Chapter 8

8. Daring to Damage My Property

"Everyone, prepare. We're leaving tomorrow."

The head maid, Caroline, urged the maids.

The news was that the Duke would be leaving this villa and moving tomorrow.

"Finally, we're going back to Munich Castle!"

"The fireplace here was so old-fashioned that it was hard to manage."

The maids bustled about, packing their luggage and chattering.

Then Caroline shook her head.

"No. You're not going to Munich Castle, but to Ideana."

At that moment, the sound of shattering porcelain echoed loudly.

All eyes turned to where Liana stood.

"I'm, I'm sorry."

Liana bowed and apologized before hurriedly cleaning up the broken dishes.

People whispered about her mistake, but Liana didn't hear them.

'Ideana…?'

Her mind went blank.

She had heard that Shed Lester had been granted a new territory for his achievements.

But was that the Ideana territory?

Then, the head maid's feet stopped in front of Liana, who was cleaning up the shards.

"You will also be going to the Ideana territory."

"Yes…?"

Liana was surprised and cut her fingertip on a shard of glass.

But there was no time to feel the pain.

"The master has given separate instructions. Assign you to Ideana as well."

The head maid ordered, pointing to one side.

It was where the luggage to be sent to Ideana was piled up.

At the word Ideana, Liana's heart pounded like a drum.

The hometown where she was born and raised, the land where she had fallen, the place where she had planted the seeds of her ill-fated relationship with Shed.

She couldn't go back to the place she had barely escaped from.

"Um…, I submitted my resignation letter."

Liana recalled the resignation letter she had submitted a few days ago.

Since Shed hadn't decided on her fate, she had decided to quit herself.

"It was rejected."

Caroline didn't bother to say, 'The master tore it up and burned it.'

She had no obligation to be so kind as to explain such things one by one.

"Besides, submitting a resignation letter without even doing your job properly, you'll have a hard time working as a maid anywhere with that kind of attitude. You should be grateful."

Caroline warned.

Originally, there were high barriers to working as a maid in a noble family.

Not only were refinement, knowledge of etiquette, and meticulousness required, but it was also difficult to continue working as a maid unless the family you worked for wrote a letter of recommendation.

Moreover, this was Duke Leicester's family. One of the Elector Families of the Empire, and a family whose reputation and history were respected by all.

It was one of the most honorable families to work for as a maid, and others were eager to work here.

But the Duke himself brought you in and gave you the opportunity to work, and you're going to quit right away?

Caroline clicked her tongue at the new maid's patheticness.

If she acted so impatiently, she wouldn't be able to do anything in the future.

"Then I want to go to Munich Castle too."

Currently, the staff staying at the villa were divided into those who would return to Munich Castle and those who would return to Ideana.

Liana had to avoid going to Ideana at all costs.

But upon hearing those words, Caroline's face hardened coldly.

"How audacious. You've only been here for a few days, and you're already arguing about something that was decided from above?"

Caroline had never seen such an arrogant new maid before.

A new maid would be busy trying to read the room and understand her place, but she dared to express dissatisfaction with the master's orders from the start.

"Surely, you're not going to disobey the master's orders, are you?"

In the duchy, the Duke was King and Emperor. His word was law. A maid had no authority to change that decision.

Liana knew that fact as well. Even though she had once lived as a noble, she had learned how to behave as a maid after working as one for several years. She also knew that her request was reckless.

But.

"I can't go to Ideana."

Liana clutched at her skirt.

She didn't care if she was called an arrogant and clueless woman.

"Please allow me to go to Munich Castle…"

Slap!

A fierce slap cut off her words.

"Impertinent, not knowing your place."

A burning heat surged on her cheek.

Caroline glared down at her.

The head maid, who valued the reputation and honor of the Leicester family, didn't like the girl the master had brought with him.

Shed Lester, who had never given a woman a second glance, had personally picked up a woman who was vulgarly a maid.

Of course, she couldn't help but be a thorn in her side.

"You haven't figured out your position even after being kicked out of the bedroom?"

Caroline mocked Liana.

'You must think you're on top of the world because you caught the master's eye. But you were kicked out right after failing to share his bed.'

Caroline was going to thoroughly trample on this impudent newcomer. Otherwise, she would continue to act without knowing her place.

Liana bit her lip at the head maid's insult.

But soon, she straightened her body and raised her head to meet her eyes directly.

"Since I've been slapped, I'll make it clear. I'm not going to Ideana. Please fire me."

Caroline froze in shock at the clear and concise retort.

The maids around her were the same.

It was because there had never been anyone who dared to be so brazen.

"You really are an amazing girl."

