Chapter 23

“P-Please, have mercy, Princess. I beg you, don’t cast me out.”

“I must have been out of my mind, it was for my son’s tuition. I’ll accept any punishment you see fit, just please let me keep working here!”

I looked down silently at Hans and Arthur, who were prostrated on the floor, begging.

I didn’t know Hans well, but Arthur was a familiar face from Astell’s memories.

“Isn’t this just awful? We wouldn’t even give this to the field hands! It’s barely fit for livestock feed.”

“She’s not in her right mind to even know what she’s eating. What’s the harm?”

“Because she’s worse than before! Ugh, that smell! Good grief, isn’t this spoiled? Doesn’t the head butler say anything?”

“The head butler is a busy man. You think he has time to check on every little thing like this? He doesn’t bother with anything the Duke has lost interest in.”

“Ugh, I can’t do it. If we accept this, we’ll have to eat it too. There’s no way I’m eating this stuff!”

“Who said you have to eat this? Just make the Princess’s meals with these ingredients. You can eat the food allotted to the staff. Simple, right?”

“…”

“You know how expensive the ingredients and supplies set aside for the Princess are, don’t you? Sell them, and you can make a month’s worth of spending money in a flash. Look, I’m not just doing this for myself. I’m trying to make things better for all of us.”

If you’re going to conspire, at least be discreet about it. But those two chattered on without a care right in front of the annex.

From her own bedroom, Astell had been forced to listen to every word of Arthur and Vivian’s despicable plot.

And yet, she had remained silent.

She knew all too well that no one would ever believe her.

There was only one reason I had accepted Zenia.

She might have only served bread and soup, but at least she never used rotten ingredients.

It was Zenia, too, who had pulled Astell out from under the bed during one of her panic attacks.

I replied coolly.

“What difference will it make to punish only these two?”

“What do you mean? Are you saying there are others who have committed this crime?”

“Yes.”

“Who are they?”

“Everyone here.”

“…”

“And the one most at fault among them is you, Duke.”

Duke Ruthius’s eyes turned to ice.

Was it anger, or was it shock?

I let my smile fall away.

“Do you really think no one knew they were skimming things off the top? Did the maids who manage this mansion truly not know? Do you think Frank and Marilyn, who manage the staff, knew nothing? If you honestly believe that, then you are not fit to lead this house, Duke.”

“…”

“You know it too, don’t you, Duke? You know they all must have had some inkling of what was going on. But they turned a blind eye. And why is that?”

I pointed at Duke Ruthius.

As if my finger were an arrow, Duke Ruthius briefly held his breath.

“It’s because of you, Duke. Because you ignored me! Because you treated me like a ghost! Because you locked me away in the annex and refused to even acknowledge my existence!”

My gaze swept over the staff and Duke Ruthius.

I saw the true faces of the people whose love Astell had so desperately craved.

“You’re all accomplices. You want punishment? Then how about we all hold hands and jump off the roof together?”

I left the stunned crowd behind me and turned away.

As I went up the stairs, Alex ran up and grabbed me.

“Astell!”

“What.”

“I didn’t know! How dare they lay a hand on the Duke’s daughter’s possessions? If I’d known, I would never have let it stand. I honestly had no idea.”

“And?”

I shook off Alex’s hand and continued up the stairs.

My footsteps echoed calmly in the silent lobby.

* * *

A massive staff overhaul began. Most of the servants, with a few exceptions, received letters of dismissal.

Frank and Marilyn were fortunate enough to avoid dismissal, but their situation was far from ideal.

In the frantic rush to hire new staff, they had to personally fill in wherever hands were needed.

Now over fifty, they found themselves tending the gardens and working in the kitchens, reeking of ointment for their sore muscles.

The staff was quickly replenished.

Applicants had flocked to the estate upon hearing that the House of Ruthius now had a Hunter.

As soon as they were hired, they were trained to treat Astell with the utmost respect.

They were told that anyone who fell out of her favor would be dismissed on the spot.

Within five days, the once-chaotic mansion began to settle into a new rhythm.

The heavy atmosphere that had settled over the estate began to lift.

Whether it was due to the training or not, no one dared to call me the Mad Princess or act disrespectfully, not even by accident.

