“If you thought coming would only make things harder for me, then you shouldn’t have come today either.”

“I wanted to apologize. For… for doing nothing but standing there and watching…”

Given her personality, she would have spent about a day observing the situation. Yesterday, Dertosse had lashed out at everyone, and even though he had carried me to my room, there must have been something that still nagged at her. She would have wanted to see how things played out, since Dertosse might have simply been angry because of the situation.

And after that, Dertosse had gone out immediately without doing a single thing. So Pertra might have thought she didn’t need to concern herself with me.

‘If only Dertosse hadn’t come by in the morning. If she hadn’t seen that, she might have kept thinking that way.’

I watched her in silence.

Pertra was even more careful about protecting herself than the butler.

‘If Dertosse had shown even a little concern for his sister locked in her room as he left, she wouldn’t have come.’

“I thought doing nothing was the right choice. But you are right, young madam. I only now realize that it was surely wrong of me.”

“…Is that all you have to say?”

“Pardon? Ah. Yes… what else is there to say besides an apology. If there is anything else I wish to say, it is this… if you give me just one more chance, I will do my utmost as your person.”

“And you say that knowing I’ve had a miscarriage.”

I looked at her, just to be sure.

“Yes.”

I had thought she might hesitate a little, knowing I had lost a child, but Pertra showed no sign of that at all.

‘The people of this household are deeply entangled in the incident that caused me to lose the child. The mother-in-law and Illia have rotted past the point of being useful, so she’s decided to take my hand instead.’

She was the last person I wanted to take by the hand. But there was no reason to refuse when she came to me like this and offered an apology. I still needed to remain in this household a little longer.

‘And Pertra will never fully let go of her ties to the lady of the house and Illia. If she decides she needs to, she’ll volunteer herself as a spy.’

Wasn’t that exactly what I needed. Someone to report my every move to the lady of the house and keep her unsettled.

“Pertra. This is a little unexpected. The person who led the charge in making my life difficult is now the first to come and apologize.”

“…I wasn’t trying to make things difficult… all of that was because the lady of the house…”

“The lady of the house what? Why are you trailing off? Are you going to claim you had no part in it?”

“No. The lady of the house ordered it and I had no choice… I was simply being careful about saying so, in case it would hurt you, young madam.”

Right. For her own sake, that was the right thing to say. She bore no fault. It was simply the circumstances that led to this.

“So what do you intend to do from here?”

“M-me? If it pleases the young madam, I would like to stay by your side.”

Head Maid Pertra still looked down on me. Not “I would like to have stayed by your side,” but “I would like to stay by your side.” Unguarded words have a way of becoming a mirror that reveals a person with perfect clarity. Just like now.

In the end, it was clear that she felt no genuine remorse toward me.

“All right. Do as you please.”

“Pardon? Is that truly all right?”

“Of course.”

And so I took hold of Pertra, a fraying rope. If she could unsettle the lady of the house, what reason was there not to take hold of something like this.

“I, is it truly all right for me to receive such an honor?”

“Do I have to say it twice?”

“No.”

For a moment, the word “villa” slipped out from her lips in a very small murmur, but Pertra quickly closed her mouth. She had more sense than the butler, and in the end she said nothing about the villa.

“Then you may go.”

“Yes. Please call on me whenever you need me. I will be at your side.”

“Ah. How convenient. Pertra. If you truly want to work for me… you’ll need to help me with something. If you handle this properly, I think I’ll be able to trust you more.”

“Just tell me what it is.”

“Many of the documents I left on the desk in my room have gone missing. Would you find them for me?”

“What sort of documents might they be?”

She widened her eyes and asked calmly, as though she had nothing to do with it.

“Most of them concern the lady of the house’s villa. And there were also ones laying out whose pockets the money leaking out like a sieve had been flowing into. And… there were so many that I can’t quite remember them all.”

“I will find the culprit by any means necessary.”

“Good.”

And with that, she moved to leave right away.

“But Pertra. Someone claiming to investigate is about to walk out without even asking when the documents went missing? Or perhaps you already have information I don’t.”

“N-no. That’s not it. I was simply in a hurry to leave so as not to interrupt your meal, young madam.”

“Right. But you should hear what I have to say before you go. If you leave without any information, I might start thinking that you don’t need it because you’re the culprit.”

Only then did she turn around and approach me.

“I believe I got carried away with joy over the young madam finally deciding to keep me by her side, and made a mistake. Then, could you tell me anything, even something small, that might serve as useful information?”

She truly had a way with words. The lady of the house must have kept people in the palm of her hand the same way.

“Yesterday, when I saw Illia coming, I asked Karla to tidy the room and stepped out. But the moment I left the room, a great number of maids went inside under the pretense of tidying up. I think it was probably then.”

“If we ask Karla, we should be able to get some information.”

“That’s right.”

“Understood. I will find out by any means necessary.”

“If you manage to investigate this matter thoroughly, I think I’ll be able to trust you. Be thorough about it.”

After that final word, Pertra smiled brightly and nodded.

“I will see the investigation through to the end no matter what. Please wait for me.”

“Good. And have the butler come by around the afternoon. I’ve decided what to do about the lady of the house and Illia.”

“What… do you plan to do?”

“My trust in you isn’t complete yet, Pertra. So I don’t intend to say.”

“I apologize. Then I will do my best to earn your trust.”

In the end, she left with a plea for my trust. And even after she left, Karla did not come back in. Instead, only the sound of conversation outside the door drifted in for quite some time.

Pertra was probably asking Karla this and that. I sat at the table for a long while, passing the time idly, until their voices could no longer be heard.

And only after quite a long time had passed did Mary come inside.

“It seems you woke early today.”

“It’s less that I woke early and more that I never slept.”

“…Is that so? You look a little tired.”

“I’m fine. More importantly, was Karla not outside?”

“No. I didn’t see her today. Before anything else, I must apologize for coming late. I met with Lord Isen and spoke with him, which took a little longer.”

She lowered her head slightly, and I waved my hand.

“I understand.”

“I had intended to come earlier, but the conversation ran long. He said that the matter the young madam mentioned has been prepared without a hitch, and that good news will come your way before long.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I also gathered a fair amount of the information you asked me to look into. I can say with confidence that I’ve obtained nearly everything that could be obtained from within this household.”

“If Mary says so, I find myself looking forward to it.”

“However, this place is not safe, so I will give it to you all at once later.”

I gave a light nod in place of a reply, and Mary began tidying the table little by little.

“No appetite?”

“A little. It’s been quite a tumult, yesterday and today.”

“If there’s anything you’d like to eat, please let me know. I’ll go and get it for you.”

“You’re more dependable than anyone in this household, Mary.”

She smiled faintly as she quietly gathered the dishes without a sound. After that, Mary said nothing more. She might well have been curious about what I planned to do with the lady of the house and Illia, or what path I would walk going forward, but she stayed beside me in silence, like someone simply there to support me.

Karla returned late in the afternoon.

The butler came with her.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“Ah. That’s right. I called for you because I’ve reached a decision on what to do about the lady of the house and Illia.”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll need to move a little faster on sending the lady of the house to the villa. Originally, I had planned to send twenty maids, one butler, a head maid, and cooks and coachmen, fifty in total… but I’ll need to reduce that to ten. She needs to go quickly.”

At those words, the butler bit down on his lip.