# 60
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“Fortunately, it seems that all the raging mana has been controlled. It is a rare luck.”
After hearing Tilin's words, I also checked my mana and found that it was surprisingly quiet, making it difficult to believe that she had caused an explosion yesterday.
On the contrary, she felt calm and strange, as if she was desperately hoping for an explosion like this.
Now, I feel confident that I can hide my mana and presence without putting in much effort.
Then suddenly I felt depressed.
Because I didn't think the time had come for such interesting ideas.
The Duchess noticed that my skin was darkening and asked urgently.
“What's uncomfortable again?”
I shook my head and spoke in a low voice.
“No...nothing, thank you.”
"What?"
It was the Duke who responded to my words.
I was a little upset when I saw him looking rather angry.
“Handle...thank you for doing this, instead of just kicking me out...”
I sincerely wanted to thank the Duke for his generosity in giving me the cure and sending me away, even if they sent me away.
"No way! It's really going to spin."
But as soon as she finished speaking, the Duke's face distorted cruelly.
“Everyone go away.”
It was clear that he was trying to get angry.
I quickly apologized when I saw the witches and doctors disappear as quickly as they had arrived.
"sorry ."
“...What are you sorry about this time?”
“By starting the fire, too.... People were surprised because of me, I had no intention of doing such a big thing...”
“So now you're saying you're sorry because it's all your fault?”
To some extent, it was, but I didn't think it was all my fault.
But I couldn't say it, so I lowered my head.
“Ha, what the hell are you!”
Then the Duke's voice rose slightly.
“Am I an unreliable adult to you?”
". … Yes?"
“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning? Unlike the Duchy, the capital’s staff don’t know how you came to the Duchy, it was for Diana to prevent the rumors from spreading, but if I had known that she would be in trouble, I would have taken action long ago, so, even if I just said one thing…!”
I froze as I looked at the Duke, who was very angry.
It wasn't that he was afraid or worried.
After a while, I couldn't hold it back and the tears fell.
I knew my face was disfigured, but I couldn't stop crying once I started.
“No, I didn’t mean to be angry with you...”
“My dear! Why on earth did you make the little girl cry?”
When the Duke looked embarrassed and didn't know what to do, the Duchess pushed him away with an angry look on her face.
“Leah, don’t cry, it’s okay now, it won’t happen again.”
Then she started wiping my tears and comforting me.
“I should have noticed earlier, I should have known even if you didn't say it, I'm sorry for being stupid, even though you're not a child, how scary and difficult it was, I'm sorry for leaving you alone, I'm sorry for not understanding, I'm sorry, Leah.”
After the Duchess's few words, all the bad thoughts in my mind disappeared like melting snow.
I thought I got rid of all of this yesterday, but it seems that resentment and anger are still building up in my heart.
As relief filled the place, tears fell again.
I stuttered and asked.
“Okay, so you're not going to fire me?”
Then the Duchess asked again with a surprised face.
“What? Of course, why on earth did you think that?”
Only then did she burst into tears like a child and fell into the Duchess's arms.
“I was very afraid, because everyone hated me.”
I felt completely helpless, I brought out my deepest thoughts that I had been hiding deep inside.
Then I started crying, as if I was letting out all the sadness that had been building up all this time.
My body was shaking from intense emotions.
The Duchess hugged me tightly, not caring at all even though her chest was wet with tears.
Then she patted my back and said.
“Yes, keep screaming like this from now on, you are afraid, ask for help, please don’t let anyone hurt and torture you, and let us help you.”
The Duchess's words made me cry again.
“I'm worried your temperature will rise again.”
The Duchess put her hand on my forehead as if she was worried when she saw me sniffling.
“You had a rough time all night...”
I was actually crying so hard that my face was red and my head was dizzy.
It was a time when I held my breath to force myf to stop crying.
“From now on, don't do anything you don't want to do without worrying about others, and just do what you want to do. There's no need to do any work or anything. I only let you become a maid because you wanted to from the beginning, and I had no intention of taking advantage of you.”
