Chapter 6 (Part 3)

Among the people wearing large and small smiles, there was a maid with a face full of resentment, as if something had been stolen from her pocket.  

Her atmosphere was so different from those around her that Sellakia’s gaze was naturally fixed on her.  

Amy didn’t change or hide her expression even when she made eye contact with Sellakia. She boldly met her gaze.  

…Was the ruby brooch and fake letter really Amy’s doing?  

The buried suspicion resurfaced in her chest.  

“This mansion is truly completed by your hands, so please take care of it. Then.”  

Sellakia naturally shifted her gaze, casually using Tenus’s words.  

She couldn’t expel Amy based on mere suspicion without any evidence. Moreover, if she had decided to overlook Aldrich’s actions, it was only right to cover Amy’s misdeeds as well.  

“The Head Maid should follow me for a moment, and the rest of you may disperse.”  

Calming her uneasy feelings, Sellakia cast her gaze at the Head Maid standing in the front row and was the first to exit the banquet hall.

The Head Maid and Roberta quickly followed behind. Before Nancy left the room, she poked her head back into the banquet hall.  

“See, I told you our Madam is really, really nice!”  

Nancy’s face was full of confidence as she boasted to her close colleagues. A few maids who met Nancy’s fiery gaze nodded as if entranced.

* * *

The adjacent room to the banquet hall, furnished with plush sofas and long mirrors, seemed to be a space for ladies to take a brief rest. Even though it was a room used for short stays, the colors of the small furniture were exceptional.  

“I am Head Maid Marguerite, Madam. Please command me.”

While Sellakia stood in the middle of the room, checking if there was a ceiling painting here too, she heard a calm voice from behind.  

Come to think of it, she hadn’t known the name of the Head Maid of the mansion until now. Clicking her tongue at her own indifference, Sellakia turned her head and her gaze stopped on one wall.  

“Marguerite, I have something to ask.”  

Hmm. Instead of a ceiling painting here, they displayed a masterpiece of the Empire’s treasure level.  

Focusing her sight on the artwork helped ease her tension a bit. It was a new discovery she realized from the shocking ceiling painting earlier. 

Sellakia pretended to be interested in the painting and walked over to it as she asked,  

“Who has been in charge of managing the servants so far?”  

“Overall management is done by Lord Logue, but I am in charge of the maids, and Thomas, the butler, is in charge of the footmen.”  

“You must have been more aware than anyone else of the severe shortage of manpower compared to the size of the mansion. Did you not inform Lord Logue of this fact?”

Marguerite, standing beside her, bowed her head with a troubled expression. It wasn’t surprising.  

“He didn’t allow it, did he?”  

“……”  

“What reason did he give?”  

“How could I dare to fathom his intentions?”  

A subtle sense of injustice was mixed into her polite answer. Since managing the insufficient manpower was Marguerite’s responsibility, she must have had quite a struggle.  

“So, did the servants who left do so on their own because of the overwhelming workload?”  

Sellakia tilted her head, not entirely convinced.  

The opportunity to work in a prestigious family’s mansion wasn’t something anyone could easily get. It wouldn’t be easy to give up, but she couldn’t understand why servants left Seidon just because the work was hard.  

Sellakia had said she would raise their pay because it was lacking, but that was actually just a ploy to win their favor with money. The salaries of Seidon’s servants were easily double the average salary of servants in other families. It was enough to endure the hard labor.

Because of this, there were quite a few long-term servants in the Ducal House.  

Were the ones who left not in urgent need of money?  

Or… was there another reason they had to leave?  

“That is…”  

Marguerite hesitated.  

Sellakia took her eyes off the painting she was focusing on to relieve her tension.  

“Marguerite?”  

It was a moment of curiosity as to why the Head Maid of the Duke’s household would hesitate to answer such a simple question…….

Just then, a story that didn’t fit the situation popped into her mind, like a clam spitting out sand.

The story of the nine-tailed cat living in the mansion, which scared Nancy, who was diligent and spirited enough to clean the villa by herself.

The only other time Nancy was frightened was when she saw Aldrich, with veins bulging on his neck, scolding the servants in the banquet hall.  

“……”  

Suddenly, two facts strangely connected, forming a plausible picture. At the same time, Sellakia mocked her own imagination.  

Could it really be ‘that’ Aldrich?

