What you may have uncovered could be true, but…”

“Right. You simply served the lady of the house faithfully.”

Only after I said that did he allow himself a small smile.

“Yes. That is correct.”

“Of course, whether you served her faithfully, or followed her in some other sense… that will depend on what you do from here on out.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind. Then… regarding the villa afterward…”

“Don’t push it.”

The man had the audacity to bring up the villa, of all things, right in the middle of handing over something he had wrongfully taken, clearly thinking this was his chance. I fixed him with a sharp look, and only then did the butler seem to realize his mistake and quickly lowered his head.