TGDHC Chapter 72

Chapter 72 – Wounds Cut by Words

This wasn’t removing the head maid’s title in name, but it clearly meant that from now on Bennet would handle all the actual duties of the position.

Marzella, however, couldn’t find the right words to protest. The Duchess had just told her she was still the head maid.

But the authority of her title had already crumbled.

The “Zella’s Parlor” that she had spent years improving — saving budget to replace the leather on the sofas, changing the curtains’ fabric — had now been thrown open to any and all low-ranking maids as a common lounge.

Looking around with a dazed expression, she noticed that the maids in the parlor were oddly unusual — laundry staff, kitchen staff, and others from different departments, almost as if they’d been sent in on purpose.

By the afternoon, word of this would be all over the castle.

The Duchess planned this.

Marzella could sense her defeat and lowered her head.

***

I decided to take the opportunity to visit a few of the maids’ quarters as well. The rooms weren’t in terrible shape, but because the castle was old, there were quite a few spots in need of small repairs.

I told Bennet to make a list of everything that needed fixing and was on my way back to my room when—

“The head maid looked pretty shaken, didn’t she? Her hands were trembling when she gave me the key bundle,” Cecilia said, her shoulders bouncing in satisfaction.

We had just turned into my hallway when a tall man standing in front of my room turned his head.

It was Tiern, dressed in full uniform.

“…!”

He didn’t look well.

The bruising around his right eye hadn’t fully faded, leaving a blotchy mark, and there was a scab at the corner of his split lip.

Goodness, that handsome face.

I had found it hard to believe that the usually gentle Duke had beaten someone badly — but looking at Tiern now, he had clearly been on the receiving end.

“I’ve come to apologize for failing to properly protect Your Grace,” he said, placing a fist over his chest and bowing.

It was the first time I’d seen him act so formally.

“Did the Duke send you, or did you come on your own?”

“…I would have come even if he hadn’t.”

So, the Duke sent him.

I sighed inwardly.

“Come in.”

I let Tiern into the room.

Seeing his once-neat face now so battered didn’t make me feel good — and he’d even suffered the hardship of being thrown in prison because of me.

Not that we’ll see each other once the guard changes anyway.

“As you can see, I’m fine. You don’t need to concern yourself further,” I said, intending to brush it off and send him away.

“I heard you’re changing guards,” Tiern said, staring at my feet.

“That’s what the Duke said.”

The Duke’s suggestion of assigning the entire 1st and 2nd knight squads to guard me had been excessive, so I refused. But I didn’t object to Norton returning as my guard.

I’d learned how unsettling it was to entrust my safety to someone I couldn’t rely on.

And frankly, Tiern had never exactly hidden his dislike for me.

He should be glad to return to his original duties, even if his honor was a little damaged.

“Please allow me to continue as Your Grace’s guard,” he said.

“…What?”

His words took me by surprise, and I searched his eyes.

He wasn’t glaring like before, but that hint of rebellion was still there.

“I’m asking for a chance to make my mistakes right,” he said.

I looked over at Cecilia.

“Cecilia.”

Understanding immediately, she left the room.

Once the door closed and it was just the two of us, I spoke.

“No.”

That was it.

Tiern frowned, as if my curt answer wasn’t enough, especially after I’d sent the maid away.

“This concerns the honor of the 9th Knight Squad. Please show mercy.”

“No matter how many times you ask, my answer will be the same. No.”

“Why not?”

Should I say it? I hadn’t planned to bring this up.

“I know I’ve been disrespectful toward Your Grace,” he said. “If you want to punish me for that, I’ll accept it.”

“That’s not the reason.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, waiting for me to explain. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“I don’t trust you as a knight.”

“…What do you mean by that?” he asked, his voice low, his clenched fist showing bulging veins.

“The other day…”

“Was that really a mistake?” I asked coldly.

His eyes trembled slightly.

“Even my maid, who’s never held a sword, reached out to block that egg. Yet the captain of Blenheim’s knights failed to?”

I had seen it.

When the second egg flew toward me, Tiern flinched and started to lift his arm — but stopped at the last moment.

If he had followed through, I wouldn’t have been humiliated. Seeing his shocked face afterward had confirmed it for me.

Tiern stared at me blankly, as if he didn’t understand.

“The Duke probably thinks you were just careless. But I know you didn’t stop it on purpose.”

“…”

“I haven’t told anyone because I didn’t want to hurt the Duke, who trusts you. But that doesn’t mean I want a knight like you by my side.”

Tiern stayed silent, lips pressed tight.

“Don’t you think it’s cowardly? You didn’t dare confront the Duke who gave the order, yet you come to me, the victim, demanding another chance.”

It seemed I’d been holding in more than I realized.

The words poured out without pause.

“I don’t know what you expected from the so-called villainess from the capital, but I’m not the kind of person who keeps people around if they don’t want to be here.”

Sometimes, the “villainess” label was useful — it gave me a mask to wear with people I didn’t need to please.

“For the sake of the 9th Squad’s reputation, I’ll consider your apology accepted. You can tell people I forgave you.”

Tiern stood frozen, clearly stunned by my rapid-fire words.

“If you understand, you can go now.”

When he still didn’t move, I grew uncomfortable and dismissed him outright.

He left without even a bow — not out of rudeness, but because he seemed too dazed to think.

I hadn’t planned to go that far.

Maybe I shouldn’t have called him a coward.

But I had questioned his worth as a knight, so there was no going back now.

Still, I’d decided not to waste time trying to win over people who disliked me.

I’ve said everything I wanted. Let’s call it even.

And I let it go.

***

Tiern walked away with a hard expression.

“Was that really a mistake?”

The Duchess’s cold question echoed in his mind.

It hadn’t been on purpose — or so he wanted to believe.

When he’d heard the townspeople cursing the Duchess, it had suddenly felt like protecting her was betraying his father. Without thinking, he’d hesitated.

After all, his father had died because of Marquis Fasie—wasn’t it only right to let that man’s daughter be humiliated?

Only after seeing the egg splatter on her face did he regret it.

He had abandoned his knightly duty, letting a small woman be insulted.

In prison, all he could think about was whether the Duchess was alright.

And after learning it had been a petty scheme ordered by someone else, he’d been furious at himself for letting it happen.

That was why he’d gone to ask for another chance.

But he hadn’t expected her to lash out with such sharp, cutting words.

He couldn’t even argue back — because nothing she said was wrong.

He had been unworthy of a knight. He had been cowardly.

Her words hurt more than the Duke’s blows.

Shaken, Tiern left the castle.

***

The culprits were punished quickly.

The man who threw the egg had all his property seized and was permanently exiled beyond the Blenheim mountain range.

With no money and nowhere to go, it was practically a death sentence, but Cecilia just clicked her tongue and said that since it was spring, he probably wouldn’t starve.

The others who had caused the disturbance were sentenced to forced labor.

The merchants’ guild leader had publicly corrected the false rumors about me in a special meeting attended by the governor, and also sent official notices to all the shops.

“I still can’t believe Lady Meisel would do something like that,” Cecilia said as she prepared to leave for the day, shaking her head.

“Really? You seem to think more highly of her than I do.”

“Well, I knew she had a nasty personality, but I didn’t think she’d be bold enough to actually order something like this.”

Clearly not ready to go home, Cecilia sat back down and asked,

“By the way, how did His Grace find out Lady Meisel was behind it?”