Home/The villainess's personal maid is very good at her job/ch 52

Episode 52

"Haha. Long time no see, Janet."

As Janet stepped into the reception room, her face cooled.

"Indeed. It's been a while, brother."

At Janet's greeting, Simon smiled obliviously and waved.

And beside him—

The Viscount and Viscountess Graham, seated side by side, glared at Janet with sharp eyes.

"What brings you here?"

"Hah. What brings us here?"

The Viscountess scoffed, repeating Janet's words as she rose from her seat and shouted.

"You dare say that after running away, deceiving your parents?!"

"Calm down, my dear. If word gets out, it'll be troublesome."

"But this insolent girl……!"

At the Viscountess's outburst, the Viscount shook his head. Janet barely suppressed a sneer.

'They haven't changed at all.'

Shameless, conscience-free, and still pretending to be dignified.

"You look well. It seems being the Lady's handmaiden suits you."

"Yes. It suits me very well."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it."

The Viscount answered leisurely and smiled.

"I was actually a bit surprised. That someone like you—with no idea what lowly blood you might carry—became a Ludwig handmaiden."

"……."

"Then again, Julietta Ludwig is no ordinary person either. Perhaps you two suit each other."

At the Viscount's words, Janet's eyebrow twitched.

"Viscount."

"Yes."

"I don't mind you insulting me, but I cannot tolerate you mocking her Ladyship."

At her rather cold and firm tone, the Viscount's face hardened.

"And if you can't tolerate it, what will you do?"

"This is Ludwig. It would be no trouble at all to call some people and have uninvited guests shown out."

"……."

At the sharp-edged words, the Viscount fell silent. But only for a moment.

"Haha. How amusing."

Laughing, he scanned Janet with mocking eyes.

"It seems you've forgotten something, Janet. That you, too, are a Graham."

If she called someone to expose the guests' faults here, the arrows would also fly toward her.

After all, everyone here was bound together as Grahams.

"Whether you like it or not, we are family."

"You've never treated me like family, yet you speak so easily."

"Y-you insolent girl……!"

As the Viscountess grew agitated again, the Viscount held her back and calmed her.

"Yes. I never treated you like family. That hasn't changed. But—"

Letting out a low laugh, he leisurely leaned back on the sofa.

"I still hold the right to decide your marriage. Why? Because I'm your legal father, and you're my legal daughter."

"……."

"That's proof that we're family. Isn't it?"

The Viscount asked and elegantly sipped his tea. Simon, who had been quietly watching, followed his father's lead and took a sip.

"I've already made my apologies to Count Verdin."

"Apologies?"

"Yes. I told him that since my daughter has become a Ludwig handmaiden, her value has increased."

Value?

At the blatant choice of words, Janet let out a dry laugh.

"So you don't even bother hiding that you were trying to sell me off."

"I was merely finding a good match for my daughter."

"How can you even say that……"

"But you seem to have changed a bit?"

At the Viscount's words, Janet widened her eyes.

Changed?

She supposed that might be true.

Of course, recalling her past life had a big influence, but even compared to before, she felt different.

'In a way, it's only natural.'

Until now, Janet's world had been the orphanage and the Viscount's household.

But after meeting Theo and becoming Lady Julietta's handmaiden, so much had changed.

She'd realized that what she'd always taken for granted wasn't actually natural.

In a life filled with misfortune, she'd discovered dazzling luck.

Color had been added to her tired, monochrome life—so of course her personality would change too.

Theo often said that since meeting her, Lady Julietta had improved greatly, but perhaps it was the opposite.

Janet had been improving as well.

And more than anything—

"You wouldn't know this, Viscount, but I have a reliable backer."

"A backer?"

His tone suggested it was laughable.

Naturally, he seemed to think Janet was lying.

"Dear, enough of that—let's get to the main point!"

The Viscountess, who had been watching with suppressed agitation, impatiently interjected.

"Janet, you. As the Lady's handmaiden, you must be making good money, right?"

"Cough, hack! Hack!"

At the mention of money, Simon, who had been drinking tea, choked and coughed.

"Oh my, are you alright, Simon?"

"Yes, I'm, I'm fine, cough!"

"Janet! Go get some water! Our son is going to choke!"

At the familiar command, Janet let out a short breath.

What made her even angrier was that she'd almost moved to get water out of habit.

Staring at the pathetic, hacking Simon, Janet said—

"Did you know? Brother Simon took my employment deposit—thirty million Ecl."

"Wh-what? Th-thirty million Ecl?"

"Yes. He took it, saying he'd triple it. I wonder if it's tripled by now."

"Simon. Is what she's saying true?"

"No, that's……"

Simon, who had stopped coughing, glared at Janet with resentful eyes.

"I tried so hard to cover for you!"

"Enough. Simon, what did you do with the money? Did you lose it all already?"

As the Viscountess pressed him, the Viscount also glared at Simon sharply.

Hunching his shoulders, Simon averted his eyes and answered.

"No. I was really confident this time. But then it went slightly wrong……"

"Don't tell me. Was that the day you came home beaten up?"

The day he came home beaten up?

'I was the one who commissioned someone to take Simon's gambling money.'

So Simon's gambling opponent must have been from Illinia.

Which meant Illinia had roughed him up.

'Well, I'd have hit him too.'

She could confidently say that the only people who didn't feel like punching Simon were the Viscount and Viscountess.

"Mother, Father. What's done is done. What matters isn't the past, but the future—"

"Ugh. Just be quiet."

The Viscountess scolded Simon and let out a deep sigh. Then—

"Janet. You know our family has been struggling lately."

She glared at Janet with sharp eyes. It was her own son who'd lost the money, yet she was glaring this way.

"If you're going to work outside, you should contribute to the household. How much is your monthly salary? How much have you saved? I don't know how much you have, but you should hand it over quickly to help your father's business."

"Anyone listening would think you'd entrusted it to me."

"You've been needling people all along!"

Finally, the Viscountess rose from her seat again.

"Ahem. Dear."

"No. Don't stop me this time. She keeps acting above her station!"

Huffing, the Viscountess rolled up her sleeves.

It wasn't the behavior of a noble lady, but rather of an agitated commoner.

"You seem to think working at Ludwig makes you noble. We took in a lowly creature with no known origin, clothed you, fed you!"

Her fierce voice tried to scratch at Janet. But Janet felt no blow.

She'd heard these words too many times already.

During her three years at the Graham household, she'd heard such insults to the point of nausea.

At first, she'd been wounded and cried, but gradually she learned to let the abuse roll off her.

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

Whether positive or negative, they adapt.

"Maybe we should lock you in the storage room and beat you again to knock some sense into you!"

Just as the Viscountess's voice grew even louder—

Burst.

The reception room door opened without a knock.

"W-wait! There's already another guest……!"

The flustered maid's protest was briefly heard, but was soon drowned out by another voice.

"Have you been well, Janet!"

The identity of the middle-aged man who appeared with a booming voice was——

'……Who?'

A complete stranger.

Back   Next