On the Honor of the Duke
Sella approached Kaliyan and opened the box.
Inside lay whips whose blood had long since dried and bandages stained with old stains.
Kalian frowned slightly at the sight, which was more revolting than he had imagined, but he carefully picked up one of the whips.
“Sella told me. She herself had been hit.”
Kalian’s cold gaze was fixed on Esika.
“The younger sister of Sella, who was a maid like you, left the mansion two years ago.”
Sella’s eyes flickered as she clenched her fists tightly.
“From here on, you will tell me everything.”
Kaliyan lifted his chin and gave the order to Sella.
Yuri suddenly felt a chill of foreboding. She had never heard of Sella’s younger sister…
Could Sella be lying?
“At the morning bell, my mother and younger sister are still alive. My younger sister has one leg lame and cannot work… She lives off the money I send her.”
Sella recalled that day’s events.
Her younger sister, who had caught a severe cold, had not been able to change the duke’s bed sheets in time.
The grand duchess, already in a foul mood, had seen another lady wearing a more beautiful dress at the tea party.
From that moment, tragedy had unfolded.
“This is the whip that struck my younger sister. This bandage was wrapped around her calf…”
The bandage was brown and stained, revealing how much blood had been shed.
As Sella stared at the box, she continued.
“I was furious that my younger sister had become like this and kept the evidence, but I never imagined that a mere maid like myself could use it to expose the faults of those above.”
“No matter how much of a mere maid.”
Kaliyan looked at Esika with cold eyes.
“You are nothing more than property of the Duke Klaus.”
Skilled maids were essential to the smooth running of the household.
“If anyone repeatedly damages that property, even if they are a member of the family, they will have to pay an appropriate price.”
Kaliyan hoped Esika would tremble with fear right now.
Lower her stiff neck, flutter her moist eyes, and beg for forgiveness.
Beg for love, saying she could not help it because of jealousy toward Yuri.
“I believe His Excellency the Duke promised to resolve my younger sister’s injustice.”
Sella’s trembling voice was heard.
Kaliyan gave a light nod.
“On the honor of the Duke Klaus. Of course.”
As if encouraged by those words, Sella cleared her throat and continued more clearly.
“The person who hit my younger sister has nail marks on the whip His Excellency the Duke is holding. Probably the same person who struck the maid.”
“…What?”
“If you wish, I can bring my younger sister here to prove that the scar on her leg is the same as the one on the maid’s leg.”
“Sella. This is not about finding the culprit.”
Kaliyan’s eyebrows twitched.
The culprit stood right before you.
Esika Klaus. Standing arrogantly with her sharp blue eyes, calmly observing the situation.
“You do not seem to understand.”
With a cold voice, Kaliyan took the whip from his hand and handed it to Esika.
Although distracted, she was fast enough that Kaliyan could not stop her.
Before long, the whip was in Esika’s hands, and she pressed the clear nail marks against her own nails.
“…What are you doing?!”
Kaliyan tried to snatch the whip back from Esika, but a domineering aura emanated from her, causing him to hesitate for a moment.
Kaliyan’s heart skipped a beat as he looked into Esika’s eyes.
Then his gaze moved to her hand.
Nail marks… completely different from Esika’s nails.
“I have never stained my nails or grown them since coming to the Duke Klaus’s family. If His Excellency had even the slightest interest in me, he would have known,”
Kaliyan splashed cold water on the truth.
“This is not my nail mark.”
The rod showed dense, sharp nail marks and cinnabar-pink dye stains.
Kaliyan shook his head.
“I do not understand what you are saying.”
“Your Excellency the Duke, perhaps the Duchess and Sella have conspired together, so do not listen any further…”
Yuri quickly tried to change the subject, but Esika cut her off again.
Her cold yet powerful voice pierced deeply into Kaliyan’s ears.
“There is no custom of beating a person’s calf with a whip in any region of Turesia.”
“…!”
Yuri’s pupils shook violently.
Kaliyan stood frozen with his eyebrows furrowed.
“…”
So the nail marks had been nothing more than a warm-up.
An appetizer to accept the undeniable truth.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Kaliyan asked Esika with his sharp purple eyes.
