Chapter 163

Delma had never been slapped in her life.

No—perhaps she had as a child. She’d grown up poor on the streets, often brawling with other kids. But after losing her husband and young son at eighteen and becoming baby Valentin’s wet nurse, her life changed.

A young lady as noble as Valentin was supposed to have a wet nurse who was at least a relative of some high-ranked family. You couldn’t thoughtlessly bring common trash into a place that influenced a great house’s heir.

But Delma was young, and she had the advantage of having no child at home to nurse after work. A bit of luck helped too, and she successfully entered the Elandria ducal house.

Baby Valentin lived a life utterly unlike Delma’s. A single carving hung at a corner of her cradle cost more than Delma’s entire house. The bright-red infant who knew nothing but how to wail surely had no need of that carving, yet there it was.

Delma had never seen such wealth. Did she feel jealous? Fall into despair? She had long forgotten what she felt when she first started as a wet nurse.

She merely judged that baby Valentin could make her own life as valuable as that carving. And her judgment proved right.

The baby who saw her every day and took her milk relied on Delma completely. Delma, in turn, poured everything into the child.

So that the child would prefer her over her birth mother. So that, even if she ignored her father’s words, she would heed Delma’s.

Valentin grew quickly. Delma was happy. A wet nurse who never once said “no” received from the child the greatest power the child could give.

By the time the young duchess had become a little tyrant of the household, Delma was someone even most noble young ladies would not dare to slight.

She had long been treated with deference. She had forgotten the days of being ordered around—let alone being slapped.

That was why she had been outraged beyond belief when Nerys treated her like a servant. On top of that, to be slapped by the Duchess’s maid whom she herself secretly despised—there was no greater humiliation.

Insulted, Delma resolved to drive Nerys out of the house at all costs. Valentin raged as well and took Delma’s side. But when the Duchess—whom they had counted on—said they should wait and see, Delma grew anxious.

The Duchess did not particularly like Delma. She knew about the friction between Delma and her own ladies’ maidservants. But what did maidservants matter? If her beloved daughter Valentin wished it, the Duchess would bring a beggar off the street and seat her in a room.

For that Duchess to take a lukewarm stance felt like a betrayal to Valentin, who fumed. Delma was upset too. Was she being disregarded after all?

Then today, after returning from shopping, Valentin grumbled about meeting Megara—and gave Delma an idea.

Come to think of it, when Valentin first entered the Academy, there had been rumors about Nerys. Wasn’t theft among them? The true culprit had been someone else in the end, yes, but—

What did it matter if the true culprit was someone else? They could pin it on her. If they could drive Nerys out quickly, a somewhat crude method was fine. So Delma consulted with Valentin and brought out a few dresses Valentin didn’t wear.

Even Valentin’s plainest dress cost more than what ordinary noble girls commissioned for an imperial ball. Delma had been skimming off such unworn dresses to sell for a tidy profit, so she begrudged giving them to the thorn in her eye, Nerys.

But if Nerys would disappear because of this, what comparison was there?

They deliberately summoned Nerys under the pretext of “giving clothes” to publicize that Valentin had shown open kindness. If the Duchess thought her beloved daughter’s kindness had been repaid with betrayal, she would not back down this time.

While the Duchess and Valentin “taught” Nerys court etiquette, Delma had one of the maids she usually commanded take Valentin’s ruby to Nerys’s room. That maid was meticulous and capable; Delma did not doubt she would follow instructions precisely.

The awkward question—“Was it taken by mistake?”—had been to leave no escape route. Once “I absolutely did not take it” came out of Nerys’s mouth, that fox-brained girl wouldn’t be able to spin an explanation later.

Therefore, what was happening now was something Delma had not anticipated at all.

“It’s not turning up.”

Tap, tap, thud. The footmen searched thoroughly, tapping not only the mattress but every corner of the floorboards as Nerys had said. But not only did no ruby appear, they didn’t find even a hidden compartment.

Of course not. This was a bedroom intended for guests. No hidden nook had ever been designed into it. And no young lady staying here temporarily would carve one out.

By rights, the ruby should have appeared long ago, yet not even a reddish garnet turned up.

Delma couldn’t help flicking her eyes toward the maid she’d ordered to plant the ruby. The maid had gone pale.

From that unbelieving face, it didn’t look like betrayal. Delma’s gaze crept over Nerys’s face—a small, delicate face that now felt somehow terrifying.

‘She knew from the start?’

Impossible. Even Valentin and Delma had only thought of this today. No one had had time to tip Nerys off—Delma knew that best.

Joseph Caron, who was directing the servants, wore a regretful look when nothing turned up—not even after they checked every brick of the fireplace. In the end, he gestured for the servants to restore the room.

“My apologies, Lady Truydd.”

