Chapter 23
Chapter 23
“I’m really sorry…”
One of the maids bowed her head and apologized. In fact, the maid didn’t quite understand what Lady Coleen was angry about, but she just wanted to avoid a scary situation.
But her apology was counterproductive.
“Aaaak!”
Lady Coleen shoved her shoulder hard. The maid ended up falling on her buttocks.
Lady Coleen, still angry, kept on talking in a lowered tone.
“Listen carefully. Your mistress, Madame Chloe, has not changed one bit. She is still the same. She can’t even do her own job properly, has lost her authority to appoint employees and manage the budget, is a laughing stock in high society, and is not loved by her husband and master of the ducal household, His Excellency the Duke, but rather is treated like a plaything. It is the same now, and in the future, this situation will never change. Do you understand?”
Anger, based on anxiety and fear, boiled over in Lady Coleen’s chest.
In addition, she had been extremely nervous since she heard that Chloe’s tea party had ended successfully the previous time. Lady Coleen had been having trouble sleeping and had trouble digesting food due to the anxiety that she might lose everything and fall.
Lady Coleen shouted each syllable as if speaking to her anxious self.
“This time, it would be better to engrave it well in your mind.”
“I’m truly sorry, ma’am.”
To her surprise, there was someone who interrupted the angry Lady Coleen. It was the kitchen maid, Jaqueline!
Jaqueline watched the servants chattering from a distance, and saw Lady Coleen getting angry at them. Then she went on gossiping about Chloe.
It wasn’t that Jaqueline wasn’t scared. After all, she was just a kitchen maid, and Lady Coleen was a noblewoman. In fact, it wouldn’t have been a problem if she had just pretended not to hear and left. But she couldn’t do that.
Jaqueline was the only one of the kitchen maids who didn’t greet Chloe last time, because she wasn’t sure if Chloe had changed or not.
But even after that, that incident remained in her heart like a grudge. She dared not even greet her mistress and stood upright, but Chloe’s smile, which did not scold her but smiled affectionately, stuck to her eyes like glue and would not leave.
Had Chloe changed? Had she not? How should Jaqueline treat and think of Chloe, who had left so many scars on her body?
She felt like she found the answer just today.
“I know this is really presumptuous, but I will say this. I think my lady have definitely changed.”
“What, what did you say…?!”
Lady Coleen’s mouth opened wide. She had never expected that a mere kitchen maid would go against her words.
“Of course, I may not know her better than Lady Coleen, but from what I’ve seen of her recently, I can tell you that she is more considerate and thoughtful of those below her than she used to be.”
“…”
“I believe that Madam is definitely changing, and will continue to become a better person in the future. So… Chief Maid, please don’t only look at Madam’s bad points…”
Jaqueline continued, shivering.
“If you see the good in me, Madam, then surely…”
but she didn’t finish her words.
Slap.
Her words were cut off with a violent sound. Lady Coleen had slapped Jaqueline across the face.
The blow was so strong that Jaqueline fell to the ground. She covered her red, swollen cheek with a dazed face. Blood flowed from her split lip.
Lady Coleen said with a grin.
“How dare you! You, a mere kitchen maid, dare to teach me a lesson? You really want to die!”
Lady Coleen kicked Jaqueline roughly, making her let out a scream.
“What? Madam’s good points? Good point, you say? Don’t make me laugh! A **** like you should have her mouth ripped off…”
It was then that a maid and an attendant, who had been called by another maid, came running in hastily. They spoke to Lady Coleen, who was shouting at them to get out of the hallway.
“Ma’am, please calm down.”
“We will take care of punishing these kids. Just stop it.”
Only then did Lady Coleen stop kicking, panting. But the venom still gleamed in her eyes.
The attendant was left to deal with the gathered servants, and the maid took Lady Coleen somewhere after coaxing her.
Meanwhile, there were people watching this from over there.
“Did you see it?”
“I saw it, my lady.”
“Doesn’t this seem a bit off?”
“I don’t think this is right.”
Two girls, one wearing a dress that wasn’t as fancy as Chloe’s, but still quite classy, and one wearing a maid’s uniform, were watching everything from a distance.
The girl wearing the maid’s uniform spoke with a pale face.
“Oh, I didn’t know the head maid would do something like this…”
“Me too, Nina. I respect the Head Maid and have always followed her wishes, but this incident really shocked me.”
The girl in the dress was named Josephine, and she was Chloe’s main personal maid. Chloe had two main maids: Lady Coleen, the head maid, and Josephine, a regular maid.
One of Chloe’s personal maid, Marie, the girl wearing the maid’s uniform, asked.
“What should we do now, My lady? Is it okay to follow the head maid’s wishes from now on?”
Likewise, Nina, another one of Chloe’s personal maids, asked,
“What should we do, my lady?”
“…”
Josephine frowned deeply, her brow furrowing. It was the greatest worry of her short life.
Finally she spoke.
“Do you all know that Madam Chloe has started a business?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Yes, but you probably don’t know this either. In fact…There’s a rumor going around the duke’s mansion these days. It’s said that the butler will soon return budget management rights to the madam…”
“What?”
Marie and Nina were both shocked at the same time. The right to manage the budget! If Madam could get hold of it, it would mean recovering a significant amount of Madam’s lost real power.
“That…Then! What should we do? To be honest…We… treated the madam badly too, didn’t we?”
Marie spoke with a frightened look on her face, thinking about the things they had done to Chloe.
If Chloe were to gain power as a Duchess, they would be the ones facing the greatest danger if she settled the accounts with them.
Nina, who was next to Marie, said with a gloomy face.
“There’s nothing we can do. We were so rude to the Madam, and we did many wrong things… I will take whatever punishment she would give me.”
Nina, she was actually reluctant and afraid of bothering her mistress, so she just stood by and watched whenever Lady Coleen, Josephine, and Marie bothered Chloe. Or she even joined in tormenting Chloe under the orders of her superiors.
Although she had not wronged Chloe on her own accord, Nina still felt guilty about everything that had happened, including the fact that she had turned a blind eye to it.
Marie said in a disbelieving tone.
“Look at that kid acting nice again. I don’t think Madam will feel sorry for you just because you’re acting like that.”
“…”
Marie was more afraid of the retribution she would receive from the Duchess than of the guilt she felt for the terrible things she had done to Chloe.
And it was the same with Josephine. She shivered. In fact, apart from Lady Coleen, she was the one who had teased and tormented Chloe the most.
