Chapter Twenty-Five and a Half: The Maid’s Murmur ~(Elsa’s POV)

Trigger Warning: Violence

When I saw that the door was shut, I exerted more strength the knee that was crushing her, yanked her walnut hair, before slamming her face against the table. She cried in agony, but her scream was muffed by the rag that’d been stuffed in her mouth.

…As one might expect from the type of cloth used in a noble household.

When I yanked her messy hair and forced her to look at me, I could see that the left side of her face was disfigured.

Yet, she was still glowering at me with those insolent hazel eyes, taunting me:

‘You won’t get away with this!’

She got guts.

In response, I showed her a huge grin.

“Since you hurt my lovely and precious young lady, along with my lovely and adorable Cedric, I take it that you’re prepared for the consequences? As a kindhearted maid, I always return the favor tenfold!”

As a testament to my benevolent nature, I took out the rag to give her a chance to speak.

“—Do you think I’m the same as that ugly bitch!?”

“Huh? Aren’t you misunderstanding something? How could the two of you be the same? To me, the young lady is a goddess incarnate, while you’re just a foul beast. So, don’t worry about that, because you’re less than her.”

Her lips began to tremble.

On her cut left cheek, the splinters were still embedded, and blood oozed to the table. Under normal circumstances, I’d wipe the table with that tramp’s dress. But given that in his rage, my lord had smashed the table, that was no longer an option. By the way, the table was also pricey, so my father would probably charge the mother and daughter for it.

“Elsa, I brought you a rope. Please tie her up. In the meantime, I’ll go contact someone.”

My father returned and handed me a restraining rope, before leaving once again. He seemed busy. I did thank him, but did he hear me?

As my lord had taught me, I tied the tramp’s hands behind her back, and kicked her off the table.

“—Ouch! What the heck are you doing!?”

Huh, so this bitch can still talk.

When she wouldn’t shut up, I gagged her using the rag that I’d used to wipe off the bloodstain. She seemed about to puke, but I didn’t care.

“I already told you that I’ll repay you tenfold? You might want to take a look at your own face.”

I took a hand mirror out of my pocket and showed it to her.

Upon seeing her own reflection, her eyes went wide, accompanied by her muffled scream.

After all, not only was the left side of her face covered in blood, but also a white shard of what used to be a teacup were present. Considering that I pressed her face against the table, the scar would definitely last for a lifetime.

I kneeled beside the tramp.

“…What a shame. You used to be so pretty, but now you’re just a monster.”

The right side of her face was as captivating as always—yet the same couldn’t be said about the left side.

“That’s what you got for slapping my young lady’s left cheek that day.”

I whispered to her ear. Shaking like a leaf, the tramp turned to look at me.

“Let me reassure you that I’ll get off scot-free. After all, I’m the maid and escort of the Marquess of Springfield, Liliana Rutherford. It’s a legitimate act of self-defense, even more so when you tried to harm the lord and his wife by throwing a teacup at them. Better yet, the shard that impaled your cheek is of your own making. I feel bad for you, truly, so I’ll tell the butler not to charge you for the teacup.”

Her pupils began to dilate as she trembled violently.

“Elsa, you can’t kill her!!”

In the next moment, the door was opened with a bang, and Frederick stormed in. My husband, who was usually composed, had a panicked look on his face.

“Frederick, I want to be there when the young lady gave birth, so I won’t kill her.”

“…I-I’m glad she’s still alive…”

Frederick rushed over and examined the tramp. After making sure that she was still alive, he exhaled in relief. The tramp, who couldn’t even faint properly, was shaken by his sudden appearance.

“Uh-oh, did the lord do this?”

Frederick left the tramp and frowned when he saw the tragic state of the table.

“Indeed. He was furious at the despicable, rude, and vile comments about his wife… Nevertheless, I’m glad that’s all that ever came out of it. Because of the young lady, the lord has softened…”

“Precisely. Otherwise, we’d be cleaning up their bodies right now.”

Frederick casually said so, and the look on the tramp’s face was absolutely priceless.

In truth, even I was terrified by my lord’s outrage. At that time, I was about to do the same—only not against the table, but against the mother and daughter.

I’d almost forgotten that my lord was a knight who had braved many battlefields, and accumulated enough achievements to be hailed as the nation’s hero. Even his murderous intent alone was incomparable to that of my husband and father. But in the presence of the young lady, he held back. If he’d been serious, the two would’ve fainted.

“Attacking the Marquis of Springfield and his wife is akin to signing your own death warrant. These people would probably continue to look down on Lady Liliana until they died. Yet, it still won’t change the fact that she’s the wife of an important figure. She’s not your run-of-the-mill noble lady. Not only is the man she married the future knight captain, he’s also the crown prince’s aide and a very important person for this country.”

