I couldn't stand hearing her mutter something and follow me around without my permission.
In the first place, wasn't it that crazy chief maid who assigned my maids to watch over me?
Even though I just pointed out the facts, the maids' faces turned bright red.
The red-haired maid, seemingly unable to contain her anger, strode toward me.
"Excuse me, the head maid ordered us to keep an eye on Your Highness the Grand Duchess because she was worried about you. Could you please not say anything bad about her?"
"What great loyalty. But didn't I, the Grand Duchess, tell you again? There was no need."
"..."
"Don't act tired and go back."
The rag maid didn't come forward, seeming a little scared by my attitude earlier.
One red-haired maid seemed to have difficulty controlling her anger.
She approached me step by step, and finally, she strode right up to me.
It was very unpleasant, but I didn't avoid it, I got up and faced her straight on.
Likewise, the redhead, who was Iooking at me with eyes full of fever, snapped in a sizzling voice.
"I heard it from the head maid, but you are really so presumptuous."
"..."
"Whether you was a Princess or something, since you came to the Grand Duke's residence, weren't you supposed to live in hiding?"
As I listened quietly in bewilderment, an even more smug smile appeared on the red-haired maid's face.
"It seems like you want to rely on the power of the Grand Duke to commit all sorts of atrocities. Even if you call yourself the Grand Duchess, you're not really a proper Grand Duchess, are you?"
"..."
"Because His Highness does not love you. That is why he abandoned you in the cold northern wing."
As the maid said, Kishian did not love me.
That fact seemed to give the girl courage.
She must have thought that it would be okay to treat a Grand Duchess, who was not loved by the Grand Duke.
It was an attitude as arrogant as the head maid who was being rude to me.
I barely managed to calm my boiling insides and answered the red-haired maid.
"Yes, you are right. He is not that interested in me. But that doesn't change the fact that I am the Grand Duchess."
"..."
"Your arrogant behavior towards the Grand Duchess is ultimately also rude to the Grand Duke. Wouldn't it be better to be more careful with your attitude?"
This time, I said something similar to what I had said when I had pressured the rag-haired maid.
Because when you borrow the authority of a superior, they usually flinch and back off.
One, the red-haired maid's reaction was a little different than I expected.
"Threats like that don't work on me."
The maid, who had been mumbling with a twisted smile, then reached out her hand.
It was only a moment before that roughly extended hand pushed my shoulder away.
"...!"
I was standing on the unkempt ground by the pond, and that small push caused me to immediately lose my balance.
Plop!
My whole body was drenched in cold water along with the sound of water.
Did the maid push me into the pond?
I looked at the maid in amazement, as it was something I could never have imagined when I was a Princess.
The maid didn't show any sign of fear even when she saw me soaking wet.
She just looked down at me as I sat there and let out a cold laugh.
"Isn't Your Highness going to care if I do something like this?"
"..."
"No, he would rather be happy. He must hate you. We all know that you have been flirting with His Highness."
The rag-and-grab maid, who had been standing still, cautiously expressed her concern at the red-haired maid's words.
"S-stop it. But you're still the Grand Duchess. If you get caught doing this..."
"So what, I told you the Grand Duke wouldn't care at all?"
The red-haired maid glared at me again as she replied.
"She's a woman who committed adultery anyway. Whether we throw her into the water or the fire, he won't care."
The red-haired maid was stubborn despite the rag-haired maid's attempts to stop her.
It seemed like she was trying to kill my momentum somehow on this occasion.
At another time, the red-haired maid's judgment might have been correct.
If you had pushed me into a pond and verbally insulted me, I might have been a little more careful about my behavior.
However, it seemed that the maid's judgment would not lead to a good result this time.
The maid should have been more careful.
Before you pushed me, you should have looked around to see who was there first.
If that were the case, the current situation wouldn't have happened.
"What is this situation?"
The shoulders of the two maids tensed up in an instant.
They simultaneously turned their heads and looked in the direction from which the low, deep voice had come.
A Kishian, who appeared from nowhere, was approaching us.
I looked at Kishian, who appeared with his subordinate, with a blank look.
I came this far not wanting to run into him, so who would have thought we'd meet again here?
At this point, I was wondering if he was following me, but that couldn't be the case.
Perhaps he happened to be passing by and witnessed this situation.
"..."
For some reason, I felt like avoiding eye contact.
I just wanted to show him my capable side, no matter what he thought of me.
I ended up showing myself being manipulated by maids and such without meaning to.
So I averted my gaze and he opened his mouth again. This time, not at me, but at the red-haired maid.
"Explain. Why did the Grand Duchess fall into the pond?"
Looking at the question of how I fell, it seemed like he didn't see the maid pushing me.
In that case, she should have reported the truth that she had pushed me, but It seemed that she could not bring herself to do so, so the maid just hesitated.
She had boasted that the Grand Duke would not care at all even if she was caught, but when the situation actually arose, she seemed flustered.
Well, she must have been planning to harass me secretly from behind, but since Kishian witnessed it happening openly, her mind must have been blank by now.
As Kishian. It would be difficult for him to just ignore the fact that the Grand Duchess was insulted by her maid, even for the sake of his own reputation.
The red-haired maid looked perplexed the whole time, but then a good idea came to her mind and she answered with a bright face.
"Oh, the Grand Duchess is coming out wearing high heels!"
Could it be that she was trying to trick Kishian by taking advantage of the fact that he didn't see me being pushed?
The red maid continued to make up ridiculous lies.
"I told the Grand Duchess that the area near the pond was slippery and had a lot of pebbles, so she should wear low heels. But Her Highness insisted on wearing high heels..."
"So? The Grand Duchess fell down by herself because she was wearing high heels. Is that what you're saying?"
After hearing the maid's words, Kishian asked with a smiling face.
The moment I saw his face, I could feel it.
"You seem angry?'
It was clearly a smiling face. However, the air surrounding him was unusual.
The red-haired maid continued her lie in an excited voice, seemingly oblivious to the fact.
"Yes! No matter how much we tried to stop her, it was no use. She was so stubborn. She wore high heels so stubbornly that she ended up falling down by herself-"
"Then what did I see?"
The red-haired maid's face hardened as soon as she heard Kishian's question.
Her face looked scared, but Kissian didn't seem to mind.
He asked, taking a half step closer to the maid.
"How dare you, you, a mere maid, seemed to have pushed the Grand Duchess's shoulder with your hand, to my eyes."
"Ah, that, that...."
I thought he'd never seen you push.
It seems that Kishian was quietly watching us from afar.
So when the lie was exposed, the maid's face immediately turned pale.
The rag-haired maid, who had been watching the situation from behind with a nervous expression, also shivered and shrank.
It was a time of silence where no one could open their mouths.
Kishian's lips, which had been closed, slowly opened.
"I was just going to kick you out, but since you lied, I guess I can't just let it go."
After saying this to the maids, Kishian then gave orders to the soldiers who followed him.
"Put these in the dungeon."
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