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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Regretful Male Lead Picked the Wrong Opponent
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“Harsh treatment of servants within the official residence is prohibited.”
Masera's cool voice made my spine tingle for no reason.
'Regretful male lead trait. He doesn't listen to the full story and jumps to conclusions based on what he sees.'
I let out a sigh, caught in the cliché of being wrongly misunderstood by the male lead.
Anyone looking would think I was a wicked hypocrite—pretending to be kind in front, but whipping servants behind their backs.
Still, I decided to explain the facts first.
“I didn't order any violence. I came to the kitchen because I was hungry, found them like this, and was in the middle of stopping it.”
Regretful male lead trait number two. He doesn't believe my words.
As expected, Masera just stared at me with cold, dead eyes.
This was the timing for his verbal abuse to start.
Probably things like 'What a horrific person,' 'You disappoint me even when I have no expectations,' 'Lying and violence—you're disqualified as a human.'
But right now, there was no helping being suspected. I'd uncover everything later, deal with Roze, and make Masera feel awkward.
“Yes, the young lady is absolutely not that kind of person. Please punish me instead.”
Roze spoke with the aggrieved face of someone taking the fall for her noble employer.
Masera, who had been silently alternating glances between Roze and me, nodded.
“Very well.”
His unexpected response made question marks appear on both Roze's and my faces.
Masera added,
“We'll refer her to a military tribunal.”
It went beyond unexpected—it was unprecedented. Roze asked in shock,
“Pardon? You're applying military law?”
“Once you're in the official residence, you're under military jurisdiction.”
She must have thought corporal punishment among servants was common and expected a light penalty, because Roze's face turned pale.
“You lot, return to your duties.”
At Masera's nod, the apprentice servants bowed hastily and scurried off.
Someone must have spread the word while lighting the lamps, because other servants had gathered in front of the kitchen. Their gazes toward me were sharp.
“Roze is such a bitch, but seeing her take the punishment for her master is kinda pitiful.”
“So the rumors that Cynthia ordered it from behind the scenes were true?”
I heard someone whispering.
I immediately turned my head and smiled kindly.
“Everyone. I know you don't think highly of me, but badmouthing behind my back before the facts are clear is violence. If you're curious, ask me directly and fairly.”
Not expecting me to call them out openly, a few servants hurriedly averted their eyes.
Masera stood with his arms crossed, silently looking down at Roze.
Meeting his piercing gaze would make even a non-existent secret technique burn up.
“I-I... was just following my lady's orders...”
Roze stammered, sweating coldly despite it being a winter night.
Masera asked,
“Yesterday, you whipped the apprentices for not cleaning the bathtub properly, correct?”
“That was...”
Thinking she was doomed to punishment no matter what, Roze opened her mouth.
But before she could use me as an excuse, I quickly cut her off.
“I was hovering between life and death at the time. It wasn't a situation where I could give orders.”
“It's exaggerated, but that's what I heard too.”
Masera half-agreed with my words.
Then, Roze, her face drained of color, made an excuse.
“Actually, the young lady woke up in the middle.”
“Eugene said it exactly like this: 'I visited every day, but Sister Cynthia kept sleeping. So she hasn't bathed until today.'”
Masera countered with words that felt like public execution.
At the same time, the servants standing near me began subtly distancing themselves.
I bathed thoroughly right after waking up. This was so unfair.
But that wasn't important right now.
“I heard from Dalia, who nursed me the whole time, that you never once visited my room. So how did you know if the bathtub in my room was dirty or not? How did you receive my orders?”
I approached Roze and asked calmly.
At a loss for words, she gaped in panic.
I didn't give her an opening and delivered the finishing blow.
“And you, pretending to be under my orders, threatened the apprentices and siphoned off food supplies, right? Planning to pin it on those kids if you got caught later.”
In truth, she planned to pin it on me.
I was saving this to use later when kicking her out, but since Masera didn't follow the regretful male lead cliché, I could use it now.
“Pardon? Young lady! Even if you used me as a disposable tool and tossed me away, to frame me like this!”
I easily ignored Roze's outburst and said,
“Brigadier General, may I check the official residence's food supply purchase records myself?”
He nodded readily and cooperated.
Why is he like this? I'm grateful, but it's hard to get used to.
As someone with kitchen experience, my check showed no discrepancies on paper, but the actual inventory differed.
She was pretty meticulous.
“Roze. You can't fool me, even if you fool others. You siphoned off ingredients and sold them.”
Roze clenched her fists and glared at me.
“Young lady.”
Roze still had the eyes of someone in the superior position. She approached closely and whispered sinisterly.
“You're risking your life on this, fake that you are.”
“You're right.”
Before long, they'd try to kill me on the count's orders.
I was pondering how to handle it, but Masera helping was a relief.
I glanced at Masera standing at a distance, the adjutant cross-checking documents with the steward, then smiled leisurely at Roze again.
“Go ahead and tell them I'm a fake. You're already a liar and a serious criminal for embezzling military supplies.”
This wasn't just a mansion—it was an official residence, a military facility.
Embezzling military supplies was treason, equivalent to colluding with the enemy.
In other words, a capital crime punishable by death.
“Getting caught before the marriage was your fatal mistake. The count and brigadier general, whose top priority is the marriage, will protect me, and you'll end up shouldering all the crimes and getting executed.”
Not having realized that far, Roze's face paled as she retorted,
“E-Execution? How do you know that?”
“Didn't you sign the confidentiality agreement and get briefed when entering the residence? You must not have listened properly.”
I shrugged and lowered my voice.
“Even if you completed your mission, you would've been killed without any reward. That's the Queensguard Count's way of handling things.”
Feeling the crisis, Roze's face twisted more and more.
Once she grasped the situation, Roze immediately knelt and began begging.
“Young lady, I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me, for old times' sake. My siblings are starving—I had no choice!”
It seemed like she was pleading to me, but her volume was aimed at gaining Masera's sympathy.
The servants who came with me, including Roze, had no families, but I pretended to fall for it appropriately.
“I knew about your circumstances. I overlooked it as discretion back at the count's estate, but doing it here too? Even using my name.”
I helped Roze up and spoke magnanimously, then whispered so only she could hear,
“Cooperate with me, and I'll get you out. I need information on the count's family.”
“Y-Yes. I'll keep quiet and cooperate.”
Hearing her answer, I resumed my acting.
“Roze, I don't think you acted alone. There must be accomplices among the servants who came from the count's family.”
She understood it as a signal to 'pin it on someone else' and nodded seriously.
“Jessie and Peregrine.”
“Got it.”
And with a face holding faint hope, Roze was dragged away by the soldiers.
I watched her retreating figure, then approached Masera with a dejected expression and apologized.
“I'm sorry. It's my fault for not properly managing the servants.”
“Do you wish to consider the servant's circumstances, forgive her, and send her back to the count's family?”
At Masera's question, I lowered my eyes and slowly shook my head.
“No, I have no intention of forgiving her, so please handle it according to the law. Jessie and Peregrine are accomplices too.”
In truth, what I told Roze was just mental torture with false hope.
'No need for a traitor's cooperation.'
This was something I'd learned from two intense lives.
I subtly glanced at Charles, who was watching from afar among the servants. I winked at him, signaling to quietly play the role of watcher.
