9 Everyone has weaknesses
Honey, I don't like honey.
As I walked into my office, I could see how someone had poured a jar of honey on my desk. The very image left me frozen right there. Just by seeing it unconsciously, the taste came to my mouth.
Honey, I really don't like honey.
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An intense burning crossed my throat, which made me come to my senses. Seeing me wake up, the maids around me sighed in relief. Only Irma, the person who made me drink strong alcohol, was the only one who didn't change her expression.
When I woke up, I unconsciously looked at the desk again. The honey was still there.
It took me entirely by surprise. I don't usually overreact so much. I just had a lot on my mind.
The maids looked worried, quite worried, but I don't care. I just want them to clean up the honey.
(Maid) Miss Leonora, are you alright?
(Leonora) Clean up this mess.
(Maid) But Miss Leonora, you fainted, we should call the doctor.
(Leonora) Theres no need. Clean up this mess.
(Maid) But Miss Leonora...
(Irma) Miss Croiss has given an order.
Irma imposed her authority, which caused the maids to disperse and start cleaning up.
I watched them work for a moment, but I realized that it was not enough. The smell will remain in the wood.
(Leonora) Irma.
(Irma) Yes, Miss Croiss.
(Leonora) Have the desk replaced, while you're at it, find out who let big sister into my office and fire him, besides...
I was about to order all the honey to be thrown out of the mansion, but I would reveal a weakness if I did that, and I can't afford to let anyone know my shortcomings.
(Leonora) That's all for now.
(Irma) Understood, Miss Croiss.
I asked for my work to be brought to my room and set out to clear my mind by reading reports.
Two hours later, Irma came into my room.
(Irma) Miss Croiss, theres a problem.
(Leonora) What is it?
(Irma) After questioning your sister, we discovered that she has one of the keys to the office. As you know, there are only four copies of that key. One is in my possession, Mr. Milccery still has his, and Miss has still copy, that only leaves the key of the chief butler Therrion, he is still on leave. But, there is no doubt that he was negligent in safeguarding the values of the mansion. Unfortunately, I do not have enough authority to fire him.
(Leonora) Well, then, let's close this issue.
Irma did not seem satisfied with the result and replied.
(Irma) When you hired me, Miss Croiss ordered me to report to you all the flaws in the mansion, and I have repeatedly reported that Therrion the butler's work is becoming more negligent every day. However, you continue to forgive his mistakes without giving him any punishment.
(Leonora) Don't mind him. He won't be at the mansion much longer.
Hearing that Therrion would be leaving soon, Irma finally seemed satisfied.
(Irma) If that's the case, then I'll leave.
Irma left my room, and I sighed. Time is running out.
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The next day I went into the office. I was glad that they had already changed the desk. However, in front of it stood Therrion, his head was lowered, denoting regret.
(Therrion) Miss Leonora, I greatly apologize for my carelessness, I mistakenly left my set of keys on the dining room shelf, and when I went to get them, they were already gone, then I...
Not wanting to hear the whole story, I just raised my hand and walked to my desk.
(Leonora) get up, Therrion. There is work to do.
(Therrion) But Miss Leonora, I...
(Leonora) If you want to redeem yourself, just work.
(Therrion) ...Understood, Miss Leonora.
Therrion got up and stood next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the maids whispering among themselves. I ignored it since they were right.
Since I took command of the duchy, the policy has been that if you can't handle the job someone else will.
The salaries of the mansion are excellent, but in return, I ask for total dedication, and if you are unable to perform the work assigned to you, you will be fired and replaced.
But among the servants, there is a rumor of my preference to Therrion, as I pass mistakes for which I would have fired others.
Sitting at my desk, I took a report from the pile and pretended to read it, while out of the corner of my eye. I glanced at Therrion. His clothes looked loose as if he was losing weight, and the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced.
I turned my eyes back to work and focused on work. The morning passed uneventfully, but there was a knock on the door in mid-afternoon, and Irma entered.
As she entered, I noticed how she glanced sideways at Therrion ...if looks could kill humanity would be extinct...
(Irma) Sorry for interrupting Miss Croiss, but I have finally finished with the work I was assigned, so I need Miss to come with me.
I got up from the chair, and when Therrion was about to follow us, I stopped him.
(Leonora) Therrion, I need you to stay and finish the work and apologize to the visitors today. This will take me some time.
Therrion lowered his head and obeyed.
I left the room following Irma and started walking behind her.
(Irma) Won't Miss ask someone to take her?
(Leonora) We are going to a place where it can only be you and me; besides, I'm not in a hurry to get there.
(Irma) Understood, Miss.
I followed Irma to the outskirts of the mansion until I reached the family crypt.
In the crypt rested ten generations of Croiss, but I had no particular respect for those people, and neither did the pitiful couple, so I used the tomb for other purposes.
