Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Ha! I never gave permission to the Miss to call me by my name. And, did you just tell me to come over to you?! I can’t believe you’re treating me like a dog, beckoning me here and there at your every whim. Where did you even learn something like that?!”

Kara was acting so picky.

Leticia thought this in her head and snorted. She bowed her head and covered her mouth with her pale and slender fingers.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Anybody could tell that Leticia was trying to suppress a laugh, and Miriam was enraged at this. She herself was furious, and when she saw Leticia laughing at her fury, her anger and annoyance hit another level.

“Call me by my proper title, the ‘head maid.’ I’m telling you to call me by my proper title as you did when you first came to this place holding that vulgar brat’s hands!”

Miriam said all this with confidence, as if she was trying to establish her rank as someone superior to Leticia.

It had already been a long time since Miriam had forgotten that her duty as a servant was to take care of her owner’s family. So, she found it funny that Miriam was reinforcing her role as the head maid with such effort when Miriam couldn’t even do her duties properly.

Leticia also wasn’t unaware of the fact that the person that Miriam was referring to as a ‘vulgar brat’ was actually her mother.

Of course, in the past, Leticia threw a fit saying that her mother wasn’t a vulgar brat.

But now, for some reason, Leticia found herself letting out a laugh.

Miriam had very obviously racked her brains to think of the insult that would hurt the heart of the young lady in front of her the most.

‘She said this knowing that I have an inferiority complex regarding my birth.’

Leticia smirked as she understood what was going on and let out another suppressed laugh. Because her head was still bowed, trying to suppress her laughter, Miriam mistook the strangled sound that sounded from Leticia’s voice as a sob.

“Stop crying! Do you think it’s proper for an eleven-year-old lady to be so fragile? I can’t believe that you would even spill tears at the words of someone like a head maid…”

Even if Leticia was an illegitimate child, she was still the family of Miriam’s owners.

To the Duke, Miriam always bowed her head while trembling, though she always seemed to have fun tormenting his daughter.

“Pft. I see you think that I have a weak mind…”

Miriam, who had been feeling nothing but joy for making Leticia seemingly cry, looked over at Leticia.

At that moment, Leticia raised her head to look straight at Miriam.

“M- Miss?”

Miriam was shocked at the scene unfolding in front of her. Leticia stared at her with the narrowed red eyes that her grandfather had always hated.

She leaned back and cocked her head. Next, she decided that she had to show who had the authority here.

“You…”

[ T/L: Informal ‘you,’ which is only used for someone superior talking to someone inferior. ]

“…Miss!”

“What?”

Her answer was even more half-hearted than it was in her confrontation with her main servant, Kara.

Miriam’s brows crumpled closer together in anger.

Even if the girl in front of her was only eleven years old, a lady of the dukedom was still a lady. Though as if Leticia had never fully learned the empire’s language, she was still reading a fairy-tale picture book, and Miriam found this to be hysterical.

‘I’m going to teach that stupid brat.’

She felt the last thread of sanity snap, and after letting out a short laugh of anger and surprise, she faced Leticia with a face full of rage.

“I told you to call me ‘head maid!’”

‘Oh, I get it. She was treating me like I was some kind of young maid.’

Leticia lifted her hand to her head and leaned her head into her hand.

“Hm, do I really have to?”

Miriam, who looked as if she was going to blow up with anger, screamed at Leticia.

“I also come from a noble family! My father is Viscount Dennis, and our family served the Maner Dukedom for three generations…”

As Miriam yelled at Leticia, she couldn’t help but notice that Leticia still maintained her indifferent pose, and she was going to also admonish her for that.

However, Leticia let out yet another laugh and asked the head maid a question.

“Ah, our very precious head maid, let me ask you a question: Do you have the Maner Dukedom’s blood as well?”

“Huh…?”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? You said that your family has been serving the dukedom for three generations. I bet if someone saw this conversation we’re having right now, they would think that I’m from the family of Dennis Viscounty, and you’re from the family of Maner Dukedom?”

“That’s not…!”

“Yeah, you’re right, that’s not true. So, as the inferior person here, you shouldn’t mind about how I, the superior person in the hierarchy, address you.”

Still, she kept her casual posture and looked Miriam up and down with her eyes.

At this point, the way she was staring at Miriam was much more rude and blatant than the way she had looked down on her.

“I know you already look down on me, but—”

Leticia let out a frustrated sigh as if to say that she was talking to a stupid scarecrow.

“I wonder what my father and grandfather, who share the same blood as me, would say if they saw this. What would they do if they saw a member of the family that has been serving them for generations teaching a member of their own bloodline?”

Leticia smiled at Miriam as she talked.

Miriam was frozen on the spot, and she felt that she couldn’t say anything to refute anything because everything Leticia had said was right.

Nonetheless, she was not one to just lose, and so she was about to lash back at Leticia when a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

“A letter has come from the Priest.”

Miriam quickly fixed her frozen expression and went to get the letter from the door in place of her.

