# 56
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“Yes?”
I was so shocked by the maid's words that I felt my hair turning white.
'What kind of nonsense is this? …’
“So I looked it up and found something like this.”
My eyes opened wide when I saw what they presented as evidence.
It was the dress that the Duchess had prepared for me for a banquet while I was staying at the castle.
“This is what the lady bought me!”
I shouted urgently.
This dress, like Diana's, was one of my treasures, so I put it in a box deep in my closet.
Next to him, I carefully kept the letter Bianca had given me.
My eyes shook with shock and anger.
At that time, the maid who was holding the dress snorted.
“What? Did the lady buy it for you? No matter how beautiful the lady thinks you are, you are still a maid, but she bought you a dress, covered in jewels like this? This is an expensive dress and you couldn’t buy it even if you worked all your life and saved money, so you’re asking me to believe it?”
“It is the truth, ma'am...”
“Sonia, you're sure she did it, right? You saw this dress in the lady's closet.”
Then the maid who served Diana nodded.
“Huh, it's exactly the same, this kid must have stolen it.”
“Do you think you'll get away with daring to touch something that belongs to the missus?”
“I knew something like this would happen at some point! I can't believe she let a girl with such bad manners wander around the palace all this time.”
My blood ran cold at the conversation as I was already convinced I was a thief.
Even though it was unfair and I felt incredibly dirty, I tried to stay calm
“Ma’am, she bought me the same thing she bought for Miss. I didn’t steal, that’s true. If you don’t believe me, tell me...”
“Boohahahahaha.”
At this time, the maid who was holding the dress rolled her eyes, unable to hold back her laughter.
“Oh my God, look at how bold she is, are you telling such ridiculous lies now? Did you think I would be scared like this? Or are you afraid that the lady will overlook this just because she likes you?”
“It's not like that...”
I was about to refute it immediately because I felt like my heart was going to explode in frustration.
I found a crumpled letter rolling on the floor.
“How could you do something like this...”
At that moment, the maid's face, smiling with the corners of her mouth twisted, looked like a monster.
At the same time, I felt a strange and fierce desire to tear that maid apart.
It was the first time I felt like this.
She barely spoke with trembling lips.
“Really, I didn’t steal, it’s not a lie...”
At that moment, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
I feel like I've been through something like this before...
〈You insolent ar, how dare you steal from me?〉
〈Oh, no! I didn't steal it.〉
“...Haha.”
It was not an illusion.
Then and now.
I always wished with all my heart, but all I got in return was ridicule and neglect.
I gritted my teeth and laughed with a confused face.
The maids felt embarrassed when she suddenly laughed.
Gradually, the temperature in the room became cooler.
But on the contrary, my body was heating up with a strange heat.
A fiery pain arose in my heart, as if I had been struck by an arrow.
then.
“Bad people like you should be punished.”
One of the maids said coldly, and the other maids quickly grabbed my arm.
Then she grabbed the hem of my skirt and lifted it up.
Calves were detected.
While I was shaking with anger, the maid probably thought I was afraid and raised a long, thin stick with a slight sneer.
She said it as if she was threatening.
“About the orphan girl who has nowhere to go if she leaves here, do you think it makes sense for you, who has nothing to see, to go on such a rampage?”
The moment I heard those words, I realized the mistake I had made.
It was my fault for being so ordinary.
People who were jealous of me didn't want me to be loved even though I didn't have anything of their own.
In their eyes, I am neither beautiful nor attractive. …
I was so ordinary that it was beneath them and made them feel unsatisfied as to why I loved them and not them.
No matter how hard I try to be recognized, no matter how much I accomplish something, it can never be acknowledged.
The one who makes you open your white eyes and see.
easy.
It's easy.
An object that can be stepped on at any time.
I also know that I am ugly and worn out.
It also means that you are not great enough to receive that much love.
But I couldn't bear to be run over like that.
Finally, my chest became hot as if it were on fire.
“You know?”
I muttered as if I was spitting this hot fire.
“I've been taking care of you all this time.”
“What? You?”
“I really backed off, I was just trying to move forward quietly.”
It was true.
In fact, I can leave the Duchy of Elad at any time.
I am still young, and I need money and time to prepare for independence.
The only reason I didn't leave was because I thought I should return the Duke's kindness.
None of them were lies, but they were all just good excuses.
