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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: How to Turn a Crisis into an Opportunity
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Aracilla thought calmly. What would happen if she refused the Grand Duchess's command and pushed back? It might feel satisfying in the short term, but in the long run, it wouldn't be good.
Because the Grand Duchess might use her attitude as an excuse to completely settle down in the mansion.
If an excuse arose, Demian might not be able to do anything about his grandmother either. She had to prevent that, so Aracilla slowly bent down and picked up the basket.
Audrey, who had been watching, hastily intervened.
"Madam, I...!"
"How dare a mere maid interrupt so presumptuously!"
The Grand Duchess stopped Audrey with a thunderous roar. Aracilla, holding the basket, gestured to her maid not to step forward.
In the end, Audrey had no choice but to bow her head apologetically and retreat.
"Then, I'll be going."
"Wait. You might try to pass the work off to someone else, so go with my maid."
Aracilla quietly watched the Grand Duchess, who meticulously assigned a supervisor, and nodded.
She obediently moved with the Grand Duchess's maid to the laundry area behind the mansion. The maid, with a haughty expression much like her mistress, followed stiffly. There wasn't even a word of offering to carry the basket out of politeness.
She simply watched with persistent eyes, wondering if Aracilla would try to stray, and upon arriving at the laundry area, she acted like a guard supervising a prisoner.
"The Grand Duchess cherishes this garment, so please handle it with care."
Even with the minor act of taking the dress out of the basket, interference immediately followed.
It was hardly the tone a mere maid should use with a Madam, but the maid, backed by the Grand Duchess, was unrestrained.
'So different from my sweet, adorable, and kind Audrey.'
Aracilla clicked her tongue inwardly, ignored the maid's words, and haphazardly plunged the dress into the water.
Cherished garment, my foot.
If it truly were such a cherished garment, she wouldn't have been entrusted with it, not even as a joke. Just looking at the slightly faded lace on the sleeves, it was clear this was an old dress that wasn't often worn.
Rolling up her sleeves, she began to wash the dress with clumsy hands. As a noble lady born and raised in a prestigious family, it was something she had never done in her life.
She had never kept her hands in water this long, except when bathing.
However, Aracilla cleverly used magic in between, hidden from the maid, and successfully finished the laundry.
"It's all done, let's go."
"...Understood."
The maid, who had been scrutinizing the dress with sharp eyes, seemingly unable to find any fault, stepped back. Thanks to the magic, even though it was her first time doing laundry, Aracilla's work was impeccable.
After hanging the dress to dry and returning, the Grand Duchess was nowhere to be found. Audrey, who remained in the empty room, spoke in a low voice, her expression troubled.
"The Grand Duchess went to the dining hall. She said for Madam to come there immediately upon your return."
Aracilla let out a hollow laugh. If she had been told beforehand, she wouldn't have gone through the trouble of coming all the way here and would have gone straight to the dining hall. It was clear the Grand Duchess hadn't given her a hint just to vex her.
Soon, she composed her expression and posture, then descended to the dining hall. Inside the grand hall, where a heavy silence hung today, the Grand Duchess sat at the end of a long oval table.
"Tsk, tsk, so slow, what good are you? I thought I'd starve to death waiting for you!"
As soon as Aracilla appeared, the Grand Duchess shouted, her voice echoing through the hall.
"I apologize. We can begin the meal imme—"
"Bring the food."
The commanding tone, as if speaking to a subordinate, wasn't directed at the maids standing nearby. The Grand Duchess's eyes and mouth were fixed precisely on Aracilla.
In other words, she was ordering Aracilla to bring the food.
Aracilla, who had been standing and gazing at the Grand Duchess for a moment, began to walk towards her, her gaze unwavering. The Grand Duchess met her stare without backing down and spoke.
"You are ill-mannered and don't know how to be respectful in front of your elders, so shouldn't I help you come to your senses, even if it's like this?"
Her words conveyed a clear intent to thoroughly break Aracilla's spirit.
Aracilla quietly raised her eyes and looked around. The bowed heads of the maids showed faces that were even more uncomfortable and helpless than her own, as if they were sitting on a bed of thorns.
*Sigh*. She let out a short sigh and walked towards the kitchen. Passing the awkwardly standing servants, she pointed to the tray of food.
"Should I take this?"
"Yes? ...Yes, yes, Madam."
The chef rushed over, bowed, and offered the tray.
Aracilla delivered the trays one by one to the Grand Duchess. The Grand Duchess, who had begun her meal with satisfaction, soon frowned upon seeing the constant stream of dishes and said,
"I'll get indigestion, bring them more slowly! I told you to show me respect, but are you just trying to get it over with as quickly as possible?!"
Aracilla couldn't even eat while moving the food, so to hear such words from someone comfortably sitting and merely cutting their meat was simply preposterous.
Suppressing her exasperation, Aracilla slowly brought and placed the food. The Grand Duchess, as if to show off, cut a small piece of meat and put it in her mouth, savoring the taste leisurely.
"Pour the water too."
"..."
The urge to tip the water pitcher over the Grand Duchess's head instead of into the glass arose, but Aracilla endured once more.
