C30
After thinking out loud, I picked up one of the paintings that had fallen to the floor and handed it to the head of the maids who seemed to have finished her conversation with Laura.
"This is the only decent portrait."
It was the smallest of the eight paintings.
"Just because Laura accepts your apology doesn't mean I'm giving it to you instead of breaking it."
The head maid hugged the tattered painting tightly with an expression of emotion.
"Thank you. Thank you very much, young lady. Thank you too, Laura."
"Make sure you never do it again."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!"
This was my strategy of "receiving thanks after being scolded to exhaustion." Usually, if you do ten things right and one wrong, you get criticized, but on the other hand, you often receive quite favorable attention.
Now, let's think about it carefully and try to escape before they notice anything strange.
If they contact the Cassius mansion in the capital and tell them to detain me there, things would become a little more problematic.
After dismissing the head maid and the three maids, I took the jewelry box that I had placed in the safe in my room. For now, I put the things Leandro had given me that were worth money.
Since he's a wonderful older brother to the female protagonist, he won't do something so unpleasant as to take back the gift he gave me when we parted, right, Mr. Leandro?
Anyway, it became mine the moment he gave it.
Apart from that, I didn't have anything I was particularly attached to, so I just took one or two things besides the diary.
"Let's get out quickly!"
"Yes."
"Oh, let's go now!"
I left the place where I had stayed for two years, accompanied by Terence and Laura, who shared my luggage. I had the feeling that I would never return.
"Come this way."
We only chose passages that the servants didn't use frequently.
While I was here, I couldn't act as a hostess and was very free, so observing people was one of my pastimes. Thanks to this, I had a rough idea of who passed where and when in my work system.
Even if they saw me leaving, it was obvious that they would catch me and ask where I was going.
"There's a dog's burrow there."
I also found the dog's burrow while walking through the garden on a day off because I couldn't control my free time.
I don't know if the hole is big enough for Terence to pass through, but he could probably jump a high wall.
But even when we almost reached the hole, we had no choice but to stop.
"It's been a while, young lady."
The old man stood in front of me and courteously bowed his head.
"... butler."
He was the general manager of all Cassius employees, the most trusted servant of the duke, and the head of the butlers.
"It's difficult."
If the head butler hesitates to make repairs, other employees will come. Of course, they couldn't harm me, but if they clung to the hem of my skirt, my departure would inevitably be delayed.
The head butler, perhaps aware of my concerns, closely observed the refreshing garden landscape.
"I remember the first time the young lady came here after getting married."
It was a calm and weak attitude.
"When she looked at this castle that I had spent half my life cultivating and said it was beautiful, I felt happy inside."
At a moment like this, I intuitively realized that this was just a story of the past.
The butler knows the series of events surrounding my divorce.
"I heard the story from Mr. Leandro. The young master, or rather the young duke, only briefly informed me of the situation."
"Are you going to call someone and stop me from leaving?"
"By no means. If I were to do that, I would have already canceled all transportation to the train station or blocked all the roads in Ashton."
"Really?!"
I didn't know if it would be possible to tie me down until the trial date, but the loss to this city and Cassius territory would be significant.
"Well, since Terence is here, the worst won't happen."
Once Terence communicates with the emperor, it's over. As much as it's Cassius, they couldn't imprison the emperor's son without justification.
But that would make things quite troublesome, so I asked, feeling a bit nervous.
"So, what do you want from me?"
"... Nothing specific. I just came today to bid my farewell."
"Last? Isn't there a guarantee that I'll get divorced?"
"The fact that a marriage is maintained doesn't mean that the couple has to live in the same house."
Furthermore.
"Whether it succeeds or not, it's as clear as day that the lady's heart will never return to this place."
The head butler, who seemed older than me and had the impression of a wise man, stepped aside. It seemed like he was telling me to hurry.
At that moment, I could hear the voices of the Cassius soldiers patrolling from a distance.
"Young lady..."
"Let's go quickly."
At Terence and Laura's urging, I passed by the butler with a sense of unease and headed for the dog's burrow.
After leaving Cassius Castle without any issues, we boarded the carriage we had used to get here.
Thanks to us giving the driver a generous tip in advance, he dropped us off, pretended to leave, and exited the castle to wait nearby.
"Where should we go?"
Terence tried to answer the driver's question.
"To Ashton train station..."
"Wait."