Caroline frowned and let out a hollow laugh before raising her hand again.

Slap! The head maid slapped her cheek again.

Her body swayed, and her head turned as if it were about to snap.

But Liana regained her balance and stood up straight again.

The head maid looked at her with a disgusted expression at her tenacious gaze.

Even after being slapped, there wasn't a single tear or change in expression.

"Seeing you, I understand why the master kicked you out. I guess I need to properly educate you so that there won't be any trouble."

The head maid seemed to have made up her mind as she rolled up her sleeves.

She gestured to the servants around her, and two servants who had been watching quickly rushed at Liana.

They grabbed Liana's arms from both sides.

"Let go of me…!"

It was no use for Liana to resist.

"Daring to."

Slap!

"You commoner."

Slap!

"Disobey the master's orders!"

Slap!

Liana's head went back and forth.

She must have been hit wrong the last time because her ears were ringing. Both cheeks were numb and had no sensation.

Was it because her head was shaking too much? Her head hurt, and her vision blurred for a moment.

She could hear the head maid saying something, but she couldn't understand what she was saying at all.

She squeezed her dizzy eyes shut and tried to shake off the ringing in her ears.

And she barely moved the tip of her tongue, which was filled with a bitter taste.

"I'm…"

At that moment, slap! The sound of tearing through the air was heard again.

But she felt nothing on her cheek.

It wasn't the sound from her cheek.

Liana raised her blurry eyes.

A broad back blocking her view.

A shadow cast like a shade.

'…You.'

A familiar and longed-for back.

"…Who told you to do this?"

A heavy voice flowed into her ringing ears.

"Shed…"

In front of him, the head maid was kneeling with her hands on her cheeks.

"M, Master…!"

Head Maid Caroline covered her cheeks with trembling hands.

She was so shocked that she couldn't even cry.

"I asked, who told you to do this?"

"That is, that child disobeyed the master's orders and insisted, so I was educating her…"

"My orders?"

"She asked to go to Munich Castle instead of Ideana. The master clearly told me to assign that child to Ideana, so…"

The head maid pointed at Liana.

Following her fingertip, Shed's gaze turned to Liana.

Then, the servants who were holding Liana trembled and let her go.

Shed's fingertips twitched as the released small body staggered.

But Liana soon stood on her own two feet and regained her balance.

Both of her cheeks were so red that they were turning blue.

Shed's teeth ground together.

"Because of my orders?"

"I was just trying to follow the master's words as the head maid…!"

"Shut up."

At Shed's words, the head maid didn't even breathe, as if her mouth had been sewn shut.

The same was true for those around her.

They had never seen their master, Shed Lester, so angry.

"The head maid says my orders are so important,"

Cold violet eyes looked down at the head maid.

"Yet you dare to scratch my property."

Caroline trembled her lips.

Step, Shed took another step closer to Caroline.

In front of that huge body, Caroline was crushed by his mere presence and couldn't do anything.

"Tell me. Did I ever allow you to handle my property carelessly?"

Indeed, she had never laid a hand on the maids like this before.

She was strict, but it always ended with standing as punishment, verbal warnings, or, in the worst case, a notice of dismissal.

But she had been excessively violent with Liana.

If she had to give a reason, it was because Liana was like a foreign object here.

A pretty face who was brought in by the Duke and seemed to be favored, but in the end, she was ridiculously kicked out of the bedroom. She was nothing more than an abandoned doll.

But she didn't know her place and even dared to argue back, so Caroline, thinking it was a good opportunity, showed Liana, who was disobeying orders, what was what.

But it seemed that the master had no intention of completely abandoning the doll.

"I'm sorry, Master…!"

Caroline begged for forgiveness, burying her head on the floor with tears in her eyes.

Shed was silent as he looked down at the head maid who was begging with both hands. In the cold silence, the employees trembled and lowered their heads.

Shed slowly turned his head and called the knight who was following him.

"Carlisle."

"Yes, my lord."

"Take her away."

Shed gestured with his chin at the head maid, and Carlisle bowed his head to receive the order and grabbed the head maid.

"M, Master!"

While the head maid was being forcibly dragged away by Carlisle's hand, the others couldn't say anything. The air pressed down on their hearts like a heavy lump of iron.

While the employees were frozen, Shed turned his eyes to Liana. Liana, whose cheeks were a mess, was looking up at him.

Shed's jaw tightened as he met her gaze.

"Follow me."

Shed pushed past the servants and walked out.

When Liana hesitated for a moment, Shed stopped walking and turned around.

"Don't make me say it twice."

A voice mixed with anger.

He warned Liana and then moved his steps again.