The Duke spoke frankly, but in a more relaxed tone than before.
I asked cautiously, because the wall in my heart had already collapsed, as if he was looking at me a little.
“But....then I'm no use for it?”
"impossible ."
Then he spoke with a firm expression as if he was making a statement.
“You just need to eat well, sleep well, stay well, that's enough.”
Then, this time, she grabbed the rope and waved it, telling the maid who came running to prepare a meal.
Once the command was given, the food was served directly to the bed.
It was a light soup made from grains and milk and did not irritate the throat.
I quickly waved my hand to the Duchess who was trying to feed me, and ate some of the soup.
The Duchess looked happily at me as I diligently ate.
I asked softly, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“But can I still stay here?”
“Why are you repeating what I already said?”
“No, that's not all! This is the lady's bedroom.”
"Yes . … ".
The Duke, who was about to hastily refute my words, closed his mouth.
He cleared his throat several times as if embarrassed, then said:
“You can't go to your room because it's on fire.”
"Yes."
I bit my lip because I forgot something.
'After causing such damage...'
At that time.
“Leah, your room is now next to Diana’s room, I will move it in the afternoon, so don’t feel uncomfortable and just stay for a while.”
My eyes widened in surprise at the Duchess's words.
Staying in the room next to Diana was something that had not happened due to the interference of the head maid when she first came to the capital.
'But why now?'
Now that she thought about it, Helen who had always stood like a shadow next to the Duke or Duchess was no longer visible.
“I saw the butler a short while ago when the wizard and the council members came and went.”
The Duchess must have sensed my confusion and smiled bitterly.
“Helen has been placed on probation for failing to command the maids properly this time.”
I was shocked.
While the incident stopped for a moment, the Duke spoke.
“Lucio did a great job this time, I interrogated every maid who harassed you one by one, punished and expelled everyone involved, since we didn’t even let them get a letter of recommendation, from now on no noble family will accept them...”
“My dear, there is no need to say things like that to the little girl.”
The Duchess interrupted the Duke, who seemed somehow to be boasting.
I thought it was because it wasn't a good thing for me to hear.
In fact, the Duke's words were extremely harsh.
They were receiving good treatment and salary as servants of the duke's family, but suddenly their livelihood became difficult.
“Leah, it is a fair consequence of their actions, not only is the bullying that has happened so far unreasonable, but they will search your room and physically punish you based on a silly misunderstanding. It was probably just an excuse to begin with. They should be thankful that we have finally come this far.”
So, as if there was no need to be sorry, the Duchess held my hand tightly with an unusually stern expression.
But contrary to the Duchess's concerns, I had no sympathy for them.
These are the people who crossed the line countless times by torturing me, and I am just a child but still a child.
‘Especially since the last one was really bad….’
In this sense, as the Duchess said, this result is nothing more than f-improvement.
But one thing still stuck.
'Did Lucio know something and put the head maid under surveillance?'
I felt so embarrassed.
She was surprised by the firm decision taken by Lucio, who had known her for a long time, but more than anything else, she was puzzled by the punishment imposed on the head maid.
She is one of the talented servants who support this massive ducal residence.
While the Duchess was not in the capital immediately, she took charge of running the palace with the butler, and was still by the Duchess's side to assist her.
‘On the surface, it seems that the head maid was not directly involved at all.’
On the contrary, whenever a similar problem arose, she would personally intervene and take care of it, like cutting off maids.
'But actually...'
I've doubted it for a long time.
As someone who knows the user ecosystem intimately, I thought it was not possible for all this harassment to happen without permission from upper management.
Even the guildmates who hated me never teased me in public because they were worried about what the master or bosses would think.
'That's why I accepted the last mission without any doubt.'
However, even within a relatively free guild, this would be the case.
In a place like the Duke's, where hierarchy and discipline were so entrenched, hostility and harassment towards me were expressed at a level that went beyond the pale.
'Even Jack, who stayed in the knights, noticed it.'
So I always thought someone in authority was condoning his actions, and I kept looking for someone higher up.