Balzac stood with a crooked posture, glaring at me and Blony.
Behind him were Joshua and Richmond.
Richmond was looking at the hand Blony had raised, and Joshua raised his eyebrows.
Blony’s gang looked at them with confused expressions.
“Uh, so....”
“Y-Younger brother?”
“That’s the Astra family crest...”
Some of the servants murmured.
Then the burly man who had kicked Han Ji-hyeok shouted.
“Ah, so your older brother was bragging that he’s a senior retainer of Astra.”
He chuckled bitterly.
“No matter if it’s your younger brother’s business, you should mind your own. It’s about punishing the woman who dared to sell information about Ishiron.”
‘This guy really has no sense.’
No matter how senior a retainer he is, would he dress so lavishly?
Even Albert, the chief steward of Astra Castle, wouldn’t wear something like that outside.
Balzac and Joshua spoke simultaneously.
“Woman?”
“Dare?”
Although their dispositions and appearances are nothing alike, at times like this, their twinhood really shows.
‘Now is not the time!’
A fierce aura rippled from Balzac’s body.
Joshua smiled, but dark energy spread from his feet.
The servants, being commoners without blessings, seemed unaware, but I knew.
‘One of them is going to die!’
“Older brother...!”
I shouted, but Balzac strode toward the burly man.
The burly servant flinched.
The servants looked anxiously at the man.
“Pam... that’s a senior retainer over there... If you’re scared...”
“Scared, what are you talking about...! Even if I’m third rank retainer, I’m still a member of the Ishiron family!”
“B-But...”
“Even if senior, basic rule is not to lay a hand on another family’s person!”
The burly man snorted.
“If you try to defend your younger brother who sold the family’s secrets by punching a retainer of a duke’s family, you’ll be kicked out too!”
“Kicked out? Me?”
Balzac said, and the burly man puffed out his chest.
“Even the head maid of Euroseg couldn’t say a word to us! Because we are the ‘Ishiron’ retainers!”
That seemed to convince the other servants as well.
But that was because Alexis was the one who brought them.
Euroseg doesn’t support the eldest son Adelric.
That is related to Adelric’s maternal family... but that part need not be known here.
‘Low-ranking retainers from other families wouldn’t know about such internal politics.’
Especially kids under seventeen.
Like middle and high schoolers not knowing the relationship between Company A Auto and Company A Chemical.
‘Besides, these aren’t even just retainers.’
Blony cleared her throat and said,
“Stop it, Pam.”
“But...!”
“I said stop.”
Blony looked brazenly at the older brothers.
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding, but we don’t lay hands on fellow retainers without reason.”
“If we do.”
Balzac sighed.
“It’s something I didn’t want to say since it would shame the family, but I can’t help it.”
Joshua asked,
“What is it?”
“She sold Ishiron’s secrets.”
Blony put her hands together and pretended to sulk.
I shouted in disbelief.
“No, I never did that!”
“Are you going to keep lying?”
“Why would I sell Ishiron’s secrets?”
“That’s because of money, isn’t it?”
“You’re the one who sold the secrets for money.”
Blony’s face turned ugly.
She shouted sharply.
“Please stop lying!”
“Can you take responsibility for that?”
“Of course! I witnessed you stealing information myself! And I even have evidence—!!”
Someone grabbed the agitated Blony.
It was Richmond.
“You said it clearly. Will you take responsibility for your words?”
“Y-Yes! I can take responsibility. So no matter family, it’s better not to get involved in this for your own good...!”
That was when someone came running behind the older brothers.
Alexis, other retainers of Ishiron, and...
“What’s the matter, young master?”
It was the retainers of our Astra Count’s mansion, including Betty and Heidi.
His words silenced the surroundings.
One of the low-ranking retainers of Ishiron muttered,
“Young... master?”
Immediately Betty and Heidi screamed and rushed to me.
“Miss!”
“No, Miss, what’s going on...!”
I frowned and said,
“Remove the shackles.”
“Yes, yes. These are Ishiron’s shackles, but the key... the key is...!”
The steward of Ishiron looked flustered as he held the bunch of keys.
