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The longer their quarrel went on, the more she could feel her intelligence getting lower and lower. Deatrice was fuming inside. She wanted to get rid of this loud and cheeky servant, but she had an inkling that this was something Lucius wanted.
He knew her personality, and Deatrice assumed that he thought she would just easily give up because she wouldn’t be able to handle this kind of servant. But by leaving her to deal with this attendant all by herself, it only showed how spineless he could be.
Holding back her boiling anger, she took a step back and shifted her attitude, trying to somehow accommodate the unruly servant first.
She said, as softly as she could while having turbulent emotions, “You don’t need to worry about losing your job. Even after I officially took over, I would still need to ask for your help. If you’re good, I’ll consider taking you as my assistant.”
But Tom wouldn’t surrender easily.
“The lord has never told me to hand over the job to you. If you’re really doing this for the master, then it would be most helpful if you just stay put.”
“You said it yourself, it’s for Lucius. Shouldn’t I be more involved then? I’m married to him, and you’re just a servant.” Deatrice subtly narrowed her eyes, “Besides, you have nothing and I have a lot. Who do you think is more trustworthy to handle the manor’s finances?”
He immediately felt indignant, “Are you implying that I’m a thief?!”
She slightly tilted her chin upwards, “I’m just doing my best to see things through a fairer perspective.”
Although her words weren’t meant to be that provocative, it can be helped that Deatrice still looked down on his loyalty.
For many years, Tom took pride in what he did and had the utmost loyalty to his master.
But her questioning words made him feel extremely aggravated. As if an irrelevant outsider, who knew nothing, interfered with his life and kicked him out.
“A fairer perspective?” He spoke angrily. “I have dedicated my life to my lord! But you? Have you ever done anything for him? You’re not entitled to everything just because you’re married to him!”
“You don’t get to dictate what I deserve and what I don’t.” she countered.
Her voice had turned frigid, but Tom was already too agitated to notice.
“Even a lowly person like me knows how important it is to trust people. How come you’re acting so hypocritical now? Years ago, when the incident came to light, you threw the master away like a dog—”
Her palm connected to his cheek with a crisp slap.
Tom’s was veered to the side by the impact. Although he had already prepared himself to be hurt, he didn’t expect that she would hit him directly.
A thin streak of red was visible from the left side of his face, cut by the sharp jewel on Deatrice’s ring. She then uttered with a low voice, “Like an insignificant rat, you think you know everything?”
Holding onto his tingling cheeks, Tom looked back at her—her eyes, icy as they were, had taken on an arctic-blue hue because of her anger.
“Well? Go on, get out.” She suddenly urged, “Leave this room and tell the others how the new mistress had mistreated you, insulted you, and beat you into submission.”
She stared at him directly in the eye. “After all, that’s what you’re here for, right?”
“If I said something wrong—”
“I said, get out.” She didn’t want to hear it.
Turning around, she walked towards a chair and sat down, her unmoving back positioned towards him.
Tom watched her.
As a young and immature child, he reveled in the sense of victory. But today, Tom simply stood there with a blank expression.
Because he couldn’t erase the image of her gray eyes that had turned blue from his mind, as if there was a story deeply hidden inside them that he was unaware of.
But as far as he knew, the past was nothing more than Deatrice’s betrayal.
As expected of a witch.
She’s playing with my head.
After seeing the scene of her quietly resting her back against the chair, he left. Just as she had ordered her to.
The madam hits people if things don’t go the way she wants.
He silently planned.
However, his musings were interrupted when Rosalynn suddenly came out of Deatrice’s room. The maid thought his face would still appear constipated from all the insults he had received from her lady, but on the contrary, he actually looked quite calm and composed.
Tom raised his chin cockily.
“Why? Do you have something—urgh!”
The rest of his words scattered into thin air, because Rosalynn struck him on his neck.
It wasn’t a simple palm slap either, she hit him with her fisted knuckles.
“Ahhh! What are you—!” Tom felt the entirety of the pain travel from his neck to his spine and up to his head.
As he was about to get up in protest, she quickly followed up with a kick to his shins and he keeled over to the floor. When he was all hunched up, he suddenly felt another kick to his back and felt his face make contact with the ground.
“Are you crazy?!”
What kind of girl could throw her fists and kick so harshly and so quickly?!
In front of him, Rosalynn’s ferocious eyes looked down at him. Without even realizing it, Tom hesitated and lightly shrunk his neck to avoid being hit again.
“Be rude to the lady, one more time,” she warned, “trust me when I say that I’ll break your legs.”
She drew her face closer to him.
“Don’t call her a marquess either, with the intention of insulting her about this place not being the duke’s house. Because I will cut your tongue off and throw you out as if we were in ‘the duke’s house’. You hear me?”
Rosalynn used her index finger and made a slicing motion against her neck, never taking her eyes off him.
Then she quietly retreated back to her lady’s room.
Stunned by the maid’s actions, Tom stood up and felt his blood rush to his brain.
“Crazy wench.”
The next day, Tom appeared before the other servants with bruises. The manor immediately erupted into speculation.
Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t a rumor pointing out that the master’s new wife had hit him, quite different from what Deatrice had expected.
Because the bruises made by Rosalynn on his long chin were more conspicuous than Deatrice’s slap and the cut on his cheeks, everyone had disregarded it and simply asked him where he got those bruises.
Only Lucius found out that Deatrice had hit Tom by closely scrutinizing his face and seeing the scar left by what could’ve only been a ring. He then said, in a voice filled with sullen joy:
“Mm. It must have hurt.”
After hearing his consolation, Tom pretended to cry in front of Lucius, saying he got beaten when he was only defending his master’s good name.