The Duchess Is Looking for Her Husband
Chapter 7
In the end, Bibi handed the teapot to Artia.
Artia picked it up and remembered something from the original Artia’s memories.
‘People used to make fun of Artia because she couldn’t even pour tea properly.’
Whenever Artia held a teapot with trembling hands, people would laugh.
Even her father, Benedict, would shake his head in disappointment.
“You can’t do anything properly.”
But the truth was that Artia only became nervous when she was in front of other people.
She had received strict training since she was three years old.
She actually knew perfectly well how to pour tea.
As naturally as flowing water.
Bibi’s mouth opened slightly when she saw Artia pour the tea.
Drip, drip.
Hot tea filled the teacup in front of Bibi perfectly.
“Try it.”
Bibi hesitated because she felt she shouldn’t drink tea poured by her master.
Artia spoke again.
“To serve tea well, you also need to know how tea tastes.”
“I am honored. Then I will gratefully drink it.”
Bibi bowed and brought the teacup to her lips.
A moment later, Bibi’s eyes widened.
“It is delicious.”
A faint blush appeared on her scarred cheek.
For someone who rarely showed emotion, this was a huge reaction.
Artia’s shoulders naturally lifted with pride.
But then a shadow fell across her face.
Artia looked up.
Elma had approached without her noticing and was looking down at Artia with a frightening expression.
“Madam, I have something to say.”
Artia had been smiling like a young girl while looking at Bibi.
Now her expression instantly became cold.
“What is it?”
Elma glanced at Bibi before speaking.
“No matter how much I think about it, Bibi has far too many shortcomings to serve you properly.”
Elma placed a hand against her chest.
“From now on, I will personally serve you, Madam.”
The head maid, who usually only gave orders to the other maids while moving her lips, was offering to personally serve Artia.
It was a bold offer.
But so what?
Artia answered without the slightest interest.
“No.”
“……!”
Elma’s eyes widened as if she had been betrayed.
Artia ignored her and looked at Bibi with a gentle smile.
“Bibi is enough for me as my maid.”
My maid.
It was a warm and affectionate way of speaking that most noblewomen would not normally use with a maid.
Bibi’s usually blunt face became slightly red.
Artia found her reaction cute and smiled before standing up.
“The weather is nice, so I wanted to have tea outside for the first time in a while. But there’s someone disturbing us. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes.”
Bibi nodded and opened the parasol.
Under the parasol held by Bibi, Artia began walking toward the mansion.
Elma shouted after her.
“Madam! Even though my family has fallen in status, I come from a noble family. I have worked as a maid for twenty years and have served many famous noblewomen. I am far more capable than someone like Bibi!”
Artia turned her head slightly and replied coldly,
“But you don’t have a heart.”
“……!”
“You don’t need to serve me. Just manage the other maids properly.”
With those words, Artia turned around and walked toward the mansion with Bibi.
A little distance away, the maids had been watching Artia and Elma.
“Madam really got the better of the head maid, didn’t she?”
“Yes. Completely.”
The maids laughed when they saw Elma’s face, which looked as if she had been slapped several times.
Then their eyes turned toward Artia.
Artia walked proudly under Bibi’s parasol.
She looked so…
“She looks like a noblewoman.”
“She isn’t just like a noblewoman. She really is one.”
And not just any noblewoman.
She was a member of the prestigious Edenberg ducal family, one of the highest-ranking noble families.
The maids suddenly remembered something they had forgotten.
Their eyes now held a new emotion.
Respect for someone far above them in status.
Of course, there were still more maids who looked down on Artia.
“Hmph. Her arrogance won’t last long. As soon as the master returns, she’ll become frightened and return to her old self.”
“She’ll probably be severely punished for locking up Lady Lirika and then hide in her room crying.”
But some of the maids thought differently.
“I don’t know. If that’s really what will happen, why is the head maid trying so desperately to please Madam?”
Elma had served nobles for many years.
Her personality was unpleasant, but nobody was better than her at sensing where power was and flattering the person who had it.
If someone like Elma was trying so hard to gain Artia’s favor, it meant that Artia had gained some kind of power.
One of the maids noticed Bibi standing right beside Artia.
“Just a few days ago, she was only doing difficult household work. Now she’s serving Madam…”
“I heard Madam immediately chose her as her personal maid because she obeyed Madam instead of Lady Lirika that day.”
Even if Artia’s power disappeared when Royd returned, one fact would never change.
Artia was still the mistress of this mansion.
And most maids naturally wanted to serve the Duchess rather than spend their days doing laundry and cleaning.
Until now, the only way to become one of the Duchess’s personal maids was to bribe Elma and flatter her endlessly.
But now things were different.
“Maybe I can become Madam’s personal maid too if I make her like me.”
The ambitious maid’s eyes shone.
The attitude of the maids who had ignored Artia began to change.
Some of them especially tried hard to gain her favor.
“I’ve been assigned to clean Madam’s room. I’ll make it so clean that there won’t be even a speck of dust!”
“I washed your blankets. I dried them in the sunlight, so they smell fresh and feel soft!”
“I brought the finest carrots grown in my hometown. May I give them to you as a snack?”
Even Elma joined them.
“No matter how hard Bibi tries, I’m sure there are many things she lacks. If you need anything, please tell me at any time.”
Artia had expected the maids to stop treating her like an easy target.
But she had not expected this much.
Their sudden attention was a little overwhelming, but she didn’t dislike it.
Her room was polished until it shone like a brand-new house.
Her blankets were as soft as clouds and smelled like sunshine.
And she had delicious, crunchy sticks of the finest carrots.
Everything was perfect.
‘I love the daily life of a Duchess!’
She wanted to live like this forever.
But unfortunately, Artia’s happiness was about to end.
Royd would soon return.
‘Should I send an assassin to Royd and make sure he never comes back?’
The thought came to her while she was reading a novel called 100 Ways to Kill Your Husband.
It was a surprisingly tempting idea.
It was certainly inhumane.
But after everything Royd had done to Artia, she didn’t think it was impossible.
‘But Royd takes extremely good care of his own life.’
He always had several knights protecting him.
Taking his life would not be easy.
And even if she succeeded, she would receive at least the death penalty if her crime were discovered.
‘Most importantly, I don’t want to dirty my hands with the blood of someone like him.’
So that idea was rejected.
‘Let’s think of another way to stand against Royd.’
Crunch, crunch.
Artia thought deeply while eating carrot sticks.
Artia closed the book she had been reading and began to take action.
Artia had always kept her head down and remained silent.
But that didn’t mean she had failed to notice everything around her.
“I clearly remember the faces of everyone who looked down on Artia.”
The people who laughed out loud while watching Royd speak harshly to Artia.
The people who stood beside Lirika and happily gossiped about Artia.
Artia gathered those people together and spoke.
“You’ve all worked hard until now. You can leave the mansion from today.”
“……!”
The workers looked shocked by the sudden dismissal.
They fell to their knees.
“Madam, we are sorry! Please forgive us!”
They looked rather pitiful.
But Artia had no intention of changing her decision.
She wasn’t dismissing them simply because she wanted revenge.
She wanted to fill the mansion only with people who were willing to follow her.
