The Crime of Abusing the Maids
That morning, Sella was summoned to Kalian’s office, her nerves already taut.
Kalian Klaus, the duke, sat at his desk signing through a mountain of documents with a face as blank and unreadable as carved marble.
He did not glance up until some time later, then finally looked at her.
His stiff lips parted.
“I summoned you today to investigate the duchess’s misdeeds.”
“……”
Sella already knew exactly why she had been brought here.
Kalian, the duke himself and not the steward, personally conducting the inquiry meant he had no intention of sweeping the matter under the rug.
Esika had warned them.
They would make her life a living hell until she broke.
Kalian continued, voice flat.
“The duchess is said to be tormenting the maids. The skilled ones wrote resignation letters, and the mother barely managed to calm them down.”
Kalian’s eyebrows drew together.
They had not beaten Yuri quite as savagely as the others, but the resignation letters were damning proof of the duchess’s crimes.
Of course the duchess was the mistress and they were merely maids; they had no right to question her.
Still, stirring up the household and committing tyranny was a sin the duke or the aunt could punish.
She would deny it with a straight face, but the scars on Yuri’s legs made denial nothing but a lie.
“I heard you have been attending the duchess all day.”
“……Yes.”
Sella lowered her head slightly, her lips trembling.
Her obvious fear only strengthened Kalian’s conviction.
This girl was definitely being abused by Esika.
“Tell me about her treatment of you.”
It was not excessive, yet abusing maids still counted as a noblewoman’s misdeed.
Kalian picked up his pen.
“……”
But Sella said nothing.
Ten seconds passed. Twenty. A full minute. Only heavy silence filled the room.
Kalian asked again, brows still furrowed.
“Whatever you say, there will be no repercussions. Answer honestly. I will transfer you to another position.”
“Your Highness the Duke.”
Sella spoke at last, her face hardened.
In her mind the threat Yuri had given her still echoed.
“She said you’re being beaten like a dog by Esika. Lie to me and your… family will suffer.”
Sella’s clenched fists shook.
“……Before I speak, may I ask you to promise me one thing?”
Kalian leaned closer.
***
In the imperial garden, white butterflies fluttered among flowers in full bloom.
Lesban sat on a long bench wiping his sword.
Each pass of the fine cloth made the blade flash, reflecting the entire world.
A white butterfly landed on his hand.
Suddenly a girl’s voice seemed to ring in his ears.
A bitter smile touched the corner of Lesban’s lips and vanished.
Did the butterfly know whose hand it sat on?
It perched precariously for a moment, then flew away.
Lesban did not catch it.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Did you call for me?”
A moment later his attendant bowed before him.
The same attendant Lesban had served since boyhood.
Lesban stood his polished sword.
“Do you remember the matter of sending you to Prihatz ten years ago?”
The attendant startled, eyes lowered.
“Yes… I do.”
“If you had investigated properly, you would not have made such a false report.”
Lesban’s low voice sent a chill through the attendant.
Lesban stared at the gleaming blade.
If his mind wandered, the sword would mercilessly spill his own blood.
“I am sorry, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“You knew, didn’t you.”
“……Your Highness……”
“Even knowing, reporting that she was dead was not merely one attendant’s decision.”
The attendant’s hands trembled.
Yes. It had been someone’s choice to accept a lowly noble from Prihatz—a commoner-born noble—into the side of a noble Crown Prince.
The attendant squeezed his eyes shut, certain Lesban’s sword would strike at any moment.
“I am truly sorry, Your Highness the Crown Prince……”
Sometimes silence is more terrifying than scolding.
And today’s situation was no different.
Lesban simply gazed at the polished sword and offered no answer.
Time passed. The back view of the man who had once grown in his dreams.
After a while Lesban’s lips moved.
“I do not keep beside me those who go against my will.”
The attendant immediately dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Please forgive……”
Knights who had been standing at a distance approached.
