Chapter 164

“The ruby was found inside Delma’s vase.”

Listening to Joseph’s report, Nellusion nodded.

“And?”

“The Duchess’s chief lady’s maid, the butler, and several other servants witnessed it. Many are calling for Delma to be expelled.”

“She’ll be expelled.”

It was a cold thing to say about the woman who had fed and cared for his precious little sister since infancy. Yet Joseph respected that about Nellusion.

A gentle outward manner held little power on its own. A disarming face had to be paired with a mind capable of using that disarmament to enforce one’s will.

As far as Joseph knew, no one balanced those two better than Nellusion. Which was why he disliked Nerys.

Nerys Truydd had always left a vague unpleasantness since childhood. He sometimes recalled how, on the night he missed his chance to kill Cledwyn Maindulante, she suddenly popped up in an all-too-convenient spot.

Had she truly been there for a lesson that night?

Hadn’t it even come out shortly after that she hadn’t attended the lesson?

But back then, she was only twelve. A child leaving her rural village for the first time would have no reason to lie brazenly to unfamiliar knights. Nor the nerve for it.

Joseph told himself so again and again. The unease never left.

Since the girl accused of murder entered this household, that unease had only grown. By Nellusion’s order, Joseph had escorted Nerys several times. And Nerys, in turn, had a way of staring squarely at his hands.

Those stares never lasted long, but as the man being avoided, he couldn’t help tilting his head. Wasn’t that… a look of aversion? As if he had committed some violence against her…

Moreover, Nellusion went strangely soft in matters concerning Nerys. The moment Joseph heard about the power of the Jeweled Eyes, he warned that she might use it against the house’s interests—but Nellusion did not.

The Duke seemed to trust his son’s judgment. But Joseph had been with Nellusion since childhood; in some ways he knew him better than the boy’s own father did.

At school and after, Nellusion had paid Nerys an unusual amount of attention.

So, in truth, Joseph half-hoped this time the culprit would prove to be Nerys. It would quell the household turmoil and pry Nerys away from Nellusion.

After all, hadn’t the feud between the Duchess’s maids and Valentin’s maids exploded only after Nerys arrived?

Catching Joseph’s complex expression, Nellusion glanced over and smiled gently. When there was conflict, it should be cut away; Joseph’s soft heart always tried to embrace everyone.

“Good work, Joseph. Go tell the butler that Delma is dismissed from this house as of this moment. Waste no time—throw her out at once. And expel all the maids who were close to her.”

“Yes.”

Thinking was not Joseph’s forte. He left to carry out the order.

A little later, sobbing, curses, and the sound of something being thrown drifted in from outside the window. Hearing it, Nellusion smiled in satisfaction to himself.

Delma had crossed the line. If one asked who was of use to this house—Delma or Nerys—anyone would answer Nerys. Even Joseph, who didn’t much like her, would say so.

Originally, Nellusion had little to say about Delma’s overreach. She did keep Valentin in good spirits, after all. Whether she sold off Valentin’s dresses or lorded it over other servants beyond her station, he had planned to overlook it so long as complaints didn’t reach above.

But—

‘You must choose what to touch.’

The commotion outside soon faded. From the receding sobs, it seemed the servants were dragging the expelled all the way off the estate.

Soon after, this time noise rose from the corridor outside Nellusion’s room—someone running in haste. With a bang, the door flew open.

“Brother!”

Valentin burst in, face twisted. Nellusion set down the papers he was reading and welcomed his sister warmly.

“Welcome, Valen. What is it?”

“What is it? I heard you expelled Delma! What is that supposed to mean? How can you throw out my Delma as you please!”

“Now, Valen.”

Nellusion sighed.

“You’re old enough to speak more calmly and politely. What will people think of you otherwise? They’ll keep seeing you as a child.”

“This isn’t the time to nitpick my tone!”

Striding up to his desk, Valentin shouted. Nellusion’s sky-blue eyes cooled behind his spectacles.

“Valen. Did you not hear me?”

Both siblings had sky-blue eyes, but Nellusion’s could sometimes be as cold as a winter dawn. Valentin swallowed.

Her heated face settled a little. She darted her eyes, then awkwardly changed her tone. She had always been loved by her brother in all things. She hated when he stayed like this for even a moment.

“…Delma is my wet nurse, Brother. She’s been with me since I was little, so without her there’s no one to attend me. This time… there was a misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding?”

Thankfully, Nellusion smiled again. Valentin, sweating cold, struggled to cobble together words. Delma was truly important to her. She could not let her be driven out like this.

“T-the ruby… We thought it went missing, but it turned up in Delma’s room. I had given it to Delma… I forgot and said it was gone. It was my fault… Delma did nothing wrong.”

“Is that so? Then why did Delma start by searching Nerys’s room? If what you say is true, the moment Delma heard the ruby was missing, she should have said she had it. Isn’t that right?”