The Grand Duchess, who had treated her like a serving maid throughout the meal, elegantly finished eating and rose. The napkin she casually tossed after wiping her mouth fell at Aracilla's feet.
"Hmph, the taste was nothing special. Tell the kitchen to prepare dishes to my liking from now on."
The Grand Duchess, leading her maids, haughtily left the dining hall. Aracilla, who had been going back and forth between the kitchen and the hall the entire time, finally sat down in a chair.
Resting her elbows on the table, her fingers interlaced, she propped her forehead in her hands. Her legs ached terribly from standing so long, but her stomach hurt even more from her anger.
"I'll prepare your meal, Madam."
Audrey, who had approached cautiously, spoke softly. But Aracilla waved her hand, refusing.
"I've lost my appetite."
If she ate anything now, her stomach might seize up. And watching the Grand Duchess eat had completely ruined her appetite.
Feeling the petty intention to make her suffer over food, she felt disgusted and didn't want to eat.
With a deep sigh that seemed to rise from her very core, Aracilla stood up. The Grand Duchess had left, so there was no need to remain in the dining hall.
"I want to rest. Let's go to my room."
"Yes, Madam."
Audrey quickly led the tired-looking Aracilla to her room.
While her mistress sank deep into the sofa, she examined Aracilla's hands with a distressed expression.
Though magic had been used, her hands, which had been flawlessly delicate, were now slightly red from doing laundry and carrying food.
"You've truly suffered, Madam."
"No, it's you who do this every day who truly suffer."
If it was this hard for her for just a short while, how difficult must it be for the maids who had to do the same work every single day without rest? She genuinely felt a profound appreciation for their labor.
Aracilla straightened up and gently took Audrey's shoulders.
"Thank you always, Audrey."
"Oh, no, Madam."
Audrey's cheeks flushed shyly. Receiving such unexpected gratitude for something she considered her duty made her feel a little embarrassed.
Smiling gently, Aracilla leaned back into the sofa and fell into thought.
Demian still had over ten days before he returned. Even if he did come back, she wasn't sure he could immediately drive out the Grand Duchess.
So, instead of simply enduring the Grand Duchess's tyranny and waiting for her husband, she needed to set a trap for the Grand Duchess herself.
Aracilla, who had been racking her brain about what to do, finally spoke.
"Audrey, spread rumors about today's events throughout the mansion. Exaggerate them greatly. Say that the Grand Duchess completely broke my spirit, that I'm deeply distressed, and that I seemed to have cried alone in my room, even if I didn't show it."
"What...? But Madam's reputation would..."
If word got around that Aracilla, the lady of the mansion, had been suppressed by the Grand Duchess, some servants might start to look down on her again.
And the Grand Duchess and her maids would undoubtedly become even more arrogant and strut about.
"It's fine, it doesn't matter, so spread the rumors far and wide. Make sure no one in the mansion hasn't heard it."
But that was precisely what Aracilla wanted. To turn a crisis into an opportunity, one often had to accept a certain degree of loss.
"Even if I lose a little now, I'll gain much more later."
A fresh smile appeared on Aracilla's lips.
Audrey didn't know what her mistress was planning, but knowing that her mistress usually smiled like that when she had a scheme, she silently resolved to obey the command.
* * *
After the hand-washing and dinner service, Aracilla became noticeably meek and submissive. The maids gossiped behind her back that she had even cried in secret, which was immensely satisfying for the Grand Duchess.
Yes, what could a young girl do, really?
Even if she had somehow managed to get the better of the Duchess, she would find it difficult to do so against *her*.
Still, she didn't let her guard down, constantly badmouthing Aracilla, finding fault, and nagging incessantly.
She didn't hesitate to resort to personal attacks to chip away at Aracilla's self-esteem and crush her pride.
"What good is a woman if her rear is so heavy? Tsk, tsk, lose some weight."
"Don't even think about bringing up your birth family in front of me! When a woman marries, she becomes part of her husband's family!"
"Oh dear, what's to be done with such foolish notions in your head? Don't waste your energy on pointless things, focus on your household!"
"Your thoughts are shallow and lacking, so just follow my words. That is your role, and your duty."
No matter how haughty others might have been, if they were exposed to the Grand Duchess's way of speaking for long, they would all, without exception, crumble.
To the Grand Duchess, who already had a history of trampling two of her sons' wives in this manner, the young Aracilla was an easy target.
Aracilla's drastically reduced speech, compared to when she used to retort so readily, was proof of this.
Just a little more of this, and her spirit would break, and she would tremble in fear of the Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess, who had been delightfully imagining putting the impertinent young girl beneath her heel, suddenly frowned.
"Ow!"
The mansion maid, kneeling at her feet and trimming her nails, had accidentally touched the quick beneath the nail.
To assert her influence over Aracilla, the Grand Duchess had deliberately ordered a mansion maid, not one of her own, to attend to her.
The purpose was both to clearly show who was above their mistress and to undermine Aracilla's authority as the lady of the mansion.
"You, what are you doing to the Grand Duchess!"
The Grand Duchess's maid, who had been standing behind and watching, immediately rushed forward. The young maid trembled with fear.
