“Miss. These are the dresses the Duke has selected.”

Several dresses were prepared for Sezlin when she returned to her room. Since she was going to meet the First Prince, they had taken care to prepare appropriate attire. They couldn’t ruin this much, it seemed, as the clothes untouched by the maids’ hands were still in good condition.

However,

“He’s certainly attentive, isn’t he.”

Sezlin chose one of the dresses from the rack. Then she dropped the plain white dress on the floor with a thud.

“He still doesn’t know my taste.”

“Ah, miss!”

“Hmm?”

When the startled maid cried out, Sezlin turned around with a bright smile. At the same time, she didn’t forget to naturally step on the dress that had fallen to the floor.

“What’s wrong?”

“Th-that… The d-dress…”

“Ah.”

Only then did Sezlin glance at the dress on the floor. The white, plain, clean canvas was being trampled miserably under her heel.

“I like it.”

‘The way it looks on the floor.’

“But it’s not my taste.”

Turning around, Sezlin tapped her index finger on the rack where the other dresses hung.

“Take all of these away too.”

“But these are from the Duke…!”

The maid who had been watching Sezlin’s mood raised her voice as if to add a comment. Sezlin gladly looked at such a loyal servant.

She was one of the people who had ignored Sezlin when she was rejected by everyone in the past. And behind her were all her fellow maids who had been bystanders. People who had treated her as an uncivilized being from birth. People who had neglected her when she was suffering from a high fever at just eight years old, saying “good children don’t get sick.”

—You have a fever? Then get some sleep. Since you’ll be sleeping, we don’t need to bring you dinner, right?

Remembering the past, a cold sneer rose within her. She had been truly foolish then. It was stupid of her to think that if she just bowed down flat enough, everything would somehow work out.

There was a time when she wanted to look good to these kinds of people.

‘How futile.’

What they wanted was the frame that Sezlin was wicked. Greedy, nasty, the villainess of the Brioden family. Isn’t that exactly what they wanted?

‘So that my sister would shine even more.’

So Sezlin intended to follow their wishes. Not by awkwardly accommodating, but sincerely.

Like a truly wicked lady.

“Miss, why are you… Kyaah!”

With a sharp crack, the maid’s head turned. Sezlin raised the corner of her mouth as she looked at her reddened palm. Like earlier, getting revenge was quite satisfying.

‘Just look at that face.’

When the corners of her mouth, which had been raised crookedly, drooped like a rain-soaked dog, Sezlin was genuinely pleased.

“Ah, miss.”

Meanwhile, the maid trembled at the sight of Sezlin’s gently curving eyes.

The vain, greedy pushover had slapped her cheek. The stupid miss who they thought wouldn’t dare raise her hand like before had raised it this time.

“Ah, could this be your taste?”

The maid now began to get confused about what expression she should make.

Sezlin Brioden was an object of contempt even within the mansion. Unless one was a newcomer, one could quickly rise above her with just a little attention.

Pretending to be noble, she endured and swallowed her pride. For just a bit of attention and love, Sezlin Brioden killed her nasty personality.

Also, the shame of the Duke’s family. The seed of the villain who twisted the fate of the Duke and Duchess. Sezlin Brioden was a being who deserved to be ignored.

That’s how she had spent a full twenty years.

But how could a person,

“Hmm.”

Change like that?

It was because she didn’t immediately understand what Sezlin had said. Looking pitifully at the hard-of-hearing maid, Sezlin picked up the dress that had fallen to the floor.

And then she handed it over.

“I’ll give it to you.”

“…Pardon?”

A stupid question came back, but Sezlin’s face was bright. No, rather than bright, it was full of sympathy. As if she were giving alms—

“I don’t like any of the other dresses either.”

After placing the dress in the maid’s arms, Sezlin dropped another dress that was behind her onto the floor. All the maids in the room blankly stared at the pile of fabric that was growing one by one.

After stepping once on the dress she had dropped on the floor, Sezlin immediately dropped the next dress. Perhaps because they were all white or beige, the marks from her heel remained particularly vivid.

Especially when she rubbed the delicate lace part with her foot, the embroidery made with craftsmanship snapped with a crack.

Having ruined all the prepared dresses in one go, Sezlin turned around as if refreshed.

“I’d better choose again.”

Leaving the stunned maids behind, Sezlin walked toward the dressing room. The maids who had been looking at the dresses on the floor belatedly followed her. Only the maid who had first received the dress hurriedly left the room. Sezlin briefly listened to the crossing footsteps. Then she moved again, heading to the dressing room.

“Hmm.”

Sezlin smiled as she saw the various dresses lined up. Though there were mostly plain ones, there was one dress she had received from her cousin.

Although in the past, the maids had ruined it all,

‘As expected.’

Now that time had been turned back, it was still there.

“I’ll take this one.”

Sezlin picked up the dress in sight. The maids who had just entered the room swallowed their breath.

The dress Sezlin chose was the most splendid among those in the room. It was also a dress they had planned to secretly ruin in a few days.

Moreover, the design was more suitable for a party than a matchmaking meeting.

“Ah, miss!”

The maids stamped their feet at the dress that would obviously make the Duke grab her by the neck. But they couldn’t stop her like before.

Like the washing water incident earlier, Sezlin’s behavior was strange today. In the past, even though her personality was nasty, her desires were visible, making her easy to manipulate. But now, they couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.

While the maids exchanged glances to assess the situation, Sezlin, who had gone deep into the dressing room, personally selected jewelry to match the dress.

Large diamonds that matched well with her bright platinum blonde hair. It was obviously not something a maid could possess. So they didn’t dare steal this.