Betty glared at him, snatched the keys with a sharp motion.
With a clink, the shackles were removed.
I threw away the disguised magical tool from my neck with an annoyed gesture.
My hair instantly changed back to its original golden color.
“...!”
“...!!”
The Ishiron retainers stared at me with their mouths wide open.
“Unbearable.”
I said, and Alexis frowned, asking,
“What happened, Erilot?”
A middle-aged female senior retainer of Ishiron forgot herself and muttered,
“E-Erilot?”
I looked at Blony and her gang and said,
“You said I was short on money.”
“What nonsense.”
I crossed my arms and approached Blony.
“I’m the one in charge of all distribution of Baeksujeong on the continent, and I even have a father called the first successor of Astra.”
“Uh, uh... uh?”
Blony looked pale, glancing between me and the others.
She looked like she was having a nightmare.
But nothing changed.
Balzac frowned and asked,
“So what happened then?”
I narrowed my eyes and said,
“I disguised myself as a maid because I had business with Alexis.”
“And?”
“But they bullied me.”
I pointed at Blony, and the older brothers narrowed their eyes.
“Bullied?”
Balzac’s voice turned ominous.
Blony’s gang turned pale and muttered, “Th-That’s! That is, so...!”
“They were lazy, and I made them do all the work!”
“What!?”
“They claimed all the work I did was done by them!”
“What did you say?!”
“They pressed their foreheads!”
“They...!”
“They stepped on the handkerchief my father embroidered himself!”
“Crazy!”
“When I resisted, they ostracized me!”
“This...!”
“They tried to frame me, shove and hit me!”
“Dead!!”
Balzac shouted.
His shout, filled with blessing, echoed loudly, shaking the ground.
Some of Blony’s gang, terrified, collapsed to the ground.
“N-No, we, we are...!”
“M-Misunderstanding....”
Joshua and Richmond blocked the gang, who trembled and crawled backward.
“Misunderstanding... I see.”
“But we saw too much to say that.”
Balzac grabbed the collar of the burly man.
“We need to hear the story in more detail.”
The burly man was dragged away by Balzac.
The Ishiron steward swallowed dryly.
Then hurriedly signaled the other servants.
Blony’s gang was all subdued and dragged away by the servants.
I stared intently at Blony.
“I told you.”
“......”
“It hasn’t even started yet.”
“......!”
The servants forcibly dragged even Blony, who sat down exhausted.
I said to the older brothers following Blony’s gang,
“Don’t kill them!”
I’ll do the killing.
I didn’t even have to look in ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the mirror to know.
My eyes were fiercely blazing.
All the senior retainers of Ishiron bowed their heads.
Betty and Heidi walked among them, saying,
“So you conspired to let our lady suffer that fate?”
“We—we never imagined she could be the daughter of Count Astra...”
The middle-aged female retainer said in a small voice.
“Do you just open a punishment room just because you heard she sold information?”
“T-That’s...”
“You didn’t look into the circumstances and carelessly caused our lady to be dragged to that terrible place!”
“......”
“Even if you didn’t know she was our lady, the Ishiron prince personally made a job for her, yet the children she requested were constantly mistreated.”
“......”
“Does the steward of the mansion know about this!?”
Heidi and Betty yelled in turns.
I glanced at them from my chair.
The steward quickly lowered his head after eye contact.
“Heidi, Betty.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Speak.”
The voice dripping honey replaced the shouts that had been like a tug of war with the Ishiron retainers.
“Enough. Astra can’t interfere in Ishiron’s affairs.”
The senior retainers of Ishiron flinched and raised their heads.
“L-Lady, that’s not—!”
Since I became Alexis’s fiancée, I was no longer ‘princess’ to them but ‘lady’.
Alexis looked at the steward coldly.
The steward quickly offered excuses.
“I have no excuse for not investigating the circumstances, Lady.”
“......”
“We had to be cautious not to cause a fuss as guests of another family, and also...”
“The head maid of Euroseg must have informed you of the recent uproar.”
“......!”
