1-9

As she burst through the door, those three maids who were happily chatting turned with a start to look at Camilla, their eyes opened wide. It was as if the conversation they were having up until that point hadn't taken place at all, the room had fallen that quiet. You couldn't even hear them breathe.

"Prepare my clothes to go out and act as my guides. Do you know what time Lord Alois is coming back? We should return before he does."

The three maids looked at each other. Camilla felt herself growing annoyed with just how frightened they seemed. They had no problem saying whatever they pleased just a moment ago, so why is that they're suddenly so mute in front of the person in question?

"U-Umm... Do you mean all three of us?"

After a silence, one of the maids asked with a trembling voice. She didn't look at Camilla, only at the other maids. She was constantly blinking and shifting on the spot.

"Is there some problem?"

Whenever Camilla said anything, silence smothered the room. The three maids kept looking at each other in cowed silence, then the same maid that spoke before opened her mouth first. It wasn't the small maid that Camilla had called out to before. It was the slender, slightly tall maid, who seemed to be the eldest of the group.

"Umm, well, we're doing some other work now..."

Right? She nudged the shoulder of the maid next to her, who nodded in a hurry.

"T-That's right, there's a lot of things we have to do before the Master comes back."

"I-I'm very sorry, b-but you'll have to find another person..."

"You're working right now?"

Camilla sighed, exasperated. Utterly barefaced lies. Did they even remember what they had been saying up until she walked in?

"I wonder why you would come to the break room in order to work, is what I'd like to ask you most of all!"

Camilla shifted her glare towards the small maid, who was trying to hide behind the back of her older friend. A short girl, with brown hair like a bay. As soon as Camilla caught her eyes, she began to tremble.

"........D-Do you mean me?"

She shook terribly as she asked her that as if she were a small animal. What's more, her short height, childish features and black eyes only enhanced that image.

"After refusing to assist me, here you are in a place like this. Do you really hate the idea of walking with me that much?"

"N-No.... Umm..."

"She was just taking a short break before going to her next job. Isn't that right?"

One of the other maids stepped in to protect her as she began to falter. It wasn't the older maid either. She was slightly chubby but had a charming looking face.

"So, it's already time to get going to our next job, alright? So, we're very sorry, Mistre- Lady Camilla, but we have to be going. Because we're awfully busy, we'll excuse ourselves now."

As the chubby maid said that, she winked at the other two. "Please excuse us," the other two said, bowing as they took the hint from their friend and set off towards the door.

"Stop right there."

The three of them didn't listen to Camilla's order at all, leaving the room as quickly as they could. They intended to just run away like that.

But, they didn't notice that Camilla kept walking after them.

As they kept walking, unaware, the two older maids tried to cheer up the younger one between them.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"She's just awful, eavesdropping on us like that. So despicable..."

"She's really a horrible woman, just like the rumours said. Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Honestly, you would have probably had a rougher time if you hadn't refused her."

Walking in between the two other maids who consoled her, the shorter girl didn't say anything.

――――I can still hear everything you are saying!

They think they're going to escape like this? Camilla thought that to herself.

The maids were about to round the corner. Just before they passed out of her sight, Camilla raised her voice.

"Stop right there!"

They were deep into the estate, with all sorts of hustle and bustle about. The sudden scene involving the three maids drew the eyes of plenty of servants who were coming and going. As people gathered around, Camilla's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"I did not give you my permission to leave! Stop at once!"

The three maids stopped in their tracks, turning around to look at Camilla. Drawing closer together, the three of them exchanged frightened glances.

As they huddled together, Camilla approached them in an angry stride. Camilla wasn't an especially tall girl, but when she stood in contrast to those trembling maids, that intimidating atmosphere made her look like the biggest person in the room.

"Who are you calling despicable!? Aren't you the ones speaking poorly of me behind my back, like I can't hear you!?"

"N-No, we didn't mean it like that..."

The older maid spoke first. The plump maid couldn't speak because of how sudden this situation was, whilst the smallest of them simply looked at her feet, her shoulders shaking.

"Then, what exactly did you mean? And did you not hear what I was saying before? Do you have some kind of excuse to be skipping work?"

"That's..."

"Do you have something to say for yourself? By all means, do so!"