The attendant trembled and tried to resist, but the knights’ strength forced him forward.
“Your Highness! Please show mercy!……”
Immediately the knights seized the attendant’s arms and dragged him away.
Only meaningless sounds of struggling to not be taken drifted through the air.
After a while the attendant vanished with the knights.
He would never see his face in the imperial palace again.
Lesban slowly lowered the sword and sheathed it.
The familiar sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard echoed.
The wind began to blow. The scent of flowers was thick, yet the white butterfly never returned.
Thinking how to catch the fleeing butterfly, Lesban closed his eyes.
***
Esika, having received a summons from the servant about Kalian, headed to his office.
The sun was setting, and through the long windows of the office the last rays of sunlight poured in.
Normally Kalian would not have worked this late.
Yet he had called her, so there must be some important matter he had prepared.
When Esika reached the door of the office, Hans the steward, who had been lurking nearby, glanced at her for instructions, then reported in a low voice.
“Your Highness the Duke, the Duchess has arrived as well.”
“Open the door.”
Soon the door creaked open and Esika entered the office.
It was a scene she had seen many times before.
And on the desk sat Kalian, sitting with his back slightly bent.
He was not alone.
On the wall side, Yuri and Sella stood side by side.
Yuri kept her eyebrows lowered to appear pitiful, yet the smile at the corner of her lips refused to vanish.
And Sella… stood quietly with her head bowed deeply.
“What is the matter?”
Esika stood calmly before Kalian.
Kalian’s gaze fixed on her. He stared at Esika in silence for a long time, expression bold as if he had seen through her innermost thoughts.
After a while Kalian rose from the desk, pushing away his seat.
The eye level, which had not changed much while he sat, suddenly rose sharply.
“I summoned you here to warn you.”
Kalian’s lips parted and a cold voice emerged.
Esika stood without moving an eyebrow.
“I had no intention of meddling in women’s affairs, but if all the maids quit, rumors that splash dirt on the Klaus name could spread.”
“……”
Yuri lowered her head even deeper.
Because she could no longer hide the smile.
“You are said to have severely abused the maids of the public family, including your friend Yuri Anesis.”
“……W-what? Me?”
Esika asked with a smirk.
Kalian’s one eye narrowed at her bold demeanor.
Was Esika Klaus pretending not to be?
But Kalian no longer wished to participate in the act of seeing through Esika’s inner thoughts.
“Especially Yuri’s legs… made her lose her words.”
Esika inwardly agreed.
Leona had whipped her so brutally that scars covered her legs.
Esika had even added salt to ensure the marks remained.
“So?”
“Esika.”
Seeing that Esika’s reaction still looked unconcerned, Kalian furrowed his brows and called her name.
And spoke in a low voice that sounded like a threat.
“Enough. Your misdeeds have gone too far.”
Esika stared at him silently for a moment.
Then she shifted her gaze to the window where red light poured in.
There had been days when she secretly opened the office door and watched Kalian for a long time.
His side profile wrapped in the sunset had been cool, as if dreaming.
At that time she had believed it was surely so.
After a short reverie, Esika looked back at Kalian.
“If the story that the duchess’s maids were severely abused and wrote resignation letters spreads, it will surely bring bad fame to the Klaus ducal family.”
Her lips continued to move.
Esika’s eyes, fixed on Kalian, shone with an almost terrifying intensity.
“But is there any evidence that the perpetrator of those misdeeds is me?”
Kalian paused.
Then a mocking laugh began to escape him.
Who else besides Esika would abuse commoner maids in the Klaus ducal family?
“I expected you to deny it to the end… but you disappointed me once more today.”
Even with Kalian’s cold words, Esika did not move an eyebrow.
Kalian called Sella in a rough voice.
“Sella. Did you bring it?”
Sella, startled by the words, slowly raised her head.
“Yes, Your Highness the Duke.”
Her expression looked terrified.