Chapter 77
Blink.
Everyone except Gorgo slowly closed and opened their eyes.
Then they stared at Lucy, dumbfounded.
She looked so soft-hearted. And yet she’d cast Clara aside without a blink.
Lucy shook her head, unbothered.
“Well, you were the last one to touch the brooch, Clara.”
“…Pardon?”
“How did you end up stealing? Still, I appreciate that you mean to take responsibility.”
“Y-Young lady…?”
“What are you…”
The Grand Madam opened her mouth without thinking. Lucy met her eyes and shrugged.
“I only came here because Clara brought me.”
“…”
“I didn’t steal it. Sophie and Gorgo were sent away by Clara. And Clara was the last one to handle the brooch.”
“…”
“Then by process of elimination, the thief is Clara.”
Her eyes cut through, as if she knew every move Clara had made.
Leaving Lucy alone to hide the jewel. Signaling the Grand Madam to come.
Clara saw those black eyes, empty of feeling, and panicked.
Her first thought was simple.
‘Why?’
This future duchess had been kind, soft, and clumsy.
She hadn’t seemed like someone who could throw her away so easily.
She’d even said she’d take her on as a personal maid.
Then.
“Don’t hurt anyone.”
“Like you just did to me.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
The words that had shaken her came back, along with that calm, steady face.
Like facing an old woman, not a young lady.
‘Could it be.’
Could she really cut someone off so coldly?
Clara’s heart grew strangely desperate.
It was more than failing the Grand Madam’s task. It was the dread of being cast out by someone worth serving.
Maybe that was why.
Clara pleaded, clinging before she knew it.
“Miss. Please.”
“Hm?”
“I’m truly sorry, but if I’m taken away like this, I…”
Clara reached for Lucy’s hem, voice trembling.
“Well, you’ll be punished.”
Lucy stepped back lightly. Her answer was firm.
“But that’s no longer my business to look after.”
“Miss?”
“Besides, you called me ‘my lady’ just fine until now.”
“…!”
“What’s with the sudden change?”
Clara went pale, realizing.
She hadn’t meant to.
The Grand Madam hated hearing anyone else called “my lady.” So she’d switched titles out of habit.
But that change alone had given Lucy her clue.
“Seems you know where your heart lies.”
Lucy tilted her head, as if she’d known all along.
Then she looked at Clara’s white face, calm.
‘Maybe this is a little harsh.’
But she had to draw the line.
It left a bitter taste too.
‘…I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.’
She could guess why Clara had staged all this and then thrown herself forward to be punished. To score points.
‘But I’ve already been insulted.’
Lucy was weak in body, but not so dim as to miss the looks passing between Clara and the Grand Madam.
And she’d already warned Clara. Given her a chance.
Clara had crossed the line. Now she had to be firm.
‘In the old days, maybe not.’
The old Lucy couldn’t have cut someone off so clean.
The Lucy without the memories of being locked and abused in the temple.
The Lucy who’d never survived the brutal shelter.
‘But not now.’
More than anything, letting the Grand Madam look down on her would hurt more than just herself.
‘Even if I said a hundred times that Gorgo and Sophie aren’t the thieves.’
If the Grand Madam demanded to search them too, there’d be no stopping her.
These were people Lucy had dragged along when she didn’t have to.
At least they, she had to protect.
‘That’s part of what a future duchess does.’
Honestly, she was shaking a little. The Grand Madam’s gleaming eyes were on her.
But Lucy hid behind Gorgo and forced her voice out.
“So take Clara and do as you please, Grand Madam.”
“…”
She’d done as told. Said the lines.
The Grand Madam looked like she’d bitten something sour, then turned stiff.
And just as quick, her face lit with a new angle.
“Ha! Is this how you treat a servant willing to sacrifice herself for you?”
“…”
“Of course. A low thing like you feels no duty to her own people.”
She’d shifted tactics, painting Lucy as the villain. Making her look like a mistress the servants couldn’t trust.
But Lucy held firm.
“Yes. I’m not even officially duchess yet. I can’t take responsibility for everyone in the castle. That would be the irresponsible thing. And overstepping.”
“…!”
“And she’s not my personal maid.”
At that, Clara’s face went whiter still.
It felt like a line drawn.
The line she’d been inside just moments ago, shut out.
But Lucy looked away from Clara.
And said, looking right at the Grand Madam.
“And right now, the mistress of this castle is you, Grand Madam.”
“…!”
“Yet something like this happened. Regrettable, isn’t it?”
The Grand Madam’s lips quivered.
The words stung like an accusation. That as mistress, she’d failed so badly this could happen.
“But I do understand.”
“Excuse me?”
“How could you care for a building and its treasures when you don’t even live here anymore?”
That made it certain. It wasn’t her imagination.
The Grand Madam went pale with fury. Lucy rolled her eyes and shrugged, exaggerated.
“Even someone as elegant and clever and lovely as you can make mistakes. I’ll take this as a chance to learn, with such a fine mother as my mirror…”
“You! You small, low thing…!”
“Yes. Big, noble Grand Madam. In any case, someone’s stepped up to take the blame. Shall we wrap this up here?”
“Nonsense!”
Snap!
The Grand Madam flung her fan open, and her dazed guards straightened at once.
The maids behind her did the same.
Her eyes flashed, vicious.
“You say you’re no thief, but a search will turn something up!”
“Pardon?”
“You spat on my kindness. I meant to search you quietly, among ourselves, since you’re soon to marry my son!”
“Gasp! Mother! Quietly, among ourselves! I had no idea you held such feelings for me!”
“Shut up!”
The Grand Madam’s face went redder as she pointed at Lucy.
“Since it’s come to this, the search will be in front of the guards as well!”
She looked far too serious. Lucy jumped, startled.
Half the words that came out weren’t planned.
“Kyaah! Wait, Mother! I belong to the duke!”
“What does that have to do with…”
“If anyone searches my body, it should be the duke! No matter how much you love me, Mother, that’s absolutely not allowed!”
“…Seize her!”
The Grand Madam’s roar split the air. Gorgo tensed, hand on his sword.
“She’s right.”
The voice was low, near a whisper. But it pressed the Grand Madam’s shout flat in an instant.
The air chilled.
“If anyone searches her body, it should be me.”
Whoosh.
A large hand, smelling of battlefield dust, wrapped over Lucy’s shoulder.
“Isn’t that right, darling?”
With a voice so low it raised the hair on her skin.
