Chapter 14: The Brilliant Ploy
The next day at the Restis Ducal Residence.
The mornings at the grand estate were always bustling with energy. Dozens of servants and maids hurried about, dusting away the night's grime and preparing for the day ahead. But today, an unusual topic of chatter dominated the conversations by the well in the back garden.
"Hey, did you guys see? The eldest young master who showed up at the main gate yesterday."
"Oh, I heard! They say he's come back looking amazing. Even the knights are buzzing about it—not like that skeletal invalid from before."
A young maid clasped her hands together, her voice flushed with excitement as she chimed in. "Kyaa! I caught a glimpse from afar! His jet-black hair was so glossy. I've never seen such cold, captivating black locks in my life!"
"Right, right. His eyes are completely different too. Like they pierce right through you, but with this strangely languid vibe... The kind of devilish charm that once you're hooked, you can't escape...?"
As the maids chattered away in high spirits, Ella, passing by with a laundry basket, shot them a look of utter disbelief.
Ha...? Devilish charm?
Ella barely suppressed a scoff. Just a few years ago, before she left for the annex, the estate servants had dismissed Young Master Kael as nothing more than a "jinxed invalid" or "that pitiful kid from the previous wife who's bound to drop dead any day." Even when she was assigned to the annex, they'd all clicked their tongues in pity.
And now, overnight, they were fawning over how dashing the young master was? Ella felt a strange mix of emotions. It was great that the young master she served was finally getting recognition, but there was also this petty annoyance, like someone had stolen a treasure she'd kept all to herself.
Gossiping about the master's looks or flaws was commonplace among maids in noble houses, so it wasn't anything new.
Whatever. No need to stir up trouble. If it's good, it's good.
As Ella quietly tried to slip away, one of the maids spotted her and grabbed her arm with a squeal. "Hey, hey, Ella! Perfect timing. Spill it quick—what happened to the young master up in those mountains? Why's he suddenly so hot? Huh? Ugh, I should've applied to be an annex maid!!"
Ella's shoulders shrugged at the maid's blatant envy. "What do you mean 'suddenly'? Our young master was always handsome and top-notch deep down. You seniors just couldn't see his true value."
"Tch, fine, you're the smart one. But don't hog it—tell us! A sickly, handsome young master alone with a young maid in a rundown mountain annex... Ugh!! Doesn't the setup alone make your heart race? It's straight out of a romance novel!"
As the maids squealed and dove into fantasies, Ella snorted in exasperation. "Pfft, what are you on about? That's disrespectful to the young master, our future heir! And it wasn't just us two—there was a guard, and a dog too."
"Disrespectful? We're just ogling a noble young master from afar and getting our thrills. In this grind of maid life, it's our one guilty pleasure. Hehe."
"Nothing happened. If anything, it was too quiet—that was the problem."
Ella's words were the truth. The miracle unfolding now had happened like magic over the past month.
"No way, liar! Come on, tell us! What really went down at the annex?!"
Unlike Weger, who had picked a fight with the guard captain the moment they arrived and ended up wrapped head to toe in bandages, Ella was adapting smoothly to estate life amid the maids' lighthearted banter.
But their cheerful gossip didn't last long.
"Do you lot have time to stand around chitchatting?"
The maids' shoulders stiffened at the chilly voice. The ducal maids were divided into first-, second-, and third-class ranks, each overseen by a supervisor, with a head maid overseeing them all.
The one who had appeared behind the third-class maids chattering with Ella was their notoriously strict supervisor.
The third-class maids grabbed their brooms and laundry, mumbling excuses as they scattered. "I-I still have the second-floor hallway to clean, so..."
"I'll go help in the kitchen!"
They vanished like the tide, and as Ella bowed and turned to leave, the supervisor called out dryly. "Ella, you stay."
Ella halted. "Yes, Supervisor? What is it?"
"It's about the young master's meals. You've served him exclusively at the annex for years, so you must know his tastes and constitution best."
"Ah, yes. Of course. I have every food he likes and every ingredient to avoid memorized."
"Then follow me to the kitchen. You'll hand over his dietary details to the head chef."
The supervisor strode ahead, and Ella followed with a puzzled tilt of her head. Preparing the young master's meals in the main kitchen was standard procedure, but an inexplicable unease prickled her spine.
At the same time, in the acting lord's office.
A heavy silence hung in the room as Silina Restis fidgeted irritably with her teacup.
"So, you're saying the guard captain lost to that nobody guard of the eldest young master's—enough to break his arm?"
