Chapter 34
Lady Quillian glared at Aileen with eyes that looked as if she would tear her apart right then and there.
She was trying to take out on Aileen the anger she couldn’t vent on Alice and Lady Meltain.
“Mother, Aileen is…”
“Seize that insolent thing at once! I’ll make her pay dearly for daring to ignore her mistress and act on her own! For the discipline of the mansion to have slackened like this, I’ll make an example of you!”
Lady Quillian commanded, pointing at Aileen as if she couldn’t even hear Alice speaking.
As the servants approached Aileen, Alice shouted:
“No!”
At Alice’s sharp reaction, the servants hesitated.
“No? Are you defying me now?”
Lady Quillian looked at her with fierce eyes.
Alice had wanted to avoid causing a disturbance as much as possible.
But she couldn’t just stand by and watch Aileen be dragged away.
How could she just watch as the innocent Aileen became a scapegoat in her place?
Alice looked directly at Lady Quillian and said:
“Mother, Aileen was only following the butler’s orders to attend to me. Punishing her for that is unjust.”
“That’s right. This doesn’t make sense, Lady Quillian.”
Lady Meltain chimed in from beside her.
Lady Quillian looked back and forth between the two of them, curling her lip in a sneer.
“So, you’re finally showing your true colors. Defying me in front of all the servants, you’re really determined to push me out! Do you think I’ll just sit back and take it?!”
Lady Quillian shouted as if Alice had committed treason.
“That’s not what I…”
Lady Quillian’s face flushed red, as if about to burst.
She shouted, seemingly having lost all reason:
“Seize that thing and make her kneel! It’s an order!!”
The hesitant servants approached Aileen at Lady Quillian’s command.
“Don’t touch her!”
Alice reflexively stepped in front of Aileen to shield her.
If she were dragged away like this, she would surely be beaten.
That absolutely cannot happen.
“Well, well, look at this!”
Focused on blocking the servants, Alice didn’t see Lady Quillian approaching her.
By the time she heard the shrill voice right in front of her and looked up, Lady Quillian’s hand was already raised high.
As Lady Quillian’s hand flew quickly towards Alice’s cheek, Alice instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
At the same time, a loud slap echoed in her ears.
But why… doesn’t it hurt?
The sound of a solid slap had clearly rung in her ears.
Yet her cheek wasn’t stinging, nor had her head turned to the side.
Alice opened her eyes slightly in confusion, then widened them in shock at the blurry scene before her.
“Lady Meltain…?”
Lady Meltain was standing in front of Alice.
Her head was tilted to the side, and in front of her stood Lady Quillian with a bewildered expression.
The slapping sound she had heard – it had come from Lady Meltain’s cheek.
Lady Meltain had taken the slap in her place.
“No, why…”
Alice felt greatly perplexed by Lady Meltain’s unexpected action.
And it seemed she wasn’t the only one shocked by this situation; everyone around them seemed frozen in time.
As a suffocating silence settled over them, Lady Meltain slowly rubbed her slapped cheek.
Then, straightening her head, she spoke:
“No matter how angry you are, to resort to physical violence yourself is unbecoming of a noble’s dignity, Lady Quillian.”
As Lady Meltain’s icy voice rang out, Lady Quillian, who had awkwardly lowered her hand, moved her half-open lips.
“…What right do you have to lecture me about dignity…”
Lady Quillian spoke with her chin raised, pretending to be unaffected, but Alice saw it.
She saw Lady Quillian unconsciously taking a step back.
Moreover, unlike Lady Meltain’s, Lady Quillian’s voice trembled slightly.
She must have been intimidated by Lady Meltain’s suddenly chilled atmosphere.
It was understandable.
Although Alice could only see Lady Meltain’s back, the anger radiating from her was so palpable that it raised goosebumps on Alice’s arms.
There was an overwhelming aura emanating from her that made Alice think, “This is what a female protagonist is like.”
Lady Meltain took a step towards Lady Quillian.
Just as Alice swallowed dryly, feeling like something was about to happen, the butler appeared.
“My Lady, what seems to be the matter?”
The tense atmosphere relaxed considerably with the butler’s calm entrance.
Lady Quillian opened her mouth as if she had been waiting for this:
“…I was just in the process of correcting the slackened discipline of the household. Although I’m very angry, I can’t cause a commotion, so I’ll let this incident pass. But there must not be a second challenge to my authority!”
Lady Quillian glared in turn at Alice, Lady Meltain, and the butler before turning sharply on her heel.
Her back as she quickly ascended the stairs almost looked like she was fleeing.
She left the scene so rapidly that no one had a chance to stop her.
After Lady Quillian’s departure, Alice reached out to Lady Meltain.
To check if she was alright.
