Chapter 28
“My father suggested a change in your household staff, so I’ve arrived to handle the matter personally.”
Aubrey’s amber gaze cut through the room with the frigid intensity of a superior uncovering a betrayal. She looked over the girls with visible disdain. “Observation confirms they are utterly lacking in grace. These servants are a disgrace to a young lady of a Marquis’s stature.”
“Ma—Madam!” Rilda gasped.
“Silence!”
The sound of the slap echoed through the room. Rilda, sensing the impending disaster, had instinctively reached out for Aubrey’s sleeve, only to be met with a stinging blow to the face.
“Goodness, Aunt,” I interjected, my expression one of practiced shock. “What could Rilda have possibly done to earn such a violent rebuke? Has she offended you so deeply?”
Aubrey faltered, her grumbling cutting short. She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder. From my position across the room, I had seen them the moment we locked eyes. I knew exactly who stood in the hallway.
Ruk Kelfosher was there, accompanied by a group of advisors to Assis Grand Duke Frazier.
Aubrey’s mask of composure snapped back into place instantly. “Not at all, Tulia. The girl simply startled me. She grabbed at me like some common lunatic from the gutters, and I reacted out of pure shock.”
Despite her smooth explanation, Aubrey’s eyes remained fixed on the ‘traitors’ with a murderous heat. The maids looked as though they were drowning in desperation, silently pleading their innocence. A few were already shaking their heads in a frantic, wordless denial of any disloyalty.
It was a futile effort. I had already sealed their fates by identifying each one of them by name earlier. In Aubrey’s mind, the evidence of their treachery was already absolute.
“Drag them out,” Aubrey barked at her senior attendants. “They will be re-educated from the ground up!”
“Understood, Madam!”
Her senior staff, their voices thick with shared indignation, hauled Rilda and the others away.
“Madam! Please!”
“Have mercy, Madam!”
I didn’t need to witness the ‘education’ Aubrey provided for those she deemed disloyal to know it would be brutal. Regardless, I felt a sense of relief. With those spies finally removed from my personal quarters, I could finally sleep and wake in peace.
“Well then, Tulia. I’ll leave you to your rest. I must—”
“Wait, Aunt.” I stopped her just as she tried to make a hasty exit. “I slept in today and missed the news. How is Tedrick?”
The forced smile on Aubrey’s face turned brittle.
“Tedrick isn’t a bad boy,” she began, her voice tight. “It seems he was simply overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy regarding his grades compared to yours, and he acted out…”
I watched her, saying nothing.
“…Isn’t that right?” she prompted.
“Why on earth would my son ever feel inferior to someone like you!” Aubrey’s temper flared, but she caught herself, checking Ruk Kelfosher’s reaction behind her. To my amusement, she even seemed to be gauging my response.
I let my smile fade into a neutral mask. “Someone like me?”
“No, I didn’t mean—I misspoke. I’m simply distraught, you understand…”
“Aunt Aubrey,” I said, letting a smile return to my lips—the vacant, harmless smile of a girl with no pride. “I am quite curious about the penalty Grandfather settled on for Tedrick.”
I made sure my tone wasn’t entirely empty-headed, however. “Surely the punishment was quite severe?”
Aubrey’s mouth snapped shut, her body trembling.
“What is the verdict, Ruk?” I asked.
Ruk Kelfosher stepped forward, maintaining his usual professional air, though a faint, uncharacteristic smile played at the corners of his mouth. “His Grace has ordered Young Master Tedrick to be relocated immediately.”
“Relocated? To where?”
“To the same residence you previously occupied, Miss Tulia.”
I blinked. “The Randel Warehouse?”
“Indeed.”
I was genuinely stunned. I hadn’t expected Assis Grand Duke Frazier to be quite so ruthless. “That place is barely habitable. In the winter, the cold is bone-deep. How long must he stay?”
“His Grace has placed the Young Master under indefinite house arrest.”
“My goodness.” I turned back to Aubrey, a small, sharp smile touching my lips. “Poor Tedrick. He really is in a pitiful state, isn’t he, Aunt?”
Aubrey let out a strangled cry and bolted from the room. I noticed then that her eyes had been bloodshot from the moment she arrived. I felt like humming a tune; the boy who had constantly mocked Tulia for living in a ‘beggar’s castle’ was now condemned to it. He wouldn’t see the main estate or the luxury of the annexes again until he was married off.
I glanced at the remaining maids hovering by the door. “Why aren’t you following your mistress?”
“We are your new attendants, assigned by the Young Madam, Miss.”
I had to hand it to Aubrey; her persistence in trying to plant new spies was almost impressive.
“I have no need for you. Return to her.”
“But the Young Madam gave us strict orders—”
“Are you choosing to ignore my command?” I reached up and toyed with Glory, the Frazier necklace.
The maids exchanged pale, uncertain looks before eventually bowing and retreating. Once the room was finally silent, Ruk spoke.
“Miss Tulia, I have one more update for you.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“This morning, His Grace made a decision regarding Viscountess Aubrey.”
“Go on.”
“He has officially stripped her of all domestic authority within the household.”
Adel, usually the picture of composure, gasped. I was equally taken aback. It was a massive shift in power. I wondered if it was appropriate for Ruk to tell me this so soon, but I suspected the Grand Duke had given him the nod to keep me informed.
Once the advisors departed, Adel served a fig cream cake for my snack. “Miss Tulia, the temperature is dropping, so I’ve prepared some new wool slippers for you.”
“Thank you, Adel. They look lovely.”
“They’re very soft,” she said, helping me try them on. “Do they fit comfortably? Please tell me if they feel tight.”
“They’re perfect.”
The slippers were wonderfully warm, wrapping my feet in soft wool. As I took a bite of the cake, the blend of sugar and fruit melted on my tongue. The original Tulia had grown up with such finery—even more than this—but it had all been a facade maintained by Viscount Lilius’s lies.
That era was over. I had cleared out the immediate threats, and I would continue to do so. Now, it was time to turn my attention to the targets.
The Crown Prince would be the first. He was the most difficult route in the game, which was exactly why he had to be handled first to ensure the best ending. Any other path led to a dead end. To get an A-rank, I needed nearly perfect affinity with all the leads, but the Prince was the gatekeeper.
I was a Frazier of the direct line and wore the family’s most sacred jewel, but I was still a minor who hadn’t made her debut. Getting to the Imperial Palace alone was an impossible task.
However, I wasn’t worried. I knew someone would be arriving shortly to provide the bridge I needed.
Lunch was a delightful spread: a zesty orange salad, rich pumpkin soup, and steak sautéed in butter and onions.
“You certainly have a healthy appetite for meat, Miss,” Adel remarked as I enjoyed the meal.
“I suppose I’m making up for lost time,” I replied. In my past life as Han Ina, expensive cuts of beef were a luxury I felt too guilty to touch, so I usually stuck to greens.
Adel went quiet for a moment, then smiled warmly. “In that case, you’ll be happy to know we’re having lobster and tenderloin for dinner.”
I was just finishing a chocolate dessert when a knock sounded at the door. Adel went to check and returned looking puzzled.
“Miss Tulia, a scholar… that is, Schuls Schmidt Pneuma, is asking to see you.”
“A teacher? Now?” I stood up. “Show him to the drawing room.”
I wasn’t surprised. I had expected him to appear today. He was the vital link that would lead me straight to the Crown Prince.
