The Villainess Enjoys Her Married Life
Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Chapter 24. On the Honor of Klaus
2023.12.24.
Sella stepped toward Kalian and opened the box.
Inside lay bandages and rods encrusted with dried blood.
Finding it more gruesome than anticipated, Kalian furrowed his brow for a moment before carefully picking up one of the rods.
“Sella told me she was struck as well.”
Kalian turned a cold gaze upon Eshika.
“And Sella’s younger sister, who was also a maid here, left the estate two years ago.”
Sella’s clenched fists trembled, her eyes wavering with emotion.
“Tell the rest yourself.”
Kalian commanded, lifting his chin toward Sella.
A sudden foreboding struck Yuri. She had never heard anything about Sella having a sister…
Surely Sella wasn’t about to say something reckless?
“My mother and sister live in Achembel. My sister was left with a limp and couldn’t work anymore… so she survives on the money I send home.”
Sella recalled the events of that day.
Stricken with a severe cold, her sister had failed to change the Grand Duchess’s bedsheets on time.
The Grand Duchess had already been in a foul mood after seeing another noblewoman arrive at a tea party wearing a gown more splendid than her own.
And so the tragedy began.
“These are the rods used to beat my sister. And the bandages wrapped around her calves…”
The bandages were stained dark brown, bearing witness to how heavily she had bled.
Staring down into the box, Sella continued speaking.
“I kept these out of pure resentment for what happened to my sister, never imagining a mere maid could use them to expose the misdeeds of highborn nobility.”
“Even if you are merely maids,”
Kalian looked toward Eshika with chilled eyes.
“You are nonetheless the property of Klaus.”
Skilled servants were essential to maintaining the estate.
“If someone repeatedly damages that property, even a member of this family must pay a fitting price.”
Kalian wished Eshika would finally show some fear.
To bow her stiffly held neck, to let tear-glistening eyes waver, and to beg for forgiveness.
To plead for his love, claiming she had been blinded by jealousy toward Yuri.
“I believe Your Grace’s promise to right the injustice done to my sister.”
Sella’s trembling voice cut through the silence.
Kalian gave a slight nod.
“On the honor of Klaus. Without fail.”
Heartened by his words, Sella cleared her throat and spoke with newfound clarity.
“The rod in Your Grace’s hand bears the fingernail marks of the one who struck my sister. It must be the very same person who beat the Head Maid.”
“…What?”
“If you wish, I can bring my sister here to prove her scars match those on the Head Maid’s legs.”
“Sella. This is not about finding the culprit.”
Kalian’s brow twitched.
Was the culprit not standing right before their eyes?
Eshika Klaus. Looking upon the scene with clear blue eyes, watching shamelessly.
“You still fail to understand.”
With a frosty voice, Eshika snatched the rod right out of Kalian’s grasp.
Though his attention had been divided, the move was executed so swiftly that Kalian had no time to stop her.
In the blink of an eye, the rod was in Eshika’s hand, and she held her own nails against the distinct indentations left in the wood.
“…What do you think you are doing?!”
Kalian moved to snatch the rod back from Eshika, but an overwhelming, imposing presence radiated from her in an instant, freezing his hand mid-motion.
His heart lurched as Kalian looked into Eshika’s eyes.
Then his gaze dropped toward her hands.
The fingernail marks… were completely different from Eshika’s nails.
“Since coming to the Klaus Duchy, I have never dyed my nails nor grown them long. Had Your Grace spared me even the slightest fraction of your attention, you would have known.”
Kalian’s heart pounded against his ribs.
“These marks do not belong to my nails.”
Deep, sharp grooves carved by long nails and faint stains of deep pink dye were clearly visible on the rod.
Kalian shook his head.
“I have no idea what you are trying to say.”
“Your Grace, the Duchess and Sella must have conspired together, so please listen no further…”
Yuri attempted to steer the conversation away, but Eshika cut her off once more.
Cold yet commanding, her voice pierced straight into Kalian’s ears.
“In no province of Turesian is there a custom of beating someone across the calves with a rod.”
“…!”
Yuri’s eyes shook violently.
Kalian stood frozen, his brow locked tight.
“…”
The fingernail marks had merely been a warm-up.
An appetizer to prepare him to swallow the undeniable truth.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Kalian asked, staring at Eshika with sharp violet eyes.
Eshika parted her lips.
