Chapter 7

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Taming the Maids
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A wicked thrill ran through me at the sight of her. I released her, pulling my hand away as if tearing it from her lips.

Marie cupped her swollen lips, letting out a pained whimper. Her shoulders heaved violently, a clear sign she was choking back tears.

“Tell me.”

“I-It was Yonel. Yonel told me.”

Marie managed to answer, gasping for breath.

“Who is she? Where does she work?”

“She serves Lady Roena.”

“Oh, is that so? I see. A maid who serves Roena… You two must be quite close for her to rush such news to you.”

“Yes. W-We’re close.”

“Are you? Then you should maintain that friendship.”

You’ll be needing her help often from now on. With that, I gave a sweet smile and stroked Marie’s cheek.

“Now, shall we talk about you and Mago?”

At my words, Marie’s lips trembled. She couldn’t even meet my gaze, likely out of fear. It seemed the thought of discussing the head maid who oversaw all the others was making her quite anxious. After all, Mago was the one currently running the household.

I whispered in a sweet tone, as if to soothe her.

“I’m not trying to discuss anything out of the ordinary. I already know that Mago has been using you and the other maids to try and insult me.”

“That’s not true. It’s really not.”

“Be honest. Why did you come to me? What were you trying to achieve by getting me under your thumb? I’m asking you to tell me why you did what you did this morning.”

“I was wrong, Young Miss. I’ll never do it again. I won’t do anything like that from now on. I swear.”

“Does that mean you’re willing to help me? That you’ll do anything I ask? Even if I do this to you.”

As I finished speaking, I traced her jawline with my finger before gently wrapping my hand around her neck. The poor girl, paralyzed with fear, could barely breathe, her eyes wide.

I tightened my grip on her throat. Slowly, gradually, ever so slowly. I made sure she felt the utmost terror.

“Shh, stay still now. Yes, that’s a good girl.”

Already overwhelmed by my presence, she didn’t even dare to resist. She could only weep, desperately begging for my forgiveness.

“I was wrong, Young Miss. I won’t do it again. Please, spare me. Please.”

But I ignored her pleas. I needed to imprint myself upon Marie as a figure of fear. To make her understand that I, who could kill her at any moment, was the master of her life.

So I only released my grip when her tongue lolled from her breathless lips. I watched with a sneer as her body twitched like an insect, and then, as she convulsed with a desperate gasp for air, I stroked her hair and whispered sweetly.

“My sweet Marie. Go to Mago right now. Tell her that the foolish young lady forgave you when you begged and sobbed about how wrong you were. Then beg her for another chance, and promise you won’t fail next time.”

Marie nodded. Her tear-filled eyes reflected a deep-seated fear of Cisse Vischwartz—of me.

Only then did I feel a sense of satisfaction. I curled my lips into a smile and spoke in a near whisper.

“Yes, that’s all you have to do. And in return, I’ll make sure Mago can’t punish you.”

Then, to calm the girl who was frozen stiff with fear, I unclasped the bracelet I was wearing and gave it to her.

“This is a small compensation for what just happened. You can forget about it, can’t you? No, you must. That’s the only way we’ll get along from now on.”

Marie nodded blankly, her expression a confused mix of fear, sorrow, and a flicker of joy. What I saw dwelling in her eyes was ‘greed’.

She stared at it with a passion that seemed to erase the unjust treatment she had just received. Her vacant, mesmerized gaze was almost laughable. With this, I was certain Marie would now follow my orders.

A short while later, another maid came to see me. A woman with red hair and a somewhat haughty air introduced herself as Seril, saying she had come on my stepfather’s orders. I burst out laughing at her very familiar face.

Oh, yes. There’s no way I’d forget you. You were one of Roena’s loyal maids, weren’t you?

The insolent eyes of a maid assigned to serve me, yet who dared to look me straight in the eye, were filled with discontent. I licked my lips and commanded Marie.

“Marie, go and do as we just discussed. I have something to talk about with Seril.”

Whether the punishment had been effective or not, Marie left the room without a word of protest.

I watched her go with a satisfied smile before turning to Seril. To the woman who was bewildered by the strange turn of events, I offered my sweetest smile and whispered in a low voice.

“Shall we have a little chat?”

A very simple one.

***

Before I returned, I was a girl who couldn’t hide her tomboyish nature. The eye of the storm, you could say. Trivial quarrels constantly erupted around me, and I often found myself swept up in them. Behind it all was my own foul temper, which I had little patience for.

I especially couldn’t stand hearing people speak ill of my mother. No, I couldn’t endure it. If anyone so much as looked like they were about to say a word against her, I would lunge at them and beat them to a pulp. Even if it meant I got hurt myself while tearing them to shreds.

A worthless thing like honor meant less to me than the sorrow right before my eyes. So I would bite and claw until I drew blood. I didn’t care if they called me a crazy bitch. In fact, I’d shout back proudly, “So what? You got a problem with that?” So, dealing with a wench like Seril was nothing.

It’s an undeniable fact that a little punishment can be the best medicine for a dog that won’t listen, isn’t it? I had learned this truth early on through past experience.

