The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 25

‘It must be terrifying for Lloyd.’
Well, that was the extent of my musings.
I had far too much to attend to for idle sentiment about the two of them.
‘I dismissed a great many workers before, but only those in lower positions Lloyd had no interest in.’
I could not touch those whom Lloyd had specially favored and placed in positions of authority.
Only by removing them could I completely erase Lloyd’s presence from the mansion. So I dismissed them without mercy.
Among them was the head maid, Elma.
Elma cried out in a sorrowful voice.
“How can you treat me this way, when I remained loyal even while you were confined to your chamber!”
“The fact that you served me at all is the only reason I’m ending this so leniently. I never punished you for ignoring me for three years, nor for pilfering the mansion’s belongings.”
“…!”
“But you will pay for what you stole before you leave. You must atone for your crimes, at the very least.”
Elma’s face drained of color.
She had stolen items of considerable value, and the sum demanded was astronomical—one that would require scraping together her entire fortune.
“My lady….”
I could see exactly what Elma was thinking.
She wanted to beg and plead until I changed my mind. But you, who have observed me closely all this time, should understand.
Once I make a decision, I do not reverse it.
Elma possessed a disagreeable nature, yet she had the acumen necessary to become head maid.
Rather than provoke me further, she clenched her teeth and bowed deeply.
“As you wish. …Thank you for everything, my lady.”
Elma did not know at that moment.
That she would never again work as a head maid in a noble household.
True to my word, I did not publicly reveal that Elma had stolen from the mansion.
But the label followed her nonetheless: a maid who had served Lloyd, that most contemptible of wretches.
No noble wished to employ a maid tainted by association with filth.
Desperate for coin, Elma eventually concealed her name and credentials, taking work as a lowly maid in some rural estate where she performed menial labor—but that is a tale for later.
Elma departed the mansion without imagining the bleak future that awaited her.
And Bibi, who had been absent for some time, returned to my side.
The maids whispered in astonishment.
“Wait, how is Bibi….”
“Didn’t she abandon my lady and flee?”
Their disappointment outweighed their surprise.
More than a few had been eyeing Elma’s vacant position.
“Predictable. My lady will surely promote Bibi to head maid.”
Yet defying their expectations, Artia elevated someone else to the position of head maid.
Susan.
The most senior maid in the Edenberg Mansion, a woman of gentle character whom many of the other maids followed.
“You’ve been passed over for promotion due to your foreign origins and Elma’s interference, yet you possess the capability befitting a head maid. From now on, lead the maids well.”
Though it was a promotion beyond her wildest dreams, Susan’s face had grown rigid and tense.
Susan bowed deeply to Artia and spoke.
“I have been of no help to my lady during her struggles. How could someone like me possibly rise to such a position?”
Artia regarded the anguished Susan with a calm voice.
“You were afraid of Lloyd, weren’t you?”
“…!”
“And I was not a master worthy of following despite that fear.”
Artia was virtuous, but she had never been a good mistress.
It must have been difficult to serve someone who could not even meet the maids’ eyes and spent every day locked away in her chamber, weeping.
‘That’s what makes Bibi’s loyalty so extraordinary.’
Artia spoke to Susan.
“From now on, I shall become a noblewoman worthy of my servants’ wholehearted devotion. So show me—prove that you possess the capability befitting a head maid of the great House of Edenberg. Prove that my choice was not mistaken.”
Susan gazed at Artia with eyes glistening with tears.
Soon, a profound resolve kindled within her innocent eyes.
“Yes, I shall prove it. I will repay my lady for this opportunity that I do not deserve.”
Once Susan became head maid, the maids truly understood.
“My lady does not favor only Bibi. Anyone with ability can be promoted.”
The maids’ eyes blazed with renewed fervor.
Watching the maids sweep and polish every corner of the mansion with far greater enthusiasm than before, Artia’s lips curved upward.
‘Indeed, to move people’s hearts, one must provide fair compensation.’
Artia watched Bibi set tea and dessert upon the table and asked.
“I hear the maids have been treating you well lately?”
“Yes.”
Bibi nodded with her characteristic stoic expression.
When Bibi had returned, the maids had not welcomed her—jealous that she would receive Artia’s full favor.
But once Artia promoted Susan to head maid, their reaction changed dramatically.
The maids released their hostility toward Bibi and showed her considerable kindness.
Some sought to befriend the Duchess’s closest attendant out of self-interest, while others felt sympathy for Bibi, who remained merely a maid despite serving Artia all day long.
Knowing all these circumstances, Artia asked.
“Are you not disappointed that I did not give you the position of head maid?”
Bibi answered with lightning-swift certainty.
“Not at all disappointed.”
“….”
“I am lacking in every way to deserve such a position.”
Bibi poured the tea with careful precision, her eyes grave and focused like a hunter stalking prey, as she continued.
“Even if I were to gain the skill to match such a position, I wish to continue serving you, my lady. For it is the greatest honor I could ask for.”
The teacup had filled with a verdant brew without my noticing.
Artia let out a soft chuckle and brought the cup to her lips.
Despite steeping the tea with all her care, the flavor remained delicate and unrefined.
Yet Artia sipped it gracefully, her smile radiant.
“I feel the same way.”
“….”
“Being served by you is an incomparable honor, Bibi.”
The tips of Bibi’s ears flushed crimson beneath her composed expression.

* * *

Watching Bibi’s biceps flex beneath her maid’s uniform, I murmured as though entranced.
“What magnificent muscles….”
The tips of Bibi’s ears, holding the teapot, turned a delicate shade of red.
When Bibi, blessed with a naturally imposing frame and sculpted musculature, declared her intention to become a maid rather than a hunter, people had mocked her relentlessly.
What noblewoman would ever desire a maid of such considerable stature?
‘Well, this noblewoman does!’
I gazed upon Bibi as she poured the tea, my expression one of pure rapture.
By tradition, noblewomen were expected to possess delicate, flower-like frames. A large skeletal structure or excess flesh was considered a grave flaw.
Thus, I had received rather unremarkable assessments regarding my own physique.
Though I endured such drivel as “Are you too thin to bear healthy children?” and “Your slenderness is pleasant, but you lack a certain fullness.”
I had felt wounded by such remarks, yet also relieved.
At least my thinness spared me from worse criticism.
But now, fury coursed through me.
‘Who do they think they are, speaking so carelessly about another’s body?’
Let anyone dare utter such words again. I would shove a hard, crusty baguette into that insufferably rude mouth of theirs!
For that, I needed strength—direct, physical strength.
“Bibi, I want a body like yours. Will you help me achieve it?”
Bibi did not offer some platitude about how such a physique was unbecoming for a noblewoman.
Instead, she simply nodded and retrieved a carefully selected stone.
“Lifting heavy objects builds muscle. Try lifting this.”
I grasped the stone in both hands and exerted all my strength.
Yet no matter how hard I strained, the stone would not budge.
Bibi spoke in her calm, measured voice.
“Let me reduce the weight.”
Bibi retrieved a smaller stone.
But this time too, I could not lift it.
Nor the smaller one.
Nor the even smaller one.
“I’ve got it, Bibi!”
Watching Artia cry out while lifting a stone considerably smaller than the one she’d brought at first, Bibi reflected silently.
‘It’s the same weight I could lift when I was seven years old.’
Rather than voice this observation, Bibi spoke with genuine sincerity.
“For your first attempt, you’re doing remarkably well. Truly impressive.”
At Bibi’s praise, Artia laughed with unmistakable pride.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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