Strangely enough, something stuck with me. I don't know why, but I feel like I shouldn't leave like this.
"I think I need to speak more with the head butler."
"He let us go before, but you never know when he might change his mind."
It was just as Terence said.
The head butler is a loyal servant who has served the duke for over twenty years since he was young. The duke didn't appoint him as the head butler for no reason.
The head butler could understand all the family's affairs, big and small, in more detail than the owner and his wife. Depending on his choice, the information to be conveyed to the owner is divided into information that needs to be conveyed and information that doesn't.
Although the head maid currently wields more influence thanks to Liena's favor, those who serve as the eyes and ears of the head maid, who has worked for Cassius longer, are spread throughout the house.
"For that reason, it's something that should never be missed."
Originally, in this area, it was common to recruit employees to uncover the weaknesses of political opponents. Many people, including Cassius's head butler, would have promised huge rewards.
However, the head butler was always a faithful servant of Cassius. In the novel, even when the duchy faced various crises, he remained the same.
Naturally, questions arise. So why...
"Did he let me go willingly?"
Keeping me would have been Leandro's wish and Cassius's choice.
Somehow, I felt like I knew the answer.
"The head butler feels remorseful."
For me, who came to Cassius and lived a life like a doll, it was like being a mere spectator.
"Maybe he's on my side."
It was something close to hope, but as soon as I said it out loud, I started convincing myself it would happen.
If I were asked what kind of person the head butler was, I wouldn't have much to say.
He was a man I found it difficult to know what he was thinking. Someone who takes a few steps back from everything and observes silently.
What was quite surprising was that this also applied to things related to Liena.
That doesn't mean the head butler didn't like Liena, but compared to the other servants who went crazy because they liked the young lady, he was very noble.
Moreover, only once, I witnessed the head butler giving Liena an unexpected look.
What can I say, it seemed like he had complex emotions that couldn't be explained in words, and his eyes seemed to be looking at a distant being.
There were times when the head butler invited me first and had tea with me, and at that time, I tried to think about it in secret, but it didn't produce many results.
Of course, his age couldn't be ignored. And the natural way he spoke.
However, I continued to accept his offer, and we spent time together, and although there wasn't any special conversation, it was quite a comfortable time.
"At that time, I thought it was part of my duty as the head butler to serve his superiors."
I couldn't play the role of a proper hostess, but I was still the wife of the young duke.
"But now that I think about it, I think it was an expression of his regret towards the lady..."
Terence stroked his chin, thinking deeply.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yes. Is this a hasty assumption?"
"It's not an impossible story. If there's a shred of conscience, one of them must have a guilty heart. At least one person."
Although she smiled, it was a deep statement that conveyed emotion. Was my situation that bad?
Laura also added a word.
"I think I can too...! Come to think of it, the butler took good care of me."
"The butler, to you?"
"Whenever the lady was away from the castle on her way to the capital, he made me run various errands, and when I finished early, he even gave me pocket money to go play in the city. It was a simple task, so I used to go out to play every time."
It was like giving Laura, who had been keeping an empty room, some legal holidays.
Perhaps because Laura wasn't originally from Cassius, she felt left out among the employees. It seemed he took that into consideration and gave her some alone time.
Encouraged by their opinions, I decided to take a chance with this hopeful assumption.
"I need to meet with the head butler. There's nothing to lose, so I'll ask him to be my witness."
In fact, I was constantly worried that Laura alone might not be enough of a witness.
There was a good chance that the judge and the jury would believe that Laura's testimony was biased in my favor because she was a servant of the Wallace family who served me.
That doesn't mean Laura's testimony will be completely ignored, but it was disappointing. It would be good if someone who originally belonged to Cassius could testify in my favor.
"What if that person is the head butler?"
It would truly be the icing on the cake.
The fact that the head butler was a loyal servant who would sacrifice his life for Cassius was quite famous among the nobles. A good number of Cassius's political enemies had tried to lure the head butler but failed.
"Mmm... But there's no proper place."
Even if I return to Cassius Castle, I don't think I can have a quiet conversation due to the other servants.
Laura expressed her opinion.
"What about the head butler's house?"
From what I heard, the head butler said he stayed at the duke's house and commuted from his nearby home, which was different from the usual case.
"I don't know his address."
"I do! I once went to the head butler's house to run an errand."
Then, the carriage that was carrying us departed for the head butler's house.