RHRTD 14

Chapter 14

“Was that crying?”

After hesitating for a moment, Ines quietly headed in the direction the sound had come from.

At the end of the corridor was a small courtyard that received very little sunlight.

Several maids had gathered there.

At the center of them, a small girl stood with her head bowed, quietly sniffling.

‘……May?’

Ines recognized her immediately.

She was May Blanc, the personal maid who had recently been assigned to her.

Every morning, May woke Ines and attended to her needs.

Yet Ines had never really had a proper conversation with her.

‘Because she always avoided me.’

May was not like the other maids who whispered about Ines behind her back or gave her disrespectful looks.

But she always kept a certain distance from Ines.

As though she were being careful not to appear too close to the Duchess.

Her attitude was so obvious that Ines had never made an effort to get closer to her either……

“You’re filthy!”

One of the maids spat the words out.

May flinched.

“N-No……”

“What do you mean, no?”

Another maid laughed mockingly.

“If you came from a filthy place, then of course you’re filthy.”

At the blatant bullying, Ines frowned.

“T-That’s not true! Our village is just……”

“Just what?”

“Are you making excuses now? Looking like that?”

The maids spoke mockingly.

“Your village is the only place where there’s a contagious disease even the priests can’t cure!”

……A contagious disease?

Ines suddenly remembered what Leo had told her a few days ago.

〈I heard there’s some strange disease going around in a village in the territory. Apparently, it’s been going on for quite a while.〉

Could he have been talking about May’s village?

“No! That’s not true! It’s not a contagious disease!”

May shouted almost hysterically.

“It doesn’t spread! It’s just…… there are a lot of people who have the same illness.”

Perhaps feeling that explanation was not enough, May hurriedly added,

“There’s even a priest in the village. Everyone is receiving treatment. It’ll get better soon.”

“Soon? When? Do you even know how many times you’ve said that already?”

“Don’t come any closer. You’ll catch the disease!”

At such childish bullying, Ines unconsciously furrowed her brow.

‘How childish.’

At the same time, it was disgustingly cruel.

Ines did not know what exactly this ‘strange disease’ was, but there was a high chance it was not contagious, just as May said.

Otherwise, there was no way May could still remain in the castle while such rumors were spreading so openly.

‘More importantly, those maids would have run away first.’

Rather than staying this close to May and bullying her.

No matter how much someone hated another person, who would risk their own life for it?

‘But it isn’t particularly strange.’

People tended to push away the weakest person in order to reaffirm their own position.

Ines had experienced it many times herself.

This time, May was simply the target.

“Give it back……”

May reached out with tearful eyes.

At some point, one of the maids had raised a necklace high above her head and was mocking her.

Ines’s gaze naturally fell upon the pendant.

In that instant, her expression changed.

‘What is that?’

A dark-red miasma surrounded the pendant.

It was far beyond an ordinary level of contamination.

Even in the North, where the concentration of miasma was incomparably higher than in other regions of the Empire, it was something rarely seen.

‘How could something like that……?’

Normally, miasma could not be seen by human eyes unless the person possessed holy power.

Ordinary people could only recognize the ‘results’ of miasma—things that had been corroded or decayed by it.

‘Don’t tell me…… none of them know the state that pendant is in.’

It was quite troublesome.

If she left it like this, it was certain that someone would eventually become a victim of the miasma.

‘That can’t happen.’

Although she was now nothing more than an ordinary woman, no longer even a candidate for Saintess, the teachings of the temple that had been drilled into her almost like brainwashing since childhood were still deeply embedded in Ines’s heart.

〈Purifying miasma is the duty and responsibility of those born with holy power.〉

It was not as though she possessed some grand sense of justice.

She simply could not stand by after discovering something like that, especially as someone from a sacred family.

And besides……

‘……It’s far too severe to simply ignore.’

That was all.

It was nothing more than a small amount of compassion that moved Ines’s feet.

“If you want it back, then beg for it.”

Heh-heh.

Small giggles spread among the maids.

Despair filled May’s face.

Just then—

“What a commotion.”

Everyone abruptly turned their heads toward Ines.

With a cold expression, Ines approached them.

“What exactly are you all doing here?”

The maids hurriedly straightened their postures and bowed their heads.

Even if they did not acknowledge her, Ines was officially the wife of the head of the household.

She was not someone mere low-ranking maids could defy.

“Even if this is a remote part of the castle, making a commotion in such an open place is unacceptable. Discipline has become lax.”

Ines deliberately scolded May and the other maids without distinguishing between them.

If it looked as though she were helping May, May would ultimately become even more isolated among the maids.

Ines spoke in an even firmer tone.

“I suppose I’ll have to tell the head maid to educate you all again. You there, start by telling me your name.”

“But, Madam……”

“Your name.”

The maids exchanged glances before reluctantly revealing their names.

“Sally.”

“Yulia.”

“……May.”

Ines memorized all their names.

“And give me what you’re holding.”

“Pardon? Madam, this is……”

“You were fighting over that pendant, weren’t you? I’ll leave it with the head maid as well. She’ll make a fair judgment, so there’s no need for you to cause any more trouble.”

The new head maid was famous for being strict.

‘She isn’t on my side, but she isn’t on anyone else’s side either.’

The maids seemed to realize that they would be at a disadvantage if this matter reached the head maid.

They immediately backed down.

“I-I’m sorry. We’re very close, so we were only playing around for a moment, but it turned into a disturbance. I’ll return this pendant to its owner.”

But Ines did not withdraw her outstretched hand.

In the end, the maids handed the pendant to Ines with sullen expressions.

“Go.”

At last, the order to leave was given.

The maids, including May, bowed politely and quickly left the area.

Of course, it was obvious that the ‘malice’ within them had only grown stronger.

In the darkness, the eyes of the maid ‘Yulia’ glimmered covertly.

A short while later, just as Ines had wanted, she was left alone.

‘……Did I interfere for nothing?’

To be honest, it had not been a particularly wise choice.

In her current situation, where she was not even properly recognized as the Duchess, using her authority to force the maids into submission was likely to breed resentment.

‘But if I had simply pretended not to notice and walked away, I would definitely have regretted it.’

Back when Selena had still been the sole ruler of Evanthehardt Castle, Ines had desperately wished for someone to help her amid the endless bullying.

Please, let there be at least one person who will help me.

Please, don’t turn away from me.

Thanks to a few people who had miraculously appeared at that time and secretly helped her, Ines had been able to endure until now.

This was simply her way of returning the kindness she had received back then.

……It was only right that she do so.

Ines looked down at the pendant in her hand.

‘Now that I’m looking at it up close, it’s even worse than I thought.’

It had been a long time since Ines had seen miasma this intense.

It was rare enough that even the temple, which dealt with all kinds of contamination, seldom encountered something like this……

How had it become this contaminated?

‘I’ll purify it and leave it with the head maid.’

Rather than recklessly using holy power here, it seemed better to try somewhere safe.

There were people all around her, so if she attempted to purify it here, someone might see her.

And judging by the degree of contamination, it seemed she would need to use a considerable amount of holy power.

But just as Ines was about to leave—

“M-Madam……!”

May, whom Ines had thought had already left some time ago, hurriedly caught up and grabbed her.