“Father!”

Jocelyn burst into laughter loudly. The sound was so loud that Arianthe, who had been holding her head up stiffly, flinched.

Jocelyn’s eyes, looking down on herself, seemed demonic. Maybe even ghostly. In any case, there was no warmth that one could feel from anyone, especially towards Arianthe. If Arianthe were a few years older, she might have evaluated, “There’s no humanity in her.”

Jocelyn sneered, “Where is your father?”

Arianthe’s face blurred. Doubt, anxiety, and suspicion of whether Jocelyn had gone mad clouded the seven-year-old’s mind.

“What are you talking about? What are you saying right now!”

“To tell you what I mean, can the Lady handle it all?”

While Arianthe was frozen, Jocelyn, who approached, indecently pushed Arianthe’s forehead with her fingertips.

It was an act that could bring enough humiliation to a child. Moreover, if the child was her superior, it was even more unacceptable.

“Don’t touch my body!”

“Give it to me, you rat!”

Jocelyn’s hand fiercely grabbed the necklace string around Arianthe’s neck. It could have strangled the child, but Jocelyn didn’t care about such things.

An old man trying to take away and a lively child struggling not to be taken away. The two, with one necklace between them, screamed silently for a moment.

“What are you doing!”

As Jocelyn, struggling to snatch the necklace, fell backward, Arianthe also fell backward and hit her buttocks, instantly causing her eye area to swell and turn red.

Jocelyn, feeling pain all over her body, groaned and glared up. The enraged face of Maeyana, like an angry lioness, appeared.

“You wretch.”

Jocelyn spat out, lips twisted. However, Maeyana’s expression remained unchanged. If possible, with eyes that seemed to want to crush Jocelyn’s nose if she could, Maeyana urgently rushed towards Arianthe.

“Lady, are you okay?”

“…I’m okay.”

Arianthe was trembling. Jocelyn had pulled so hard that the necklace left marks on Arianthe’s delicate skin. Seeing that, Maeyana felt her body shiver again, as if blood were flowing back.

“I will report all this to the Duke immediately, so be prepared for that.”

Standing up with a moan, Jocelyn twisted a laugh, breathing heavily.

“So, what if you report it to the Duke? Are you telling me that I should be kicked out of this house? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Is it impossible? You almost killed the Lady just now. This time, the Duke won’t be able to protect you.”

“Protect?”

Suddenly shouting, Jocelyn chuckled mockingly. She thought she was crazy, but seeing her like that, there truly seemed to be no crazier woman.

Maeyana, with Arianthe trembling in her arms, stood up. She wanted to shove a mop into that laughing mouth. It was like wiping the dust off a window frame that hadn’t been cleaned in about ten years.

“The Duke is the one who needs my protection. To ensure that wretched and filthy things like you dare not tarnish his dignity! Protecting the Duke to the extent that creatures as miserable and dirty as you can’t even dare to tarnish! That is my job!”

“Yeah, keep babbling. It’s your last time spouting that crazy talk.”

Scornfully muttering, Maeyana turned away, holding Arianthe. Then it happened.

“Give me that necklace!”
Shouting like a banshee, Jocelyn rushed at Arianthe once again, reaching out her hand. Arianthe tried to hide her head in Maeyana’s embrace, but in doing so, the pendant hanging in the middle got entangled in Jocelyn’s grip.

There was a thud, as Maeyana hastily pulled away, making it easier for the string to break. Arianthe, touching the broken string and her empty neck, screamed like thunder.

“Give it back! Return it! It’s mine! Maeyana made it for me! Give it back! Give it back!”

“Lady, calm down! Lady!”

However, Arianthe was also in a state of almost madness. Trying to restrain the screaming and jumping Arianthe to prevent her from falling, Maeyana suddenly felt like she was holding two excited Border Collies at once. No, it was even more overwhelming!

“Lady!”

Getting wet in the process, pushing away Maeyana, Arianthe finally descended to the floor. Then, as if she would immediately rush at Jocelyn, she moved her foot hesitantly, kicked away a door along the corridor, and opened it.

It was Jocelyn’s room. Arianthe had once overturned an ink bottle on the floor and bedsheet here. It was a prank she hadn’t done since Maeyana came.

But this time, she didn’t come to play pranks.

“Lady, oh my goodness! Stop it!”

Maeyana hurriedly ran, but Arianthe was already halfway to destroying Jocelyn’s room. She pulled out all the drawers, swept away the not-so-full makeup table, and even shattered the mirror. Then, she threw all the glass shards onto the bed.

Terrified, Maeyana held Arianthe in her arms.

“Lady! Don’t do this! You’re bleeding, Lady!”

“Let go! I said let go! I’ll kick her out of this house! Let go, Maeyana! Let go!”

Struggling to escape from Maeyana’s arms, Arianthe now aimed for a small wardrobe.

Shaking the wardrobe with all her might and screaming, Arianthe looked almost insane. Even Maeyana looked dazed, with her shoulders drooping.