Chapter 24

. On the Honor of House Klaus

Sella approached Kallian and opened the box.

Inside were canes with dried blood on them and several bandages.

Perhaps it was more disgusting than he had expected, because Kallian frowned for a moment before carefully picking up one of the canes.

“Sella said that she had been beaten too.”

Kallian’s cold gaze was fixed on Essika.

“Her younger sister, who was also a maid, left the estate two years ago.”

Sella’s eyes trembled as she clenched her fists.

“Tell him the rest yourself.”

Kallian raised his chin and ordered Sella to speak.

Yuri suddenly had a bad feeling.

She had never heard anything about Sella’s younger sister…

Surely Sella isn’t going to say something absurd?

“My mother and younger sister live in Achembel. My younger sister can’t work because she limps on one leg… so she’s surviving on the money I send her.”

Sella remembered what had happened that day.

Her younger sister had been suffering from a terrible cold and had failed to change the Duchess Dowager’s bedsheets on time.

The Duchess Dowager had already been in a bad mood because she had seen another noblewoman arrive at a tea party wearing a more beautiful dress than hers.

And from there, tragedy began.

“This is the cane that was used to beat my younger sister. And the bandages were wrapped around my sister’s calves…”

The bandages were stained brown, showing just how much blood her sister had lost.

As Sella stared at the box, she continued speaking.

“I was so angry that my sister had been left like that that I kept the evidence. But I never thought someone as insignificant as a maid could actually use it to expose the wrongdoing of someone above her.”

“Even if you are only maids…”

Kallian looked at Essika with cold eyes.

“You are still practically the property of House Klaus.”

Experienced maids were essential to keeping the household running.

“If someone repeatedly damages that property, then even if that person is a member of the family, they should pay the appropriate price.”

Kallian wanted Essika to become frightened.

He wanted her to lower the neck she held so proudly, let tears well up in her eyes, and beg forgiveness.

He wanted her to plead for his love, saying that she had been unable to control herself because she was jealous of Yuri.

“I believe Your Grace will keep his promise to clear my sister’s name.”

Sella’s trembling voice rang out.

Kallian gave a small nod.

“On the honor of House Klaus. Of course.”

Encouraged by his words, Sella cleared her throat and continued more clearly.

“There are fingernail marks from the person who beat my sister on the cane Your Grace is holding. It is probably the same person who beat the head maid.”

“…What?”

“If you wish, I can bring my sister here and prove that the marks are identical to the scars on the head maid’s legs.”

“Sella. This isn’t about finding the culprit.”

Kallian’s eyebrow twitched.

Isn’t the culprit standing right in front of me?

Essika Klaus.

The woman with clear blue eyes who was shamelessly watching this situation unfold.

“You really don’t understand what I’m saying.”

With those cold words, Essika snatched the cane from Kallian’s hand.

Kallian had been distracted by something else, but Essika moved too quickly for him to stop her.

Before anyone realized it, the cane was in Essika’s hand.

She placed her fingernails against the distinct marks left on the cane.

“…What are you doing?!”

Kallian tried to take the cane back from Essika, but he suddenly felt an oppressive aura coming from her, causing his hand to stop involuntarily.

His heart lurched.

Kallian looked into Essika’s eyes.

Then his gaze shifted to her hands.

The fingernail marks…

They were completely different from Essika’s fingernails.

“Since I came to House Klaus, I have never dyed or grown my nails. If you had shown even the slightest interest in me, Duke, you would have known that.”

Kallian’s heart was pounding.

“These aren’t my fingernail marks.”

Deep, sharp fingernail marks were visible on the cane, along with traces of dark pink dye.

Kallian shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Duke, it seems the Duchess and Sella planned this together, so you shouldn’t listen any further…”

Yuri hurriedly tried to change the subject, but Essika cut her off again.

Her cold yet powerful voice struck Kallian’s ears.

“There is no region in Turesia where beating someone’s calves with a cane is a custom.”

“……!”

Yuri’s eyes widened.

Kallian also stood frozen, his eyebrows stiff.

“……”

In other words, the fingernail marks had merely been the opening act.

Perhaps they were just the appetizer before forcing him to swallow an undeniable truth.

“…What does that mean?”

Kallian asked as he stared at Essika with his piercing violet eyes.

