10
Episode 10
…With a loud cracking sound, the box in front of me flew away uselessly.
“Found you, you little rat.”
“…Hick!”
A rough hand lifted me up.
My neck was grabbed, and my body floated in the air!
“Ack!”
With a sharp gesture from the large maid, my body turned 180 degrees.
Whirr.
“Out you go, you little rat.”
I was kicked out of the basement in an instant.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut with a bang.
My back slammed hard against the door by their hands.
“Coco not a rat!”
A group of tall, strong maids glared at me.
“Haa, how did she sneak into this basement?”
“I was sure we were guarding the basement door.”
“Go and fetch Mary quickly. We need to discuss with Mary-nim what to do with this little one.”
I pouted, thinking of my squeezed shoulder.
My vision blurred, and I felt like my feet were slowly sinking into a swamp.
I swallowed hard, feeling the hairs on my body stand on end, and stared at them confidently.
“I just came to get my squishy toy, what’s it to you!”
“…Ha. What? A squishy toy?”
As soon as I finished speaking.
With a small rustling sound, a mouse in the distance threw the squishy toy towards me.
I clutched the squishy toy tightly in my hand.
“This bone-shaped toy!”
“Why are you looking for this here…”
And, as if the ‘bone-shaped toy’ was a switch.
Bang!
The entire hallway shook vigorously, and I heard the sound of someone walking down the stairs with a click-clack.
Then, my sister appeared with a small lamp in her hand and a terrifying expression on her face.
“What are you all doing here?”
The reason why I wasn’t scared of these maids!
My sister told me to roam freely around the mansion. And if I found a toy, I was told to shout, ‘Bone-shaped toy!’
‘Then she said she would come to pick me up, no matter where I was!’
The surprised maids’ hands slipped, and I landed safely on the floor with a swoosh.
‘My sister never comes into the basement where the ledger is hidden.’
Then I just need to find the ledger and give it to my sister.
I stuck my tongue out at the bewildered maids.
Then I ran towards the door where my sister was standing.
“You know, the mouse moved through a very mysterious passage!”
“…Is that so.”
“So, I curled up into a ball and came all the way to the basement!”
There was only one reason why I lured my sister, who must have wanted my toy hidden in the mansion.
“And, while picking up the toy, I found a very, very suspicious book!”
“Suspicious book?”
“Yes! It says something like embezzle? Embezzlement? Anyway, it’s written like that!”
Yes, it was the embezzlement ledger.
Objective evidence to kick out the bad maids who were friends with my sister’s stepmother, Lucrezia!
I puffed out my chest and smiled proudly.
My sister accepted the squishy toy carefully and the ledger carelessly.
“…We’ll talk about this later.”
“Okay!”
“And, you maids.”
My sister’s voice became eerie, as if delivering a death sentence.
“Follow me outside, all of you.”
* * *
“Is it fun? Gathering in the basement every night to plot.”
“That’s…”
“It’s not like you thought I wouldn’t know, right?”
“……”
The head maid, Mary, bit her lip tightly.
Chloe never went into the basement with mossy stones.
So, they boldly used the basement as their hideout.
It was also true that they conspired to embezzle the budget there.
‘But, why is she suddenly doing this? She didn’t care before.’
Head Maid Mary was even more perplexed because she couldn’t figure out Chloe’s intentions.
“You shouldn’t have crossed the line.”
Chloe shook the embezzlement ledger Coco had handed her.
“The embezzlement.”
“……”
“You kept a good record of it.”
The head maid, who had been silent all along, curled her trembling lips and muttered.
“Is there a reason why you’re suddenly doing this? I thought you already knew about the embezzlement.”
“How dare you ask the master for the reason, how impudent.”
In fact, Chloe had no interest in the maids’ actions. She was just waiting for Coco’s toy that the child would find.
But…….
She thought of Coco’s bruised shoulder.
And the roughly bumping body.
“I was lenient, and it seems you’ve become emboldened.”
If left unchecked, more troublesome things would surely happen. So, no matter how annoying it was, it would be right to kick them out before that happened.
The head maid lowered her head.
“…I understand. I will step down and return to my original master.”
As expected of someone with something to rely on, the head maid was calm.
“It can’t be that resignation is the end after being caught doing something wrong.”
“As you know, the full authority to punish the head maids of each annex belongs to Duchess Lucrezia Ardos. Currently, the mistress is away on a trip to the temple, so it belongs to Theresia-nim, her representative. So, I will receive punishment directly from the mistress or Theresia-nim.”
“Well.”
Chloe grabbed the head maid’s wrist as she tried to leave.
“You don’t seem to have memorized the family law properly.”
“That can’t be.”
“There is such a thing in the attached clause of Article 1, Paragraph 10 of the Family Law. ‘Depending on the special circumstances of the family, servants may be individually punished using Special Abilitys.’”
Chloe whispered, putting strength into the hand holding the head maid’s wrist.
“As a price for being impudent in front of me, I will take away your sight.”
With her words, the head maid’s and other maids’ vision was buried in dark darkness.
“In this dark basement.”
“Wh, wh, what is this……”
“Flail around in the cold darkness where you can’t see until tomorrow morning.”
Just like someone who was once trapped in the basement.
Chloe maintained an arrogant gaze, hiding her trembling fingertips.
“Ah, aack!”
“Ch, Chloe-nim. Th, this is……!”
The head maid collapsed and groped around on the floor.
She was trapped in a nightmare in the dark.
“Ah, I can’t see……. Sa, save me!”
“Mo, monster……!”
“Hic, h, help me, s, save……!”
Those who feel auditory hallucinations in the fear of not being able to see. Even those suffering from terrifying hallucinations.
It was funny to see them twisting their bodies to avoid invisible attacks.
Lucrezia and Theresia’s cronies were properly dealt with.
Now that there was evidence, she could put a crack in the reputation of those mothers.
She casually flipped through the embezzlement ledger made by the head maid.
‘It’s annoying, but I’ll have to hire new maids.’
Those with strong hands who are not related to Theresia, so it won’t be troublesome.
For the first time in a long time, she felt a little refreshed.
But Chloe staggered as she tried to get out of her seat.
The side effect of Dark Magic, ‘delusion,’ came to her mind.
“Aren’t our Coco’s feet so pretty?”
“Woof! Woof!”
“Oh, did you bring a flower? For your sister?”
“Woof!”
“Good job, my baby. You’re the prettiest in the world. Right?”
For the first time in a very long time, Chloe smiled softly.
It felt like Coco’s warmth was felt at her fingertips.
But the warmth was only for a moment. The warmth disappeared in an instant, and a cold pain came to her bones.
It was a side effect of using Dark Magic beyond her ability.
It makes you constantly fantasize about happy memories,
And when that memory disappears, great pain comes.
But…….
‘What is this.’
Chloe opened her eyes, which had been closed.
It didn’t hurt anymore.
This side effect ended strangely extremely quickly.
‘What on earth is it because of?’