“Master Ippolito, maybe because his father is different, his thing is small. So when he’s all high and mighty, waving that thing around, I just want to hit him!”

Ariadne, who had been listening to Malleta’s story in a general sense, suddenly interrupted her.

“Hold on, say that again.”

“Master Ippolito has a small thing…?”

Malleta, thinking Ariadne wanted a specific number, made an approximate gesture with her hand. Ariadne again stopped Malleta, who was separating her thumb and middle finger about a halfcubit apart.

“No! Not that, the thing before that.”

“What was it… Ah, that Master Ippolito has a different father?”

“Yes! That. Tell me more about it.”

Malleta squinted her eyes. Strictly speaking, no one had ever told her ‘Ippolito’s father is not Cardinal de Mare’.

She had pieced together various hearsays, and she could not remember exactly whose story she had heard to reach that conclusion.

She sneakily glanced at Ariadne. Miss Ariadne was very focused. It was the first interest she had shown since she entered the room today.

This had to be grabbed.

“Well… I overheard a conversation between Master Ippolito and Madam Lucrezia, and Master Ippolito asked, ‘So who is my father?'”

The actual question Ippolito had asked was who Arabella’s father was, but in Malleta’s head, it got mixed up with Lucrezia’s answer.

“Madam Lucrezia hit Master Ippolito hard and yelled something like, ‘Who do you think I’m doing this hard work for! Shut up and live!'”

The details were wrong, but considering the overall context, it wasn’t that wrong an answer.

“You didn’t hear who it was?!”

“No, I only got that far…”

Malleta, scared that Ariadne might cast her out just hearing that, rolled her big black eyes.

“Miss. If you take me back to the mansion, I’ll stick to Master Ippolito and dig it out.”

Ariadne looked out the window for a moment. Malleta still couldn’t objectively view the situation she was in.

Ippolito probably never wanted to see Malleta’s face again, and considering Lucrezia’s temperament, it was a miracle she had let her live and kicked her out of the house.

Ariadne had thought there was about a fifty percent chance that Malleta had died in the house when she heard that Malleta had been taken by Lucrezia’s new maid and the men of the house and sent Sancha out.

“You’re lucky to have escaped that house alive.”

Ariadne reminded Malleta. However, Malleta again only saw the negative side of the halfcup of water.

When Maletta realized that Miss Ariadne had no intention of taking her back to the mansion, she pleaded desperately.

“You may not trust me, I understand. But I was the maid who helped you adapt when you first came to the De Mare mansion, right? I will take good care of you this time! I will serve you! I can do it well!”

Loyalty was indeed a concern. However, the biggest flaw in Maletta’s plan was the fact that no matter what she did, Eppolito wouldn’t keep her by his side.

But there was no need to correct Maletta’s delusions.

“There’s a condition.”

At Ariadne’s words, Maletta raised her head and exclaimed passionately.

“Yes, yes! Anything!”

“Do you remember the incident when my hook broke at the debutante ball?”

Maletta’s face turned pale. Ariadne continued to speak with the gentlest expression she could muster.

“I’m not here to punish you now. That was Isabella’s doing, right?”

Until here, she could agree. Maletta nodded fervently.

“That’s right! Yes, Miss Isabella tampered with the ‘hook’ that Miss Ariadne uses! She put it in through Maria!”

Ariadne’s smile deepened a bit more.

“So, Maria was in on it too?”

Maletta realized her verbal slip.

“No, no. Maria just carried the recommended item. She didn’t even know what it was.”

The only person who could testify had to be herself. If there were two, the value would be halved. Wasn’t irreplaceability the only characteristic that could earn high labor costs? In some ways, Maletta was very sharp.

And, it was true that Maria did not know the details.

“Only I know that Miss Isabella ordered ‘to make a hook with silver mixed with lead’!”

Maletta added, “Maria hasn’t even seen the hem of Miss Isabella’s clothes.”

“I’ll testify for you. I will testify everything without leaving a single detail in front of His Excellency Cardinal De Mare!”

Ariadne laughed. This Maletta, she can talk.

“But in return, make me a concubine of Lord Eppolito!”

‘…Cancel the praise of being able to communicate.’

Ariadne almost held her forehead. Maletta was too greedy. That was impossible no matter how much she flapped or crawled. It was clear that Eppolito would jump even if he died. But there was a more important fact.

The longstanding dream of Cardinal De Mare and his wife Lucrezia was to marry Eppolito to an heiress with a title.

Only then would an eternal territory and title be created under the name of De Mare. Cardinal De Mare and his wife would never acknowledge Maletta as Eppolito’s legitimate wife.

However, again, there was no need to tell Maletta everything straightforwardly.

“I’ll decide based on your performance.”

Ariadne smiled broadly.

“If I get the result I want, I’ll tell my father that I have to marry you to Eppolito. I hold all the accounting authority in the house right now, so it’s just like a housekeeper.”

It is ideal for both parties to reach a satisfactory result in a single transaction. This is how a transaction can continue.

But that was only necessary for a vendor worthy of continuing a good trade. Ariadne did not intend to face Maletta for a long time.

“Think about how to testify to convince His Excellency.”

Ariadne told Maletta.

“I’ll create a place for you in the house. I promise.”