Chapter 15

Snap!

I could only stare in shock at May’s sudden action in front of me.

“Annie!”

Crash! Thud!

Annie, who couldn’t avoid the push, let out a loud sound and tumbled down the central staircase. I went pale as I watched Annie roll several times, and I quickly ran down the stairs.

“Ugh…”

I heard Annie let out a faint groan, her body curled up. I reached out my hand to check on Annie in a hurry, but then I quickly came to my senses.

‘She might have a broken bone.’

I couldn’t just touch her when I didn’t know how she was hurt. As I stood there biting my lips in anxiety, Annie looked up at me with a pained expression and said, “Lady Chacha… are you okay?”

“Annie…”

She was the one who had fallen down the stairs, yet Annie was worried that I might have been harmed in the meantime. I felt a surge of emotion, and I saw servants gathering one by one in the lobby. They had come out to see what the commotion was about. Only then did I turn my head to look up the stairs, but May was already gone. It was obvious she wouldn’t stay, as she wasn’t a fool. It was because she wasn’t a fool that she had been playing these subtle tricks behind the scenes. I bit my lower lip and tried to suppress my anger.

Annie’s treatment was the top priority, but even in this situation, I couldn’t help but consider my own position. I pointed to a specific servant standing nearby.

“Someone is hurt, so hurry and call a physician!”

It was a tone of command I had never used before. The servant seemed surprised by my new demeanor, looked flustered, and then scurried away.

“Lady Chacha…”

Annie tried to get up, saying she was fine, but I shook my head to stop her.

The servant who had gone to get the physician returned quickly, accompanied by Robin, Tully’s apprentice physician.

“What happened?!”

Tully’s apprentice rushed over and immediately sat in front of Annie to check her condition. Annie must have thought she shouldn’t be the one to judge the situation, so she looked back at me.

“…”

I couldn’t tell the truth. No, I shouldn’t tell the truth. Getting angry now would not benefit me at all. There was no evidence, and the people gathered here wouldn’t trust my words anyway. In this precarious situation, it would be easy for me to be blamed instead.

“Annie…”

My heart sank at the thought of having to lie even though my person was hurt. I composed my expression to hide my anger and said, “Annie… just missed her step.”

***

Fortunately, Annie had no major injuries other than scrapes and bruises. It was because she had quickly curled up to protect her head, and the stairs she had been standing on weren’t very high. However, it was too much for her to move around without difficulty, and just in case, I sent Annie to rest. Tully’s apprentice personally helped her leave. It seemed he knew Tully was on my side.

‘To think I have to rely on goodwill even for simple assistance.’

Once the two of them were out of sight, the anger I had been suppressing surged to my head.

‘I’ve been patient enough.’

They gave me garbage food, but I let it go. They turned my room into an icebox in the cold north, but I didn’t say a word. It was something anyone would get angry about, but since they weren’t getting any backlash, they must have thought I was an easy target.

But I “wasn’t” doing it, I “could” do it.

‘Even if I’m not properly recognized as the Duchess, I must find a way to secure my basic rights.’

Only then could I protect myself and the people around me. Even if this was a place I would eventually leave, I couldn’t just endure it indefinitely in such an uncertain situation.

I immediately headed to Nine’s office. The Nine I had read about in the original novel was a just and impartial person. The Nine I knew, no matter how much he disliked me, wouldn’t make a judgment based on his emotions.

“Hoo.”

I stood in front of the office, took a deep breath, tidied up my clothes, and then knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

But the voice that came from inside wasn’t Nine’s. When I opened the door, I saw a slightly tired-looking Norman amidst a stack of documents. I looked at the desk at the head of the room in confusion, but Nine was nowhere to be seen. Norman was writing something with a scratchy sound, and he just lifted his head slightly to confirm it was me, then his expression crumpled.

“What is it?”

Normally, Norman’s attitude would have intimidated me a little, but my anger was too great to shrink back this time. I ignored his open disdain and asked Norman,

“Where is the Duke?”

Norman let out a short, empty laugh and sighed deeply. Then he focused on the documents in front of him again and said,

“He left on a monster subjugation mission yesterday. He will return in three days.”

It was an adequate answer on the surface, but the subtext was dripping with sarcasm, as if to say, ‘Are you really the Duchess, and you don’t even know that?’ I clenched my fists and tried to compose my expression. Even in the office I had come to for a solution, I was acutely aware of my disadvantaged position.

