Millea was furious when she found out that her maid had sold Julian's information.
She was a thorough person.
No matter how much the maid pleaded that it was because she had a sick family member, she did not forgive her.
"Mrs. Spencer, please! Be lenient..."
"You had another way. If you were standing on the edge of a cliff like that, why didn't you come to me and explain the situation and ask me a favor? This is unforgivable."
Millea severely beat her maid, confiscated her property, and banished her to a distant foreign land.
It was a punishment similar to that given to a criminal who aided a rebellion.
That was a fatal mistake.
The other maids didn't know exactly what she had done wrong. They only knew that she had been caught trying to sell information about Julian to someone.
Everyone was tight-lipped, but they kept their mouths shut even more.
The maid candidates also cautiously avoided Millea's cold atmosphere, which was like a snowstorm, and were careful about their actions.
While Millea dealt with the maid, Bridget Interviewed Leticia.
"Your quick judgment that day was a great help. Do you have any questions?"
Leticia looked at Bridget with bright eyes and asked coldly.
"Is Miss April dead?"
"No, they say that kid went back to her parent's house."
"So she didn't die, but she was injured enough to die?"
"She's healthy."
"Not a single limb was blown off? Not even a wrist or a finger... I see... She's healthy."
"Are you disappointed?"
"How could that be? Mrs. Winston made a wise choice, so why should I be disappointed?"
Leticia smiled brightly.
'Your eyes are dead.'
Bridget wondered what the girl was thinking.
"Wasn't Avril your friend?"
Avril's father, the Count of Lenford, was a member of the Duke of Linchester's faction.
It became clear that while he pretended to be attached to Bridget, he actually had other intentions and sent her daughter to court.
The Count of Lenford and the Count of Lunarock of Leticia had a long history of exchange.
"If you define everyone you've known for a long time as a friend, then maybe that's true."
The expression on her face said she absolutely could not agree with such a definition.
"Why did you report Avril?"
Bridget knew that Leticia would say things like loyalty and what she should do. But...
"I share a room with her, and one night Avril woke me up because she was rustling around. The only time she gets busy is when she's doing something pathetic."
Leticia was just annoyed and reported it.
"I think that someone like Avril, who is not very smart but is big enough to be called a 'yes' person, needs to go through some hardships, like becoming disabled or being socially ostracized, to realize the complex wisdom of living without causing trouble to others."
It was true, except that the expression was harsh.
However, it felt odd that a girl who was quick-witted and well-versed in the aristocratic world would be talking so sharply and bluntly.
Bridget figured out Leticia's intent.
"It seems you have no interest in becoming my maid."
Leticia narrowed her brows slightly.
Nobles do not speak frankly.
If your intention has been conveyed just hang up quietly and that's it.
But Bridget was trying to get her to reveal her true feelings.
Leticia let out a small sigh.
'If you come out strong, do you know how to bend your will? There's nothing you can do.'
The girl looked at Bridget with a challenging gaze, different from her previous indifferent gaze.
"Yes. You saw it. I came here only on my father's orders. I don't have a good relationship with my father. So I have no intention of doing what he wants."
Bridget could sense a great resentment towards her father...
But unfortunately for Leticia, the more Bridget did this, the more interested she became.
"Is that why you hit my sister Chloe?"
“Ah.”
Disgust appeared on Leticia's face.
"I don't plan such petty schemes with my body. Not only that child, but anyone who touched my body like that would slapped by me in the face. Even if it was His Majesty the King."
The last words were meant to provoke Bridget.
Bridget laughed cheerfully.
"I must tell His Majesty to be careful."
"..."
Leticia lowered her gaze coldly when her provocation failed.
Leticia's obvious provocation didn't hit Bridget hard enough, as she laughed off Julian's grumpiness.
"I like you. Won't you be my maid?"
"As I said..."
"I won't let things turn out the way your father wants."
"That's ridiculous. Mrs. Winston is making me the same offer as my father."
"No. It may seem so on the surface."
But if you are truly loyal to me, you will not act according to your father's wishes in the end. Count Lunarock will want to use you as a spy.
"Such grand meaning..."
"Yes, nothing grand. More like trying to get some information from the Duke of Linchester and me to see what's going on and fly around like a bat."
"..."
After setting her mind on Leticia, Bridget spent several days researching Count Lunarock in detail.
Count Lunarock was more of a businessman than a politician.
It was true that Leticia was not on good terms with Count Lunarock...
Leticia had a sickly older sister, and it seems that she had a long-standing conflict with her father over her sister's marriage.
"Since you seem determined to be honest, I will be honest with you. I know you came here on the condition that you postpone your sister's marriage. You were given three months to do so. Within those three months, you must have planned to kick your sister's fiancé out."
"..."
"Are you worried that your already weak sister's health will worsen if she gets married and goes to an unfamiliar place?"
Leticia looked wary of Bridget, who had guessed her true intentions.
"...If I become a maid, can you tell me the name of the employee at the Lunarock Mansion who leaked such a story?"
"...Do you think I bribed your employees?"
"Isn't it?"
"I met your sister."
"...!"
Leticia jumped to her feet.
If she, who doesn't get excited easily, reacted like that, it was clear that her older sister had a weakness.
"Uh, how..."
"It's not something to be so cautious about. Just sit down. It wasn't me who met your sister, it was the prophetess Seraphina."
"Seraphina..."
"I had decided to confirm you as my maid, and Miss Seraphina sent me a letter this morning."
The letter was delivered through a strange route.
It was a path that was a mixture of coincidence and inevitability for many people. She couldn't tell who sent it, where it came from, and how it ended up reaching her.
However, Bridget saw the contents of the mysterious letter and knew that it was a letter sent by Seraphina.
Seraphina met Leticia's older sister and told Bridget about Leticia.
'If you were going to tell me the answer like this, I wish you had told me sooner.'
Ironically, Seraphina made sure her letter reached Bridget only after she had made up her mind.
'The prophets.'
Anyway, it was a mystery and an oddity. Who could know what was inside it?
Was it really necessary to go through the process of selecting and filtering out several girls?
Bridget didn't know what it would be like looking back in the future, but she couldn't know now.
"It was the prophetess Seraphina who told me to choose a maid from the beginning. I don't know why. I can only guess that it means I need you and you need me."
"... If I resign, will you tell my father what's really on my mind?"
"No. If I threaten you like that, I can keep you by my side. But I don't want to hire workers. I want to have loyal confidants. I don't want to hire people who don't want to work. So instead of threatening you, I'll make a few suggestions."
"...?"
"Fencing lessons and horseback riding allowed."
"...!"
Leticia's eyes lit up.
Those were the things that Count Lunarock had forbidden Leticia to do.
It's also something Leticia has longed for her entire life.
"I will do it."
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