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“What are you suddenly talking about, Reshia?”  

Veronica subtly stepped to the side, positioning herself in front of Anne.  

Unlike the flustered and panicking Anne, Veronica maintained a very confident and elegant demeanor.  

“Anne is my maid. Making such strange accusations in front of everyone is the same as insulting me.”  

It was a statement with the unspoken implication: “You wouldn’t know this because you’re not a proper noble lady.”  

“If this girl has done something wrong, you should resolve it through me—if you respect me, that is.”  

Veronica wasn’t wrong.  

That’s exactly why maids prefer to work under powerful masters.  

And I quite liked that noble custom.  

‘No maid in her right mind would commit such a crime on her own.’  

This was undoubtedly something her master ordered.  

Thanks to that wonderful custom, I didn’t have to waste time with small fry and could go straight to shaking down the mastermind.  

“How fair. Since you say so, I’ll talk directly to Veronica then. Anne stole my belongings.”  

“What…?”  

“So, Veronica, please talk some sense into her and have her return the items to their place. That way, the punishment will be much lighter.”  

Veronica’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, not expecting me to be so direct.  

Though she quickly composed herself under Logan’s watchful gaze, it was clear she was taken aback.  

“Reshia, it seems you misunderstood. What I meant is that you cannot determine the rights and wrongs of my maid.”  

“What? Then does that mean I can’t take any action? Even though my belongings were stolen?”  

I deliberately widened my eyes as if I didn’t understand anything.  

“We’re talking about a Van Dailo painting, a 40-carat pink diamond and ruby ring, a 60-carat sapphire, a pearl necklace, emerald earrings, and….”  

“Stop!”  

Veronica cut me off, frowning at the endless list of items I was reciting.  

“Are you saying all those things are missing?”  

“Yes.”  

I nodded firmly and looked at Rose and Daisy.  

As I sought their agreement, the two quickly bowed their heads.  

“Yes, that’s correct. The Van Dailo painting, the 40-carat pink diamond and ruby ring, the 60-carat sapphire, the pearl necklace, and the pair of emerald earrings, and….”  

“Some ancient gold coins are also missing.”  

As Rose and Daisy spoke without hesitation, Veronica let out a small laugh.  

“Oh my, Reshia. This is a big problem. You can’t even keep track of what’s missing.”  

“What?”  

“The only things missing are the Van Dailo painting and the 40-carat pink diamond and ruby ring.”  

Veronica listed the missing items one by one.  

“That’s strange.”  

I blinked and tilted my head, pretending to be puzzled.  

“How did you know that’s all that’s missing?”  

“What? Obviously, because….”  

“I didn’t inform anyone that items were missing. I thought it was best to come to the storage room first with Rose and Daisy to assess the situation before making it public.”

“!”  

Veronica pursed her lips as if she hadn’t considered that possibility.  

“…Now that you mention it, I didn’t even know what was missing when I came here. I only heard that Miss’s dowry had gone missing.”  

When Logan, backing me up, looked at her suspiciously, Veronica’s face turned pale.  

I deliberately widened my eyes in a naive expression.  

“Could it be that Veronica has eyes that can tell what’s missing just by looking around the storage room?”  

“Oh my, Miss. There’s no such ability in the world.”  

Rose shook her head in disbelief, and I tilted my head, puzzled.  

“Then how did Veronica know? The only people who knew what was missing, aside from me, Rose, and Daisy… would be the culprit!”  

At my exclamation, Anne, who was standing behind Veronica, started trembling.  

It seemed she realized that the situation was taking a strange turn.  

I pretended to ponder deeply, rubbing my chin.  

“I’m not sure who’s more at fault—the one who gave the orders or the one who actually stole the items.”  

“The one who gave the orders bears more responsibility, of course. The one who stole is just a puppet. So, if the thief confesses honestly, wouldn’t you consider forgiving them, Miss?”  

As soon as Daisy subtly suggested this, Anne hurriedly fell to her knees on the floor.  

