It was clearly an order given to the soldiers who followed Kishian.
But it wasn't the soldiers who responded first to that order.
The two maids, one with rag hair and one with red hair, simultaneously shouted at Kishian in shock.
"Your Highness! What do you mean? You are punishing us for something like this!! We are just...!!"
It seemed like she was shouting, 'I was just educating that dirty woman!' but I couldn't hear her clearly.
That was why the soldiers made the maids kneel with heavy hands.
After that, the soldiers began to tie up the hands of the kneeling maids by pulling them back.
Only then did the maids seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.
Their trembling eyes eventually turned towards me.
I avoided eye contact as if I was Iooking away because I knew what she was going to say, but it was no use.
The red-haired maid began to plead with me in a desperate voice.
"Your Highness! Please tell His Highness the truth! Please tell His Highness that it wasn't me who did it!"
It was a very shameless request.
Didn't she despise me without even a hint of guilt before Kishian showed up?
How dare you come to the person you despised and now beg her to commit perjury on your behalf.
So I tried to ignore it, but the maid shouted again.
"Your Highness, please, please just say one word! Just say one word that I didn't push you!"
It seemed like she really didn't want to be thrown in jail.
After taking a deep breath, I got up from the waterside first.
The feeling of soaking wet clothes sticking to my skin was extremely unpleasant.
I roughly squeezed the water out of the hem of my clothes and spoke to Kishian.
"Isn't it really necessary to lock her up?"
Kishian, who had been sending cold gazes at the maids, finally looked in my direction.
Those golden eyes, which seemed to have turned cold as if they were burning, suddenly felt scary, but I didn't stop what I was about to say.
"I don't want to make a fuss. It's not that serious."
"Isn't this serious?"
Kishian, who had been staring at me, asked.
I nodded moderately and answered.
"I just fell into the water."
"You just fell into the water..."
For some reason, a smile appeared on his lips.
"Do you really think that this is something that can be said to be 'just' right now?"
As I hesitated without being able to respond, he came towards me this time.
"The maid of the Grand Duchess's residence dared to touch the Grand Duchess' body. Regardless of your past, aren't you supposed to be my wife?"
"..."
"She dared to push you like that and make you look like that. Is this something you can just say. 'I just fell into the water and moved on?"
Every word he uttered burned like flames.
As expected, Kishian seemed to take the maids' insults to me as an insult directed at himself.
He said that since she had insulted me, the Grand Duchess, his prestige as her husband had also been tarnished.
Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to forgive the sins of those young maids.
I understand. I will not get involved, so "Your Highness, punish her as you see fit. However, I think Imprisoning her is too harsh."
Instead of pushing my opinion further, I stopped expressing my opinion to some extent.
For a while, Kishian just looked at me without showing any reaction...
After a long time, he took his eyes off me and gave orders to his soldiers.
"Kick them out of the walls. Don't lock them underground."
That's when the red-haired Maid shouted at me.
"Wait a minute! I can't be kicked out! I have younger siblings to take care of!"
I tried to get away with just kicking her out instead of putting her in jail.
The red-haired maid seemed to dislike even that as she twisted her whole body to shake off the soldiers' hands.
Then she ran towards me and started hanging on to me.
"My parents are no longer here, so I have to take care of my younger siblings with my salary! Please show me some mercy just this once...!"
I could see a hint of anticipation in the child's gaze as she looked at me.
It seemed that she thought that since I had already shown mercy once after hearing her plea, if she continued to plead, she might be able to get away with it without having to pay the price at all.
I looked straight at the hanging maid.
"You had a family to support."
"Yes, yes, Your Highness! If I get kicked out of here, my younger siblings!"
"Then you should have been more careful."
The maid's eyes, which had been filled with anticipation, immediately turned to despair.
During that time, I winked at the soldiers.
They came right up to me and pushed the maid away from me again.
I left some final advice to the maid who seemed unable to accept her situation and was about to shout something at me again.
"If you had a family to care for, you should have been more careful about how you handled the lives of those children. But instead of being careful and thinking of those children, didn't you commit a rude act to ward me, the Grand Duchess, for a moment of pleasure?"
"That, that is..."
"Be sorry for your family who will starve because of your wrongdoings. That is the price you must pay."
It seemed that only then did she truly realize what sin she had committed.
It is only now that she has forced her younger siblings into the misery of starvation.
The maid sobbed and shook her head, but was not given another chance to plead.
The soldiers who had let go of the maid once held on to the child tightly this time and dragged her away.
Now there was no more need to see those faces here...
As soon as the soldiers and maids disappeared, the surroundings became calm.
After Kissing sent away the other remaining soldiers, he asked me in a sharp voice.
"Why do you have to protect those arrogant people? I was planning on imprisoning them in the basement and punishing them."
While I wasn't answering, his gaze moved down to my body.
He let out a clear laugh as he looked at my clothes, which were clinging to me because they were soaking wet.
"You have a big heart. Even though you're drowning in water on this cold day, you still think of protecting others."
"I didn't protect her because I felt sorry for her. I just hoped that no big fuss would be made."
After finishing speaking, I slowly turned around.
I carefully raised my arms and covered my chest.
Because my clothes were wet, my chest was somewhat visible.
Kishian sighed deeply again and ran a hand through his hair.
It seemed like he had a lot to say to me, but I had no intention of talking to him for too long.
I'm pretending to be confident, but I'm actually quite embarrassed right now.
Didn't I fall into the water and end up in such a miserable state because the maids weren't properly educated?
So I turned around as if I was running away.
"...I'll be going now."
I tried to walk towards the annex.
The moment I turned around, a strong hand grabbed my wrist tightly.
"You're going to the annex like that? Limping because your leg is hurt?"
I had been walking for a long time in uncomfortable shoes, so my heels were worn out and my walking became a little awkward, but he seemed to have noticed it.
I wasn't limping, but his hand was holding me so tightly that I had no choice but to stop and look at him.
He wrinkled his eyes again.
"If you walk to the annex like that, you'll be laughed at. You'll catch a cold too."
"What should I do? I can't dry my clothes here right away."
"Can't I just bring it to you?"
"...?"
There was no time to protest.
That was why he immediately picked me up in his arms.
Are you planning on carrying me like this? I hurriedly opened my mouth because I wanted to refuse that.
"You don't have to go this far. Your clothes are probably getting wet because of me...."
"Ha..."
It was a proposal that I made with care so as not to cause him any trouble.
It would be awkward if the hem of your clothes got wet while carrying a woman who was completely soaking wet.
But a sigh mixed with irritation came out of his mouth.
"Then how are you going to go?"
"If you call the other maids, I will be helped back. I will hurry as much as possible so that I don't get caught in this state."
"I hope you don't get caught. Even if you do, they'll all see it. Especially if you get caught by the male servants or maids, what do you think will happen?"
"What do you mean...?"
I shot him a look. He also glared at me fiercely, holding me in his arms.
"What I'm saying is that if you show your body to others like that, it could lead to an uncomfortable situation."
He seemed to think that my body, completely exposed because it was soaking wet, might stimulate the lustful desires of men.
But is it really necessary to say something so coldly?
I tried to move my body to get out of his arms, but it was no use.
The only result was that we hugged each other even tighter.
"If you struggle, you'll fall. Just stay still."
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment