“Did you hear? She threw out three maids with nothing but the clothes on their backs, not even giving them letters of recommendation, just because they gossiped about her?”
“How can someone be so cruel? As expected of someone from such low birth…”
“She must be taking out her anger at Miss Claire on innocent people.”
Overhearing the servants’ conversation, Shailo closed the door she had been about to open. She could have shouted that it wasn’t true, that it was Claire who had done it, but her hand on the doorknob remained weak.
“Claire did that for me. So I can bear this much disgrace, even though those maids ended up in a pitiful state…”
But this was only the beginning.
As time passed, more and more things she hadn’t done became attributed to her, and gradually, bad rumors and hostile glances began to follow her. They were small incidents, but ones that damaged her reputation.
Stories spread about how she had whipped and driven away a stable boy who hadn’t properly secured a saddle, or how she had beaten and fired a maid who had pulled her hair while brushing it.
Even when she confronted Claire, she received only denials without any explanation or apology.
It was the same when she pleaded with her family day and night.
“Shailo, Claire treats me very well and sincerely considers you her sister. Why would she do such things? Are you now trying to blame her for your misdeeds to get her thrown out?”
It would have been better if the Duchess had shouted in anger. But her face remained utterly calm as she scolded Shailo like a foolish, misbehaving child.
“I really didn’t do any of that! Truly!”
“You’re going to deny it until the end? Even though there are witnesses who saw what you did.”
“Witnesses?”
Stunned, Shailo turned to where the Duchess was pointing to see several maids and servants standing there. They were all people who had resented her, a slum-born orphan, when she had entered the household under Claire’s name.
“No, those people all despised me. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you, but I caught them gossiping about me behind my back so many times!”
“Mother!”
As Shailo was protesting with an aggrieved expression, Claire rushed in and interrupted.
“Please don’t treat Shailo like this. What would others say? They’d say we brought in an orphan of unknown origin just to abuse her. I’ll handle this.”
An orphan of unknown origin?
It felt like a sharp blade slicing thinly through her heart. As Shailo stared at Claire with widened eyes, Claire burst into tears and threw herself at their mother’s feet.
“I understand why Shailo is acting this way. She must feel like I’ve taken her place. Since she can’t take out her anger on me or the family… she’s directing it at people she can bully. That’s how she’s trying to vent her frustrations.”
While appearing to defend her on the surface, Claire was clearly slandering her while subtly elevating herself. What was so obvious to Shailo seemed invisible to others, who looked at Claire with admiring eyes.
“Oh, Claire! My daughter! How thoughtful you are. To have grown up so upright despite experiencing such a terrible accident and growing up in such difficult circumstances, this mother is truly…”
“What’s going on here?”
“Mother?”
As the Duchess was helping Claire to her feet, the Duke and the young lord, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, looked back and forth between the three women.
“This is—”
“I was reprimanding Shailo for mistreating the maids and servants. But Claire stepped in, saying she would handle talking to Shailo herself.”
The Duchess wiped her tears with a handkerchief and kissed the crown of her biological daughter’s head. It was the same show of affection she had given Shailo before Claire appeared. Now that she no longer received such gestures, Shailo clutched her left chest, familiar with this pain.
“My dear!”
“Claire!”
The two men, sending silent warnings to Shailo with reproachful eyes, embraced the Duchess and Claire.
Watching the scene that seemed to push her out as a complete outsider, Shailo quietly clenched her fists. She felt as if she had been pushed behind a transparent wall—one too high and solid to even dare attempt crossing.
There was no use in crying and appealing to their emotions here. Claire had already done that. Even if she told them that everything was actually Claire’s doing, she would only become the wicked adopted daughter slandering the innocent biological daughter.
I need to handle this differently.
Though her eyes burned and her throat tightened, Shailo suppressed her emotions and tried to respond calmly.
“Father, Brother, I’m being wronged. I never did those things. You know what kind of person I am. I’ve never mistreated anyone. Especially not beating or striking servants.”
“Shailo, that’s enough. We know you’re not that kind of child.”
