# Chapter 15
Of course, if that happened, she was planning to give Sarah a large sum of money so that she wouldn't have to live as a servant. From Sarah's perspective, second marriages were common among the common people, so it would not have been a great loss. She could even return to her homeland.
“Even if Ekyan somehow comes back... you seem like someone who knows how to back off rationally.”
But there was no need to think about Sarah anymore. Isabella put her fork down.
The fewer people who know about this, the better. Since Judith already knew about her plan, it made sense for her to be the one to carry it out. In addition, Isabella was already beginning to like Judith.
“Okay then, Karl, after you finish your dessert, go upstairs. I have to get ready to meet our guest in the garden.”
"a guest?"
“Yes. I will introduce it to you later.”
Judith was to join the family as Ekian's wife, and would live with Karl for several months. But since Karl was still young, Isabella didn't intend to tell him the truth yet.
Karl did not show much interest when he heard that the introduction to the guest would be postponed, so he replied indifferently:
“Okay.”
Isabella watched Karl start eating the dessert with his fork, then she got up lightly and headed towards the garden.
Judith had previously mentioned how beautiful the roses were in the garden, so Isabella planned to place the tea table near them.
Although she could have left these minor details to the maids, she wanted to choose the place herf. As she was walking around the garden, admiring the beautiful rose branches, it happened.
"my lady!"
A woman rushed towards her, grabbing the edges of her skirt with her hands. Her curly red hair was tied up with a simple cloth, and she was wearing a simple beige dress with shoes that looked a bit worn out. It was Judith.
Isabella furrowed her eyebrows and muttered in a low voice:
“…Judith?”
Although they had made an appointment, it was too early for tea time. Lunch had barely finished. Judith had always been calm and composed, and never seemed like someone to act on impulse. Isabella stared in astonishment at Judith's sudden appearance.
Karl finished eating the dessert under the butler’s gaze, and then got up. He was careful not to worry his mother. After that, head to the back garden.
“Young master.”
Sarah greeted him with a bright smile as she sat on a bench among the flowers.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
"Yes."
“I'm sure the lady was happy about that.”
Karl nodded and said: “Yes, but we didn’t finish the meal together.”
"Oh? Why?"
“My mother had to go to the park to prepare for a guest, so she left early.”
A soft smile appeared on Sarah's lips. Although she already knew why, she asked the question to be sure.
Indeed, the Duchess and the rest of the maids were in the garden. This was consistent with the information I had gathered that morning.
Sarah watched quietly as Carl jumped onto the swing in the park. As he sat there and moved his feet, a ghostly image of a young man who had once pushed the swing for him flashed before her.
Five years ago…
When it was just Ekian, Karl, and Sarah, it was like she was flying through the sky. No other maid spent as much time with the young masters as she did. This alone made her heart soar higher than Karl's swing.
“This was something only I, Sarah Otten, could do.”
Despite the jealousy and envy of others, they admitted that it was possible for her to achieve this.
After all, Sarah was the most beautiful and smartest of the maids. She learned to read quickly without a teacher, and was fluent in foreign languages.
“A woman like me was not supposed to remain just a maid.”
The envy directed at her increased her f-confidence, confirmed to her that she was different from other maids, and justified her ambitions.
Many servants in the palace fell in love with her, but she did not care about any of them.
Her goal was to marry Ekian. Although a nobleman marrying a maid was rare, it was not impossible. Even fairy tales were full of such tales.
Even the imperial family would sometimes marry commoners in the name of love, although these marriages did not last long. But at least they got married.
“I was Ekian’s childhood friend.”
Sarah ignored the fact that Ekian always kept a clear distance between them.
Every night she would sit on the swing where Carl was sitting, and move her feet while imagining:
“If I stay close enough to Karl, Ekian will eventually open his heart to me. I am beautiful and smart.”
She believed that although she was born into an unsuitable family, she was destined for a noble life.
One day, she will become the master who commands the maids beneath her within the Maius family.
"I'm not like the common people. I'm practically a noble."
She was convinced that she and Ekyan were right for each other, and that he was the only man worthy of her.
That's why, when Ekyan disappeared, Sarah couldn't believe that her dreams had collapsed.
The idea of returning to the life of an ordinary maid was a crushing defeat for her.
Although she never achieved the status of nobility, she felt as if the love she had held for years had been stolen from her.
Maybe that's why she found such a twisted pleasure in manipulating Carl.
She could not bear to lose control of the life she thought was so close to nobility.
“Look, Karl listens to me alone.”
The child genius, Carl, was counting on her. By corrupting the last heir of the Maius family, Sarah was destroying the duchy itf.
“This family is mine. I am different from the other maids!”
After the Duchess had gone and kept the prying eyes away, Sarah took a small bottle from her pocket.
“Young Master, here it is. This is the medicine that will help you vomit after every meal. I had to go to the city myf to get it last night.”
Karl's eyes sparkled with joy as he took the bottle from Sarah, and asked excitedly:
“Really… if I stop growing, become very sick, and remain weak, do you think my brother will come back?”
"naturally."
“I have already done what you asked of me. I sent the teacher away, and refused the horsemanship training.”
Karl tightened his grip on the bottle and added firmly:
“Oh, nothing matters to me more than your well-being, young master.”
Sarah smiled and stroked his head tenderly.
And suddenly—
“No!”
With a sharp scream, someone suddenly rushed over and knocked the bottle out of Karl's hand.
ooo