When she saw that Miriam was trying to find the letter knife to open the letter and read it for herself, Leticia took the fairytale book she had been reading and banged it against the table.

Bang!

At the sudden loud noise, Miriam whipped her head towards the sound.

“W-What are you doing?”

Although she was shocked at the loud noise, Leticia had a bored expression as she stared at Miriam.

“Bring it here.”

Leticia ordered Miriam to bring the letter to her.

Of course, Miriam did not listen to her order. She hid the letter behind her back as if the letter was meant for her, not for Leticia.

At Miriam’s rebellious behavior, she sighed and started to laugh dryly. Leticia then leaned onto the arm of the chair she was sitting in and waved at the head maid.

“It would be good if you can stop wasting my time like this. I’m going to actually start blaming you for things if you keep upsetting me like this.”

“W-What…!”

“Think about it. Let’s say I was unable to meet with the Priest because a servant like you stole the letter that was addressed to me. Hm, maybe I should just take this chance and tell the Priest that grandfather should just pass away without his granddaughter’s forgiveness. Should I just do that, since I can’t read my letter, anyway?”

“W-Wait! Are you crazy?”

Miriam was shocked and quickly yelled after Leticia. This was because if she actually did these things, it would get troublesome for her.

No one in this mansion was on Leticia’s side. But, now that the current duke was dying, there was now a reason to treat Leticia better.

Of course, the moment Leticia forgave her grandfather or her grandfather took his last breath, this better treatment would suddenly stop.

“Oh, if you really want to read the letter for yourself, go ahead. I’ll just tell Priest Gamal that I was unable to get his letter.”

Leticia nodded as she said this and then turned her attention downwards towards her fairytale book.

The book she was reading was called [ The White Queen ]. It was infamous for being boring, to the point that the empire’s children would avoid reading the book.

The page that the book was opened to depicted the snowy mountains of Winter.

Leticia sat in her chair and leisurely read her book, as if she didn’t care about what happened to the servant in front of her.

“Ha! Fine! You can read your letter, then! Since the Miss can’t read the empire’s language well, I was going to help you, but if this is how you see me…!”

Miriam shrugged and looked away from Leticia.

She continued to only read her book and spoke to Miriam without looking up.

“Paper knife.”

“But, Kara took that…”

“Then, bring it here before I tell Kara to teach you, the head maid, some manners.”

‘Stupid b*tch. I’m the head maid, and Kara is just a servant!’

Miriam thought that this wouldn’t be possible and was about to talk back to her when Leticia saw this and started to speak again.

“Maybe I should tell the Priest that I’ll forgive grandfather on the condition that you get kicked out.”

Although Leticia didn’t directly tell Miriam to shut up, this warning was a sign to just go and bring the paper knife. In the end, she couldn’t do anything but carry out Leticia’s order.

Twenty minutes later.

It took quite some time for the head maid to come back with the paper knife after she had been sent out.

She had brought a fancily embellished paper knife and a glass piece for resting a quill. She had also brought a luxuriously made snack and hot green tea. Finally, she had taken the opened letter and placed it on the table in front of Leticia.

Miriam’s face was bright red as she dragged the tray into the room, and she yelled at Leticia once again.

“The Miss gets to act crazy like this only for today! No, actually just until tomorrow! If the Miss finally forgives the current Duke, then this will all end for you!”

Bringing the tray over was a servant’s job. If the other servants knew that the head maid, who was from a noble family, was dragging a tray, they would start laughing at her behind her back.

“I don’t know why you suddenly changed like this. Regardless, keep in mind that this all ends tomorrow. Do you hear me?”

Although Miriam yelled at Leticia, her actions were very polite. Even as she placed the refreshments on the worn-out table for her to eat, she was acting very carefully so as not to incite Letica’s wrath.

“Ah, of course, I’ll remember. I’ll definitely remember the fact that I have your life and livelihood in my hands. And, no, it doesn’t end tomorrow. As long as my grandfather is alive, I’m going to make sure that your actions aren’t rude like before.”

Leticia continued speaking as she let these words sink into Miriam.

“I’m sure you’ll be quite upset if you were to end Dennis Viscounty’s three generation work here at the Dukedom.”

Eventually, she grinned brightly at Miriam.

When Miriam heard these words, she felt panicked and cringed.

“Ugh. How can the Miss say those kinds of things! F-fine, I’ll serve you well from now on, so please don’t say anything to the current Duke… Besides, you shouldn’t be putting a price on forgiving someone, do you understand, Miss?”

Even at her lowest point, Miriam had to admonish Leticia. After she did so, the room became eerily quiet.

She picked up a snack and ate it as she peered over at Miriam with an expressionless face.

‘Oh, dear. She really can’t control her expressions…’

The head maid’s face promised definite torment for Leticia as soon as Leticia’s grandfather passed away.

However, the head maid was out of luck because Leticia had nothing left to fear, anyway.