“Get ready, everyone. We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

Head maid Caroline hurried the maids.

The news was that the duke would be leaving this villa tomorrow.

“Finally, we’re returning to Munher Castle!”

“The fireplace here was so old-fashioned, it was hard to maintain.”

The maids chattered as they busily packed their belongings.

Caroline shook her head.

“No. You’re not going to Munher Castle, but to Ideana.”

At that moment, there was a loud crash of porcelain scattering.

Everyone’s gaze turned to where Riana was standing.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Riana apologized with a bow and hurriedly cleaned up the broken plate.

People whispered about her mistake, but Riana couldn’t hear them.

‘Ideana…?’

Her mind went blank.

She had heard that Sched Lester had been awarded a new territory for his achievements.

But was it the Ideana territory?

Just then, the head maid’s feet stopped in front of Riana, who was cleaning up the plate.

“You’ll be going to the Ideana territory too.”

“Pardon…?”

Riana was so surprised that she cut her fingertip on a shard.

But there was no time to feel the pain.

“The master gave specific instructions. You’re to be assigned to Ideana as well.”

The head maid ordered, pointing to one side.

It was where the luggage for Ideana was being gathered.

At the mention of Ideana, Riana’s heart pounded like a drum.

Her hometown where she was born and raised, the land where she fell from grace. The place where she sowed the seeds of ill fate with Sched.

She couldn’t go back to the place she had barely escaped from.

“But… I submitted my resignation letter.”

Riana recalled the resignation letter she had submitted a few days ago.

When Sched didn’t decide on her fate, she decided to quit on her own.

“It was rejected.”

Caroline didn’t bother to say ‘The master tore it up and burned it.’

She had no obligation to be so kind as to explain such details.

“Besides, trying to quit before you’ve even properly started working, with that mindset, you’ll find it hard to work as a maid anywhere. You should be grateful.”

Caroline threatened.

Originally, there were high barriers to working as a maid in a noble household.

Not only was refinement and knowledge of etiquette required, but it was also difficult to continue working as a maid without a letter of recommendation from the family one had worked for.

Moreover, this was the Lester ducal family. One of the Empire’s elector families, whose reputation and history were respected by all.

It was one of the most honorable families to work for as a maid, and others were desperate to work here.

And yet, to immediately want to quit when the Duke himself had brought her in and given her the opportunity to work?

Caroline clicked her tongue at the new maid’s pitifulness.

With such a lack of perseverance, she wouldn’t be able to do anything in the future.

“Then I want to go to Munher Castle too.”

The current servants staying at the villa were divided into those returning to Munher Castle and those going to Ideana.

Riana had to avoid going to Ideana at all costs.

But Caroline’s face hardened coldly at those words.

“How audacious. You dare to quibble about decisions made from above when you’ve only been here for a few days?”

Caroline had never seen such an insolent new maid before.

A new maid should be busy reading the room and being obedient, but to dare express dissatisfaction with the master’s orders from the start?

“Surely, you’re not intending to defy the master’s orders?”

In the duchy, the duke was king and emperor. His word was law. A maid had no authority to change that decision.

Riana knew this fact too. Even though she had once lived as a noble, she had learned how to behave as a maid during her years of service. She knew her request was reckless.

But.

“I can’t go to Ideana.”

Riana clutched her skirt.

She didn’t care if she was pointed at as an impudent and tactless girl.

“Please allow me to go to Munher Castle…”

Slap!

A sharp slap cut off her words.

“How ill-mannered, not knowing your place.”

A burning sensation rose in her cheek.

Caroline glared down at her.

The head maid, who valued the reputation and honor of the Lester family, was displeased with the girl the master had personally brought in.

That Sched Lester, who had never given a glance to women, had personally carried in this woman who was vulgarly of maid origin.

Of course, she couldn’t help but be a thorn in her side.

“It seems you haven’t figured out your position even after being kicked out of the bedroom?”

Caroline mocked Riana.

‘She must think she’s special because she caught the master’s eye. Even though she couldn’t even share his bed and was kicked out right away.’

Caroline intended to put this ill-mannered newcomer in her place properly. Otherwise, she would continue to act out without knowing her place.

Riana bit her lip at the head maid’s insult.

But soon she straightened her body and raised her head to look directly into her eyes.

“Since I’ve been slapped, I’ll speak clearly. I won’t go to Ideana. Please fire me.”

Caroline froze in shock at the clear, pointed retort.

The maids around were the same.