“Everywhere in Turesian, when a child misbehaves, they are made to raise their hands or kneel. In households with strict discipline, they may strike the palms, but the calves…”
A faint smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.
“…are never struck.”
“That cannot be.”
Kalian instantly retorted.
“When I was young, I—!”
Yet he could not finish his sentence.
As realization dawned upon him, his violet eyes wavered.
“On the other hand, I hear there are lands where it is customary to strike the calves when a child errs.”
Kalian’s mother, Riona, was born of the royal line of Smitchen, a ruined kingdom.
“…Investigate it yourself. Find out which country follows such a custom.”
Yuri bit her lower lip hard.
She realized the tide had already turned.
Looking at Kalian, whose expression was set like stone, Eshika leaned closer toward Sella and asked:
“Sella, who beat your sister and left her crippled?”
Though spoken in a gentle tone, the fallout of the answer would be monumental.
Kalian stood stiff, his eyes fixed on Sella.
He regretted summoning Eshika to this place.
He had anticipated a certain victory, yet all he gained was utter defeat.
A silent plea begging her not to answer swirled within his eyes, laced with despair.
Yet Sella answered in a calm, composed tone.
“It was the Grand Duchess.”
“…!”
Kalian’s hand flinched with a tremor.
Yuri pressed Sella frantically.
“You are here to accuse the Duchess of abuse… so why are you saying such things?!”
“No? I never stated who struck us. I merely said that my sister and the maids were abused.”
At Sella’s brazen retort, Yuri’s brows shot up.
“You… you…”
“Why don’t you answer instead, Head Maid? Were you truly beaten by the Duchess?”
Then came Sella’s counterattack.
Yuri recoiled.
The scales had already tipped. If Sella brought her sister to show the scars, they would match Yuri’s… and Kalian would discover Yuri had lied.
If she were to lose Kalian’s favor over this, all the dreams she had harbored would turn to ash.
Yet if she confessed that it was Riona and not Eshika… she would never survive the aftermath.
This whole scheme had been orchestrated by the Grand Duchess, and the Grand Duchess would never let her off lightly.
“Why aren’t you answering, Head Maid?”
Unable to utter a single word, Yuri’s fists trembled under Sella’s interrogation.
“Then again, the maids who submitted fabricated resignations stayed silent out of fear of the Grand Duchess’s punishment, so why would you ever admit that it was all a lie?”
Damn it, this was not how things were supposed to go.
Yet there was no way out.
“…”
Kalian kept his mouth tightly shut, staring at the scene unfold.
Yuri was not answering Sella’s question.
And her silence could only mean that Sella spoke the truth.
A deep, swirling turmoil filled his violet eyes.
“Your Grace swore on the honor of Klaus that you would right the wrong done to my sister. I believe in the honor of Klaus!”
Sella’s voice rang out.
A bitter taste spread across Kalian’s lips.
“…”
He had indeed made that vow. It had been intended as a threat against Eshika.
Kalian turned his gaze toward Yuri.
Now, he could no longer run from Eshika.
“…Tell me the truth, Yuri.”
At Kalian’s low, fury-laden voice, Yuri’s shoulders flinched.
Frantic thoughts raced through Yuri’s mind like soldiers on a battlefield.
The realization that mishandling this moment would destroy her relationship with Kalian pressed upon her with desperate urgency.
There was only one way left.
“…I am so sorry, Your Grace…”
Yuri dropped to her knees, collapsing onto the floor.
Tears began to stream endlessly down her cheeks.
“I feared creating a rift between Your Grace and the Grand Duchess…”
Yuri certainly possessed a talent for playing the victim.
“So I could not bring myself to speak the truth.”
Kalian’s heart plummeted into a bottomless abyss once more.
Watching Yuri weep on her knees, a mocking curve touched the corner of Eshika’s lips.
Kalian furrowed his brow deeply as he spoke.
A chilling frost emanated from his frame.
“…And so you framed your friend?”
“No, that’s not… sob… I was terrified as well, Your Grace…”
Still collapsed on the floor, Yuri gathered her skirts, hitching them up as she pleaded.
There was only one move left for her to make.
“If I said the wrong thing, I feared she might truly kill me next time…”
She had clearly resolved to stake everything on begging for Kalian’s pity.
Yet the gaze Kalian cast upon her was nothing but ice.
