Chapter 324: The End of Calumny

Chapter 324: The End of Calumny

"Hurry, hurry, dig faster!"

"Ah...!"

With a panicked expression, the head maid accelerated the whipping.

Thanks to her whipping, the young maids collapsed, blood oozing from their backs and arms.

"Don't slack off! Compared to the suffering I've endured, this is nothing!!"

"I-It hurts..."

"Quiet!!"

Nevertheless, Anne continued to whip wildly without any regard.

"Frey is on our tail! If he arrives, we'll all be slaughtered!"

"Hooot~!"

"But this damn bird...!"

As the owl swiftly descended from above, targeting her forehead, the head maid, with a pale, frightened expression, lowered her head.

Her forehead was already bleeding profusely.

"H-Head maid..."

"What? What is it?"

"We can't dig any further..."

"What do you mean?"

The head maid, knowing that digging this secret passage was her only hope of surviving, looked shocked upon hearing the words of the other maids, and asked.

"There's some strange barrier... No matter how much we dig, the shovels just bounce back."

"This is...?"

In front of them, a magic circle filled with geometric patterns appeared.

Although the head maid was unaware, the ancient magic activated within the castle still prevented anyone from escaping.

It was part of Frey's scheme to only deliberately break through the magic on the front gate.

"M-Move!!"

"Ugh, aah..."

However, the head maid could not accept that this was the end, and snatched a shovel from another maid with a pale, scared expression.

- Crash, Crash...

"Eek! Agh!"

Then, she began to wildly attack the barrier in front of her.

"Break! Break quickly!!"

Somehow, feeling a chilling presence approaching from behind, her movements became more frantic.

"Please! Please, quickly... Ouch!"

However, it was all in vain and she stopped soon after.

"Uh, ugh..."

In the first place, even when she worked at the Starlight Mansion, she always made all sorts of excuses to shirk from her duty as a maid, earning glares from the other maids and Kania.

Moreover, after she became the head maid, she lived a luxurious and extravagant life with nobles who were infatuated with her beauty. Her hands, which had never done any dirty work, became very soft.

- Drip...

"Damn... it hurts..."

With no skill or technique, her hands naturally became covered in blood from the futile digging.

"Head maid, what should we do?"

"Y-You said we could escape this way! You said we can trust you!"

"I-I don't know either!"

The head maid trembled with a dizzying sensation of pain coursing through her hands. Then when she screamed at the maids who started to rebel due to the spreading fear...

- Step, step...

"All of this is because you all slacked off... Huh?"

From behind her, footsteps began to approach.

- Step, step, step...

"Ah, aaaa..."

The head maid screamed her lungs out and froze in her place when she heard the approaching footsteps. But soon, she regained her senses and grabbed the shovel lying on the ground with trembling hands.

"D-Don't come any closer."

A dark silhouette was approaching from afar.

"Don't, I said don't come any closer!"

Either out of sheer terror or madness, or perhaps possessed by a ghost, the head maid wildly swung her shovel at the dark silhouette.

Suddenly, she stopped swinging the shovel and her eyes widened.

"Hoot~!"

Simultaneously, the owl above her made a pleased noise and flew forward..

"Good job, I'll give you a treat later."

"Hoot~♪"

Just moments ago, that creature seemed ready to tear her apart ferociously. Now, it was gently handled and perched on the shoulder by the person who had approached.

"There are things I need to do right now."

Thus, the dark silhouette revealed herself from the darkness while caressing the owl, bathed in the moonlight.

"Lady... Serena?"

It was none other than Serena.

"Ah, hello...?"

Believing she was doomed to a terrible fate by Frey, the head maid opened her mouth with a glimmer of hope despite her bewildered expression.

"D-Do you remember me? I'm Anne, who used to work as a maid at the Starlight Mansion."

"Yes, I remember you very well."

"O-oh, you do. Ah, haha..."

As Serena spoke amiably, the head maid began to relax and looked relieved, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

"B-But why are you here..."

- Slap...!!!