Esika’s lips quivered.
“In any place in Turesia, if a child does wrong, they are made to raise their hand or kneel. In strict disciplinary homes, they are hit on the palm, but not on the calf…”
Pfft, a smile flowed from the corner of her lips.
“…They do not hit.”
“There is no way.”
Kaliyan immediately countered.
“I was a child…!”
But Kaliyan could not finish his sentence.
For a moment, Kaliyan’s purple eyes shook as he realized something.
“However, there is also a custom in some country where they hit the calf if a child does wrong.”
Kaliyan’s mother, Leonora, was a royal from the fallen kingdom of Smitsen.
“…Investigate. Which country’s custom.”
Yuri bit her lips tightly.
She realized the situation had reversed.
As Esika looked at Kaliyan with her eyebrows tightly furrowed, she leaned closer to Sella and asked.
“Sella, who was the person who hit your younger sister and made her leg lame?”
It was in a gentle tone, but the repercussions of the answer would be enormous.
Kaliyan stood firm and stared at Sella.
He regretted calling Esika to this place.
He had anticipated victory, but what he obtained was defeat.
A desperate plea not to clash was mixed with despair in his eyes.
However, Sella answered in a calm and composed tone.
“The grand duchess.”
“…!”
Kaliyan’s hand trembled.
Yuri asked Sella aggressively.
“Why are you saying such things here, where you are to report that you were abused by the Duchess…? Why?”
“No. I did not say who hit me. I only said that my younger sister and the maids were abused.”
Sella’s bold rebuttal made Yuri’s eyebrows rise.
“You… you…”
“The maid should speak. Did she really get hit by the Duchess?”
And Sella’s counterattack followed.
Yuri flinched.
The situation had already reversed. If Sella brought her younger sister and showed the scar, Yuri would realize it was the same… and Yuri’s lie would be revealed to Kaliyan.
If she lost Kaliyan’s interest, the dreams she had held would turn to bubbles.
If she honestly said it was not Esika but Leonora… it would be hard to handle the aftermath.
This was the grand duchess’s plan, and the grand duchess would not let her sit quietly.
“Why no answer? Duchess?”
Yuri, unable to do anything, just shook her fists at Sella’s words.
“Indeed, the maids who submitted fake resignation letters could not speak because they were afraid of the grand duchess’s punishment. You have no reason to admit it. It is all lies.”
Damn it, this should not have happened.
But there was no way out.
“…”
Kaliyan still kept his mouth shut, watching the situation.
Yuri did not answer Sella’s question.
The reason she did not answer was because Sella’s words were true.
Thick confusion welled up in his purple eyes.
“Your Excellency the Duke, on the honor of the Duke Klaus, promised to resolve my younger sister’s injustice. I believe in the honor of the Duke Klaus!”
Sella’s voice was heard.
Kaliyan felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
“…”
It had indeed been a threat to Esika.
Kaliyan’s gaze turned to Yuri.
Now he could not escape in front of Esika.
“…Tell the truth. Yuri.”
Yuri’s shoulders twitched at Kaliyan’s angry, low voice.
Intense thoughts filled Yuri’s mind like a war.
If she messed up this moment, it might end her relationship with Kaliyan, which struck her most painfully.
So, this was the only way.
“…I’m sorry, Your Excellency the Duke…”
Yuri knelt on the floor and sat down.
And began shedding tears endlessly.
“Considering that it would make the relationship between Your Excellency the Duke and the Grand Duchess careless…”
Yuri definitely had the talent for acting as a victim.
“I could not tell the truth.”
Kaliyan’s chest dropped with a thud, deep inside.
Esika, watching Yuri kneeling and crying, the corners of her lips twisted.
Kaliyan’s eyebrows furrowed deeply as he asked.
A cold chill emanated from his body.
“…So, you slandered your friend?”
“It was not that… ugh… I was afraid too, Your Excellency the Duke…”
The sitting Yuri lifted her skirt and begged.
Now, the only thing Yuri could do.
“If I open my mouth next time, I might really die…”
It seemed she had decided to beg for sympathy from Kaliyan.
However, Kaliyan’s gaze toward her was cold.