Flora Reuwen felt, for the first time since she was born, what it meant for the sky to collapse.
It all began with that woman.
She had been deeply shocked to learn that the woman she had thought lowborn was in fact a daughter of House Taylor, and soon after, her father had been dragged away.
Having exited the hall in a daze, she wandered the castle for quite some time. The Marchioness’s maids who had been following her had long since vanished without a word. Then, as if bewitched, when she went to her mother’s room, a scream was bursting out from within.
“You wench!! Get out?! How dare you tell me to get out?!”
Startled awake by her mother’s angry voice, Flora flung the door open and entered. Her mother was confronting the castle maids.
“Countess. Count Reuwen is currently confined in the underground dungeon. According to the internal regulations of Richmond Castle, if any member of a family is imprisoned in the underground dungeon, they cannot remain in the castle...”
Slap!!
The maid’s head snapped sharply to the side. Countess Reuwen, gasping for breath, grabbed the maid’s hair and yanked it.
“Agh!!”
“The Count has been falsely accused, which is unjust enough, but what is this? You wench, who sent you? Was it the Marchioness?!”
“C-Countess!”
“The Marchioness would never cast us out. Whose orders are you acting on...?!”
“Orders? Watch your tongue!!”
A cold, overbearing voice cut through the gap in the door Flora had left open, slicing off Countess Reuwen’s words. No sooner had the sound of skirt hems swishing with quick steps been heard than a woman in a deep dove-gray dress appeared, opening the door.
Around her neck hung a thick pearl necklace bestowed by Eliza Richmond, and from her earlobes dangled a matching pair of pearl earrings of the exact same size.
When Mrs. Isaac appeared, the maids quickly shrank behind her. Mrs. Isaac’s gaze fell upon the senior maid’s reddened cheek before snapping sharply to Countess Reuwen.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“...You were the one who sent these maids?”
“You? I am the Duchess’s handmaid. Show proper respect befitting that.”
Countess Reuwen let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded, and asked.
“Has she truly awakened?”
“Countess Reuwen!!”
“The House of Reuwen has been a vassal defending this castle! And you would cast us out overnight?! This cannot be!!”
She shrieked and raged, but Mrs. Isaac’s expression was nothing if not placid. Compared to the humiliations she had endured over the past dozen or so years, this was hardly even laughable.
“Has it truly defended the castle?”
“...What?”
“If it is true that your family has been loyal to Richmond, then worry not. According to the regulations, even if you leave the castle, you may soon return. Of course, Count Reuwen will be reinstated as well.”
“.......”
“That is, if you have truly been loyal to Richmond.”
The eyes of Countess Reuwen, who had been shrieking in fury, wandered, lost.
“Stop this unseemly rampage and withdraw.”
At Mrs. Isaac’s cold command, Countess Reuwen trembled violently. It was infuriating, but it was abundantly clear that further protest here would be useless.
“You’ll regret this.”
In the end, she left behind a seething warning and stormed out of the room to find someone who would help her.
“Mother!!”
Flora, who had been urgently following her mother out, stopped dead. Something she had never been able to accept finally exploded within her. She whirled around and approached Mrs. Isaac, lashing out sharply.
“How dare you—do you think you’ll get away with treating my mother this way?!”
“.......”
“Is it the Duchess’s order? Is it?”
“Flora Reuwen.”
Mrs. Isaac spoke in a stern voice, but Flora could not stop.
“Is the Duchess so great? She has never attended any of the important affairs of Richmond Castle, has done nothing for this castle, yet at her single order, you cast out my father and mother who have served this castle...!”
Slap!!
“Served? It is the duty of a vassal.”
At the fierceness of Mrs. Isaac’s hand, Flora blinked blankly, as if in shock. Then she glared at Mrs. Isaac with a face full of fury.
“You just slapped my cheek?”
“I shall pretend I did not hear your words, in exchange for that slap. I do this out of consideration for your grandparents; be grateful to your ancestors in the underworld.”
“You’re doing this because you trust in the Duchess?”
Mrs. Isaac laughed as if dumbfounded, then clicked her tongue softly. It seemed the Reuwen couple had known only how to dote on their daughter, not how to educate her properly.