The Duke sighed heavily and turned away. With a glimmer of hope, Shailo raised her downcast eyes.
At that very moment, a cold voice cut through her ears.
“It was our mistake to let you believe that a position that was never yours belonged to you. I understand that in your young mind, you’re taking out your frustrations on the servants and maids.”
The look in his eyes was even more hurtful than the Duchess’s expression from earlier. It was the gaze of a noble looking down on street urchins. It was exactly the same look she had received when begging on the streets to earn money for her mother’s medicine.
Contempt, pity, indifference.
“I’m… sorry.”
It was like a case where the verdict had already been decided. Anything she said now would only make her look worse. It would be nothing more than the excuses of a loser.
Along with the feeling of emptiness, a wave of exhaustion swept over her body as if she had run at full speed. What she had desperately tried to protect had slipped so easily through her fingers. In the end, nobles who insisted on status and bloodlines were just that—nobles.
“I won’t do it again.”
Claire’s eyes widened in surprise at Shailo’s unexpectedly compliant response. Shailo smiled at her and bowed gently.
“Thank you for standing up for me, Claire. I won’t forget this kindness.”
“Ah… it’s nothing.”
Claire awkwardly turned her head away and, suggesting an outing, led the family outside.
“Um… my Lady.”
After the witnesses had dispersed, a maid who had been watching the situation from afar approached hesitantly. Shailo, lifting her head weakly, gave a faint smile.
“It’s you… Doris.”
Doris was the only maid around Shailo and Claire’s age. She had been close to Shailo ever since she first entered the mansion eight years ago and had served her loyally.
Tearing up, Doris grabbed Shailo’s hand.
“I’m so sorry, my Lady. I should have helped you earlier.”
“It’s fine. If you had, it would have been hard for you to keep working here.”
Even if Doris had stepped forward, a single maid wouldn’t have been enough to make a difference. Understanding the hidden meaning in Shailo’s words, Doris wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“Is there anything I can do for you, my Lady?”
“You don’t need to—”
Shailo stopped mid-sentence. After a moment of contemplation, she opened a desk drawer and pulled out a drawing.
“Do you know what this emblem is?”
“This is…”
Doris stared at the emblem curiously before tilting her head.
“It’s the crest of the Greed Merchant Guild.”
“Last night, I saw this seal on an envelope on the desk in the study. It contained a letter discussing plans for my marriage.”
“That’s impossible! The head of the Greed Merchant Guild is a commoner, over fifty years old, and there are terrible rumors about how his ex-wife committed suicide due to his abuse. No matter what, you’re a lady of the Ducal family. It must be a mistake.”
Doris waved her hands in denial, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“There must be some misunderstanding, my Lady!”
“Ha.”
Shailo’s legs gave out, and she stumbled, clutching the desk for support. It all made sense now—why Claire had constantly slandered her and driven a wedge between her and the family. It was all to completely drive her out of the ducal household.
“My Lady?”
Noticing the prolonged silence, Doris cautiously approached Shailo, who had her head bowed. After a long pause, Shailo rummaged through the drawer again and pulled out an envelope.
“Could you secretly send this letter to Baron Kildare for me?”
“Baron… Kildare?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where your aunt resides, isn’t it?”
“I met the Baroness half a year ago. She seemed to like me. If I ask her to take me in, she might agree. I wrote this letter just in case.”
“Are you really planning to leave this mansion?”
“Whether I leave on my own or get forced out, it’s only a matter of time.”
The typical debutante age was twenty. Claire was the type who couldn’t stand not being the center of attention. If the Duke, for the sake of appearances, suggested debuting Shailo in society alongside Claire, Claire would find a way to drive her out of the mansion. With both of them being eighteen, there were only a few years left before that happened.
“Do you remember when I told you about my mother’s last words?”
Doris nodded silently. With a resolute expression, Shailo made her decision.
“I thought I had seized my chance to be happy, but I was wrong. If that’s the case, then at the very least, I will avoid the one thing that would make me the most miserable.”
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