Chapter 34: The Letter Thief
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: The Letter Thief
“Who sent you to spy on us?”
“A-A spy?! No, absolutely not! I was just…!”
Wait, he’s actually going to stab her.
The razor-sharp tip of a blade was pressed right against the girl’s throat.
Why is he suddenly losing his cool like this?
Norton was never exactly the friendly type, but this level of aggression was unfamiliar.
Then again, he was a knight of the North; it seemed he was merciless when it came to matters directly affecting the castle’s security. Seeing that he looked ready to cut the girl down at any moment, I hurriedly reached out to stop him.
“That’s enough, Sir Norton. Lower your sword.”
At my command, Norton withdrew his blade immediately. However, he didn’t sheathe it, keeping it in his hand as if ready to strike again at a moment's notice.
Seeing me as her only lifeline, the girl suddenly lunged toward me and grabbed the hem of my dress.
“Your Highness! I—I just thought the paper looked expensive…! I thought you were throwing it away! I wasn't trying to steal it, I swear!”
“F-First, stand up.”
Perhaps sensing a weakness in my flustered tone, the girl began to cling to me even more desperately. Norton’s sword hand twitched.
“I am truly not a spy! Your Highness! Please, have mercy just this once!”
If she really is just a petty thief, it’s not a huge deal, but…
If I let a spy go because I failed to recognize them and something happened later, the fallout would be difficult to handle. It seemed better to let the Grand Duke handle this rather than getting involved myself.
I was about to ask Norton if there was a place to detain the girl until then.
That was when I saw someone in a maid’s uniform running toward us at breakneck speed.
…Reta?
Unlike her usual stoic self, Reta’s face was contorted with such distress it looked like it might burst.
“Hah… Your Highness!”
Reta, her hair a disheveled mess, fell to her knees right in front of me.
“I… gasp, gasp… I gave it to her! That stationery… huff… I’m the one who gave it to her!”
Ah… I see.
I realized why the girl’s face had looked so familiar.
The girl and Reta looked exactly alike.
*
I brought Reta and the girl into the parlor of my room. It wasn't a good look for the other servants to witness this scene.
Before I knew it, Whitley appeared and poured warm tea. Admiring his exceptional intuition, I took a small sip to moisten my dry throat.
“Now, tell me. What is going on?”
Reta, clutching her apron tightly, was just about to open her mouth.
Knock, knock.
A sharp, stiff knock echoed through the room.
“Your Highness, I am coming in.”
The parlor door swung open, and a middle-aged woman I had never seen before entered, followed by a line of maids.
She hadn't even waited for permission to enter.
“I am Marzella, the Head Maid. I greet Your Highness.”
The middle-aged woman stepped closer and bowed her head.
“I apologize for causing you concern with such a disgraceful matter.”
On the surface, her manner seemed impeccable, but for a subordinate to speak first without being addressed was incredibly rude.
Furthermore, while her tone was polite, her expression didn't look sorry at all.
“The Head Maid?”
I reacted with feigned surprise as if I were hearing the title for the first time, but I actually knew the Grand Duke’s Castle had a Head Maid.
Whitley had previously informed me about the ‘special circumstances’ of the castle.
A few days ago, while walking around my room after dinner, I had looked out the window and seen a line of maids being led out of the main castle.
— “Female servants are not permitted to stay in the main castle outside of working hours.”
The maids of the main castle entered through a designated passage following the Head Maid at sunrise to work, and at sunset, they all clocked out together to their quarters in the West Annex.
In the past, even night duty was handled by male servants.
However, after my arrival, the Grand Duke had been considerate enough to assign maids for night duty, while simultaneously restricting them from using the central staircase he frequented.
The person leading them outside that evening had been this Head Maid.
Even without that, the name Marzella was already familiar to me.
“Please forgive me for only greeting you now, as I have not had the opportunity before.”
After offering her self-serving greeting, Marzella lifted her head and shot a glance at Reta.
“I have been informed of the situation. It is my responsibility for failing to filter out a maid with light fingers. I shall punish her severely to ensure such a thing never happens again.”