They had never seen anyone talk back so shamelessly before.

“My, what an extraordinary wench.”

Caroline frowned and let out a hollow laugh before raising her hand again.

Slap! The head maid struck her cheek once more.

Her body staggered and her head twisted as if broken.

But Riana composed herself and stood straight again.

The head maid looked at her with a disgusted expression at her tenacious gaze.

Even after being slapped, there were no tears, not even a change in expression.

“Seeing you, I understand why the master kicked you out. It seems I need to educate you thoroughly to prevent any trouble.”

The head maid seemed to have made up her mind as she rolled up her sleeves.

With a glance at the servants around, two of the onlooking servants quickly rushed at Riana.

They grabbed Riana’s arms on either side.

“Let go…!”

Riana’s resistance was futile.

“How dare you.”

Slap!

“A lowborn like you.”

Slap!

“Defy the master’s orders!”

Slap!

Riana’s head swung back and forth.

The last one must have hit wrong, as her ear went numb. Both cheeks were so hot they had lost sensation.

Was it because her head had been shaken too much? Her head hurt and her vision blurred momentarily.

She heard the head maid saying something, but she couldn’t understand what was being said at all.

She squeezed her dizzy eyes shut, trying to shake off the ringing in her ears.

And she barely moved her tongue, which tasted of a tangy scent.

“I…”

At that moment, slap! The sound of air being torn was heard again.

But there was no sensation on her cheek.

It wasn’t the sound from her cheek.

Riana raised her blurry eyes.

A broad back blocking her view.

A shadow cast like shade.

‘…You.’

A familiar and longed-for back.

A heavy voice flowed into her muffled ears.

“Who told you to do this?”

“Sched…”

In front of him, the head maid was kneeling, holding both hands to her cheek.

“M-Master…!”

Head maid Caroline cupped her cheek with trembling hands.

She was so shocked that tears didn’t even come.

“I asked who told you to do this.”

“That, that child defied your orders and was being stubborn, so I was educating…”

“My orders?”

“She asked to be sent to Munher Castle instead of Ideana. Since you clearly ordered for that child to be assigned to Ideana…”

The head maid pointed at Riana.

Sched’s gaze followed her fingertip to Riana.

The servants holding Riana let her go, trembling.

As the small body staggered when released, Sched’s fingertips twitched.

But Riana soon regained her balance, standing on her own two feet.

Both her cheeks were flushed so red they were turning purple.

Sched’s teeth gritted.

“Because of my orders?”

“As head maid, I was only trying to follow your words, master…”

“Shut your mouth.”

At Sched’s words, the head maid sealed her lips as if sewn shut, not even breathing out.

The others around were the same.

They had never seen their master, Sched Lester, so angry before.

“Head maid, if my orders are so important to you,”

Cold blue eyes looked down at the head maid.

“You dare to damage my property.”

Caroline’s lips trembled.

Thud, Sched took another step towards Caroline.

Before that massive body, Caroline was crushed by his mere presence and could do nothing.

“I ask. Did I ever give permission for you to mistreat my property?”

Indeed, she had never laid hands on the maids like this before.

She was strict, but it always ended with punishments like standing or verbal warnings, at worst dismissal.

But she had excessively laid hands on Riana.

If there was a reason, it was because Riana was like a foreign object here.

A woman who seemed to be favored, brought in by the duke’s own hands with her pretty face, only to be pathetically kicked out of the bedroom in the end. She was nothing more than a discarded doll.

But not knowing her place and even talking back, Caroline thought it fitting to teach Riana, who was defying orders, a lesson.

But it seems the master had no intention of completely discarding the doll.

“I’m sorry, master…!”

Caroline apologized with tears in her eyes, pressing her head to the floor.

Sched looked down at the head maid begging with both hands in silence. The employees trembled and bowed their heads in the chilling silence.

Sched slowly turned his head and called the knight following him.

“Carlyle.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Take her away.”

As Sched nodded towards the head maid, Carlyle bowed to receive the order and grabbed the head maid.

“M-Master!”

While the head maid was forcibly dragged away by Carlyle, the others couldn’t say a word. The air pressed down on their hearts like heavy iron.

While the employees were frozen, Sched turned his eyes to Riana. Riana, with her cheeks in a mess, raised her eyes to look at him.

Sched’s jaw tightened as he faced her.

“Follow me.”

Sched walked out, pushing past the servants.

When Riana hesitated for a moment, Sched stopped and turned back.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

An angry voice.

He warned Riana and started walking again.