/
Up until that point, Doah had been lying down on the floor to conserve her energy. But at that moment, she jumped to her feet.
The door cracked open just enough for a dirty bowl to be pushed in. It was obvious without even asking—that bowl had not been washed.
‘Are you just going to deliver the bowl this time?’
You can’t leave just like that.
While the other person was being careless, Doah quickly squeezed her small body through the gap in the door.
And just as she was, she rushed out like a bull with all her might.
“UGH!”
A woman in a maid’s uniform plopped down to the floor.
The bowl in her hand fwick— flew and fell on her brown hair.
At the same time, the stinking, sticky soup completely covered her head.
“You… Are you crazy?!”
The other maids also got shocked, and they similarly screamed as they saw Doah’s unexpected behavior.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay, Melissa?”
“Do I look like I’m okay?”
Melissa snapped back at the other maid who asked the question.
Huffing vigorously, she threw the bowl on the floor. She barely calmed down to wipe her face with a handkerchief. Then, she shouted sharply once more.
“You must be out of your mind, you devil-like thing. I told you to behave!”
‘Ophelia’s exclusive maids.’
The maids who were surrounding Doah at this moment were close aides who stood behind the ‘real Ophelia’.
Other than these maids, the only people who knew that Bunny was a fake were House Credel’s vassals and representatives from each department, who all had devoted their entire lives to the grand duchy.
The other servants had since been replaced for the sake of confidentiality.
After all, there was a risk that Bunny’s existence could be made known to the world.
‘The knights and mages who they couldn’t afford to fire were instead required to make a vow of secrecy and they continued living in this castle.’
However, the three exclusive maids that Ophelia cherished the most weren’t kicked out, even when they didn’t make the vow of secrecy.
‘Grand Duke Credel didn’t kick them out so that they’ll still be here when Ophelia returns.’
Her room and the things inside were left as they were so that the grand ducal castle wouldn’t feel unfamiliar to her.
He couldn’t help but do this. The grand duke loved his daughter so much.
‘Thanks to that, Bunny’s been looked down upon and persecuted by these maids.’
Their subtle disrespect and harassment turned more explicit the further Bunny lost Credel’s favor.
And now that she was trapped here in the spire, it was to the point that nobody cared about her anymore.
“Do you still not know your place?”
At that moment.
The handkerchief was flung towards Doah’s face and fell to the floor.
“……”
Doah stood still as this happened, sweeping her sticky cheeks with her fingers slowly. Then, she raised her head.
And, she looked carefully at them
As though she could look right through them, in both life and death.
“W-What the…”
Melissa faltered for a moment, seeming to have gotten weighed down by Doah’s sudden change in demeanor.
But the maid soon raised her eyebrows ferociously with a red face.
How shameful it was to flinch in front of a child.
“If it weren’t for us, you’d have already starved to death. You don’t even know how to be grateful, this arrogant brat.”
As she mentioned, the maids were also in charge of Bunny’s meals and took care of her.
Sure, with boiled mop water called ‘soup’.
It was natural that the already malnourished Bunny got thinner day by day because of this.
“You’re not going to complain about the food, are you? Even if this much is already more luxurious than any food you used to eat in your hometown.”
Melissa and the maids standing behind her giggled, hitting each other’s shoulders as though it was such a great joke.
“Now that the soup we painstakingly cooked got spilled like that, what should we do, Sara?”
“Oh, what to do? I guess she’ll starve.”
“You only get what you deserve, after all. How unfortunate.”
Sara had a sour smile on her face as she spoke, poking Doah’s chest with one finger right below her collarbone.
“But I won’t just give you another bowl tomorrow. If you want to eat, then try begging. That’s what you do best.”
Doah swayed on her feet as Sara continued poking her, but all the while, Doah was just staring at Sara’s face.
At the same time, that same eerie feeling passed through her entire body like tremors.
Sara quivered as chills ran down her spine for a moment. She frowned and soon folded her finger.
“Why in the world have you been having that terrible look in your eyes since earlier. What, you want to play with me?”
This time, Sara leaned down close as if threatening the child.
“Stop it.”
The third maid hid Doah behind her.
“Emma. Just who are you defending right now?”
Emma flinched as though she was scared, but she tried hard to speak clearly.
“W-What if Bunny runs away at this rate?”
“To run away and try to avoid Credel’s pursuit? My.”
Melissa snorted.
“But you never know. Bunny is necessary for Her Ladyship. If something bad happens to Bunny and the curse gets affected on this girl who’s already weak…”
Emma trailed off.
Then, Melissa sighed with a somewhat disinterested face.
Emma tended to get dragged around by the two other maids and was forced to do their bidding, but whenever the two would try to cross the line, Emma would always step up and try to mediate.
“Anyway, aren’t I so nice.”
The maids threw several insulting words towards Doah, then they eventually shoved her back into the room.
Just before the door closed,
Emma, who met Doah’s eyes, had a small smile on her lips paired with a sad expression.
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.’
That’s what her expression seemed to say.
And so, Doah was trapped here once more.
“Hm…”
But still, her original purpose had already been achieved.
Doah had read those maids’ faces.
“…So it’s you.”