ETDO Chapter 39

Mary gulped, her gaze fixated on the clinking pouch. Inside her, a fierce battle raged between personal greed and loyalty to her mistress.

A maid’s life was an endless string of arduous toil from early morning till late at night, and most of the time, the treatment was extremely poor. This was to be expected, as the elegant lives of the nobility were maintained by exploiting the labor of their servants.

And this tendency was even more pronounced among the nouveau riche gentry. Those not born into nobility were particularly conscious of their roots, often reminding themselves of their current status by tormenting their servants.

Ironically, the treatment of servants was often better in the households of the true, old-money aristocracy whose lineages could be traced back centuries. This was an open secret even among commoners seeking employment. The reason was simple; the true nobles had no need to prove their worth by exploiting the lower classes.

Of course, just because they were relatively generous to their servants, didn’t mean they considered them equals. This fact remained unchanged, even for the most benevolent masters who lived by biblical verses like “Love thy neighbor.”

Even if they were generous enough to call a doctor when a servant fell ill or gifted them their cast-off clothes, an insurmountable boundary existed between the two classes. This was evident even in the designated seating arrangements within the church, where supposedly all were equal before God.

In that sense, the Beaufort family was quite generous. Although the butler and the head housekeeper were extremely strict, they were equally dedicated to their duties. In such a place, Alice had clearly crossed a line she shouldn’t have.

And Mary had been supporting her family on her own. Her ailing mother and younger siblings, whom she had been caring for for years, were precious family but also a heavy burden for her to bear alone.

Mary’s eyes darted back and forth before she eventually squeezed them shut. In the end, she nodded to the Lady, who was watching her with an amused expression, still waiting for an answer.

“Good decision. First of all, this is an advance payment. I’ve calculated it based on the wages of our ducal maids, but it probably won’t be much different from the Beaufort family’s.”

The Lady dropped the pouch into Mary’s trembling hand. As if involuntarily gauging its weight, Mary’s hand, holding the heavy pouch, bobbed up and down a couple of times. Her eyes widened, and she gulped before respectfully cupping the pouch in both hands and bowing her head.

“Thank you, My Lady. I will do my best.”

“Good.”

The Lady smiled with satisfaction and looked directly at her.

“Then tell me, to start with, how do that woman and Ethan behave towards each other?”

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

The young maid’s youthful face was startled, her eyes wide with fear as she looked at Charlotte. Her expression was a mixture of shock and bewilderment as if she hadn’t expected such a question. Her eyes darted uneasily from side to side, as if trying to gauge Charlotte’s intentions. Seeming to glean something from the Lady’s frosty expression, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Uh… Young Master Ethan treats Madam very well. Of course, he also gets along well with the Duke.”

“Do they seem closer than you’d think?”

“Uh…”

The maid wrung her clasped hands, seemingly hesitant. As the gold coins in the pouch pressed against her fingers, her gaze fell upon the pouch clutched in her hand. Charlotte, observing this, curled her lips into a smirk. As expected, money was the easiest and most effective tool for winning someone over. The maid swallowed hard again and opened her mouth.

“Well, I haven’t seen or heard anything directly… I was back in my hometown at the time, so I wasn’t there, but according to another colleague… When the Duke was away for about ten days on estate business, Young Master Ethan seemed to have slept in Madam’s room…”

“What?!”

Charlotte momentarily forgot her decorum as a ducal daughter and shrieked. She gritted her teeth at the trembling maid, who was startled by her outburst.

“Tell me more. In detail.”

“Y-Yes, yes, well…”

The maid continued to speak in a shaky voice, fidgeting nervously.

“My colleague, who was called up to Madam’s bedroom in the morning, said… Madam looked very pale and unwell, and while she went to take a bath unattended, she tried to change the bedsheets, but they were… a mess…”

The maid cowered even further, glancing at Charlotte’s pale face. Her voice grew fainter and fainter.

“At that time, it had been two days since the Duke had left the mansion for estate business, so she thought it was strange. Then, suddenly, Mrs. Wilson appeared, chased her out, and personally changed the sheets herself. From then on, the Duchess’s bedroom could only be cleaned under Mrs. Wilson’s supervision.”

After glancing at Charlotte’s pale face, the maid continued in a voice as small as a mosquito. Her head was now practically buried in her chest.