"...Keheuk!!"

However, the next moment, Serena's hand flew sharply across her cheek.

"I remember you... Very, very well."

"Ah..."

"And all the things you've done since you left the mansion."

Anne, clutching her cheek, collapsed to the ground as Serena began to look down at her with a cold gaze.

"I would have preferred to deal with this quietly by myself... but my husband insists on seeing you in person."

"H-Huh?"

Serena muttered to herself.

"Miss Anne, the women's rights activist, fancy meeting you here."

"...!!!"

Suddenly, someone revealed themselves from behind Serena.

"I'm a huge fan!"

"Hiiii, eek... Ikkkk..."

Frey appeared all of a sudden, wearing a pleased expression as he approached her.

"Could you please give me an autograph?"

He was shaking a copy of Anne's autobiography titled,

[What Happened to Me That Day]

.

.

.

.

.

"Guh...!"

Anne, utterly disgraced, clutched her stomach and gasped for breath as she sank to the ground.

"I-it hurts... It hurts..."

With tears streaming down her eyes, she spoke in a trembling voice.

"T-This is... This isn't right..."

"What do you mean it’s not right?"

"Well, I'm not sure either..."

Serena, who had just delivered a powerful punch to Anne's stomach, tilted her head and asked, while Frey also mirrored her gesture and spoke.

"Frey used to call me over whenever he was bored and punched or kicked me in the stomach. Once, he hit me so hard, I vomited blood and collapsed. Of course, he beat me twice as hard because I dirtied the floor that day."

Then, Frey began reading her autobiography aloud.

“See, we just did what you wrote here, right...?”

"Aha! I get it!"

As Serena clapped her hands excitedly upon hearing his words, Frey wore a puzzled expression.

- Thump...!!!

"...!"

However, Serena blocked her way.

"W-Why are you doing this to me?!"

With tears welling up in her eyes, Anne began to scream.

"What did I do wrong? Frey is the bad one! He's the worst villain in the empire, isn't he? He insulted me just because I...!"

“Oh my. What happened to the young maids who were hospitalized in the imperial hospital with ‘serious illness’ or gone missing and labeled as runaways? I guess all of that was done by a ghost?”

"..."

"A person who claims to contribute to women's rights while actually lowering them more than anyone else. What a hypocrite."

But Serena's cutting words left Anne speechless.

- Crack...

In fact, Serena was poking her collarbone, so much so that she couldn’t talk.

"Ugh....!"

After being tortured for a while right in front of the exit, Anne gritted her teeth and crawled forward with all her might.

If I just get out... If I just get out of here...!

For some reason, there was a crowd in front of the exit.

Some of them had cameras, undoubtedly journalists. They seemed to have come to cover the events at the palace today.

For Anne, it was a golden opportunity.

The media is still on my side... If I expose what happened today... if I expose...

"Go on."

"...?"

Anne, who had been crawling forward while muttering to herself in anger, quietly tilted her head when Serena sighed and spoke.

"I said, get out."

"Eek!?"

"Ugh, aaah..."

At the same time, the maids who had been weeded out by Serena were also dragged into the lobby by her subordinates.

"I'm relieving you of your positions. From now on, you're no longer part of the royal family and are now commoners. Leave immediately."

"H-huh?"

"Well, if you want to stay here and atone for your sins, we can do that but..."

Tapping her fan against her hand and murmuring quietly, Serena added with a gleam in her eye.

"If you leave here, you'll never be able to come back, no matter what happens."

"..."

"Now, choose."

As Serena spoke with a grin, the maids who had been watching her closely all raised the corners of their mouths and began to rush out together.

"I-I'll go too...!"

Seeing that, Anne hurriedly crawled out, fearing that the door might close.

"Pfft... Ahahahaha"

Then suddenly, she burst into laughter.

"How foolish... Seriously... Hehe..."

She had at least expected to lose an eyeball or suffer the disgrace of being truly raped by Frey.

But just getting exiled?

