❖ ❖ ❖

 

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, Elder Missus.”

“Are you absolutely sure that the Young Miss has started her menstruation?”

“Yes, Elder Missus.”

Benjamine counted on her fingers, mumbling.

“Yes, that’s right. If we calculate the Young Miss’s cycle, this is about the right time.”

Then, she shouted at the two maids.

“What are you standing there for? The Young Miss suffers from severe cramps—go prepare a hot water bag!”

“Yes, Elder Missus!”

The two personal maids, Lizzy and Mina, practically fled from the room of the ‘Elder Missus’.

“Why is she yelling at us?”

“Exactly. It’s not like we’re the ones attending to the Young Miss. We can’t, even if we wanted to.”

The two had stuck close to the elder missus ever since their time at the grand duchy, earning her trust.

Thanks to Benjamine’s strong recommendation, their names had been included on the list of attendants traveling to Lagos.

At the time, they had regretted it so much that they had agonized over it for days.

But since it had already come to this, they had decided to stay close to the elder missus until the end.

From their perspective, the elder missus’s power seemed unshakable.

She was, after all, practically the young miss’s birth mother—someone whom the grand duke cherished deeply.

When they arrived at Lagos Castle, they believed they had made the right choice.

Receiving the elder missus’ affection, they lorded over the other maids.

While the attendants from the grand duchy were suddenly burdened with extra work and even had to change rooms, only the two of them—Lizzy and Mina—were allowed to remain in the chamber next to the elder missus.

Up to that point, they were satisfied.

For now, they walked on.

Since the elder missus had given them a task, they had to carry it out.

But as they trudged along gloomily, they turned a corner and ran into two maids.

They were maids from the grand duchy.

The two had been chatting happily, but their expressions stiffened, and they fell silent.

They barely acknowledged Lizzy and Mina, brushing past them coldly.

Lizzy and Mina stopped in their tracks, glaring at their retreating figures.

“What’s with them, seriously?”

“They used to be too scared to even meet my eyes.”

The attendants from the grand duchy, whom they had expected to be worked to death, seemed to be getting livelier by the day.

Lizzy and Mina had seen them mingling with the Lagos servants several times.

Chatting with bright faces, they seemed to be getting along quite well.

By contrast, Lizzy and Mina were completely isolated.

The grand duchy attendants, who had once suffered under their tyranny, now ignored them entirely.

‘Did we back the wrong horse?’

Lately, the thought had crossed their minds.

But neither of them dared to say it out loud.

 

❖ ❖ ❖

 

‘Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.’

Benjamine let out a sigh of relief.

Five days ago, she had woken up late in the afternoon after drinking several glasses of alcohol the night before.

Then, she was struck by a bolt from the blue—

News had spread that the lord and his wife had consummated their marriage.

She had immediately grilled Lizzy and Mina.

She warned them that if they dared to spread false rumors, she wouldn’t let them off.

Lizzy and Mina had answered with indignant expressions.

 

⌜ It’s true, Elder Missus. We heard it clearly. In the early morning, the Lord called for servants to tidy up the Madam’s bedroom. ⌟

 

Benjamine was enraged and indignant.

Had she not raised the young miss as if she were her own?

Though she had been married twice, Cecilia had never even properly seen her husbands’ faces before divorcing them.

Having stayed by Cecilia’s side every moment since, Benjamine could swear on her life—Cecilia had been a pure maiden.

A maiden of great worth.

Her value was immeasurable.

And yet, she had spent the night with a mere lord, in this accursed land with nothing but a crumbling stone castle?

‘He must have forced himself on her under the pretense of his rights as a husband. I should have kept my wits about me yesterday.’

Benjamine clutched at her chest in frustration.

There was no way Cecilia had agreed to it willingly.

‘The Lord is nothing like the Young Miss’s ideal type.’

She resented Grand Duke Jericho.

This time, his judgment had been wrong.

This marriage should never have happened in the first place.

But resentment was fleeting. What came next was fear.

 

⌜ Your job is to make sure Cecilia doesn’t grow close to the Lord of Lagos. ⌟

 

She had failed in carrying out the grand duke’s secret order.

If a man and a woman shared a bed, their relationship could no longer be defined in simple terms of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’.

There was a reason people spoke of ‘affection born from resentment’.

Not that Benjamine could say anything to Cecilia now.

Even at the height of her influence, she wouldn’t have been able to interfere.

Because they were husband and wife.

‘What if… she becomes pregnant?’

Benjamine had spent the past few days in distress.

But at least tonight, she would be able to sleep peacefully.

‘The Young Miss gets terribly irritable when she has menstrual cramps. I’d better go to her quickly. If not me, who else could handle her?’