“I-I only did what Lady Veronica ordered! It’s true! I don’t have the painting or the jewels! I gave them all to Lady Veronica right away!”  

As Anne frantically bowed her head to the ground, Logan’s expression turned icy.  

“Lady Veronica.”  

Logan’s gaze turned to Veronica, who was clutching her skirt, unable to say a word.  

“I think you should offer some sort of explanation.”  

“T-That is…”  

As her eyes darted around in panic, Veronica seemed to have come up with a plan. She slapped Anne, who was lying flat on the floor.  

“How dare you try to blame me for your wrongdoing? You stole those items and now you’re trying to pin it on me?”  

‘Ah, she’s trying to cut her losses.’  

But judging by Logan’s still icy expression as he looked at Veronica, it didn’t seem like her tactic was going to work.  

“We’ll start by searching Lady Veronica’s quarters and the storage room. If you have nothing to hide, there should be no problem, correct?”  

* * *  

“Oh, how satisfying!”  

“When she was showing off, not knowing Miss had everything under control, it was so thrilling!”  

Rose and Daisy chattered excitedly.  

Although the stolen items hadn’t been recovered yet, Logan had ordered the household servants to search Veronica’s quarters and storage room, so it wouldn’t be long before they were returned to me.  

‘Besides, would someone who pulls off stunts like this really have kept a clean slate?’  

Since Veronica had been handling the household affairs as the lady of the house, no one had been able to check her dowry situation, but now it would be thoroughly scrutinized.  

‘And what about the fact that she tampered with the Duke’s master key?’

To enter the storage, you need the key held by my maids or the Duke’s master key, and since the maids’ key has never gone missing…  

‘How bold. To even lay hands on the Duke’s key.’  

That was almost a direct challenge to the authority of the head of the family.  

It seems she thought it was a good time to sneak it while the Duke was away, but she made a big mistake.  

‘Does this mean Veronica will be kicked out as well?’  

If that happens, there would be no one to take on the role of the mistress, so perhaps Logan will temporarily take charge again.  

‘The retainers seem to be hoping for the Duke to remarry…’  

The position of the Duchess had been vacant for too long, so it was only natural for the retainers to think that way.  

I quietly recalled the Duke’s face.  

It was hard to believe he had two grown sons and a daughter who had just had her debutante, given how youthful he looked.  

If the Duke wanted to remarry, it wouldn’t be difficult, but he didn’t seem interested in taking a new wife.  

‘He seemed to have loved the late Duchess deeply.’  

I still remembered the Duke talking about the four-leaf clover.  

So much time had passed, yet he still held one person deeply in his heart.  

I couldn’t even imagine how much love it would take to make that possible.  

Even though I wasn’t the object of that love, just witnessing such a strong affection for someone made my heart flutter.  

Being able to give such love to someone, and being able to receive such love from someone—  

It all seemed wonderful.  

‘Will I ever be able to experience such love someday?’  

Love…  

‘Falling in love…’  

I quickly shook my head to dispel the thoughts.  

It was still a feeling that seemed far off for me.

* * *

The day to head to the palace was approaching.  

The Duke still hadn’t returned to the estate, leaving Veronica anxiously confined within the house.  

She stayed locked up in her room, not stepping outside.  

‘I wonder what the investigation revealed.’  

Logan mentioned that he had found some things, but since I wasn’t the one to receive the report, I didn’t know the details yet.  

Whatever the case, it would only be resolved once the Duke returned.  

‘But what could have happened to keep the Duke away from the estate for so long?’  

Since I began living at the Elpinard estate under the name Reshia, this was the first time the Duke’s absence had lasted this long.  

I couldn’t help but worry that something serious might have occurred.  

As I was lost in these thoughts, a lavishly dressed coachman descended from the equally splendid carriage and greeted me with a respectful bow.  

“Lady Elpinard, I will escort you to the palace in comfort.”  

It was the carriage and coachman sent by the Empress.