Norman, seeing that I hadn’t left even after his response, openly showed his annoyance and said, as a matter of formality,

“While the Duke is away, I am his proxy, so you can tell me.”

“…”

I felt a sense of repulsion at the thought of talking to him, who was so openly hostile to me, but I had no choice. Still, he was Nine’s man, so I could only hope he was as just and impartial as the Nine in the original novel I had read.

“Please rein in the servants.”

“Rein them in?”

Norman stopped writing and looked at me. I continued my words with a little more dignity.

“The servants are negligent in their duties, and their attitude toward the person they serve is lax, which is a blemish on the Duke’s honor.”

I saw Norman’s eyes twitch, but I put more emphasis on “the Duke’s honor.” He might think I was just throwing a tantrum, given his disapproval of me, but if he were to investigate, the truth would be revealed quickly. Therefore, it was better to use the Duke’s honor as a justification rather than my personal grievances.

‘I have to make it about the Duke’s honor for him to do something.’

But even with my careful wording, this observant man would surely understand the meaning of my words.

“I hope you will also inform the Duke and take appropriate action.”

When I finished speaking, Norman’s expression became blank again, and he lowered his gaze. The scratching sound of the pen on the documents resumed, and his answer was concise.

“Understood.”

It was such a half-hearted response that I wondered if I had heard him correctly.

He continued,

“The Duke’s retainers and servants have high loyalty and pride in their work, so that can’t be.”

His indifferent expression, without even looking at me, was a dismissal. Norman was expressing with his whole body that he wasn’t taking my words seriously.

“Since you say such people are negligent, well, I will check and inform the Duke.”

“…Please handle it quickly.”

“Yes, yes. Now, would you please leave? As you can see, I am very busy.”

With his complete lack of interest, I had no choice but to nod and leave the office. I had conveyed the message, so now it was time to wait for Nine to return and resolve the situation.

***

A week passed after that. With a grim expression, I told Van, who looked troubled, to leave.

“Please call for me if you need me.”

As Van left and I was alone in the room, I shuddered in frustration. It had been a week since Annie had fallen down the stairs. Annie had returned, and it had been four days since Nine’s return to the Duke’s castle, but no action had been taken against the servants. Not only that, no investigation had even been conducted. I would not have known this if I hadn’t called the friendly Van to test the waters. Everyone in the Duke’s castle was isolating me.

‘Why is Nine turning a blind eye to them?’

Had the Nine I knew from the original novel changed after marrying me?

When I realized once again that I had no one on my side in this ducal family, the continuous bullying from the servants made my nerves even more frayed.

I called for Laura, who was waiting outside the room.

“Laura.”

“Yes, Lady Chacha.”

“I don’t feel well tonight, so please tell the head chef I will be skipping dinner.”

Laura, seeing my sensitivity, said no more and quietly withdrew. It’s not like anything decent would be served anyway, but the thought that few people would worry about me even if I skipped a meal made my mood sink even lower.

‘Even though I’m supposedly pregnant.’

The meals were still a mess, and the room was colder than the outdoors under the sun. When I left the room, cold stares were the norm, and sometimes I even heard small sneers.

“Lady Chacha…”

Annie, who had come in with Laura, approached me with a worried expression. It was obvious to me that Annie was still being harassed when I wasn’t around. Nevertheless, the only reason I had waited a week without going to see Nine again was because of Annie. Because even after I told her to rest well, she stubbornly came and served me with her bruised hands. I had tried to solve this in a more peaceful way.

“It’s okay.”

I carefully stroked Annie’s hand as she looked down at me with a worried expression. Looking at the bruises that had turned so dark they were almost black, I made up my mind.

‘I’ve waited long enough.’

If no one was going to help me, I had to solve it myself. I would overturn my position in this Eclipse Ducal Family, who saw me as an easy target because I remained passive. I had been treading carefully, worried about Nine’s reaction, but now I was not in a position to consider such things.

‘Did they think I was a powerless fool?’

If I had really been so kind and foolish, how could I have survived next to Helena? Being by Helena’s side meant bearing her misdeeds and notoriety together. To endure that, a tough heart was essential. Furthermore, she didn’t keep people who weren’t on her level, so I had to maintain a top-tier GPA at the academy. Just attending Dragonia Academy in this empire meant you were a genius, so it was impossible for me to be stupid, as I was at the top of my class there.

‘They’ve underestimated me.’

As soon as I made up my mind, I began to form a plan seamlessly.

“Hehe…”

It was a night where the sinister smile Helena often wore naturally appeared on my face.