The act of servants stealing the master’s belongings happens more frequently than one might think.

Claire had witnessed servants who had tampered with household items, received punishment, and were chased away three times.

Once it was the viscountess’s pearl earrings, another time it was the father’s safe that got ransacked, and yet another, someone embezzled funds from Ryan’s office.

While such incidents didn’t occur too often, they happened sporadically enough that Claire couldn’t fully trust the household servants.

“Who entered my room?”

Claire gathered the servants in one place and stared at them sternly. The frightened servants exchanged glances with each other. Then, the head maid MacDallin stepped forward.

“Young miss, what’s the matter?”

“My brooch is missing.”

“Brooch?”

“The one Father gave me as a birthday present! The one I cherish the most! I put it in the jewelry box, and now it’s gone!”

Upon hearing this, MacDallin turned around and asked the servants.

“Among you, did anyone touch the young miss’s jewelry box?”

The servants glanced at each other and vigorously shook their heads.

“This room, except for the young miss’s personal maids… no one else enters… it.”

“Anyway, I was in the kitchen the whole time.”

“I, too… the young miss has always prohibited anyone other than her maids from entering the room, right?”

“Did you let in any outsiders? Did you see any suspicious persons?”

The servants exchanged glances, remembering a certain individual.

The young lady who visited not too long ago. Except for Claire’s personal maids, Riley was the only one who had entered Claire’s room.

However, no one dared to say that Riley had entered her room.

If they confessed that Riley allowed Claire into her room, they would be grilled like rats all day. Moreover, the clothes for the day Riley had already visited were prepared.

It was impossible to confess now that Riley had entered Claire’s room that day. What if they accidentally made a wrong move, and the young lady decided to vent her anger?

In fact, Riley was the true power in this household now. Excluding Riley’s presence seemed to be the wisest option.

It was already bad enough to be cautiously observing her due to past mistakes; causing unnecessary trouble would only make things worse. Riley might even take revenge for the past mistakes along with the recent one.

“Well, it’s absurd! Why would an outsider be let into the young miss’s room? We haven’t seen any suspicious persons at all!”

“Are you sure?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

Claire, seemingly dissatisfied, examined the servants and then sighed.

“It’s unlikely that someone external would tamper with my brooch. If there were no outsiders, it must have been someone from within the household. From now on, find my brooch somewhere in this household. Until you find the brooch, you can’t do anything. No sleeping, no bathing, and no eating. Those who find the culprit will receive a bonus along with their next month’s salary.”

Upon hearing Claire’s words, the faces of the servants turned pale.
“I won’t let you sleep or eat until you find the culprit.” The servants hurriedly rushed out to find the brooch.

“MacDallin, make sure no one is doing anything suspicious.”

“Miss.”

“Why?”

“Why, among many things, that brooch?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That brooch is the cheapest and oldest among the items in the jewelry box. Moreover, isn’t it well known among the people in this mansion that you treasure that brooch? If it goes missing, everyone would know immediately… Also, when people try to steal something, don’t they usually aim for the most valuable? It’s human psychology, isn’t it?”

Irritated by MacDallin’s question, Claire replied, “How would I know the psychology of the thief? Well, maybe I thought losing one of the cheapest things wouldn’t be a big problem. Or maybe it was worth the risk. Is that important? What’s important is that my brooch is missing.”

True words. Trying to understand the mindset of a thief would be endless.

MacDallin bowed her body. “I apologize. Miss, even if we have to search the entire house like a hawk, we will definitely find the brooch.”

“Fine, go quickly. Investigate anyone acting suspicious.”

After MacDallin left, Claire, left alone, ruffled her hair in frustration.

“What on earth is this? So unlucky.”

To have something stolen the day before the party. This is just too unlucky. It might not be a jinx.

Claire shivered and tried to shake off the unpleasant feeling.

When the mansion turned upside down, the first to react was the viscountess.

She grumbled about Claire causing all this trouble and not managing her belongings properly, heard that Claire was the cause of all this mess, and that her cherished brooch was missing, and without saying anything, she went into her room.

If Ryan were present in the mansion, he would have mediated this madness, but unfortunately, Ryan was absent.

So the mansion’s servants, rolling their eyes, were diligently searching for the brooch.

After five hours of such a commotion,

“We found the brooch!”

The culprit was caught.