Valentin’s far-fetched excuse was blocked at once.

Nellusion gazed at his sister steadily. His eyes were the usual gentle, loving ones, yet Valentin felt tense. She swallowed again and again.

“T-that was… all a misunderstanding. Anyway, Brother, if you call Delma back, we’ll explain everything…”

Ordinarily, Valentin didn’t have to think for herself. If she wanted to bully someone, Delma would devise a tailor-made scheme. So even when she tried to answer Nellusion coherently, she needed Delma there.

Knowing this well, Nellusion spoke kindly.

“No, Valen. You should have spoken honestly. That you and Delma colluded to drive Nerys out of this house. Then at least what you said would have had some coherence.”

So he knew everything. She had suspected as much, and her spirit crumpled.

Long ago, Nellusion had warned her, ‘Do not lay a hand on Nerys again.’ Since then, Valentin had picked fights only out of his sight and only to the extent that left no aftermath.

If not for the outrageous matter of Delma being slapped, Valentin would have stayed quiet for a while. Nellusion didn’t mind if she expressed a mild dislike of Nerys.

With that look, her brother never changed his mind. Black despair filled Valentin’s heart.

A presence that had stood by her all her life had suddenly vanished—partly because of her.

“…Hng!”

She had to go to the Duchess—or to the Duke. Her parents rarely objected to Nellusion’s decisions, but she had to plead somehow.

So deciding, Valentin ran out in tears.

Watching her disappear, Nellusion sighed. Entering without knocking, leaving without closing the door, running about sobbing—Valentin needed to be calmer.

Yes… like Nerys.

Nellusion didn’t truly believe Delma had stolen. As he told Valentin, he guessed the rough outline.

But not knowing about the elite covert-corps maid, he inferred differently the reason the ruby had been found in Delma’s room.

One of Valentin’s maids had sided with Nerys. Whether for money, or for the status Nerys would someday hold in this house, he couldn’t say.

For some reason, someone had decided to spill Valentin’s plan to Nerys. Otherwise, as Joseph said, Nerys couldn’t have responded so calmly.

And, remarkably, Delma had entrusted the ruby to that very maid who had gone over to Nerys. And was neatly betrayed.

Thanks to that, Nellusion didn’t have to hear the Duchess insist Nerys be expelled. And he had removed the person most likely to make a concerted attempt to frame Nerys.

At the same time, he disliked that Nerys had gained someone to use in secret. Her every move ought to be reported to him. That was why he had placed Alice at Nerys’s side.

Now that Delma—and everyone she might have entrusted the ruby to—had been expelled, the problem was gone.

So Nellusion thought, satisfied.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Have our people gotten in?”

At Nerys’s question, Dora reported with unconcealed admiration.

“Yes, Young Lady. Captain Talfrin has sent word. One maid from Yaheon and one manservant have entered. The Elandria ducal house is picky about servants’ origins, so it’s been hard to probe—but they’re delighted, saying it’s a remarkable success.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

With Delma expelled—and all the maids close to Delma expelled with her—the Elandria ducal residence carried out a sweeping personnel reshuffle.

They could not assign a brand-new hire to attend Valentin, so those who had been in the house relatively long were pulled over. The positions they vacated were filled by those more recently hired, and the positions they then vacated were filled by hurried new hires.

Since people weren’t handles on swords to be swapped one-for-one, the distribution of attendants throughout the residence was rebalanced while they were at it. Several new male attendants were hired as well.

Among those new hires were people from Yaheon, lined up in advance with the deputy butler’s younger brother, just as Nerys had suggested.

This would make it easier to communicate with Cledwyn—and also make her own safety a little more secure. Thinking so, Nerys smiled in satisfaction.

The Elandria ducal house had stood with the imperial family since the founding of the empire. It was second only to the imperial house in nobility, overflowing with not only power but wealth and connections.

To deal with such a house, one had to advance step by step. For now, she had succeeded in planting eyes in key places.

‘Shall I land a solid blow?’

The Wells family was rich and close to the Duke, so many of the Duke’s connections were financially tied to them.

If the Wells family wobbled, those connections would shake in turn. However important history and tradition were, they were never more important than the immediate matter of livelihood.

“Deliver this to the Moriér Merchant Group, Dora. If you judge it safer to burn the paper and carry the content by memory, you may—but it’s complex, so better to deliver the paper.”

Nerys folded a long-prepared letter and handed it to Dora. Dora’s eyes shone dutifully.

“Yes! Then I’ll deliver the paper as is. I ask only to help my judgment—what kind of document is it?”

“Orders. Half to protect those who would be murdered without cause, half to commit everything to business in a particular region. There’s someone who, upon hearing of a certain release, is fretting right about now, debating whether to act.”

“Most excellent content, Young Lady. As expected, you are remarkable.”

“Thank you.”

Excellent, was it. Nerys knew better than anyone that such a word did not suit her; a wry smile rose, but she answered Dora kindly.