WHEN Cesia returned to the Diane estate that night, Selene slapped her face hard. The sound echoed throughout the room. Cesia’s cheek instantly started to swell and turn red. Raymond and Viscount Diane were also there, standing next to Selene as her face went crimson from anger.
“My lady,” Cesia said gingerly.
“You… You whore! You should be ashamed, trying to seduce Lord Raymond!” Selene shouted at Cesia.
Cesia looked at Raymond in surprise. He was smirking, but when Selene looked at him, he corrected his expression.
“Lord Raymond, I’m so sorry that this ill-bred, lowly maid…!”
“No, I don’t mind… I’ll always love you and only you, Selene… I was at the Academy when she tried to seduce me while pretending to be you.” Raymond made an appalled pose. “I’m sure she did it there because she knew that if I rejected her, it would look like you and I were on bad terms.”
Cesia glared at him.
“Look, she’s still defiant. Selene, Lord Diane, she’s not necessary anymore, is she? Graduation is only the day after tomorrow,” Raymond pointed out.
“Right now, attendance is optional, too. Father, for now, let’s lock her away somewhere.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Viscount Diane nodded in agreement with Selene’s statement. He turned to address Cesia. “You tried to seduce Lord Raymond. That’s a clear violation of our agreement. As such, your payment is forfeit.”
“I…!” Cesia raised her voice, panicking. “I served as Lady Selene’s substitute for two years! Does none of that count for anything?!”
“Silence! Trying to seduce your mistress’s fiancé is outrageous debauchery! You should be thankful I’m not having you whipped!” the viscount yelled.
Cesia shrank at his reproachment, but she couldn’t just sit there and take it. “I didn’t seduce Lord Raymond! He assaulted me out of nowhere!”
“Shut up! Stop lying! You tried to entice me to touch your chest!” Raymond shouted.
Raymond’s assertion that it was her fault only amplified Cesia’s anger. “You’re the one who should be ashamed, Raymond Chaser! Trying to shift the blame after you felt me up without warning! How can you consider yourself worthy of your family name?!”
Raymond’s face turned red with anger. He quickly went up to Cesia and pushed her onto the floor. “A woman like you has no right to insult me or my family!”
“Ha,” Cesia snorted, “don’t make me laugh…” She propped herself up on one arm, then somehow got up. She glared at them with her purple eyes, and the three flinched.
“Someone! Come and shut this maid away in the storeroom!” Viscount Diane yelled, his voice echoing throughout the mansion.
The servants who showed up in the room were surprised to see Cesia, but they followed their master’s orders and restrained her before taking her away. Cesia didn’t want to be hit again, so she obediently went with them to a cramped, dark storeroom at the north end of the mansion. Once they shut her inside, she heard the cold clank of the lock.
“Locked away, huh?” Cesia sighed as her anger gradually subsided. Raymond had acted faster than she had expected. Then again, it was only natural that the coddled Raymond would be quick to respond to having his pride wounded.
Cesia made a small light with magic, then looked at the antiquated lock. It was a traditional type that unlocked with a certain key. It was harder to open with magic than ones that opened by undoing a hook. She could blow away the door with magic, but the loud noise would give away her escape.
She did, however, have another option.
“This is too easy. If they wanted to restrain me, they could’ve at least put magic cuffs on my wrists and ankles.”
Inside Cesia, an unceasing flame burned brighter.
Her pay had only been agreed upon verbally. Even so, Cesia hadn’t expected the viscount to refuse to pay her to keep quiet about substituting for Selene. She had underestimated how stingy he was.
As the lowest-ranking maid, Cesia had rushed around the mansion, performing all sorts of odd jobs. Thanks to that, she understood even the fine details of the building’s layout. She put her hand against the wall closest to the outside.
“I’ll make them all regret this.”
No matter who she was up against, she always fought with all her power. The only person who could protect her was herself.
✦ ✦ ✦
A day passed.
The only window in the storeroom, used for ventilation, was so small that not even a child could crawl through. Still, Cesia was glad she could tell when the sun set. She got two meals a day, one in the morning and one at night, and not getting those would’ve thrown off her internal clock if she couldn’t see when it was light outside.
The graduation party would be held tomorrow. Viscount Diane had ordered the servants to keep watch on Cesia, but they didn’t have nearly enough free time for that. The viscount hired as few servants as possible, and he worked them like draft horses, wanting to skimp on any expense he could. Cesia, too, had the ostensible job title of maid, but she had been made to do almost anything around the house. In hindsight, she could easily imagine that, even if Raymond hadn’t pulled anything, the viscount would’ve blamed something else on Cesia to get out of paying her.
“I was stupid for letting myself get blinded by the money.”
Cesia bit her lip and continued channeling magical energy into the wall. Destroying it in a single blow would cause a commotion, so she had been breaking through little by little to avoid making too much noise.
She had learned this way of using magic at the Academy. Most of what she knew she had to learn as ways to oppose her bullies, but she was still proud that she had become this skilled in even the fine application of magic.
“When I was at the Academy, I was freed from work, and the food was good. And I had fun chatting with my friends…”
There were a ton of bad memories, but there were a few good ones, too. The time had been worth it. She had learned how to pretend to be a lady and had gained some general knowledge along the way, even if some of it wasn’t very useful to people who weren’t nobles. And, of course, her studies and her magical ability had progressed. With this, even after she fled, she could make a decent living somewhere, far from anyone who knew her.
“But first, I can’t forget to get even with everyone who made a fool of me!”
Cesia tapped the wall, and some pebbles quietly spilled onto the floor. The hole in the wall was large enough for someone to crawl through.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE next morning, everyone in the estate was working hard to get Selene ready for the graduation party, and the maids were busy dressing her in jewelry and a specially ordered dress for the big day. It wasn’t just Selene; parents were invited, so the viscount had to get ready, too.
Besides, the party would be at the Royal Academy, in the capital. While the king himself wouldn’t show up, the students had grown restless with the announcement that Prince Marcus would attend in his place.
In the middle of all the commotion, no servants were available to bring Cesia her breakfast, so naturally, nobody noticed she was gone. In fact, because Cesia wasn’t there as a maid to aid in the preparations, they were even busier. Having foreseen all of this, Cesia had escaped the night before.
Luckily, she had been shut away just after returning to the viscount’s mansion from the Academy, so she was still wearing her school uniform, not having had the chance to change into her maid’s uniform.
As usual, she passed through the gates of the Academy, acting as Selene Diane. However, that was it. She had made it into the Academy but didn’t yet have any plans for what to do after that. For the time being, she hid between some shelves in the empty library, brainstorming what to do, when she heard a man’s voice.
“Excuse me, are you Lady Cesia Kathrin?”
Cesia paused, sizing up the speaker. He was a handsome young man with silver hair and blue eyes. He wore an excellently tailored butler’s uniform, and despite his age, he had a calm demeanor and a confident tone of voice.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Prince Marcus’s butler, Chris.”
“His Royal Highness’s?” Cesia frowned, not understanding what he meant. She knew Prince Marcus was coming as a visitor to the Academy, but she had no clue why he knew her name or why he was making the effort to get in touch with her. Cesia asked cautiously, “What business does His Royal Highness’s butler have with me?”
Chris made a slight smile with his thin lips. “I have a message from His Royal Highness: ‘If you’re going to get payback, I’ll help you, no matter what.’”
At those familiar-sounding words, Cesia widened her eyes in surprise.