Though smaller items,

‘They must be busy collecting them by now.’

Sezlin imagined the maids busily moving their hands behind her. And her prediction was correct.

The moment Sezlin came out from inside, the maids, who had mysteriously composed themselves, were waiting for her. Sezlin, with a jewelry case in hand, handed it to the maids.

“Bring all of these too.”

“B-but miss. I’m sorry, but the Duke also said that jewelry—”

“I don’t like them.”

Of course, she hadn’t opened the jewelry box yet, but Sezlin knew. He would have sent things that didn’t even fit her body anyway.

There’s no point in looking at them; it would just be a waste of time.

“Take them back. Or give them to April. Come to think of it, I’ve never given her a gift.”

“……”

“And those I accidentally stepped on earlier.”

Sezlin, who was leaving the dressing room, turned around again.

“You can all have them.”

She didn’t need things that didn’t even match her taste. It would be a bit of a waste to give them away in perfect condition, so she made sure to step on them earlier so they could be washed clean before wearing.

By the way, to wash such a white dress once would cost more than 20 gold coins. A month’s salary for the maids. The damaged lace would need even more repair costs.

The maids, who had suddenly received damaged clothes as gifts, could only open their mouths without daring to talk back.

At this moment, Sezlin, who had come outside, frowned deeply. A strange person had entered the room. Sezlin glanced at the maid who was hiding sneakily behind the head maid. The maid who met her eyes hurriedly lowered her head.

“Miss.”

The head maid, standing with a straight back, narrowed her sharp eyes. This was a habit she always did when something displeased or bothered her. Sezlin was always on that displeasing side. An impurity born of a political marriage. A lady who pretended to be elegant but had no pride. The shame of the Brioden family.

The head maid, fluttering her long eyelashes, calmly looked down. Sezlin, who had just gifted dresses to the maids, was holding her head high. When the head that was always bowed was suddenly raised, the head maid clicked her tongue.

Had she forgotten the incident she caused earlier? This was truly a shameless sight.

‘How can someone like that be a noble?’

Unlike the kind and considerate Miss April, the noble blood could not look more vulgar.

The head maid, who openly sighed, reproached her.

“What kind of disgraceful behavior is this?”

* * *

Disgraceful behavior.

It wasn’t something to say to a noble lady of the Duke’s family, but it was a word that suited “stupid Sezlin” quite well.

“Haven’t I repeatedly told you? That upright character brings more love.”

“……”

“And like the incident earlier.”

The head maid naturally mentioned the washing water incident. After what seemed like a fit of hysteria, there had already been much talk among the maids.

That she must have finally gone mad.

“I heard from the Duke. Tearing your hands and skin? Is that something a noble lady should say?”

“You need to learn etiquette again.”

The head maid added with a sigh.

“Today of all days, you’re meeting the First Prince, and this will only tarnish the reputation of the Brioden family. Is that what you want?”

Sezlin barely held back a laugh. How insidious and vicious those words were. It was a statement that simultaneously provoked a rebellious desire to go astray and the anxiety that doing so would lead to being ostracized by everyone.

She had been fooled by this for twenty years. Sezlin realized anew that she had been much more stupid than she thought.

“So?”

“Before you go, let’s review—”

The head maid who was continuing her words suddenly paused. Her eyes, which had been narrowed like a flounder’s, rarely opened wide.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, ‘So?'”

Sezlin tilted her head as if she didn’t understand what the problem was. At the gaze that was almost innocent, the head maid unconsciously moved her lips. She had lost her words.

“Miss, are you joking right now—”

“No.”

Who wouldn’t know that? Such scenes were familiar, and Sezlin knew painfully well how one-sided this situation was. Isn’t it too cruel to dismiss this as a mere joke?

“Noble. Yes, I should have acted like a noble.”

The head maid’s brow twitched at the self-deprecating voice. In the past, she should have quietly said she understood. Even if she was angry, she should have trembled with her lips while enduring it. Even if she wanted to raise her hand, she should have bowed her head after watching her own reactions.

‘Wh-what?’

The current reaction was, how to put it, as if she was reflecting. Regret. Regret? It was a word that really didn’t suit Sezlin. Behind her eyelashes, her blue eyes mixed self-reproach and regret.

‘Self-reproach? Regret?’

For whom?

The head maid, narrowing her eyes, looked her up and down. As reported, Sezlin was strange today. As if she had become a different person.

But no matter how much she tried to delve into Sezlin’s words, the head maid ultimately couldn’t understand her. She didn’t even try to understand.

Sezlin, who had somehow approached the head maid, reached out her hand. Surprised by the sudden movement, the head maid turned around. Then that hand grabbed the shoulder of the maid behind her. The body that had been extremely tense trembled.

“I’ll try it today, as the head maid taught me. That.”

“What do you—”

But there was no answer. Sezlin gently patted the shoulder of the maid she had just grabbed. The body that had shrunk so much stiffened like a stone. Sezlin, who firmly gripped the stiff shoulder, raised the corner of her mouth.

“Fire all the maids who were here.”

“!”

Someone swallowed. But Sezlin continued without stopping.

“The reason is for stealing the jewelry of the Brioden lady. Would this suffice?”

Thud—

One of the maids behind dropped the jewelry box. At the same time, the jewelry she had hidden inside her sleeve also fell with a clatter. The maid who belatedly looked at the floor covered her mouth. Even that hand trembled with dismay.

“I’m giving an order now. Like a noble.”

Sezlin looked around at the faces that had turned pale.

She smiled faintly.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

It was a sneer.