Previously
Rosalyn attempts to seduce Damian in his office but is coldly rejected and nearly expelled from the mansion. While searching for leverage to save her position, she discovers a hidden document in Aracella's dressing room but is interrupted by Audrey.
Audrey was utterly dumbfounded by the absurd accusation.
How could Amy's necklace have ended up in her room?
As Aracella’s personal maid, Audrey enjoyed special treatment, which included having a large room of her own.
While that privilege made caring for Aracella far easier, it now worked squarely against her, leaving her unable to claim someone else had left the necklace there.
Audrey’s head spun. She had been so scrupulous about her conduct precisely because her actions reflected directly on Aracella.
She had walked on eggshells at every turn, even swallowing her words whenever the other maids ignored or excluded her.
Amy burst into tears, wailing.
In that moment, Audrey realized for the first time that pure disbelief could truly strike a person dumb.
Under the barrage of accusations from Amy and her friends, murmurs and whispers rippled through the dining hall, and the tide turned decisively against Audrey.
Several maids seized Audrey by the arms and hauled her up as she tried in vain to defend herself against the crowd.
Audrey struggled, but she knew all too well that the head maid had been siding strangely with Rosalyn’s clique for some time now.
She was certain she would face an unjust end if things continued like this, but she lacked the physical strength to hold out against the group dragging her away.
The head maid fixed Audrey with a stern glare. In truth, she had already heard all about this from Rosalyn.
Rosalyn had spotted suspicious documents in Aracella’s dressing room, but had been unable to take them because Audrey was keeping a watchful eye on her.
Consequently, Rosalyn had enlisted the head maid’s help to remove Audrey, framing her for theft to give them a clean pretext to expel her from the mansion.
The head maid put on an exaggerated show of shock, her eyes widening dramatically.
Audrey shook her head in desperation.
Rosalyn declared loudly from amidst the servants. Audrey stared at her, stunned.
The servants dragged Audrey away with spiteful glee, and when she resisted the injustice of it all, she was struck across the face several times.
The sharp, metallic tang of blood bloomed in her mouth from her split lips.
Shrinking beneath their harsh shouts, Audrey was forced into silence.
The servants tossed her like an unwanted heap onto a pile of straw, then slammed and latched the shed door behind them.
Rosalyn slipped away quietly from the maids who were reveling in their false sense of righteousness, making her way back to the head maid.
Ordinarily, matters regarding the servants were the responsibility of the mistress of the house, Aracella. But the head maid fully intended to take the complaint directly to Damian alone.
He was a man of strict and unyielding temperament, bound to order the immediate dismissal of a thieving maid without a second thought.
Rosalyn and the head maid exchanged knowing glances and shared a laugh, satisfied with what seemed like a foolproof plan.
Paula set down her water glass and spoke.
She was having lunch with Aracella at a restaurant near the Magic Tower during their midday break.
Aracella chewed her food slowly, her large eyes fixed on her friend as she listened.
Paula sighed deeply at the response.
Paula leaned her arm onto the table, leaning closer to her friend with a solemn look.
The existing maids, after all, belonged to the husband's household.
If things went sour, the wife would have nobody in her corner.
Because of this, it was standard practice for women to bring their own maids into marriage.
Comfortably in that house…
To tell the truth, Aracella still did not feel any sense of belonging in the Vandermeer residence.
She had never truly thought of it as her home, treating it instead as a temporary arrangement until the time came for divorce.
Perhaps that was why she overlooked the insolence of certain servants; after all, one naturally put up with a bit of discomfort when staying in someone else's house.
Aracella frowned slightly at her friend’s words.
It was true that the maids at the Vandermeer mansion had been misbehaving lately, but none of it had gone so far that she felt the urge to throw them out and upend their lives.
None of them had truly crossed the line yet, and she was willing to overlook their conduct so long as it remained within bounds.
Paula shook her head ruefully.
Just as she said, the ducal family resided in their provincial estate, while Aracella lived with Damian in the capital.
It was a relief that she was spared the headache of living under the same roof with her in-laws.
Aracella gave a nonchalant nod; she had been receiving this exact piece of advice endlessly since getting married.
After parting ways with her friend, Aracella returned to the Magic Tower and threw herself into wrapping up her remaining tasks.
She had already informed Audrey that she would be returning early today, as her two apprentices would take over the remaining work.
Thanks to their help, Aracella finished her work ahead of schedule and rose from her desk.
Loidy peeked out from behind a stack of books with an astonished expression, and Sally looked just as surprised.
“Yes, I was hesitant to pry… but are things going well with your husband?”
Before the wedding, Aracella had frequently left work early to meet Damian.
The true reason had been their prenuptial agreement, but the two apprentices had no way of knowing that.
They had assumed Aracella was head over heels for Damian and missed him constantly, so when her habits changed after the wedding, they began to wonder whether there was trouble in paradise.
It seemed it was time to show some genuine commitment to her domestic life.
Clearly, she had reverted to her workaholic habits a bit too quickly. Feeling a twinge of remorse, Aracella held up her hands to reassure her apprentices.
Aracella gave a brisk wave and left the Tower.
With their mentor gone, Loidy and Sally would be packing up soon too.
It felt surprisingly odd to be clocking out so early in the day.
With light footsteps, Aracella headed straight back to the Vandermeer mansion.
Having decided to pay more attention to her household, she bypassed visiting Marquis Hugo's estate entirely.
Yet as soon as Aracella strode proudly through the front gates, an unsettling feeling washed over her.
Audrey, who was unfailingly the first to greet her, was nowhere in sight.
Even stranger was that none of the other maids were around either.
The footman shook his head with a bewildered look, knowing nothing of the maids’ inner workings.
Failing to spot Audrey among the few maids who belatedly trickled out to greet her, Aracella hurried up to her quarters in confusion.
No matter how many times she called, Audrey did not appear.
Even on the days she felt under the weather, she had never failed to be there to welcome Aracella home…
Something was wrong.
Instinct told Aracella that something had happened, and she stepped back out into the corridor.
When the maids had greeted her at the entrance, their shifty glances and flustered scattering had looked like roaches fleeing the light.
Aracella called out to a young maid who had been too slow to make a clean escape.
The maid stood before her, trembling with tension.
At the blunt question, the maid’s shoulders jerked, her eyes darting frantically.
Aracella rested a gentle hand on the maid’s shoulder, a smile curving her lips.
Yet the smile never reached her eyes.
The resulting expression was downright terrifying.
How could such a lovely face look so chilling?
Overwhelmed by mounting dread, the maid finally broke and blurted out Audrey’s whereabouts.
The moment she heard the word, Aracella took off at a sprint.
Her violet hair trailed behind her like billows of dark smoke.
Finding the shed was easy enough; two maids stood guard right outside the door.
The maid on the left opened her mouth, flustered by Aracella’s sudden appearance.
The maids shrank back, trembling beneath her piercing glare.
The head maid had strictly forbidden anyone from entering without authorization, but Aracella was not about to wait for anyone’s permission.
She was simply not the type to wait.
Aracella shoved the door open so hard it nearly splintered, then stepped inside to survey the shed. There, curled up tightly in the far corner, sat Audrey.
Audrey lifted her tear-stained face.
Aracella froze, her expression turning to stone as her eyes caught the swollen bruises across Audrey’s cheeks.