“And after that, no one was allowed on the third floor, where the Duke, Duchess, and Young Master Ethan’s rooms are, without permission from the butler or Mrs. Wilson. I haven’t been able to fully resume my duties as her personal maid since returning from my hometown.”

After finishing her words, the maid tugged at her skirt and shifted her weight, as if eager to flee from the spot.

Charlotte slowly took a deep breath and forced a smile. Her lips creaked like rusty metal as she tried to pull them upwards.

“Very well. That was very useful information. You may go. You can take the carriage that followed me.”

“Yes, yes, My Lady!”

The maid quickly snatched the pouch and her belongings, bowed hurriedly, and dashed out of the carriage without looking back.

Charlotte remained still, her face grim, taking deep breaths. As she stared blankly into space, the image of Lily, wearing a seductive blue off-the-shoulder dress and dancing with Ethan at the twins’ birthday party, flashed through her mind.

The two of them, twirling happily as they danced, were a truly a beautiful sight. Anyone would have thought they were a perfect match. If only she wasn’t Ethan’s fiancée. Charlotte bit her lip.

It was the first time she had seen Ethan smile so brightly. A smile as bright as sunshine that she had never seen during the time she had spent by his side as his fiancée.

She had been so surprised to see that he could smile like that after only ever seeing his expressionless, stoic face! She had stared blankly, awestruck.

Then, the scene in her mind abruptly shifted to Ethan and Lily naked, entangled in a suggestive embrace. Her imagination began to run wild with images of Ethan passionately kissing and playing with Lily.

Charlotte’s hands trembled, and she nervously pressed them nervously against her dress, as if trying to smooth out wrinkles. The motion gradually turned into a frantic tugging at the fabric. As she imagined Arthur joining the two of them rolling around naked, she gritted her teeth. As if the ribbons and lace were them, she frantically started tearing at anything within reach. She wanted to rip all three of them to shreds.

“Argh!”

She screamed, tearing at her clothes, throwing cushions around the carriage, and kicking the seats. Panting, with a terrifying expression, she glared into the air.

‘I will never let you get away with this!’

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

The new dress, with its sleeveless design, completely exposed my shoulders and arms, and also featured a plunging neckline exposing my collarbone and cleavage. I was quite pleased with the daring new dress. Imagining the expressions on the two men’s faces made me feel quite a thrill of anticipation.

With an excited expression, I looked at Ethan’s necklace around my neck. In contrast to the daring bodice, the rest of the dress was simple. The ivory fabric, embroidered with golden floral patterns, complemented the two-toned, dazzling diamonds perfectly.

“Wow! Madam, you are absolutely beautiful!”

Mary and another maid, who were helping me get ready, exclaimed in admiration.

“You’ll probably be the most beautiful woman there tonight!”

The maid, a bit younger than Mary, couldn’t take her eyes off me, continuously expressing her compliments. She stared, mesmerized, at the dress and the sparkling necklace. I nodded and glanced at Mary.

“Mary? Are you alright? You’ve looked pale since earlier. Should I call a doctor if you’re not feeling well?”

“Oh, no, Madam! I’m fine.”

Mary, who had looked slightly dazed, jumped and waved her hands frantically.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, yes!”

Flustered, Mary brought Ethan’s earrings and fastened them to my ears. As she did so, I happened to face her maid’s uniform directly and noticed a necklace I hadn’t seen before.

“What’s that necklace? It’s pretty.”

“Oh! Th-this?”

Mary looked down at her chest, startled. Then, she blushed and tucked the necklace inside her clothes. Suddenly, the maid next to her chirped excitedly.

“She got it as a gift from Mr. Richard, Madam!”

“Oh, really?”

Surprised by this unexpected information, my eyes widened, and looked at Mary. Richard was Arthur’s personal coachman.

Under my intensely curious gaze, she blushed crimson. I turned to the maid beside me.

“Why would Richard…?”

“He’s liked her for a long time, but Mary keeps rejecting him.”

“Lisa!”

Mary was mortified and didn’t know what to do. 

My eyes widened. 

This was indeed news!

As expected, the most interesting stories were about other people’s relationships. My eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Judging by this beautiful necklace, Richard must really like you.”

“Oh, no, Madam.”