Chained to the wall was a man in his early 30s. When he saw us coming, he looked at us with fear and tried to make himself smaller,
(Leonora) Is he responsible for the nidstang?
(Irma) he installed it , but he says that he was paid to do it.
(Leonora) hmm.
I slowly approached to be face to face with him. For his part, he was utterly grounded. After all, I know Irma can be very "persuasive," but if he can't talk, then he's no good to us.
(Leonora) tell me who paid you to put the nidstang.
The man didn't answer, he just kept shaking, so I looked at Irma.
(Leonora) I think you went a little overboard.
(Irma) He was a vulgar man, Miss, I needed to teach him some manners before introducing him.
I looked Irma up and down and again doubted her humanity.
She is a character in the game, sort of. In the game, there was a thing where you had to hire a maid to help organize your time. The better the maid, the more free time you had to spend with capture objectives, raise your stats, or advance in the story. And because you have limited time in the last part of the game, you must get a good maid.
So, as far as the maid thing goes, Irma was putting the game on easy, flat out. With her, you could complete the game without any problems and even before the set date. However, she only came in the collector's edition of the game, which came out two years later. It was basically for people who wanted to see all the endings and enjoy the story without worrying about how oppressive the game could be in terms of dates.
At first, I never believed she was in this world, but it wasn't until I started trying to replicate the game's events that I noticed that the protagonist had a maid that appeared in the game. So I started looking for Irma.
It was pretty challenging to find her and even more challenging to get her to work for me, but I literally have all the time in the world, so I finally managed to get her on my side. While she's not the nicest person in the world, her loyalty and efficiency are unquestionable. Because of her little or sometimes no common sense, no matter what I order her to do, she will comply on the spot as long as it is not beyond her capabilities.
I saw that the man was babbling, sort of, so I put my ear close to his mouth and heard him whisper.
(Man) wi... witch... the witch...
That was all I needed to know. I didn't care who had paid him but rather the why.
But an offense is an offense, and I stopped forgiving offenses long ago.
Besides, I love horses, and to have one beheaded to make a nidstang is a crime itself.
(Leonora) Irma.
(Leonora) Yes, Miss Croiss.
(Leonora) Get rid of him.
(Irma) As you command, Miss.
I left the crypt while I was still immersed in my thoughts.
I think my status as the witch already extended to that point, so the inquisition will not take long in coming. That made me smile slightly. I'm almost ready. It's just a matter of fine-tuning details.
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My feet hurt, and I was sweating. I took a sip of water from my canteen and kept looking until I finally saw it.
In front of me, there was a vine from which beautiful violet flowers were growing. I took a small knife out of my backpack and cut the flower from the base. I plucked the petals very carefully until I reached the seeds and repeated the process until I had a good handful of seeds.
These plants grow very fast, but only around this time, the flowers have seeds.
I wrapped the seeds in a cloth and then put them in a thick leather bag. Before putting them in my backpack and returning to the carriage waiting for me on the road, I went to a nearby river and bathed in its waters. I took another change of clothes from the backpack and got rid of the old ones.
Returning to the carriage, Irma greeted me in silence, and we continued our journey.
Our objective was a town on the duchy's borders, where I learned that a circus with exotic animals had been set up.
This time I did not hide my identity but used my status as the duke's daughter and duchess to speak to the owner at the end of the show.
The master of ceremonies, a man with a thick mustache, invited me into his office, and I could almost see him rubbing his hands together as he smelled the money I could offer him.
As I sat down, I refused the tea he offered me, and Irma spoke for me.
(Irma) Miss Croiss is extremely pleased with the show.
(Circusman) oh, I am incredibly grateful that my humble circus is to her lady's liking, but if she had sent us a letter, we could have brought the circus to her domain, and the lady would not have had to travel so far.
Irma came up to me, and I whispered in her ear.
(Irma) the lady says it's no bother. She wanted to experience the show from a commoner's point of view.
The man didn't saw convinced with my motives. After all, I had bought all the tickets for the whole day, practically reserving the entire circus for myself, but looking like a spoiled, wealthy child was part of my plan to get their guard down.
(Circusman) then, I'm glad your lady is pleased, and now that my humble circus is at your disposal.
I whispered again to Irma, and she replied to my words.
(Irma) the lady is so impressed with the exotic animals that she would like to buy some to keep them as pets.
(Circusman) oh!! That is not possible. They are wild beasts from distant lands. We use magicians to keep them docile. Otherwise, they would be very dangerous, and they are not suitable to be used as pets.
At that, Irma rang a bell, and the servants we had brought in came through the door and began piling bags of money in front of the circus owner.
The man flashed a bright smile and said.
(Circusman) Well, they can make excellent pets if you give them the proper care.
