The girl almost fled the suffocating bedroom. She walked with hurried steps, not even noticing her hem brushing against the floor. If Lady Vanessa were to see this, she would surely scream at her in a rage!
However, Elrose couldn’t care about that right now.
Perhaps due to her nerves, a fine sweat broke out on her smooth forehead. Elrose repeatedly weighed the words she was about to say. Should she repeat Illyana’s bold provocation? The thought made her heart hammer like a drum.
Her mother, Lady Vanessa, was already in a fit of rage. Hearing that a maid dared to criticize her master in such a way would surely incense her further.
Given her mother’s swift and decisive methods, Illyana’s immediate expulsion from the estate was practically a foregone conclusion.
But… was it really that simple?
Elrose’s pace slowed in front of Lady Vanessa’s study. She was a meticulous person who considered things from all angles, and that often led her to overthink.
If she simply kicked Illyana out, would the girl really leave willingly?
For a moment, Elrose felt conflicted. But as time ticked away, she decided she had to at least try.
The girl took a deep breath, her nails digging into her palms to force herself to stay calm.
‘Yes, I have to try. Otherwise, according to the plot of the original novel, I’ll definitely die!’
She pushed the door open. Lady Vanessa sat behind a large desk. The sunlight from the window cast a golden edge around her cold, hard silhouette, yet it failed to soften the majesty and lingering anger etched between her brows.
The study was filled with the scents of pine and old leather, creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
“Mother.”
Elrose lowered her head in a submissive posture.
Vanessa’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment, pausing specifically on the faint finger marks and the ointment applied to the corner of her lips. She suddenly let out a cold snort.
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Her voice remained cold and stern. It reminded Elrose of the dean who used to scold her back when she was a high school student in her previous life.
The tone was exactly the same!
“Yes, Mother. I know my mistake.”
The girl’s voice carried a perfectly measured tremble.
“I should… I should be more mindful of my etiquette and movements. I must try my best not to bring shame to the family.”
“Shame?”
Lady Vanessa snorted again.
“You almost ruined all my arrangements! After you turn 20, you will have the chance to serve as a maid to the Princess. Your crude behavior, so unbecoming of a noble, could have destroyed everything!”
‘So she had it all planned out. she wants to sell me off for her own benefit,’ Elrose grumbled inwardly. ‘No wonder she was so angry.’
‘But no matter what you’re planning, the premise is that we both survive the night of my 20th birthday.’
“Remember, Elrose, the Blood of the Hero flows through your veins. Your ancestor was a Great Hero who sealed a demon! You must always mind your manners. Do you hear me?!”
Vanessa’s words stunned Elrose. Her ancestor… sealed a demon? No wonder Illyana wanted to kill everyone in the Duke’s mansion. It was for revenge.
No, she needed to collect as much information on this as possible.
“Elrose? Your answer?!”
“Uh… Oh, yes, Mother.”
Bowing obediently, the girl gave her reply.
“Fine. I will send someone to teach you etiquette. Don’t even think about being lazy lately.”
Seeing that Vanessa seemed finished and was about to let her leave, Elrose quickly took one small step forward and spoke in a cautious, negotiating tone.
“Um… Mother, can the maids responsible for serving me be dismissed?”
Elrose knew very well that if she wanted to get rid of Illyana, she couldn’t target her alone. Doing so would be a blatant signal to the girl that she knew something was wrong.
She had to fire all of her maids at once!
“Elrose, do you have any idea what you’re saying?”
‘As expected, it won’t be that easy,’ the girl thought with a bitter smile.
“To adapt to the life of serving the Princess as quickly as possible, I want to learn to live on my own as much as I can. I hope you can understand.”
“Hmph, you?”
Lady Vanessa raised an eyebrow, her gaze as sharp as a blade as it swept over Elrose from head to toe. That cold snort was filled with undisguised contempt.
“Live on your own? You can’t even handle your morning grooming without a maid’s help. Tell me, do you know how to comb your own hair? Can you tighten the laces on your back? Do you even know how to manage a pannier or a petticoat?”
Elrose was rendered speechless. The previous owner of this body was indeed a noble lady who had never lifted a finger in her life. Having only crossed over into this world a few days ago, Elrose was still figure out how to even use the hairpins of this era.
At that thought, she dug her nails deeper into her palms. The pain kept her mind clear.
“Mother,” she said, lowering her eyes. Her voice was softer now, but she fought to keep it steady. “I don’t trust the people serving me. After all, today there was — “
Just as Elrose was about to mention Illyana’s words, she suddenly felt a burning gaze. The presence of this stare was so intense that it felt as if someone were standing right behind her.
But she knew that at this moment, there were only the two of them in the room. There couldn’t be a third party!
She stopped speaking because she was all too familiar with that gaze.
‘Illyana… is she monitoring me using some kind of method? Or… did she hypnotize Lady Vanessa beforehand?’
‘As I thought, has she realized what I’m trying to do?’
The girl took a deep breath and said no more. Instead, she gave a slight shake of her head, curtsied to Lady Vanessa, and walked toward the door.
Opening the study door, she saw that the hallway outside was empty of any suspicious figures. The long corridors on both sides were clear to the end. If someone had really been eavesdropping, they wouldn’t have been able to get away so quickly.
Elrose gently closed the heavy wooden door of the study and leaned against the cold panel, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air.
That prickly feeling of being watched vanished as if it had never existed. Was she just being paranoid? Or was it…
Just then, a figure came rushing toward her. It was the maid, Heda, and she looked particularly flustered.
Elrose’s heart jumped, and she quickly called out, “Heda, where are you going?”
“Oh, Miss, I don’t have time to chat! The head maid just called all the maids downstairs for a meeting.”
“All the maids? What about Illyana…?”
“Yeah, she’s right ahead of me. Huh? Miss, I’ve noticed you’ve been paying a lot of attention to Illyana lately. It’s enough to make me jealous!”
Faced with Heda’s small joke, Elrose felt a chill run through her entire body. There was only this one long corridor leading from her room to the stairs. That meant Illyana must have passed right by the study door.
‘Did she really hear my proposal to Mother?’
At the thought, Elrose’s heart thundered in her chest. ‘Has she noticed my strange behavior? Has she realized I’m watching her?!’
—
PS: It’s the author’s birthday today! Hehehe, I’ll take this chance to ask for some votes~