I could have taken the money I received from discovering Spliceia by just going to the bank right away, I didn't have to be here preparing for independence, and I could give back in other ways.
So in the end, it was my choice to continue working as a maid and endure such gossip and harassment.
Because I want to be by Diana's side.
Because I want to save the Duchess.
In this way, I promised myf that I would not be tied to other people in this life, and I ended up giving up my heart.
“This is stupid.”
“No way! Now you're showing your true colors, aren't you?”
The maid, who froze at my words, blushed and immediately raised the whip high in the air.
“Kyaaa!”
“Ahh!”
At that moment, the maids started screaming at the same time.
But all I could see before my eyes was red.
It was a flame
* * *
“Did I get the timing wrong?”
The Duke, who was entering the dining room, inclined his head.
Apparently it was dinner time, and there was only Allen at the table.
“Allen, what about the other family members?”
Allen shrugged as if he didn't know.
That was when the Duke sat down and said that he did not know what to say.
“Sorry, I'm a little late.”
The Duchess entered the dining room with Lucio.
"How did you two get together? Did we meet at the front of the road?"
“Oh, this...”
The Duchess, trailing off her words, smiled shyly.
“We had tea together a little while ago.”
"two?"
The Duchess nodded.
A joy that could not be hidden flowed from his face.
A smile appeared on the Duke's face when he saw this.
“Tomorrow the sun will rise in the west. What will happen on Earth?”
“I'm not sure what you're talking about.”
However, I quickly lost interest in my eldest son, who responded indifferently without any change in his expression.
“What about Diana and Leia?”
Even though the chairs in the dining room were completely full, they still felt empty.
If you think about it, the two girls were just gone, but the void created by the empty space was more than enough.
“Miss is still asleep, she was sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t wake her up, don’t worry, if she wakes up late, we will prepare a separate meal for her.”
The head maid answered in her usual stern tone.
After training, Allen went to visit Diana to no avail, and then remembered Leah, who wasn't even in the library he visited.
It was then that I clicked my tongue, thinking that the two were having a lot of fun.
“What about Leia? Even if Diana sleeps, I have to feed her dinner.”
“Well, since she wasn't there when I went to wake her up, I guess she was in the library or back at her dorm, there's also a restaurant available for use, so don't worry too much.”
Helen responded frankly to the Duchess's words.
Since she didn't want to eat Leia here from the beginning, the Duchess kept her mouth strangely closed.
I don't know if that's how she felt, but Helen looked very uncomfortable today.
“I'll get it!”
At that, Allen jumped out of his seat.
He was ready to find Leah and bring her to the library or dorm at any moment.
“It's a restaurant for ordinary people.”
Allen always believed that if a child was left to eat a little among the workers, there would be no way for him to eat properly because he would be watched.
The Duke and Duchess, who did not know this, seemed puzzled as they wondered why Allen, who usually spoke calmly to Leah, was taking care of her.
“Please come back.”
"Oh? Oh."
At that time, Lucio's unexpected approval came.
Although he was in a daze, Allen quickly turned around.
“Huh, huh, head maid.”
A maid burst into the dining room, her hair and clothes disheveled.
The head maid immediately frowned.
“What are you doing? How dare you act like this in a place like this...”
"I'm sorry! But it's very urgent!"
“What's going on here?”
The maid, who had finally discovered the Duke and his family, stopped at the sound of a low voice.
When she hesitated to speak, considering the head maid's perception, the Duke hardened his expression coldly.
“Do I have to ask twice to answer?”
“Well, houses are burning!”
The frightened maid cried.
At the same time, the Duchess's face turned white.
“In the dorm? No, one way or another....Leah!”
“How big is the fire?”
asked the Duke, who rose from his seat.
I was going to see the scene.
Then Helen stopped.
“I'll go and have a meal, it's raining outside, so it'll blow over soon, there's no need to move yourf for something that's not a big deal...”
"no."
then.
Lucio stood with a stern look on his face.
He had been indifferent to everything, but the moment he heard that there was a fire, he suddenly felt a distant sense of tension.
“Dad, you'd better go and see for yourf.”
As soon as Lucio finished speaking, the Duke jumped up from his seat.
When Allen saw Lucio following him, he also tried to move forward, but was stopped by the Duchess.
“Allen, stay here, mom will go and see.”
When the Duchess left the dining room, Allen, left alone, lost his strength and collapsed.
It felt like something big had happened.