Essika’s lips moved.

“Everywhere in Turesia, when a child does something wrong, they are made to hold their hands up or kneel. In particularly strict households, they may strike the palms of their hands, but the calves…”

A faint smile slipped between Essika’s lips.

“…are not beaten.”

“That can’t be true.”

Kallian immediately objected.

“When I was young…”

But he could not finish his sentence.

Something suddenly clicked.

Kallian’s violet eyes trembled.

“On the other hand, I have heard that there are countries where it is customary to strike a child’s calves when they do something wrong.”

Kallian’s mother, Riona, was of royal descent from the fallen kingdom of Smichen.

“Investigate it yourself. Find out which country’s custom it is.”

Yuri bit her lips tightly.

She realized that the situation was already turning against them.

Essika looked at Sella, who was standing beside her, and leaned closer.

“ Sella, who was the person who beat your younger sister and left her unable to walk properly?”

Her tone was gentle.

But the consequences of the answer to that question would be enormous.

Kallian stood frozen as he stared at Sella.

He regretted calling Essika here.

He had expected a certain victory.

But all he had gained was defeat.

His eyes seemed to plead with Sella not to answer, mixed with utter despair.

Yet Sella answered calmly and matter-of-factly.

“It was the Duchess Dowager.”

“……!”

Kallian’s hand trembled.

Yuri hurriedly demanded of Sella,

“You’re here to accuse the Duchess of abusing you… So why are you saying something like that?!”

“No? I never said who beat me. I only said that my younger sister and the maids were abused.”

Sella boldly shot back.

Yuri’s eyebrows rose.

“You… You…”

“Why don’t you tell us yourself, Head Maid? Were you really beaten by the Duchess?”

Sella launched another attack.

Yuri flinched.

The situation had already been completely reversed.

If Sella brought her younger sister and showed the scars, people would notice that they matched Yuri’s.

And Kallian would discover that Yuri had lied.

If that happened and she lost Kallian’s attention, all the dreams she had cherished until now would disappear.

But if she honestly admitted that it had been Riona rather than Essika…

She would never be able to deal with the consequences.

This had been the Duchess Dowager’s plan.

There was no way the Duchess Dowager would leave Yuri alone afterward.

“Why aren’t you answering, Head Maid?”

At Sella’s question, Yuri could do nothing but tremble with her fists clenched.

“Of course, the maids who submitted those fake resignations are probably too afraid of the Duchess Dowager’s punishment to say anything either. So you have no choice but to deny everything and say it’s all a lie.”

Damn it.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

But there was no way out.

“……”

Kallian remained silent as he watched the situation unfold.

Yuri was not answering Sella’s question.

The reason she could not answer was probably because Sella’s words were true.

Deep confusion filled Kallian’s violet eyes.

“Your Grace promised on the honor of House Klaus that you would clear my sister’s name. I believe in the honor of House Klaus!”

Sella’s voice rang out.

Kallian tasted bitterness on his lips.

“……”

It was true.

He had said exactly that.

It had been a threat directed at Essika.

Kallian’s gaze shifted toward Yuri.

Now, he could no longer run away from the truth in front of Essika.

“…Tell me the truth, Yuri.”

Kallian’s low voice was filled with anger.

Yuri’s shoulders trembled.

Thoughts as fierce as those during a battlefield filled her mind.

The most desperate thought among them was that if she handled this moment incorrectly, her relationship with Kallian might end.

So there was only one way.

“…I’m sorry, Duke…”

Yuri sank to her knees.

Then she began to shed endless tears.

“I was worried that your relationship with the Duchess Dowager would become strained…”

Yuri certainly had a talent for playing the victim.

“I couldn’t tell you the truth.”

Kallian’s heart dropped heavily once again.

Essika’s lips twisted slightly as she watched Yuri collapse to her knees and cry.

Kallian furrowed his brows deeply and asked.

A chilling aura seemed to emanate from his body.

“…Are you saying that you falsely accused your friend?”

“It’s not that… Sob… I was afraid too, Duke…”

Still kneeling, Yuri hurriedly lifted her skirt and pleaded with him.

There was only one thing Yuri could do now.

“If I had spoken carelessly, I might really have been killed next…”

It seemed she had decided to beg Kallian for sympathy.

But the gaze Kallian directed at her was cold.