“As if this tramp will understand that. She’ll always think that the young lady is beneath her, while the lord is another rich, handsome man.”

“I guess so. She probably doesn’t realize that she has committed a terrible crime. To think that she dared to refuse the marriage arrangement from His Highness the Crown Prince…”

Frederick slammed the hilt of his blade against the tramp’s neck, knocking her unconscious. I flipped her over with my feet, and plunged my hand into her bosoms. When I pulled my hand out, a pile of paddings came out as the tramp’s breasts shrank.

That’s some self-padding…

“…Her breasts didn’t resemble her mother’s.”

I stood up, scoffing at the tramp’s now disheveled clothes. As a veteran maid, I could tell at a glance if the breasts were real or fake. Authentic and imitation may look similar at a glance, yet they were different.

Liliana had ample breasts that was disproportionate to her slender body. Of course, I was aware that sometimes my good-for-nothing lord took advantage of her denseness to indulge in her plumpness. At which the young lady would say, “Sometimes, Lord William acts just like Cedric, asking to be spoiled.” Completely unaware of his ulterior motives, the young lady thought that her spoiled husband was adorable, so I didn’t say a word.

My young lady is so innocent, pure, and adorable—!

“You ripped her to shreds. Should’ve ruined her whole face.”

Frederick said as he carefully pulled out the shard of teacup and applied a towel to stop the tramp’s bleeding.

“Actually, it’s better this way. She’ll be crushed when the right half of her face remains completely untouched. Now, I should probably return to my lady’s side. We can’t be separated for too long.”

“We’ll be accompanying the lord to the royal castle, so let us prepare.”

“Oh no! I have to make sure that the young lady is dressed properly!”

Since we were going to the royal castle, I mustn’t hold back.

Let’s dress her up in the new dress that Lord William secretly bought.

That coward handed it to me. “Liliana won’t accept it unless there’s a proper reason.”

Considering that Liliana had just accepted the necklace the other day, she’d definitely refuse the dress.

“Can I leave the rest to you?”

“Of course. We obviously can’t keep such a dangerous woman around.”

Chuckling, Frederick lifted the tramp onto his shoulder.

“Where are you going to take her?”

“The knight’s carriage will be arriving soon. I’ll just dump her there. Aaah, the carpet is ruined.”

Contrary to his words, Frederick nonchalantly stared at the bloodstained carpet. After saying, “I’m going to be frowned upon by the maids.” I left the drawing room with Frederick.

When I went out into the hallway, the maid, Melissa, had just arrived.

Two female knights and one male knight stood behind her.

All of them were the lord’s confidants. They were taken aback by the scar on the tramp’s face, but maintained their composure. One of the female knights stuffed the tramp into a jute bag, preventing her from escaping.

“She’s the woman who attacked the lord and his wife. Even her origin is unknown. I hereby request that she be placed in number four for further investigation as she awaits her punishment.”

“Should we treat her injury?”

“Just provide her with first aid.”

“Understood. Well then, excuse me.”

The three bowed their heads deeply before excusing themselves.

As one could see, the lord had quite an influence. ‘Number four’ stood for ‘don’t let him/ her escape, and deal with them in secret.’ Rather than to decide whether or not the culprit lived, it was used to impose punishment without judicial intervention. Just like what happened to Count Eighton.

“I’ll prepare the carriage. I entrust the young lady and Lord Cedric to you.”

Frederick encircled my waist with his arms, and when I looked up, he kissed me.

“Hey, I already told you to refrain from doing that when we’re at work!”

When I shoved his face away, my husband chuckled and dodged my hands, dropping a kiss on my forehead before walking away. We’d been together for over 20 years, but unlike my easy-to-read lord, my husband was a bit unpredictable sometimes.

However, the kiss I’d just received was probably his way of saying, “I was worried about you.” So, I had no choice but to accept it.

I turned on my heels and went to look for Liliana.

“…I sure hope that the lord will have a talk with Liliana soon.”

It’d be impossible to do so with right away, as the time for departure was imminent. We also didn’t have time for idle chatter.

I couldn’t help but notice that the lord never said “I love you.” Or “I like you.” To his wife. Sure, he said things like, ‘Cute.’ And ‘My Liliana’, but that was probably because he hadn’t regained his memory. He was unconsciously putting a restriction on himself. At the same time, the lord must be aware that Liliana hadn’t fully trusted him. The sensitive and slightly meek Liliana had a hard time trusting her husband.

Well, if I was in Liliana’s shoes, I wouldn’t believe it if my husband—who had no recollections of major events—told me that he loved me.

At this point, I had no choice but to ask the lord—our William Rutherford—to be the man. Until they could finally see eye to eye, I’d continue to support them.

“Aah, I should’ve taken the opportunity to hit that mother…”

With unbearable regret, I hurried to Liliana.

---

***T/N: Goddammit Elsa.

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