Her rational mind shook its head, but the eerie image wouldn’t leave her mind.  

“Sir Belfona, Nancy, please step outside for a moment.”  

Sellakia first sent Nancy and Roberta out of the room. No matter how much she cherished them, she couldn’t share the potential dark side of the family with them.  

“Hurry.”  

They insisted they couldn’t leave her side, but when Sellakia glared and issued an unprecedented threat, they reluctantly left the room. Soon, only Sellakia and Marguerite were left in the room.  

“Alright. Now that it’s just the two of us, I want you to answer honestly.”  

Marguerite’s face, which had been feigning calm, shook slightly.  

“Madam, I really don’t know…”  

“Just answer my questions. Marguerite. How long have you worked at the Seidon Ducal House?”  

“This year marks 34 years.”  

“Then you must have served the previous Duke and Duchess.”  

“Yes, I did.”  

“Did Thomas, the butler, too?”  

Marguerite, who had been on guard due to the sudden change in questioning, hesitated and met her gaze. Sellakia asked with a seemingly indifferent attitude.  

“Didn’t he?”  

“……Yes, he did.”  

“Looking at the records of the servants, there are quite a few who have spent many years at the Seidon Ducal House. It must be because of the previous Duke and Duchess’s outstanding virtue.”  

“Yes. They were very good people. Serving them closely was the greatest honor of my life.”  

Recalling past days, Marguerite’s hardened face subtly softened. Seeing the gentle smile on her lips, Sellakia could tell how much she respected and admired the previous Duke and Duchess.  

Sellakia let Marguerite reminisce for a moment before she broke into the relaxed atmosphere with the main topic.  

“Having been here for so long, you must have seen the nine-tailed cat said to live in the Seidon Duchy.”

“……Pardon?”

“At the very least, you must have heard of it. Right?”  

Marguerite’s pupils shook. She seemed to have completely lost her composure. Sellakia faced Marguerite with a firm expression, showing she wouldn’t back down.  

After a long moment of lip movement, Marguerite finally spoke, not with an answer but with an unexpected question.  

“Madam, have you regained your memory?”  

“Memory? …Have I asked about this before?”  

She had no idea. She had never had a conversation with Marguerite beyond formal greetings. At least, not as far as Sellakia remembered.  

But in the week before someone made her disappear, it might have been different in the fragments of lost memory.  

Sellakia vaguely imagined the time she hadn’t looked into or tried to be curious about until now.  

Back then, she asked Marguerite about the nine-tailed cat. It refers to the military punishment tool, the nine-tailed whip. It’s a metaphor that servants wouldn’t know or need to fear.

And during the week she conversed with Marguerite about it, Sellakia was harmed by Aldrich.

The timing was extremely coincidental. It couldn’t be a mere coincidence.  

“Ah.”  

As she pieced together the mismatched fragments, a flash of realization struck her mind. Though the memory buried in the fog was still opaque, she felt she could grasp its vague outline.

A voice resembling a sigh flowed from her slightly parted lips.  

“The nine-tailed whip. It was Aldrich’s doing.”  

The tone was devoid of any doubt.  

Marguerite confirmed it with her silence.  

Incredibly, Aldrich seemed to be committing heinous acts with an incredibly weak disposition. The reason he tried to kill Sellakia was likely to cover up his discovered misdeeds.  

Committing another sin to cover up his shame.  

Perhaps more was involved.  

Sellakia reflected on the suspicious parts she discovered while examining the ledger alone late at night. She hadn’t told Tenus yet, but he might already know.  

“Answer me, Marguerite. Did Aldrich really wield the whip on the servants?”  

“……”  

“……Did they all die?”

A shadow of sadness fell over the experienced Head Maid’s face. That was answer enough. Sellakia tightly closed her eyes.  

“My goodness. How could this happen…”  

She felt a belated shock, as if she had been hit on the head.  

“I can’t believe it. Tenus turned a blind eye to this atrocity.”  

The shock was deeper than when she first realized Aldrich’s secret and when she learned why she became Aldrich’s target.  

Her legs gave out, and her body staggered.  

Such disappointment and betrayal.  

Sellakia realized anew how much she trusted Tenus, more than she thought.

“Madam, please come this way.”  

Marguerite’s actions and voice, despite her pained expression, were remarkably calm. She skillfully supported Sellakia to the sofa at the end of the room.