I glanced at Seril, sprawled on the floor, and opened the door. Marie was standing right outside—I don’t know when she’d returned—and let out a strangled scream the moment our eyes met. Her restlessly darting eyes held a look of utter terror.

“You’re back sooner than I expected. Did Mago listen to you?”

When I asked with a bright smile, Marie simply nodded furiously, her face pale as a sheet, instead of answering.

I deliberately feigned ignorance of her feelings. Instead, I stepped aside slightly, giving her a clear view of Seril lying in the center of the room.

“It seems she’s not feeling well. She just collapsed like that while we were talking. So you’ll have to check on her condition.”

“M-Me?”

Marie asked again, swallowing hard. She seemed unable to comprehend the situation—it was like I was offering medicine after causing the illness. After all, young ladies of other noble houses only punished their maids; they never offered treatment.

When I nodded firmly and said, “Yes, you,” a strange light flickered across her face. Marie approached Seril hesitantly, repeatedly glancing back to gauge my expression.

“Look after her carefully. Make sure she’s able to get up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Marie looked at me as if I’d said something absurd. She looked so pathetic it was almost enough to stir a flicker of pity in me. I shrugged with a smile so bright it was almost spiteful. Then I replied in a casual voice.

“Yes, tomorrow.”

In truth, Seril was in bad shape. Even I couldn’t guarantee she would be able to get up tomorrow. But I wasn’t the one treating her. So what did I care about her circumstances?

“Is that difficult?”

Marie answered in a quiet voice. A faint sob was woven into her resigned words. The poor girl seemed to be crying all the tears she would have cried in a lifetime, all because of me today.

“No. It’s not, Young Miss. I can do it.”

“Good. That’s how it should be.”

I had no intention of letting Seril leave my room until she obeyed me completely. It was far more convenient to instill bone-deep obedience in her beforehand than to whip her into shape every time something happened.

Her absence might cause a few problems, but it would be a minor incident, not something significant enough for anyone to question me about in detail. Who could say anything if I decided to keep my own maid with me for a few days because I needed her?

Besides, Mago, the head maid, would be keeping her head down and watching my stepfather’s mood for the next few days, so there was no one who could interfere with me. Thus, I could leave the room with peace of mind, leaving Seril in Marie’s care.

After a few turns down the corridor, a familiar room came into view, its door emblazoned with the count’s family crest.

It was my mother’s room. Just as in the past, she was residing in the countess’s chambers. I knocked lightly on the door to announce my presence.

My mother must have been enjoying her teatime, as she was sitting at a table by the window, sipping tea. With Roena.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight of her sitting across from my mother. I couldn’t understand why she was with her.

“Mother.”

I scurried over to my mother, kissed her on both cheeks, and then hugged her tightly. It was a petty display of affection.

My mother didn’t seem to mind my childishness, smiling lightly as she stroked my hair. Normally, she would have gently chided me, asking why a grown girl was acting like a little lamb, but she seemed to be letting it go, considering what had just happened.

“Are you all right?”

I nodded at my mother’s whispered question and answered cheerfully.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Compared to before, that is.

In the past, I constantly suffered from overwork and lack of sleep. The skin beneath my eyes was always dark, deeply shadowed with fatigue.

Four hours of sleep on a good night, two on a bad one.

It couldn’t be helped; those were the days when I had to desperately carve out every second just to barely keep up with Roena.

Even if it meant my molars cracked from holding marbles in my mouth all day for elegant pronunciation, or I had to shave down the thick calluses on my heels from dance practice over and over again. My body was breaking down because of it, but I stubbornly endured it all, driven by my obsession with her.

But no matter how hard I tried, I could never surpass Roena. All I was left with were the physical aftereffects. My unbalanced lifestyle had me coughing up blood on several occasions, and eventually, my body started rejecting food to the point where I couldn’t even swallow a spoonful of soup.

My once voluptuous and well-proportioned body withered away until I was like a skeleton. My face was a wreck from exhaustion, but there was nothing I could do.

Since makeup wouldn’t even stick to my skin, I had to be content with applying a paste of pearl powder, water, and flour. My body was so ruined that someone once called me a walking ghost.

And yet, I never gave up. Not until I finally recognized the reality I was given, not until I was toyed with by that bastard called fate and ultimately forced to kneel and surrender at its feet—not for a single moment did I ever let go of my desire to surpass Roena.

The words ‘I want to quit’ often rose to the tip of my tongue, but I always held them back. I endured and endured. I whipped myself onward, imagining a sweet future that would one day arrive. I believed that one day, I would step out of Roena’s shadow and be seen for who I truly was.

So compared to back then, this is nothing. I haven’t even truly begun yet. What is there to find difficult?

At my words, my mother let out a sigh of relief. She kissed the corner of my eye and spoke in a soft voice.

“Yes, that’s a relief. Dear, would you like a cup of tea as well?”

“Yes.”

I sat down next to Roena with a beaming smile. A maid quickly brought a teacup for me.