“I’m glad the misunderstanding is cleared up, Sir Caron.”

Nerys answered with a smile. Joseph looked even more regretful at that smile, but he had no pretext to remain.

He gave Nerys a courteous bow and was about to leave when she stopped him.

“Sir Caron, are you going to search the other rooms now?”

In fact, Joseph had only answered Delma’s summons to search Nerys’s room because she insisted. If anything happened to Nerys in this house, he had to report to Nellusion immediately. Catching a household thief was not his usual duty.

When he hesitated, Delma’s face twisted. A fiery urge rose to shout at him to search again, more thoroughly.

Nerys’s attendant maid was from this house. Nerys herself had come straight here from Valentin’s room and had not stepped out. Where could a ruby without legs have gone?

…Wait.

Delma’s mind suddenly cleared. With an excited face, she stepped forward.

“Just a moment. Lady Nerys, I’m sorry, but I think we ought to check one last thing—whether you hid the ruby inside your clothes. You told us to pry up even the floorboards, so this much should be fine, yes?”

Naturally, frisking a noble was not fine at all. It was the surest sign of doubting the last honor of integrity. But Nerys nodded readily.

“Let’s do that. Sir Caron won’t be the one doing so, I trust?”

Joseph’s face flushed. He gestured to the servants.

“Leave the room.”

He himself started to step out as well, but Nerys stopped him again.

“Just a moment, Sir Caron. You don’t need to go. You must assess whether the search is conducted properly and report to my brother, mustn’t you?”

The way Nerys took it for granted that everything about her would be reported to Nellusion made Joseph uneasy. But she wasn’t wrong, so after a hesitation, he agreed.

A splendid screen covered with foreign silk was brought in. With Joseph stationed by the door and Delma and the maids kept near, Nerys undressed behind the screen.

Just in case, Delma rifled through Nerys’s garments like mad, one by one. Perhaps there was a hidden pocket. But though the clothes inconveniently looked fine, they had nothing like pockets.

‘How? How on earth?’

Delma’s mind turned to chaos. She glared at Nerys, who stood in only the bare minimum of undergarments.

Even though she surely had never stood in her undergarments before so many people, that golden-haired girl was perfectly composed—like a royal accustomed to dozens of exclusive attendants.

Nerys had worn only a faint smile from the start. That unreadable smile felt like thorough mockery, and it drove Delma mad.

While Nerys dressed again, Delma glared at the maid she’d ordered to plant the ruby. The maid pleaded her innocence with her eyes. From the way she kept glancing toward the table, it seemed she had originally hidden it there.

Soon Nerys emerged once more, perfectly polite in her attire. She addressed Joseph with easy friendliness.

“Since it’s come to this, please take command of the servants and find the culprit outright. After being suspected to this degree, I’m aggrieved and must know who it is. You agree with my grievance, don’t you, Sir?”

Regardless of his personal feelings about her, Joseph was a knight and, for the most part, a man of principle. He nodded.

“Yes. Understood.”

“Then let’s go.”

Joseph opened the door for Nerys to pass. She left the room with the natural air of someone attended by a retainer.

There weren’t many rooms nearby: unless it was one used by the ducal family, it was a small sitting room, a resting study, or the bedrooms of the maids who waited closely on the family.

Nerys approached the room used by the Duchess’s chief lady’s maid. She knocked, and the chief maid—who happened to be inside—showed her face.

“Oh my, Lady Nerys.”

The chief maid brightened at Nerys, then blinked at the crowd behind her. Delma, who had hoped to end this quickly with a select few, was irritated by the appearance of that hateful face.

“Valentin’s ruby has gone missing,” Nerys said. “It’s so valuable that we’re searching every nearby room from top to bottom. They nearly dismantled the fireplace in my room just now—my apologies, but may we check yours as well? Of course, we’ll check the room next door and the one after that too.”

Before Delma could scale things down, Nerys sought permission without hesitation. The chief maid stared squarely at Delma, as if she sensed something, then nodded.

“Of course. If it’s that important, we should naturally cooperate.”

Joseph looked troubled at the prospect of rummaging through women’s rooms, but matters had gone too far to withdraw. Otherwise, it would be said that only Nerys’s room had been unfairly searched.

He and the servants searched the chief maid’s room. Since it held more personal items, the household maids began to gather as well.

The entire house staff was converging. After finishing the chief maid’s room, the group moved to the next.

The next room was Delma’s. Standing before her door, Delma suddenly realized that every eye in the house—friendly or otherwise—was fixed on her back.

A chill ran down her spine. Cold sweat beaded. She had a feeling she knew where the ruby was.

“Why aren’t you opening the door, Delma? It’s fine to search our rooms, but not yours?”

With a gentle voice, Nerys murmured to Delma. Delma squeezed her eyes shut and opened her own door.