Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Duke's Wrath
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The butler gazed down at the nurse, who had her head bowed low, savoring his triumph to the fullest before speaking in a mocking tone.
"Well now. This is a matter far beyond my authority, so I'm not sure if I can just let it slide on my own whim."
"I'll hand over my authority to manage the safe."
He clearly hadn't expected that—the butler's mouth fell open wide.
"Not only that, but you'll step back from handling all the estate's affairs, great and small, and focus solely on attending to the young lady and young master."
"Are you saying...?"
"From now on, I won't interfere in the slightest with how you exercise the butler's authority. So please, just end this matter by firing Betty."
"Hmm, I'm not sure if I can make such a major decision on my own."
He was pretending to play hard to get, but the butler's face was brimming with greedy delight.
The nurse has really made a huge sacrifice.
If she hands over all her authority, she'll be treated no better than an ordinary maid from here on out.
Yet she's enduring that just to protect Betty—and to safeguard Father and us siblings.
After putting on a show of mentally calculating for a good long while, the butler finally nodded as if he'd been beaten.
"I'll do my best to keep the other servants quiet about this."
"Thank you."
Only after the nurse endured the humiliation of bowing deeply to the butler once more did he finally leave my room along with her.
Tears were plopping down onto Betty's lap as she kept her head bowed.
The nurse, listening to her soft sobs with a weary expression, patted Betty's shoulder.
"Think of it as a vacation and take some time off for now."
"I'm sorry, Nurse. I'm so sorry, young lady. Because I couldn't hold back and stepped in again..."
"I heard about it from the other maids. It wasn't your fault at all. So don't cry like that."
"Those scum are saying the same awful things they said during Madam's funeral! I just couldn't bear it!"
"I know."
Flames of anger flickered in the nurse's eyes as she patted Betty's back.
"Once Master returns, everything will be resolved. Until then, go home and rest up."
Even after the nurse's comforting words, Betty wept for a long while.
"Ah, that jewelry shop looks good this time. Stop there for a bit."
How many shopping trips was this now?
Clothes, hats, shoes—and now jewelry.
Having been dragged around unilaterally by Yasmin all day, my feet were already swollen inside my shoes.
Yet as soon as the carriage stopped in front of the jewelry shop, Yasmin half-forcibly pulled me out.
"Your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it, young lady? I'll pick out something nice for you today."
Ever since the butler had taken away the nurse's authority over the safe, the servants from the main family had been growing shinier and more brazen by the day.
I had no idea how much they were fleecing us under the excuses of my approaching birthday and Father's return.
If only Dietrich or I were just a few years older.
No, even if it were just big brother Erich here, they wouldn't dare treat our house like this.
Yasmin positioned me in front of the display case, pretending to dote on me, and stroked my hair with her cold hand.
She chewed Betty out for daring to touch the master's body without permission.
She doesn't even see me as the real master.
"Pick one you like."
"I don't know much about jewels..."
"Of course not. Still, at least make a show of it. You're the duke's granddaughter, after all—you need to develop at least enough discernment not to embarrass yourself."
Her tone was soft and gentle, but the words cut like a blade.
I couldn't defy Yasmin's glare and reluctantly leaned toward the display case.
Just a little longer. I can endure it.
Once Father returns soon, I can fix all this easily.
"This red one."
"You had a red dress fitted today, and now you want rubies too? How tacky."
Then just pick for me yourself!
I knew she was making me choose just to mock and belittle me, but I had no choice—I pointed to the emerald again.
"What about this gween one?"
"You really have no eye for this at all, young lady."
...Blessed are those who endure.
The old saying goes that three bags of patience can forgive even murder.
"This one shiny pwetty. What about this?"
She couldn't criticize my taste for picking a diamond, surely.
With that thought, I pointed to the sparkling diamond necklace, and Yasmin's eyes gleamed with greed before she curled her lip.
"Picking such a cheap setting. You have so much to learn."
On the flip side, one act of murder could save three bags of patience.
"Sowwy. Wanted to give this diamond to Yasmin as pwesent..."
"What? A diamond to me?"
I drooped my eyebrows like a sulky child, and Yasmin's eyes widened dramatically.
"Yasmin no wike, so no."
"Ah, n-no. Looking closer, it seems decent enough."
As I gazed at Yasmin's face gleaming with avarice, I slyly lifted the corner of my mouth.
"No. Looking cwose, diamond no match Yasmin. Diamond on pig neck."
"Pig neck with diamond?"
"Yeah. Hindwi said that. Mariella wearn lots fwom you wesentwy?"
Getting mad yet? Infuriating enough to want to hit me?
Yeah. Channel that rage—hit me instead!
In a public place like this, if Yasmin laid a hand on me physically, I could turn the tables completely.
Unfortunately, Yasmin wasn't an idiot.
She glanced around once, tamped down her fury, clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, then lowered her voice.
"That's why you're just the daughter of a commoner."
Father was the duke's eldest son, so "commoner" must refer to Mother.
Seemingly pleased that the smile had vanished from my face, Yasmin grew even bolder.
"Shall I tell you what Betty overheard last time?"
She casually spilled words that Betty had kept sealed even when facing execution to protect me.
"Your mother was truly blessed, wasn't she? A lowly commoner like her got buried in the ducal family tomb all because she died."
I was so stunned I couldn't speak, and the coachman slyly inserted himself into the conversation.
"The nanny's right. They could've just tossed that corpse to the monsters for fodder, but they took it back and laid it in the family mausoleum. The duke bestowed a great favor."
"And yet the branch family seems to have forgotten that grace."
"Couldn't you teach them properly from now on, nanny?"
"I'd love to, but the master is coming back."
"A prodigal who abandoned his house for a commoner—think he's a big deal? You have the trust of the next duke, the little lord..."
The coachman's words didn't reach their end.
Because the tips of his fingers had dried up like a mummy's, shriveling away in real time.
Witnessing a human body wither before my eyes, I froze solid.
"Who was it you said was fine to toss as monster fodder? Shall we hear it again?"
Amid the coachman's belated, tearing scream, a man slowly revealed himself.
Jet-black hair.
A black military uniform enveloping his entire body.
Golden eyes—the only spot of color—burning fiercely like they held flames.
A beast coldly looking down at the coachman, whose skin was now shrinking from his hands across his whole body, reduced to choked gasps as even his breath failed.
I instinctively knew it was my father.
"L-Leopoldt...!"
Yasmin, who had blurted out Father's name without thinking, clapped a hand over her mouth in shock and slowly backed away.
Father's gaze fell indifferently upon her.
Terrified by that look, Yasmin screamed and bolted toward the jewelry shop's single door.
Or tried to.
If not for the dozens of ice blades that plummeted right in front of her feet.
Yasmin crumpled to the ground amid the shards of ice.
"You seem to lack the strength for it, so I'll hear the answer from you instead. Who was it you said was fine to toss as monster fodder? Speak."
As Father advanced on Yasmin, cloaked in a bluish glow, the only sound filling the shop was the heavy tread of his military boots.