# 51
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For the first time in her life, Flora Lewin understood the meaning of the phrase that the sky had fallen.
The beginning was that woman.
She received a violent shock when it turned out that the woman she thought was of low birth was none other than the missus of the Duke of Taylor's house. No sooner had the shock subsided than something worse came: her father was taken away.
Flora left the hall absent-mindedly, and wandered around the palace for a long time aimlessly. The Marquise's maids had been following her, but they had long since disappeared without saying back or forth. When she found herf, as if walking enchanted, in front of her mother's room, shrill screams exploded from within.
“You whore! You tell me to get out?! Who are you to order and forbid me?!”
Flora woke up to her mother's angry voice, so she opened the door violently and entered. Her mother was in direct confrontation with the palace maids.
“Madam Countess, Count Luwin is currently detained in the Lower Prison. According to the regulations of the Duke of Richmond’s Palace, if a family member is detained in the Lower Prison, the rest of the family may not remain in the Palace.”
Slap!!
The head of the maid who was speaking cautiously turned violently. Countess Lewin gasped as she roughly grabbed the maid's hair.
"Yes!!"
“Enough of the accusations that have been framed against my husband! What do you say now?! You vile woman, who sent you? Did the Marquise send you?!”
“S, Madam Countess!”
“The Marquise will not expel us! Who dared to tell you!”
“Choose your words!”
A cold, imperious voice interrupted the Countess's words, creeping through the door that Flora had left open. The hem of the skirt was heard scraping against the floor with quick steps, and then a woman wearing a dark ash-colored dress appeared at the door.
Around her neck was a large pearl necklace, a gift from Eliza Richmond, and on her ears was a pair of matching pearl earrings.
As soon as Lady Isaac appeared, the maids immediately retreated behind her. Her gaze slid from the maid's reddened cheek to Countess Lewin with a sharp look.
“What are you doing?!”
“…Are you the one who sent these?”
“You address me like that? I am the eldest lady’s maid. Do what is appropriate.”
Countess Lewin laughed hollowly and asked sarcastically:
“Is it true that she actually woke up?”
“Madam Countess Lewin!!”
“The Luwin family is one of the subordinates who protected the palace! And you come today to order us to leave overnight?! This is impossible!!”
She began to scream and rage, but Mrs. Isaac's expression remained calm. Compared to the insults she had endured for over ten years, this was insignificant.
“Did you really protect the palace?”
"…What?"
“If your family is truly loyal to Richmond, then there is no need to worry. Even if you leave the palace according to the regulations, you can come back later. Of course, Count Lewin will be reconsidered.”
“……”
“That is, if you are truly loyal to Richmond.”
Countess Luwin's eyes wandered after she was screaming nonstop.
“Enough of this inappropriate rioting. Leave.”
At Lady Isaac's icy command, the Countess's body began to tremble. She was feeling angry, but she realized that protesting further would be of no use.
“You'll regret this.”
She left a hateful threat behind her, then went out looking for someone who might help her.
"My mom!!"
Flora suddenly stopped as she was about to catch up with her mother. Something that had been so incomprehensible finally exploded within her. She turned violently towards Mrs. Isaac and approached her, shouting sharply:
“Do you think you will get out unscathed after doing this to my mother?!”
“……”
“Is this the Grand Lady’s order?! Is this it?!”
“Flora Lewin.”
Mrs. Isaac said in a stern voice, but Flora couldn't stop.
“Is the Grand Lady so great?! She has never attended to palace affairs, never done anything for Richmond, and with one word from her you dismiss my father and mother who served the palace!”
slap!!
“Service? It is the duty of the subordinate.”
Flora froze, blinked in astonishment, and then stared at Mrs. Isaac with burning anger.
“Did you slap me now?”
“I will assume that I did not hear what you said because I slapped you. Do so in memory of your ancestors, and thank your ancestors who are lying below.”
“You're acting like this because you're relying on the eldest lady, right?”
Lady Isaac laughed bitterly and clicked her tongue.
“Girl, eighty percent of the Luwin family’s lands are originally in the name of the Grand Lady. She gave your grandfather a portion of her lands because she revered him so much.”
She pointed to Flora's ears and neck.
“Even the necklace and earrings she is wearing now are what the Grand Lady received as a gift from Emperor Arghun III.”
“?!”
Flora's eyes twitched violently. The anger that was boiling in her suddenly subsided, as if cold water had been poured over it. She involuntarily took a step back, while Mrs. Isaac asked a cold question:
“Did you ask the owner’s permission before wearing them?”
Flora's face turned pale, then she fled the room as her mother had done.
Mrs. Isaac watched the place where Flora had disappeared silently, then took out her pocket watch and checked the time. She ordered the terrified maids to clean the room, then went to the window. When she looked down, a sparkle flashed in her eyes.
“Really… it took so long.”
On the road where the sunlight spread, women were walking with majestic stability. They were old maids, her long-time friends, and Eliza Richmond's maids.
M.M.: They deserve it 🤣🤣🤭
＊ ＊ ＊
Flora was unconsciously running towards the Marchioness's room. There, the noble ladies had already gathered. Countess Lewin was among them, crying at the Marquise's side.
“They ask us to leave the palace, Madam Marquise! The maids are emptying my room!”
The Marquise clung to her almost collapsed consciousness and took the Countess's hand.
“Don't worry. It's nothing serious. The Marquis is checking it out. Calm down and stay here for a while.”
“Yes, Madam Countess. If the Marquise says so, it must be simple.”
"naturally."
The noble ladies, each adorned with one of Richmond's treasures, departed consoling the countess.
“Arwen Isaac, that woman came so arrogant! She was barely asking for firewood for the annex, and then suddenly Flora?!”
The Countess stopped her complaints when she saw her daughter enter with scattered clothes, and she got up in horror.
"What's wrong? What happened?!"
As soon as she saw Flora's swollen cheek, her face turned red. At that moment, the Marquise advanced herf towards Flora.
She examined her cheek, then said with suppressed anger:
“Who dared to hit Luwin’s daughter? I won’t let him get away.”
The countess shouted:
“Isn't it obvious?! Arwen Isaacs is the one who slapped my daughter!!”
“Is it true that Mrs. Isaacs slapped you, Flora?”
Tears streamed from Flora's eyes.
“And for what reason?”
At the Marquise's oblique question, Flora only bit her lip. The Marquise pulled her to her chest and patted her back gently, like a tender mother.
“They shouldn't treat you like this.”
Flora broke down at her words, bursting into tears.
“Please, summon Arwen Isaac now! My chest will not calm down unless we slap her too!!”
The Marquise furrowed her eyebrows at the Countess's harsh voice, and wished someone would silence that stupid woman. At that moment, a maid with a pale face approached and reported an unexpected visitor.
“Madame Marquise, the Grand Madame’s maids have arrived.”
The hand that was patting Flora froze. Movement in the entire room stopped, as if everyone had agreed on this.
The Grand Lady's maids.
Arwen Isaacs and her five maids were the greatest obstacle to the Marquise's control of the palace. While Isaac took care of the young Duke and the absent Grand Lady, the other maids confronted the attempts of the Marquis and his wife to dominate the palace.
In the end, they lost and were expelled from the palace… but it took a long time.
And now…
The Marquise suppressed her desire to scream, and the veins on her neck appeared. She sat at the center of the place, maintaining the dignity of a queen. The noble ladies hurried to sit on the long sofa. The Countess held Flora's hand tightly, staring at the door.
“Let them in.”
At the Marquise's command, the dark wooden door opened silently to both sides.
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