As Camilla glowered at them thunderously, the maids fell silent. The older maid looked at the growing group of people watching, whilst the chubby maid was doing her best not to meet Camilla's gaze. That attitude, as if they were just waiting for the storm to pass, only made Camilla more incensed.

"Why are you suddenly falling so silent!? Don't you have something to say!? Did you three suddenly forget how to talk!?"

She's furious. Utterly enraged with these three who are suddenly so quiet. All they had to do was say something and it could have done something to calm Camilla down.

"Say something! If you don't, I won't hesitate to tell Lord Alois all about this! You'll be out on your ear!!"

"..........no"

A small whisper was almost drowned out by Camilla's bellowing.

It was the small maid who spoke in such a quiet voice. Where were the two maids who were supposed to be supporting her? She looked around anxiously, hugging her shoulders with her hands.

"Don't..."

Her small voice trembled.

"If all you're going to say is 'don't', I can't understand you. If you have something to say, why don't you say it?"

As Camilla spoke sharply, the maid raised her fear stricken face. That face like a small animal looked terrified, her eyes wet with tears.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught as a lump in her throat. She breathed out two or three times as she tried to talk, but no words ever came out, the tears in her eyes welling up more and more.

They began to streak down her face. She turned her face back towards the floor, trying to hide her tears.

"Are you okay?"

"You alright?"

The two maids tried to comfort her. They spoke soft words and soothed the sobbing little maid. Then, the whispers began to stir around them.

To think she'd be shouted at like that. She went too far. That poor thing――――.

――――――Liselotte!

Her blood boiled as she saw red. It was the day of the ball. Camilla had driven Liselotte to tears. Her beautiful brown hair tied in a braid, at the time that girl had collapsed to the floor, weeping as she stared at the ground. As countless eyes in that ballroom had watched the scene, it was only Camilla who noticed it...

In a way that only Camilla could see, Liselotte had curled her mouth up into a grin.

"――Don't think you can buy my sympathy with that display, tears are a cheap thing."

It isn't Liselotte in front of her now.

Unlike her, this isn't an opponent who can stand up to the power of Camilla's fury. She wasn't that girl, who was so determined, flexible and uncompromising in her goals.

This time, she's only against a maid. No matter how small and sly she might be, a girl with a weak mind like this can't say anything when faced with a person like her. There was no ulterior motive in her tears, she was simply sobbing out of true fear of Camilla.

Even if Camilla knew that, it didn't settle down the feelings raging in her heart.

"If you wish to cry, then cry. But, don't expect me to simply turn around and forgive you with just that!"

The crowd stared at Camilla. Then, she began to hear a voice near the back. It was one of the senior servants, drawn over by all the commotion. But still, Camilla didn't hold back, taking another step towards the maid.

The maids wanted to draw back, but they were frozen to the spot. Camilla continued striding forward without paying any mind to it, even when the senior servant tried to get in between them.

"You..."

Please calm down! Someone said, as they caught Camilla's arm. That servant had stepped in between her and the maids to protect them.

"You three, can't you say even a single word of apology to me!?"

"Please calm down, Lady Camilla!"

Camilla's words, shouted out with passion, were, in turn, drowned out by the yell of the servant. "Please calm down!", the servant said again as they pulled Camilla away from the maids she seemed threatening to grab at any moment as if those were the only words he knew.

As Camilla was held back by that servant, the maids quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Camilla's rage still hadn't burned away and as she watched the maids disappear, all the servants around her stared at her with suspicious gazes.

Camilla was politely, but firmly, ushered back to her room.

"Please remain calm until the Master returns."

Although they said that, the passion burning in Camilla's heart didn't cool down at all as she was confined to her room.

Being alone in that room, all she could do was dwell on what just happened.

"Ahhhhhhh! So frustrating!!"

After all, those maids that had insulted Camilla didn't apologize at all. Crying and garnering sympathy from all the onlookers, making it seem like Camilla was the villain, it was just like what Liselotte used to do. Whether that maid did it on purpose or not was irrelevant to the vilified Camilla.

"That's the kind of person I hate the most! If you have something to say to me, you ought to say it to my face! You wait, I will definitely have you say it!"

She won't demand they be fired. If they were to simply disappear, Camilla wouldn't be able to feel a sense of satisfaction later, it would be like they had simply escaped. It would be more satisfying for Camilla to have them bow and scrape in front of her as an apology after a thorough scolding.