But before Alice’s hand could reach her, Lady Meltain moved towards the butler.
Awkwardly lowering her outstretched hand, Alice watched Lady Meltain’s back for a moment before turning to Aileen.
If even Alice was shocked by Lady Quillian’s excessive behavior, Aileen, a mere maid, must have been terrified.
“Are you alright?”
As she had expected, Aileen’s face was pale.
She had been in a daze, and now flinched before bowing deeply to Alice.
“…Yes. Thank you for helping me, Young Mistress.”
“It’s nothing. I didn’t really do much to help. If Mother calls for you, come to me first. Understood?”
Given Lady Quillian’s personality, there was a high chance she would harass Aileen again.
“…Yes.”
Alice patted Aileen’s hunched shoulders, thinking she would need to keep a close eye on her for a while.
After comforting Aileen briefly, she approached the butler and Lady Meltain.
The butler stopped speaking when he noticed her approaching.
“Young Mistress.”
As the butler bowed slightly, Lady Meltain, sensing her presence, turned around.
“My Lady, thank you for earli– No, this is too much!”
Alice, who was about to express her gratitude, cried out with wide eyes.
Her gaze was fixed on Lady Meltain’s reddened cheek.
Alice unconsciously reached out towards Lady Meltain’s cheek.
The handprint was clearly visible on her small cheek, showing how hard she had been slapped.
Was it because of her fair skin? The red mark looked so painful.
How could someone leave such a mark on a face as beautiful as a goddess? Is she crazy?
“What’s happened to your beautiful face… Oh no, does it hurt a lot? Look how swollen it is. How hard did she hit you? She must be out of her mind…”
As Alice cradled Lady Meltain’s cheek and muttered curses at Lady Quillian, she suddenly met the gaze of green eyes staring intently at her.
“Ah…”
Alice snapped back to her senses at the sight of those clear green eyes.
What did I just say…
Alice was quite vulnerable to visual beauty.
In fact, the reason she couldn’t ignore Kylus’s suffering was because she had been completely taken in by his handsome appearance.
Lady Meltain was the female protagonist of this world.
She was a woman as beautiful as Kylus.
Every time she saw her, Alice couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim, “Oh my, a rose is speaking!”
Dead flags were dead flags, but beauty was beauty.
Alice awkwardly smiled and said:
“Haha, what I mean is…”
I shouldn’t have cursed at Lady Quillian.
The image Alice had shown Lady Meltain until now was that of an innocent noble lady who couldn’t even utter a curse.
As Alice’s mouth just smiled in embarrassment, Lady Meltain chuckled and said:
“Lady Quillian was indeed out of her mind. I’m fine, Duchess.”
It was the most comfortable and sincere smile Alice had seen from Lady Meltain so far.
That radiant smile made Alice’s heart flutter for a moment, even though she was a woman too.
She really was incredibly beautiful.
But she was as dangerous as she was beautiful. Just like Kylus.
Alice cleared her throat quietly, trying to regain her composure after nearly being completely taken in.
“Ahem, My Lady, please don’t move for a moment.”
And Alice applied pressure to the hand cupping Lady Meltain’s cheek.
Soon, a small light flowed from her hand.
Lady Meltain’s green eyes widened slightly, and soon the holy power completely healed her reddened and swollen cheek.
Lady Meltain and the butler looked at Alice with surprised eyes.
Though the fact that she could use holy power had already spread widely throughout the duchy, this was probably the first time they had seen her use it directly, so their surprise was understandable.
Alice hadn’t intended to reveal her holy power while staying at the duchy, but she couldn’t ignore Lady Meltain’s swollen cheek.
Especially since she had taken the slap in Alice’s place.
Alice naturally removed her hand from Lady Meltain’s cheek, pretending not to notice the two people’s gazes.
“…Thank you.”
Lady Meltain slowly opened her lips.
“It’s nothing. I should be more grateful to you, My Lady. You stopped Lady Quillian for me. I was thankful earlier. But please don’t do that again.”
“But you looked like you might fly away.”
“Pardon?”
“If you had taken that slap, it looked like you might have been sent flying. You look rather small and weak overall… like a rabbit…”
Alice couldn’t hear Lady Meltain’s last words.
But she heard everything else.
Small and weak-looking…
She wanted to refute, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Alice was smaller than Lady Meltain, who hadn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet.
It hurt her pride somehow, but she had no words to say.
“…I’m stronger than I look. So don’t worry.”
Alice said as confidently as she could, but Lady Meltain just smiled.
Her smile, which looked like she was cooing at a small child, made Alice feel strange.
As Alice’s mood turned peculiar, Lady Meltain contained her smile and said:
“Anyway, thank you for healing me. Both I and the Duke are grateful.”
…Healing?
Alice’s shoulders twitched.
