The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - 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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Chapter 25

After Sandy left.
Alone in her room, Janet wrestled with her thoughts before breaking the protective amulet around her neck.
She desperately needed to discuss what had happened with Theo and Nova Morgan, but had no way to summon him.
‘Will this actually work?’
It was precisely when such doubt crossed her mind.
Tap, tap.
A familiar voice accompanied the sound of knuckles against the windowpane.
“Miss Janet?”
Theo?
Startled, Janet sprang from her seat and rushed to the window. Beyond the glass stood Theo, his hair disheveled as though he’d just come running.
The window creaked open, and his features became clearer.
“Theo.”
At her call, his eyes swept rapidly across the space behind her.
“Are you all right? What’s happened?”
“Well, it’s….”
Whether to call it an incident or not—that was the question.
After a brief hesitation, Janet stepped aside slightly as she spoke.
“Come inside first.”
It would be problematic if anyone saw them together. Theo climbed through the window frame with practiced ease and entered the room.
“Are you truly all right?”
“Yes, truly. I’m sorry for alarming you.”
Janet fidgeted with the broken jewel as she spoke.
“I needed to discuss something with you urgently, and I wasn’t sure how else to call you, so I used this.”
“I see. Feel free to use it whenever you need. I’ll procure a replacement magical artifact for you as many times as necessary.”
This must cost a fortune.
Yet Janet simply nodded quietly instead of asking. That was surely the response Theo wanted.
“So what did you need to discuss?”
“Ah, well….”
Janet recounted her conversation with Sandy.
As he listened to the entire account, his expression grew cold and grave.
“A crueler human than I imagined.”
A murmur tinged with rage, and beneath it, a glimmer of killing intent. Janet felt her skin prickle and rubbed her arms.
She understood Theo’s anger.
Regardless of the exact nature of their relationship, it was clear that Theo held Julietta Ludwig in special regard.
She was about to suggest they use this opportunity to completely remove Nova Morgan from the Ludwig Family.

“How is Julietta’s condition?”
“Don’t worry about that foolish child. She remains firmly within my grasp. I’ll hold her tight and break her whenever you wish.”
“Good. I’ll trust you on this, Nova Morgan. Don’t forget who elevated you to that position.”

‘This is…’
It was the same sensation I’d experienced when deliberating how to handle 27 million ecus in Soluna.
The conversation materialized vividly in my mind as text, and I furrowed my brow. The other party in the dialogue appeared to be Nova Morgan and someone else.
The problem was, I couldn’t discern who that someone else was.
‘Why is it appearing as text rather than a voice?’
If it had come as a voice, I might have recognized their identity.
“Is something the matter, Miss Janet? You look unwell.”
“Well, actually…”
I paused, choosing my words carefully.
Theo was trustworthy, but I couldn’t divulge everything to him.
I was uncertain where to begin and what I should reveal.
“I suspect Nova Morgan has partnered with someone—someone who’s backing her.”
“You mean someone supporting that woman?”
“Yes. It’s merely my intuition, though.”
Intuition.
Even I found the reasoning absurd. Yet instead of regarding me as strange, Theo nodded seriously.
“You believe me?”
“Of course. Your intuition, Miss Janet, is something I trust implicitly.”
Theo added with a slight frown, his tone growing grave.
“Then we must discover who Nova Morgan’s partner is.”
“That’s why I’m suggesting we postpone completely eliminating Nova Morgan for now.”
Not that I intended to spare her.
Nova Morgan’s lifeline was already in my hands, so I merely wished to delay the reckoning.
‘I have witnesses and evidence, after all.’
The poison Nova Morgan gave to Sandy.
And the antidote to the insomnia-inducing agent that Nova Morgan separately administered to Julietta.
Even if she’d obtained the drugs with utmost caution, once Ilinia began investigating in earnest, tracing the source would be trivial.
“She has the backing of the head maidservant herself. We won’t easily uncover her identity. So—”
“We use that woman as bait?”
At Theo’s question, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, I mirrored his expression and nodded.

***

Several days later, a considerable commotion erupted within the Ludwig Family.
The architect of this disturbance was none other than Nova Morgan, the Head Maidservant.
Armed Ludwig Family guards flooded into her previously quiet room.
Before long, the guards emerged, dragging a ashen-faced Nova behind them.
“L-let go of me! I said let go!”
Before her thrashing form stood William, the head butler, his hands clasped behind his back.
Nova’s body stiffened as she met the butler’s cold, piercing gaze.
“S-sir butler, this is all a terrible misunderstanding. I’m innocent! Truly, I am!”
“Innocent? Yet evidence after evidence has surfaced, and you still dare claim innocence?!”
He barked sharply, pointing toward the box the guards held.
Inside lay the bribes Nova had accumulated over time.
“Several days ago, we received an anonymous report detailing your crimes in meticulous detail.”
An anonymous report?
Who on earth would do such a thing?
Observing Nova’s wavering eyes, William continued in a stern tone.
“The crime of maliciously tormenting the servants and using such leverage to extort bribes.”
“N-no, sir! I’m innocent! Those were merely gifts they offered me of their own volition, asking me to look after them! I regarded them as gifts, not bribes!”
William shook his head at her flimsy excuse.
“So ignorance grants you the right to be shameless?”
“Of course. Is trusting people a crime?”
“Then how do you explain the yellow diamond that the maidservant Sien presented to you?”
“….”
As Nova stood speechless in shock, William continued.
“Had you truly believed it to be an ordinary gift, you should have returned it to its rightful owner once the maidservant’s crimes were exposed. Moreover, the investigation into that maidservant began precisely because the yellow diamond had gone missing.”
“I-I was simply too panicked….”
“So in your panic, you concealed its identity and sold it as stolen goods?!”
At his resonant rebuke, Nova hung her head low and bit her lip.
“We’ve already arrested the merchant who handled your jewelry transactions. He’s confessed to everything, so you might as well give up.”
“….”
Unable to suppress her ragged breathing, she struggled to contain her rising fury.
Calm yourself.
You cannot lose composure here.
‘This crisis is temporary, but it’s something that person can easily resolve!’
Given their past dealings, surely she could ask them to suppress such a matter. They possessed the power to do so, after all!
Yet Nova’s thoughts could not continue. A servant who had rushed in interrupted them with a report for William.
“An urgent matter, sir butler! A poisoning suspicion has just been reported from Lady Julietta Ludwig’s Separate Residence.”
“What? What are you saying?”
“It appears that the tea leaves the lady regularly consumed contained a toxic substance.”
As Nova overheard this, her complexion drained of all color.
“The culprit?”
“Whether it was the work of an outsider or someone within the household remains uncertain.”
William quickly briefed the senior knight on the situation before disappearing.
Nova watched the butler’s retreating figure with trembling eyes.
“I checked the tea leaves I had stored away, and it appears some sort of suspicious drug was mixed in.”
“A drug in the young lady’s tea! How dare anyone attempt such a thing…!”
The butler’s voice rose in fury at Janet’s revelation.
He was a man devoted to the Ludwig Family. Yet someone had poisoned the family’s young lady with a drug.
It was unthinkable.
“Do we have any suspects?”
“The most suspicious would be Sien, who worked here previously. She was the one who managed the keys to the tea storage in the warehouse. However, we cannot yet confirm Sien as the culprit with certainty.”
“This has become quite troublesome.”
“It is entirely my fault for being careless.”
William waved his hand dismissively at Janet’s words.
“Don’t say such things. If it weren’t for you, who else would have noticed the problem with the tea leaves?”
Janet bowed her head respectfully instead of answering.

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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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