"And what's more, all those people in the crowd! All of them sympathizing with her! Don't they know who I am!? There's a lack of education around here!"

There wasn't any use for her hands that trembled in anger all alone in this room, so she unfurled her fists as she stood up. She couldn't just sit idly either, as she paced back and forth.

"Always just calling me a villain without even knowing me...!!"

Jeez! She slammed the wall next to her, sighing breathlessly.

"Well, take a good look! I don't want your sympathy! Because I'll be the one looking down on you one day!!"

Instead of sympathy, Camilla wanted people to look at her with envy. She wanted all of the people who drove her to frustration to feel the same regret that she had. They would be the pathetic looking ones this time.

――And as for that maid, I will absolutely get her to bow her head and say 'Camilla is wonderful!', just you wait and see!

○

As the sun began to dip toward the horizon and the sky blushed pink, Alois returned to the estate.

Camilla, of course, wouldn't be content to just wait quietly in her room. She raced out of the door, determined to be the first to talk to him.

After arriving, he would probably go to his room on the second floor. Alois' room is on the opposite side of the floor, separated from Camilla's room by a hallway and the stairwell. Therefore, if she waited near the top of the stairs, she might get the opportunity to talk to Alois first.

As the Master returned home, the estate bustled into life. She could hear the sounds of servants rushing about downstairs. That way, since there's barely anyone working on the second floor now, there's no one to stop Camilla from doing as she pleased. Thanks to that, Camilla could reach the stairs without anyone spotting her.

Alois, meanwhile, was heading for his room whilst being surrounded by servants. Camilla arrived just in time to see him from behind. Neither Alois, nor the servants around him, seemed to be aware that Camilla was behind them.

Camilla strode towards Alois, and was going to call out to him.

"Lord Aloi―"

"Master, have you heard about what that woman did? She drove a maid to tears with her threats and even tried to grab her.

But, Camilla stopped dead on her feet. She heard the butler's words as he took Alois' coat.

"'I won't forgive you, even if you cry', she said something like that to that poor little maid who didn't even say a word, I can attest to it. She was treating that meek young girl like she was condemning some sort of criminal. She really is just as bad as the rumours say, after all."

The crowd around Alois was beginning to thin. But, she still heard that conversation perfectly.

Alois, who had a plodding gait with that big body of his, scratched his chin at this troubling news as he grasped what he had been told.

"...That is a problem. I'll hear what the maid has to say about it."

"The maids aside, Master, do you really intend to marry such a woman? Even if it was what Prince Julian said, since she's such a distasteful woman, surely you have the right to refuse?"

"It makes me feel sorry for her when you say things like that."

He let out a sigh mixed with a pained laugh as he replied to his butler.

"If I didn't take her in, she wouldn't have anywhere else to go. She was in such a miserable state. From time to time she may make you angry, but I hope you can tolerate it for me."

Alois' words were dyed with sympathy. Those words defending Camilla were a reflection of his charitable heart.

"Besides, she may be loud at times, but she's easy to handle if you know what to say. She's quite an honest person at heart and I'm sure she'll change as she gets used to living here."

"Master, you're far too kind." The butler's voice became faint. As Camilla stood still, Alois and his servant walked out of earshot. But, she didn't feel like chasing after him anymore.

―What did he say?

The words that Alois used kept repeating in her mind.

Feel sorry for her. Miserable.

― I'm being pitied.

Camilla unconsciously gripped the handrail as her legs lost strength. It felt like she might fall over at any moment. Her vision became cloudier every time she blinked.

― It was all meaningless.

All Alois had done was 'take in' the hated Camilla, who would have otherwise been exiled from the kingdom. That kind-hearted lord who, no matter what Camilla would do, would simply 'tolerate' it.

Him saying that he wanted to marry here was a lie. Him saying that he wanted to lose weight was all a lie. It was all just to satisfy Camilla's towering pride. He tolerated whatever she did, never getting angry or denying Camilla's harsh words, always just smiling.

".......Making a fool out of me."

― Even though you're just a toad. Even though you're such a detested man. Even though you're so ugly that no one would ever marry you.

Yet, even a man like that was in a position to marry Camilla out of pity.

Camilla bit her lip.

Then, almost reflexively, Camilla slapped her trembling legs into action and escaped that mansion without a second thought.