“My child. Eight-tenths of the land your House of Reuwen governs belonged to the Duchess. She bestowed part of the land under her own name upon your grandfather. She cherished your grandparents dearly.”
Mrs. Isaac pointed to Flora’s ears and neck.
“The necklace and earrings you are wearing were also received by the Duchess from His Majesty King Argon III.”
“?!”
Flora’s eyes shook violently. The hot fury that had welled up inside her cooled chillingly. As she took a step back without realizing it, Mrs. Isaac cast a cold question at her.
“Daring to wear them—do you have the master’s permission?”
Flora’s face grew paler and paler. Then, just like her mother, she fled the room.
Mrs. Isaac quietly watched the spot where Flora had disappeared, then took out a pocket watch and checked the time. After ordering the bewildered maids to clean the room, she walked to the window. When she looked down, her eyes rippled.
“Truly... it took so long.”
Along the path where the sunlight lay long, women who were both her old friends and the handmaids of Eliza Richmond were walking majestically.
* * *
Flora rushed to the Marchioness’s room in a daze. The Marchioness’s room was already crowded with noblewomen. Countess Reuwen was there as well, weeping at the Marchioness’s side.
“They’re telling us to leave the castle, Marchioness! The maids are clearing out my room!”
The Marchioness steadied herself as if about to faint and took Countess Reuwen’s hand.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. The Marquis is looking into it as well, so compose yourself. Stay in my room for a while and calm your nerves.”
“That’s right, Countess Reuwen. If the Marchioness says so, what could be wrong?”
“Yes, indeed.”
The noblewomen, each adorned with one of Richmond’s treasures, comforted Countess Reuwen.
“Arwen Isaac, that woman came in with such overwhelming pride! When all she did was ask for some firewood for the annex... Flora?!”
Countess Reuwen, who had been wiping away tears and railing at the noblewomen, sprang up from her seat in surprise at the sight of her daughter, disheveled.
“What’s wrong with you? Huh?!”
Seeing Flora’s swollen cheek, Countess Reuwen’s face turned crimson. At that moment, the Marchioness, who had been sitting and turning matters over in her mind, approached Flora directly.
The Marchioness quietly examined Flora’s cheek and spoke in a voice laced with anger.
“Who struck the daughter of House Reuwen? I shall not let them go unpunished.”
Countess Reuwen let out a cry like a scream.
“I do not even need to look to know the culprit! Arwen Isaac, that woman slapped my daughter’s cheek!!”
“Mrs. Isaac slapped your cheek, Flora?”
Tears streamed from Flora’s eyes.
“For what reason?”
At the Marchioness’s gentle question, Flora only bit her lips. The Marchioness carefully drew Flora into her embrace and stroked her back. She looked like a benevolent mother.
“You shouldn’t be treated this way.”
At her warm words, Flora finally burst into piteous sobs.
“Please call Arwen Isaac here immediately, Marchioness!! I won’t feel relieved until someone slaps that woman’s cheek as well!!”
At Countess Reuwen’s shrill voice, the Marchioness’s brow furrowed. It was the moment she wished someone would shut that foolish woman’s mouth.
A maid with a bewildered expression approached and announced the visit of an unexpected person.
“Marchioness, the Duchess’s handmaids have arrived.”
The hand that had been soothing Flora froze stiff. Not only the Marchioness but also Countess Reuwen, who had been spewing venom, and the noblewomen watching the situation all stopped moving as if they had made a promise.
The Duchess’s handmaids.
The six handmaids led by Arwen Isaac had been the greatest obstacle to the Marchioness’s takeover of the castle. While Arwen Isaac looked after the young Duke and the absent-minded Duchess, the other five maids had resisted the Marquis and Marchioness who sought to seize the castle.
They had eventually been defeated and expelled from the castle, but it had taken quite a long time to do so. And yet...
The Marchioness suppressed the urge to scream. Thick veins bulged at the back of her neck. She desperately maintained a queenly bearing as she sat in the seat of honor. The noblewomen quickly seated themselves on the long sofas. Countess Reuwen held Flora’s hand tightly and glared at the door.
“Show them in.”
At the Marchioness’s command, the dark brown doors opened silently to both sides.