Rumors of Serena's sharp intellect were definitely exaggerated.

Once I'm out, I'll hold a press conference... and then flee to another kingdom. With the profits from my autobiography alone, I can live luxuriously for the rest of my life.

With a wide smile on her face as she neared the entrance, she increased her pace.

And from today on, I'll continue to write as an anti-empire.

But then her gaze suddenly turned sinister.

Daring to bring such disgrace upon me... Frey, Serena. I'll never forgive you...

In her mind, the plot for revenge was already unfolding.

Frey and Serena, suffering backlash for her published journal. Herself stands tall as the leader of the anti-empire faction.

"You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you leave..."

Thanks to her overarching fantasy, she didn’t hear the chilling word muttered by Serena.

- Flash... Click...

However, as soon as she emerged outside, the flashes from the magical recording device began to illuminate her face, Anne's expression instantly turned gentle.

"Ugh, ugh... E-everyone..."

However, as she was about to start her public opinion warfare with tears in her eyes...

"Miss Anne! Is it true that your autobiography's contents were fabricated?!"

"Over ten Viscounts and Count noble families are involved in scandals, what do you think about that?!"

"What's your reason for abusing the maids and covering it up at the imperial hospital?!"

When the reporters pointed their magical recording device at her on the floor and bombarded her with questions, Anne began to wear a blank expression.

"Miss Anne! Please answer!"

"Is it true that you committed embezzlement and corruption with Lord Chamberlain?!"

"The publishing house that released your autobiography has announced a lawsuit, how do you feel?!"

"What... What is this..."

The reporters, who usually greeted her with warm smiles, now stared at her with cold eyes, aggressively waving their magical recording device in front of Anne’s bloodless face.

"...Good day."

"Ah, huh?"

"You really managed to entangle our son quite well."

As the head of the Clana faction pushed his way through the reporters and looked down at her with a face contorted in anger, she let out a strange voice and faltered.

"I’ll do my to show you hell, within the bounds of the law, of course."

"..."

"Of course, I only speak for myself. All the families wronged by your actions are itching for it too."

He spoke clearly while addressing reporters, then he walked quietly and whispered in a low voice.

"See you soon, in the back alleys."

"...!!!"

Although it was just a few words, it was enough to throw Anne into terror.

"Miss Anne! Please answer!"

"Miss Anne!!"

"Ugh, ugh..."

Just like that, she froze in her spot, surrounded by the maids who had rushed out with her and bombarded by the journalist’s questions.

- Creakkk...

All their gaze suddenly turned as someone opened the door and came out.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press! Let's have an interview!"

It was Frey, who had cleaned himself of the blood covering his body, but still emitted a strong stench of blood and silver smoke.

"Ah..."

Anne looked at him and reminisced about the past.

"Waaaah..."

"Hey there, why are you crying here?"

"My... my mom disappeared..."

"...Why does this kind of thing never stop?"

In her mind, she recalled Frey's father, who once extended his warm hand to her as she sat starving to death in the alley behind the market.

"Are you my new friend? Hello!"

"Hello~!"

And the memories of young Frey and Aria, who greeted her warmly despite her commoner status.

The only place where she felt absolutely safe, where even the debt collectors chasing her mother's debts couldn't reach her, and where she could eat warm meals for the first time in her life.

"You spilled again? You clumsy bitch."

"I-I'm sorry!"

And she remembered how, despite his harsh words, Frey never actually laid a hand on her.

"P-Please..."

Unconsciously shedding tears, Anne reached out to the hem of Frey's pants.

"P-please save me."

Soon, she began to plead earnestly.

"I-I was wrong. I want to go back to being a maid... no, a slave. I-I'll serve for the rest of my life, I promise..."

"But I'm a commoner, though?"

"...Ah."

But by then, it was already too late.

"Please ask Aria. But I don't think she'll take back a traitor who abandoned her benefactor."

"P-Please..."

"Everyone, it's too noisy here. Let's go over there and talk."

Her life had already become a living /genesisforsaken