Iris felt as if her blood had frozen. Her ears were ringing, and the sounds of the world drifted away in an instant, leaving only the name the maid had spoken to reverberate in her mind.
‘Eliana, a promotion and a raise? A dead person?’
‘No… impossible! Absolutely impossible! I killed Eliana with my own hands!’
The sensation of the blade piercing skin still made her want to vomit when she recalled it now. This feeling was completely real; it was absolutely not an illusion!
‘That’s right, Eliana is dead. That demon, the person destined to kill me, was killed by me!’
‘Resurrection is impossible!’
Iris stood up abruptly and slammed her hands against the iron door. It was cold and stinging, but she no longer cared about that.
“Who… Who did you say?”
As if she still didn’t dare believe her ears, Iris asked in a raspy, trembling voice.
Although the maid outside was startled, she quickly regained her composure. She gave Iris a strange look, seemingly finding this young lady, who was currently confined, more and more peculiar.
“Who else could it be? It’s Eliana. It’s actually quite strange—the Madam was clearly very angry with her before, but suddenly, these past two days, she’s been so kind to her. She even praised her for being sensible and capable… Tsk, what luck.”
‘Sensible? Capable?’
‘This is a trick of the demon! Something must have gone wrong!’
Iris’s fingernails dug deep into her palms. The pain allowed her to barely maintain a facade of calm.
“Is… is that so? Then… where is she serving now?”
“She’s serving by the Madam’s side, of course. Where else would she be?”
The maid packed up the dinner plates, her tone casual.
“Oh, right, Miss. The Madam said she wants to see you tomorrow; I assume she’s going to let you out. You… should just apologize properly.”
After saying that, the maid left with the empty plates. The heavy wooden door of the cellar swung shut again, sealing out the last glimmer of light. Darkness rushed in like a physical tide, carrying a bone-chilling cold that was more piercing than ever before.
Iris collapsed onto the freezing floor, her entire body shaking. It wasn’t because of the cold, but because a fact more terrifying than death was frantically gnawing at her sanity.
Along with it came an even deeper despair.
‘Eliana isn’t dead? They’re lying to me, right? It’s impossible for her not to be dead! She bleeds, and she gets sick.’
‘Could she have used Substitute Magic? That doesn’t make sense either.’
‘Besides, if she isn’t dead, then what about the body in the woodshed? Did it vanish into thin air? Or…’
‘Of course, if she is dead, then who is this person currently favored by Mother?’
Countless thoughts flooded into Iris’s brain at once. She clutched her head and curled up in the corner, her expression pained.
‘Just what happened…’
The maid’s tone had been so natural, with no sign of Eliana ever having been missing or injured. Perhaps in their eyes, Eliana had always existed perfectly fine and had never left the Duke’s mansion for a single step.
Iris had a splitting headache. She braced herself against the wall to stand up. The excitement she felt earlier was long gone, replaced only by a profound fear.
‘I struck so ruthlessly this time. I wonder what kind of revenge I’ll face?’
*Hee hee…*
Just then, an extremely faint, soft giggle sounded as if it were whispered right against her ear.
Iris jumped violently, her spine slamming hard against the rough stone wall. Her eyes widened in terror as she searched through the thick darkness.
There was nothing—only her own heavy breathing and drum-like heartbeat.
‘It’s an illusion. I must be too nervous.’
She slid down the wall to a sitting position and buried her face in her knees. But that laughter seemed to linger in her ears, possessing a familiar, spine-chilling warmth.
What the girl did not know was that the sound-activated light outside the iron door had turned on at some unknown point…
—
The next morning, the cellar door was opened. It wasn’t the maid delivering food, but the butler.
“Miss Iris, the Madam requests your presence.”
Standing once more on the polished floor of the study, sunlight filtered through the tall glass windows, casting dappled shadows of light and color.
Madam Vanessa sat in an armchair, holding a cup of black tea. Her expression was much more relaxed than at their last meeting, even carrying a hint of… an inscrutable smile.
“It seems these few days of reflection have had some effect. Your demeanor is more composed.”
Madam Vanessa took a sip of tea, her gaze landing on Iris’s pale face.
“Do you know your mistake?”
Iris lowered her eyelashes, trying her best to keep her voice steady.
“Yes, Mother. I know my mistake.”
“As long as you know.”
Madam Vanessa set down the teacup. As she leaned forward slightly, she habitually opened the fan in her hand.
“Now, regarding Eliana…”
‘It’s here!’ Iris’s heart instantly leaped into her throat. She had kept her head down the entire way here, fearing she would see that familiar figure. Now, she was about to hear news of her.
“I misjudged that child before.”
There was a strange hint of admiration in Madam Vanessa’s voice.
“She explained everything to me. On that day at the church, you were the one who insisted on making trouble. She couldn’t stop you, and instead, while trying to protect you, she ended up in a total mess. Such loyalty is truly rare.”
Iris’s fingers tightened against the side of her skirt, her nails nearly digging into the fabric. ‘Loyalty? It’s nothing more than a trick by that demon who’s preparing to devour me.’
To a demon, this was perhaps just a prolonged hunting game.
“She even took the initiative to bear many of your punishments, saying that you were young and didn’t know better, and that she, as your personal maid, had failed in her duty to advise you properly.”
“Therefore, I have appointed her as your Personal Maid. You have no objections, I presume?”
‘Personal Maid…’ Iris felt her stomach churn. Everything Eliana had done to her before surged up like a nightmare.
“What? Are you unhappy?”
Madam Vanessa keenly caught the stiffness that flashed across her face for a fleeting moment.
“No… not at all.”
Iris forced herself to look up and squeezed out a stiff smile.
“Eliana… where… where is she now? I’d like… to see her.”
Clearly, the girl still held onto one last shred of hope.
“She’s right outside.”
Madam Vanessa jerked her chin toward the door.
“Come in, Eliana.”
The study door was pushed open soundlessly.
A familiar figure walked in against the light from the hallway.
The dark-colored maid’s dress was meticulous, the white apron clean and crisp, and her black hair was tied in a smooth, neat bun.
She lowered her head slightly, stopping a few steps away from Iris in a submissive and humble posture, and performed an elegant, standard curtsy.
Then, she looked up.
In an instant, Iris felt as though she had been struck by lightning, frozen in place.
‘Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!!!’
The person who should have been dead was standing at the door. As if noticing Iris’s gaze, she looked up and offered Iris a smile.
Amidst her terror, Iris couldn’t help but speak the thoughts in her heart.
“H — how are you here?!”