Chapter 22 - The Little one and the Duke, the Daughter and the Father

Did I fail again?

At a time of despondency, Henriette continued with a emotionless face.

"You decide it yourself. What punishment will you receive for lying and wasting my time?"

After hearing that, I could notice that Henriette was giving me a chance.

He handed me the option now.

"Well, then…"

Trying to hide my joy, I stretched out my fingers and pointed to Henriette.

Exactly the plate in front of him.

"That's all I'll have for breakfast today."

"You mean this sandwich?"

"Yes, and I'll starve until dinner."

Count Semond's face showed signs of embarrassment. But he soon smiled again and tried to dissuade Henriette.

"Your highness, however, she's a child, and to let her starve is…"

"If that's what you want, you deserve it. Move this."

I saw Count Semond, ignored again by Henriette, hurling curses at him with his eyes for about 0.2 seconds.

Meanwhile Peina brought a portion of Henriette's sandwich in front of me.

I gave her a slight wink of assurance, looking anxiously at me, and then looked in the sandwich bread.

Inside are vegetables such as lettuce, several kinds of sauces, and a slice of thin ham.

And ICORYL.

It was sour when I smelled it a little. It's for sure.

"S, stop, forgive your daughter, Your Excellency. Wouldn't it be too harsh to let a child eat just that?"

Count Semond seems to be on edge when I receive a sandwich containing poison.

What's the use of a child with no power dying? Only Henriette would be pissed off.

Of course I don't intend to die either. I spoke to the count with a face as innocent as possible.

"I'm sorry, Count, you taught me not to lie, it's not good manners."

"…no, it's because I wasn't good enough."

He fell for it right away. He said the answer I wanted to hear.

"No, Count, you did nothing wrong. It's all my fault. Work, lies, everything that I said."

Henriette's eyes turned to me.

"Is that all true?"

"…yes."

I mean, no.

Henriette seemed to be aware of something now, and before I knew it, he took his hands off the tableware and opened his mouth to the count, who began to sweat cold.

"I blame you for her lack of custody and growing up to be such a spoiled child, you deserve to be punished on behalf of my daughter."

Saying so, Henriette was looking at me.

"What punishment do you deserve?"

He has faith in me.

Barely holding back laughter from joy and excitement, I said, holding out a plate of sandwiches towards Count Semond.

"Well, I'd like you to take this instead."

"What, what?"

"Actually, I don't like vegetables."

Then I smiled and just blinked with a face saying, "I don't know anything."

Count Semond's complexion quickly turned pale.

"Not bad. As you say, I can't let a young child starve until dinner after feeding her a sandwich with only vegetables."

On top of that, Henriette began to help.

Excitedly, I eventually shook my legs under the table, but my upper body was very solemn and seriously fixed.

Henriette continued with a cold face.

"Since you are so concerned, you will take the punishment instead of my child. It's just eating a sandwich."

"Count, you usually eat everything I don't like!"

Screaming in a well-timed, bubbly voice, Count Semond has already become paler than the bread with a poison icoryl.

Now even Henriette is looking at him with the look of 'I don't know anything', which would be even more embarrassing.

There was no place for Count Semond to step down.

If you refuse, you'll find out that I lied, and if you don't, you'll eat a sandwich with poison.

"You've been so caring on my child. I'd like to see for myself how it's been."

Count Semond even turned blue at Henriette's words.

Peina tactfully moved the plate in front of me to Count Semond.

I could see his hands shaking wildly. Henriette's eyes narrowed when he saw it.

"What's wrong?"

"…..Y, your Excellency, it's a shame, but the truth is that I don't eat vegetables very well.."

"Lie!"

At this point, I stood up shouting loudly.

It's clear that Henriette is now completely on my side.

Perhaps that is why I felt no longer afraid of Count Semond. Rather, courage rose from within me.

"You're a liar. Count, I know what's in there. You put a poison in the sandwich! You paid the cook! You said to feed the icoryl to the Duke!"

Count Semond's face began to tremble wildly, and the servants and escorts were shocked.

I leaned my head close to Count Semond with a chilling face, whispering sarcasm.

"You didn't know who you met at dawn yesterday, did you?

"I, I….!"

Crack! Roughly pushing the chair, Count Semond, seemingly unable to contain his anger momentarily, sprang to his feet.

At the same time, sharp metals burst from all sides. Knights pulled out swords in unison and aimed at Count Semond's neck.

"Check the inside of the food."

Henriette ordered the servants in a very calm manner.

The servants checked the contents of the sandwiches in the plates one by one, they all shouted.

"As the Miss said, it contains an ICORYL!"

"That makes it clear."

Henriette's voice was cold.

Before long he glared at Count Semond with a ferocious stare.

"Well, you've made my child a fool who didn't even learn how to be polite."

"Y, your Excellency, this is a misunderstanding! T, this is…!"

"I don't think it's worth listening to the story of a man who's already betrayed my trust once. But there's still plenty to ask you."