The white-haired head butler standing beside her bowed his head. "Yes, Acting Lady. The report states that this Weger fellow used some bizarre swordsmanship to subdue the captain in an instant. The young master then officially appointed him as his personal escort on that pretext."
Crunch— Silina ground her teeth as if they might shatter.
She had thrown that move to sever the young master's limbs, and he had crushed it right in front of her eyes. Her plan had been to reassign Weger to the guards and buy him off later, but now the bastard was glued to Kael's side as his official bodyguard.
Damn it. Lost a card right from the start.
The most common and effective method in noble assassinations was to bribe or coerce a trusted aide with money or power into poisoning their food or stabbing them in the back.
Hmph, you think that's my only play?
Still, for Silina—who always prepared multiple contingencies—losing even one card was enough to unsettle her.
Watching her brow furrow deeply in thought, the butler stepped forward cautiously. "You seem deeply troubled, Acting Lady."
"Can't you tell? My head's about to explode—shut up and don't make it worse."
Even under her irritated rebuke, the butler maintained his unflappable smile. "Please quell your anger. This old servant has a small but useful way to ease your burdens."
"What? A way? You have a solution for this mess? Out with it."
The shrewd, cunning head butler—an unparalleled figure among the servants, rising from the lowest ranks to his position. He stayed by Silina's side thanks to their shared mindset and love for scheming.
Glancing around, he leaned close and whispered. "You're fixating too much on one issue, Acting Lady."
"One issue?"
"Yes. You're solely obsessed with 'killing' Young Master Kael."
"You asking because you truly don't know why?"
As Silina shot him a sharp glare, the butler politely shook his head. "No. I know your will all too well, which is why I dare offer this advice."
At his calm demeanor, Silina crossed her arms, signaling him to continue.
"Your ultimate goal isn't taking Young Master Kael's life itself, but seating your own son, young master Esler, as the unassailable heir of House Restis, correct?"
Silina snorted as if it were obvious. "Naturally. Though the succession contest is a hassle, Esler has the support and talent to claim the lordship with ease."
"That's why I suggest this."
The butler's dull eyes gleamed. "Instead of the risks of assassinating the young master, why not tarnish his reputation inside and out, forcing him to withdraw from the succession on his own?"
Silina's expression shifted instantly. "Hoh... Go on."
"The duchy is vast, with endless big and small problems. You burn the midnight oil here handling the territory's affairs, don't you?"
"And?"
"There's that massive headache you already know about."
"!!!"
At the butler's hint, a spark flashed in Silina's mind. Her vision had narrowed in panic. Normally as sly as a fox, her cold reason had frozen at Kael's unexpected return in perfect health.
A venomous smile slowly crept across Silina's lips. "Hoh... As expected of my long-time butler. Your insight surpasses mine."
"I apologize, Acting Lady."
"Yes... In a month, the lord will return from his long monster subjugation. If we assign that thorny territory issue to Kael as an official duty right now..."
The butler continued. "As the duke's son, handling a crisis is his duty. If the young master fails, His Grace will be deeply disappointed and enraged upon return. He'll feel the limits of his bedridden eldest son keenly."
"And if he dies carrying it out, we remove the thorn without a drop of blood on our hands. A true boon."
"Indeed, Acting Lady. Only gains for us."
"Kuh... Kuhuhuhuhu."
Silina's low, sinister chuckle echoed through the office. It had been ages since she'd heard a ploy this satisfying.
"Excellent. Go immediately to the knight commander with my emergency standby order. Duration: one month. Pretext: strengthening the castle's internal defenses and security before the lord's return. I'll prepare the official decree stamped with my acting seal—make sure he follows it to the letter."
Silina aimed to block any chance of Kael pulling knights for the mission using his status. An acting lord's decree held the same weight as the duke's in the territory. Even the eldest son couldn't freely drag knights into danger.
The task she planned to dump on him had a failure rate exceeding ninety percent without a large force of elite knights.
"Perfect. Flawless. Now, the only issue is how to foist this duty on Kael naturally..."
As Silina rubbed her chin in thought, the butler bowed with a meaningful smile. "Worry not. I've already arranged things discreetly. Once you give the order, the young master will have no choice but to accept."
"Hoh? Truly? You sound confident."
"I've served you for twenty years. This old servant's setup will surely please you."
"Hahaha! Fine, let's see your script play out."
Silina's carefree laughter spilled out from the tightly shut office door, echoing down the hallway.