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“Found you, little rat.”
“......Gasp!”
A rough hand hoisted me up.
Grabbed by the scruff of my neck, my body floated in the air!
“Ack!”
With one sharp gesture from the large maid, my body was flipped 180 degrees.
Spinning around.
“Out you go, little rat.”
In an instant, I was kicked out of the basement.
Then, with a loud thud, the door slammed shut.
Because of them, my back slammed hard against the door.
“Coco isn't a little rat!”
A group of tall, strong maids were glaring at me.
“Sigh, how did she sneak into the basement?”
“I was sure I was guarding the basement door.”
“Hurry up and go bring Lady Mary. We need to consult with Lady Mary on what to do with this brat.”
I pouted, remembering my pressed-down shoulders.
My vision blurred, and I felt as if my feet were slowly sinking into a swamp.
Feeling my hair stand on end, I gulped and stared at them defiantly.
“I just came to get my squishy toy, so what does it matter!”
“......Ha. What? A squishy toy?”
As soon as I finished speaking.
With a small rolling sound, a mouse from afar tossed the squishy toy toward me.
I gripped the squishy toy tightly in my hand.
“This bone-shaped toy!”
“Why are you looking for this here—”
And, as if the ‘bone-shaped toy’ were a switch.
Boom!
The entire hallway shook violently, and the clicking sound of someone descending the stairs could be heard.
Then, holding a dim lantern, a sister with a terrifying expression appeared.
“What is everyone doing here?”
The reason I didn't have to be intimidated by those maids!
My sister told me I could roam the mansion freely. And she said if I found the toy, I should shout, ‘Bone-shaped toy!’
‘She said then she’d come to get me, no matter where I was!’
Startled, the maids' grip slipped, and I landed safely on the floor with a soft shoo.
‘Sister never enters the basement where the ledgers are hidden.’
Then I just have to find the ledger and give it to her.
I stuck my tongue out at the bewildered maids.
Then, I ran pitter-patter toward the door where my sister was standing.
“You know, a mouse moved through a really amazing passage!”
“......Did it now.”
“So I curled my body up round and round and came all the way to the basement!”
There was only one reason I lured my sister—who would have wanted the toy I had hidden in the mansion.
“And, while picking up the toy, I found a very, very suspicious book!”
“A suspicious book?”
“Yes! It says ‘Embezzlement’—or something like that!”
Yes, it was the embezzlement ledger.
Objective evidence that could drive away the wicked maids who were friends of Lucrezia, my sister's stepmother!
I straightened my shoulders and smiled proudly.
My sister took the squishy toy with care, but took the ledger carelessly.
“......We shall speak further later.”
“Oki!”
“And as for you maids.”
My sister's voice became bleak, like a death sentence.
“Follow me outside. All of you.”
* * *
“Is it fun? Gathering in the basement every night to plot.”
“That is.......”
“You didn't do it thinking I wouldn't know, did you?”
“.......”
The head maid, Mary, bit her lip hard.
Chloe never entered the basement with the moss-covered stones.
Because of that, they had boldly used the basement as their own hideout.
It was also true that they had plotted to embezzle the budget there.
‘But why is she suddenly acting like this? She never cared before.’
Head maid Mary was even more bewildered, unable to fathom Chloe's intentions.
“You shouldn't have crossed the line.”
Chloe waved the embezzlement ledger that Coco had handed her.
“The embezzlement case.”
“.......”
“You recorded it quite thoroughly.”
The head maid, who had been silent, muttered while curling her trembling lips.
“Is there a reason you are suddenly doing this? I believe you were already aware of the embezzlement.”
“How arrogant of you to dare ask your master for a reason.”
In truth, Chloe had no interest in the maids' tracks. She had simply been waiting for the toy that the child would find.
However.......
She remembered Coco's bruised shoulder.
And the way her body had been roughly slammed.
“I was lenient, and it seems you've grown bold.”
If left as they were, more troublesome things would surely happen. So, no matter how tedious, it was right to kick them out before that.
The head maid bowed her head.
“......I understand. I shall withdraw and return to my original master.”
As someone with a backup plan, the head maid remained calm.
“You think resigning is the end after being caught doing something reckless?”
“As you know, the full authority to punish the head maids of each annex belongs to Duchess Lucrezia Ardos. Since the Madam is currently away at the temple, that authority belongs to Lady Theresia, her representative. Therefore, I shall receive my punishment directly from the Madam or Lady Theresia.”
“I wonder.”
Chloe grabbed the wrist of the head maid who was trying to leave.
“You haven't memorized the house laws properly.”
“That cannot be.”
“There is such a clause in the appendix of Article 1, Paragraph 10 of the house laws. ‘Depending on the peculiarities of the family, supernatural abilities may be used to punish servants individually.’”
Chloe whispered, tightening her grip on the head maid's wrist.
“As payment for being arrogant in front of me, I shall take away your sight.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the vision of the head maid and the other maids was buried in a deep darkness.
“Inside this dark basement.”
“W-what is this.......”
“In the cold darkness where you cannot see, struggle until tomorrow morning.”
Just like someone who was once trapped in the basement.
Chloe maintained her arrogant gaze, hiding her trembling fingertips.
“Aaaah!”
“L-Lady Chloe. T-this is......!”
The head maid collapsed and was seen groping the floor.
She was trapped in a nightmare within the darkness.
“I-I can't see....... H-help!”
“M-monster......!”
“Hic, h-help me, h-help......!”
Some felt auditory hallucinations amidst the terror of blindness. Others suffered from terrifying hallucinations.
It was amusing to see them twisting their bodies wildly to avoid invisible attacks.
She had properly dealt with Lucrezia and Theresia's lackeys.
Now that she had evidence, she could put a small crack in the reputation of that mother and daughter.
She flipped through the embezzlement ledger created by the head maid with indifference.
‘It's a hassle, but I'll have to hire new maids.’
Those who are capable, unrelated to Theresia, and won't cause trouble.
For the first time in a long while, she felt a tiny bit refreshed.
However, Chloe stumbled as she tried to leave the area.
A ‘delusion’—a side effect of dark magic—sprang into her mind.
“How are our Coco's feet so pretty?”
“Woof! Woof!”
“Oh, did you bring a flower? To show your sister?”
“Woof!”
“Good girl, my baby. You're the prettiest in the world. Right?”
For the first time in a very long time, Chloe smiled softly.
She felt as if Coco's warmth was at her fingertips.
But that warmth lasted only a moment. The warmth vanished instantly, and a freezing pain seeped into her bones.
It was the side effect experienced when using dark magic beyond one's capacity.
It makes one continuously hallucinate happy memories, and when those memories vanish, great pain follows.
But.......
‘What is this?’
Chloe opened her closed eyes.
It didn't hurt anymore.
Strangely, this side effect had ended extremely quickly.
‘Why on earth?’
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