To think she would reach her own conclusion before I, the Grand Duchess, had even spoken.
Her arrogant attitude made my brow furrow involuntarily.
She’s not even a Head Lady-in-Waiting, just a mere Head Maid, and she’s acting like this? Have I adapted to the hierarchy of this world too quickly? Why am I so pissed off?
When I remained silent, Marzella took it as silent consent and nodded. Two maids standing behind her crept forward as if to seize Reta.
“Wait. What do you think you’re doing?”
The maids flinched at my words.
I swallowed a sigh, trying my best not to take my anger out on the wrong people.
“I will decide this girl’s fate after I have heard the full story.”
“I do not wish to burden Your Highness with such a trivial matter. If you leave it to me…”
“I am the one who decides whether this is a trivial matter or not.”
“But Your Highness.”
As my tone grew firmer, the Head Maid tilted her chin up.
“Governing the maids is my jurisdiction. I ask that you respect the role of the Head Maid so that I may fulfill my duties in this castle.”
Hah, look at this.
Do I really look that pathetic to her?
The Grand Duke treated me as the mistress of the house, but he hadn't officially handed over the management of the household to me. Since I was on a one-year contract, I hadn't intended to get deeply involved in the castle’s affairs right away, but…
What? Respect her role?
A mere Head Maid is lecturing the Grand Duchess about respect?
It’s not like she knows about my contract with the Grand Duke. Do I really look like such a fool?
In this hierarchy, there wasn't a soul who didn't know the immense power my position as Grand Duchess held.
Therefore, the Head Maid’s attitude was clearly born from either knowing too little about me—or knowing too much.
If it was the former, she thought of me as a naive, young lady who was easy for subordinates to manipulate.
If it was the latter, she had realized that I wasn't the daughter of a powerful Marquis as rumored, nor a wife who held any real sway over the Grand Duke.
Either way, the fact remained that she saw me as a joke.
I shook my head inwardly.
Did I really cross over into another world as a Marquis’s daughter and a Grand Duchess just to be ignored like this?
In my world before this one, there were plenty of times I wanted to blow my top.
But in all those moments, I endured and stayed patient.
It wasn't because I was kind or big-hearted. It was simply because I had no power and no backing, so I didn't even have the right to express my true self.
That’s what I thought.
But even after being reincarnated, I’m still being looked down upon like a pushover.
Why has nothing changed? Is the problem me, after all? Is it my fault for being underestimated and ignored?
Blood rushed to my head, and I felt an unpleasant pressure in my temples.
“Respect? Do you dare try to place yourself on equal footing with me, the mistress of this castle?”
As my voice rose, a flicker of unexpected alarm crossed the Head Maid’s face. Marzella quickly lowered her eyes.
“Of course not. I am merely pleading with you not to invalidate the work this old woman has done her entire life.”
Old woman, my foot.
Compared to Whitley, she looked incredibly young.
In the real world, she was at an age where she wouldn't even be called a grandmother, let alone an "old woman."
I glanced at Whitley; he was also watching Marzella with a subtle, unreadable gaze.
“You have a funny way of speaking. Asking me not to invalidate your life’s work?”
I realized then that acting like a tyrant required no effort at all.
Recalling the various clients I’d dealt with in the past, an arrogant and insolent tone flowed out of me without any practice.
“Whitley, who has the authority to govern the maids?”
“That would, of course, be Her Highness the Grand Duchess, the mistress of the castle.”
Whitley replied calmly, his voice devoid of emotion. I saw Marzella’s fist tighten as she gripped her skirt.
Even without sensing the atmosphere, it was clear the two of them weren't on friendly terms.
“And yet, a mere Head Maid dares to warn me not to encroach on her territory? On something that wasn't even her authority to begin with?”
Marzella bit her lip, seemingly caught off guard by the fact that I had dragged Whitley into this.
“I did not mean it in that way, but until Your Highness arrived, it has always been…”
“I am here now, so forget how things used to be.”
I cut Marzella off coldly.