Judging by the expression, he really heard about the fight from Euroseg’s head maid.
“She must have guessed that Blony and the servants gang-bullied one maid.”
“T-That’s...”
“Still, trusting only Blony’s words and sending me to Hwangdo was greed for power.”
“Th-That’s, well, that is...”
“You, not the steward of higher rank, became the head of this procession. You sought to catch a traitor of the family in order to get a higher position.”
“......”
“If I weren’t the daughter of Count Astra, I would have died without reason.”
The steward’s face turned deathly pale.
The other senior retainers were the same.
‘They probably wanted to get scraps if the steward got promoted.’
Especially that middle-aged maid...
“How much did you get from Blony?”
“T-That’s...! That’s impossible, Lady!”
“Can you swear?”
The middle-aged maid froze.
I crossed my arms and glanced at Alexis.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll do as you wish.”
“If I ask to cut off her limbs?”
“As you wish.”
The senior retainers trembled.
They all kneeled at once and shouted,
“P-Pity us! Please spare us, Lady!”
“Please have mercy...!”
I sighed and glanced to the other side.
Blony’s gang had been kneeling and begging for an hour already.
“P-Please forgive us, forgive us... please, Lady...!”
Even the maid who first laid hands on me was sobbing.
I stood up.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you.”
The faces of the senior retainers and Blony’s gang brightened.
I smiled gently and continued.
“I’ll just inform Duke Ishiron. So don’t worry.”
“L-Lady...!”
Even retainers who circulate in other regions wouldn’t do such a thing.
They ruined their master’s plans for their own gain.
No noble family would ever forgive that.
Duke Ishiron would be furious as well.
“The young master will be served by Astra Count’s retainers. You will return immediately to Hwangdo.”
Because the punishment room you love so much will be opened for you.
Of course, it won’t be me who suffers, but you.
“L-Lady, please forgive us! If it becomes known that we entered the punishment room, we won’t be able to set foot in any family!”
I rubbed my forehead with an aching expression.
“Then do you want to stay here?”
If you don’t go up, you’ll die.
Our older brothers who grew up in Astra don’t know boundaries.
And...
“The older brothers are waiting outside the room.”
The senior and junior retainers, and even Blony’s gang started trembling.
Would it be better if the chief steward of Ishiron only took those truly guilty to the punishment room?
The steward saw my expression, shut his eyes tightly, and bowed his head.
“O-Okay, I’ll go up.”
Betty and Heidi shouted sharply.
“Get out of sight of the lady immediately!”
“Disappear!”
The retainers got up sobbing and left.
As they exited the room, I said,
“You stay.”
Blony flinched and looked at me.
Betty and Heidi quickly blocked Blony’s path.
After all the retainers left, I approached Blony.
“Why did you hate me so much?”
“W-Well, so... it’s just that...”
“Whatever. What does it matter now?”
Blony trembled and knelt.
“I-I was wrong, I was wrong...”
“The punishment room will definitely open at the Ishiron mansion in Hwangdo. At least three of you will surely go in.”
“L-Lady...”
“The big man who beat my maid, the steward who tried to open the punishment room knowing your words were false, and...”
You.
Without saying it, Blony swallowed hard, knowing I meant her.
“Thanks to them, the master’s plan was spectacularly ruined.”
“P-Pity me! I was wrong, I was wrong!”
“You won’t be able to set foot in any family in Hwangdo. You’ll have to go to the countryside, and I won’t just watch.”
“L-Lady!”
“The retainers who enter the punishment room or are kicked out of Ishiron will all blame you.”
“......!”
“Bad people always want to blame someone else.”
I met Blony’s eyes and smiled brightly.
“But there is a way to survive.”
“...Yes?”
“If you help me a bit.”
“H-How...?”
My expression changed instantly to a cold, indifferent one as I looked at Blony.
“Who bought the information from you?”
“Th-That... um, that is...”
“You only get one chance, Blony.”
Blony closed her eyes tight.
Then she began to speak hesitantly.
“A-a noble...”
“A noble?”
“Someone you know, Miss.”
Someone I know?
I narrowed my eyes.