The new staff treated me with the same caution they reserved for Duke Ruthius himself.

Of course, I didn’t care at all.

“Sigh…”

It wasn’t the staff getting on my nerves, but the Ruthius men.

I set down my butter knife with an irritated clatter.

Across the table, Duke Ruthius glanced up from his documents, a coffee cup in hand.

Beside me, Alex paused from cutting into his breakfast steak and asked.

“Is the food bad?”

“How could it be?”

“Why? Did someone tamper with your food again? If they did…”

“No, the food is excellent.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I stared intently at Duke Ruthius.

“Duke, if you’re just going to have a cup of coffee in the morning, is there really a need to come all the way to the dining room?”

“This is my house.”

Duke Ruthius replied idly, his eyes still fixed on his papers.

For two days after the mass dismissal of the staff, I hadn’t seen a trace of the Duke.

‘It would have been nice if it stayed that way.’

I had no idea why he’d decided to start showing up again yesterday, grating on my nerves.

I glared at Alex.

“Didn’t you say you don’t eat breakfast?”

“What are you talking about? A man’s got to eat breakfast to have any strength.”

“You used to storm into the annex every morning just to flip my breakfast table.”

“…I did?”

“You’d say you didn’t eat breakfast, so what right did a murderer like me have to eat. Don’t you remember?”

Alex, who I expected to flare up, was surprisingly quiet.

For some reason, Alex and Duke Ruthius were looking at each other.

‘What are those two doing?’

Before I could ask, Alex stammered, his face flushing red. He was clearly embarrassed.

“…Th-that was so long ago, why do you still remember it?”

“Sorry, but I remember things from even longer ago. Want me to list them for you?”

“Th-that was when I was young and foolish. I’m… not like that anymore.”

Alex truly looked repentant.

But was it genuine?

‘What a joke.’

I scoffed internally.

<Viewers: 57>

The viewer count had gone up, even though I’d just been lazing around the house.

There hadn’t been any major incidents, so it wasn’t like a clip had gone viral on the constellation forums.

That left only one explanation: constellations migrating from Alex’s channel.

There were even some chats from viewers saying they’d moved over from Alex’s channel.

He wasn’t showing it, but Alex had to be feeling the pressure.

He was afraid of losing more viewers. That’s why he was putting on this act of repentance.

“Looks like your viewer count has dropped a lot?”

“What? No, it hasn’t!”

“Should I ask the constellations who came over to my channel to go back? Tell them to take pity on you?”

“…I said it hasn’t!”

Alex snapped angrily.

Just then, Duke Ruthius put down his documents.

“That’s enough. Get ready. It’s time for the memorial service.”

“Perfect. I didn’t want to sit here any longer anyway. I’ll be on my way.”

I left the dining room and went up to my bedroom.

After a long bath, I stepped out of the washroom to find Zenia holding up a dress for me.

It was a black dress with a matching black nose veil, appropriate for the memorial service.

“What do you think, Princess?”

“It’s fine.”

I changed into the dress, put my hair up neatly, and donned the nose veil.

The elegant veil, adorned with a regular pattern of small pearls, fell just below my nose.

The black dress was unadorned with any jewels, but the fabric itself was an ornate lace, so it was far from plain.

The only problem was that my silver hair and green eyes were still clearly visible through the mesh.

It wasn’t designed to conceal one’s face, so there was nothing to be done.

If I show up at the memorial service like this, everyone will recognize me.

‘And they’ll point their fingers and call me the Mad Princess.’

Sensing my unease, Zenia asked cautiously.

“Princess, shall I find a thicker veil?”

“No, it’s fine.”

I’ll be coming right back, anyway. If it weren’t for the quest, I wouldn’t have even considered attending.

‘Sigh, I’m so sick of memorial services.’

I hated funerals.

It always felt like my fault. That I hadn’t been able to protect them. That I had been too weak.

‘If I had been just a little stronger, that person wouldn’t have died.’

Attending a single funeral would send those thoughts swirling through my mind, leaving me in a foul mood for days.

And yet, in my past life, I’d had to attend memorials as if they were a daily routine.

Everyone, from acquaintances to complete strangers, had wanted the number one Hunter to be present.

I turned away from the mirror.