Henriette, who rose from his seat, uttered in a heartless voice.

"Keep Count Semond in prison in the basement, for I will question him myself. Find all the knights and servants who have escorted Count Semond, and the chefs involved in this work, so that they can't take a step outside the castle."

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! Oh, my God! Your Highness!"

The knights immediately began to carry out his orders, and were held in the hands of the knights, Count Semond was taken to prison, almost wailing again.

Even those who followed him were taken to prison by Henriette's knights.

At the same time as I was relieved, I slumped onto my chair because my knees felt relieved.

***

"I've heard all the stories from your maids."

After the situation was over, Henriette brought me to my room and said it out of the blue.

I wondered what it meant, but Henriette rolled up my sleeves. I could see a scar right above the forearm.

I faltered a little in surprise, but I decided to stay still because his impression was much more wrinkled.

The maids' expressions were dark. Henriette asked in a low voice.

"Did you say she had more scars than this?"

"Yes, my lord. There were also in the back, tummies, waist, thighs, shoulders and nape."

"... Tell Cecilia, the royal pharmacist, to prepare a magic drug to remove the scar immediately."

Henriette's voice seemed both freezing and seething.

In his subsequent silent interrogation, I had to reveal everything that had happened during my seven-year stay at Count Semond.

Throughout the story, Henriette was silent.

I finished telling until my mouth began to whimper with the adult mind, but I still felt sad.

Suddenly I felt so sorry for myself. A little bit, I hated Henriette, too.

It's been a while since he got out of prison, so why did he come to me so late?

Even if he was pretending to be dead, it would have been great if he came earlier.

Then I could have left Count Semond earlier.

People were very upset when they heard my story.

Not only them, but also other servants who I looked at, their faces were crumpled, they wiped away their tears, the knight's eyes looked red, and the aide seemed to be keeping his mouth shut.

Henriette's face looked completely frozen.

The maids raised their voices, forgetting even the presence of Henriette, whom they were so afraid of.

"That man should be punished! How can he do this to a child…!"

"If I could, I'd really like to break him in a few places!"

"No, don't break it. You have to grind it finely and turn it into powder. How dare you do that to my Lady. Peina….. where are you going?"

Peina stood up quietly among the maddening maids. I thought she was smiling in a very calm manner.

….She took the hammer out of her arms.

"Yes, I'll break Count Semond in a few places, then grind it finely and sprinkle it."

Where the hell did that hammer come from? You didn't happen to carry it around the whole time, did you?

If the knights hadn't caught her running to the dungeon in a rage, they wouldn't see Count Semond complete again.

But when he heard my story, Henriette seemed a little surprised.

Perhaps that's all his reaction. The aide, who was listening to the story together with Henriette and recording something over and over again, even gave up.

"Did you say you heard the voices of ghosts at dawn?"

"Y, yeah."

"Oh, my God, you are indeed of the same blood as the Master"

According to his story, ghost servants are possessed by Henriette's magic.

In fact, there was only a limited time available for them.

It was to reduce confusion or illusion among ordinary workers.

So servants can't hear or see them for a certain period of time.

The only time we can recognize them are when it's time for the sun to set and it's beginning to get dark and from deep dawn to the dawn of the morning.

But I hear them in the middle of the night. I felt confused about that, and the aide went on to explain.

"It is true that magic exist in this castle."

"They are magical people who exist in this castle, so those who have excellent magical sensitivity can recognize their existence or hear their voices. In other words, you're very mana sensitive."

Is it easy for a person with a well-developed magical sensitivity to destroy objects that are hidden by magic or to deceive the eye?

Anyway, the ghost servants are now a kind of magic in this castle, so no one should have been able to hear their voices as they were.

But their voices touched me because I was very responsive to mana. Maybe they noticed that and asked me for help?

I was a little relieved anyway.

I was worried if I had something unnecessarily called a third eye. I know because I have a friend in my previous life who saw a ghost, and it's very terrifying.

Then, after a long time, Henriette opened his mouth.

"As Duke of Wensgrey, the present Emperor entrusted me with some special powers."

Now that I heard it, his voice somehow felt a little sour.

"One of them is that anyone who violates the laws of a peaceful empire can be executed at any time, regardless of title."

I was aware of that. It's the setting that I made.

That was one of the reasons he was called a villain.

And the villain spoke to me in a stern voice as if to declare.

"And you are the daughter of the Duke. At this moment in time, kid, I will entrust you with that authority."

"… am I going to punish Count Semond?"

My voice was a little shaky.

I once imagined such a thing.

Punishing all the servants of Semond County, including Count Semond, who made me suffer, with my own hands.

I thought it would be impossible in reality, but now the villain is giving me the right.

"You are the fourth child of the Duke of Wensgray, my daughter."

Henriette seemed a little hesitant, but reached out a little and caressed my hair in an awkward gesture.

His gaze was like melted ice.

"Anything you wish for will come true."

Revenge on Count Semond and his family.

"I am…"

And say goodbye to my hurt childhood memory.