The big hall of the mansion was truly something to see. It was enormous and decorated with intricate designs.
Fancy chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their crystals sparkling like stars at night, casting a cozy glow that filled the shiny marble floor.
Many maids stood quietly along the sides of the hall, looking a bit nervous and resigned, which made the vast room feel even bigger.
Their neat uniforms looked crisp and clean against the walls filled with mana inscriptions, which seemed to emit heating magic.
In the middle of the hall, a small, glowing blue orb lay pulsing gently, illuminating everyone's faces around it.
At the center of it all stood the Duchess.
She had golden eyes fixed on the orb, her arms crossed tightly, giving off a strong aura that commanded the maids' respect. But underneath her tough exterior, she appeared cold, sending chills down the spines of any maids brave enough to look at her.
Suddenly, an older maid stepped forward, her hands shaking slightly as she spoke up, breaking the heavy silence.
"Please, Duchess, he is just a child. Don't do this. He would die!" Her voice was filled with emotion as she begged for mercy.
The Duchess turned her icy gaze towards the maid.
"It's his last chance to prove himself. Either way, I will end his life for tarnishing the name of the Liander family." Her voice was sharp, lacking any warmth, slicing through the tension around them.
The older maid felt hopeless at the Duchess's words.
She knelt down, her forehead touching the cold marble floor as she pleaded, "Please, think about the pain you endured to bring him into this world. How could you be so cruel?"
Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling onto the ground beneath her.
"I gave him life through pain, which grants me the right to take it away," the Duchess replied coldly, her voice unyielding.
Despair washed over the older maid as she looked up, her eyes shimmering with sadness.
"Reconsider this, my Lady," she pleaded, her voice trembling with desperation.
"He is just a newborn—!"
But before she could finish, the other maids stepped in, their faces serious.
They grabbed the older woman by the shoulders and pulled her back forcefully.
"Stop it, Lady Kassidy!" The old maid hissed, urgency mixed with panic. "If the Count hears about this, he won't forgive you."
"Do you think that naive idiot would be able to do anything even if he gets angry?" The Duchess's voice was rough and sharp, showing no concern for the old woman as she firmly stated, remembering the child she had given birth to, born without a trace of mana. As she added, "...that child is just as useless as his father!"
"Just like father, just like son," the Duchess remarked, her expression hard. "Throw this woman out of the mansion. Don't let her back inside."
"No! You can't do this to me!" Old woman protested, struggling against the hold of the younger maids. "I am the head maid of this mansion!"
Anger and disbelief filled her voice, but her pleas were ignored.
The younger maids kept pulling her away, their resolve strong, but the old woman still yelled, "Duchess, don't forget—it was the Count who saved you."
"Without him, you would have been killed by your brother. Even if we call you Duchess, you are still just a Countess." The old woman recalled how, two years ago, Count Vinlig, having received his title and discovered a mana mine on his territory, had gone to the Royal Kingdom for the necessary paperwork.
There, he married this woman and brought her to his northern territory in the Vendal Kingdom.
Given his naive and kind personality, everyone thought she must have fallen in love with his genuine personality, but slowly this woman showed her true colors and took control over the entire Vinlig territory.
Given the Count's focus mostly on the welfare of people and his blind trust in his wife, he remained unaware of all these things.
Even when the head maid informed him that new maids had been recruited from suspicious backgrounds, he just said that the lady of the house was Lady Kassidy, and as a wife, it was her duty to see which maids she wanted to recruit.
He ignored all the warnings from the head maid and the other old servants because of his love for his wife.
Just a few days ago, when the Count left the mansion to deal with the monster rampage on the borders, the head maid overheard Lady Kassidy expressing her desire to divorce the Count after taking his mana mine.
Everything started to make more sense: Kassidy's real goal from the start was to use the Count's kindness to gain control of the mana mine he had discovered and to make herself strong enough to reclaim her position as the new Duchess of the Liander Duchy, given that her father is the present Duke and the only heir is not very smart.
The head maid, forgetting her loyalty, which aligned more with the Count and his bloodline, disregarded this woman's position the moment she attempted to kill the future heir of the Vinlig territory and yelled, "You will never hold the head seat of your family, Kassidy Liander!"
"Enough—WHOOSH!" Before the head maid could add further, the Duchess flicked her wrist and flames sprang up, cutting through the air.
Seeing a surprise attack, the old woman activated her awakened ability—which was a shield-type ability—to protect herself, but the force of the flames was too much.
Flames crashed into her, throwing her violently against the wide-open gates of the mansion and swirling her body around.
Thud
"Haah... Haaah—khwack!?" She fell to the ground outside, gasping for air as the cold bit at her skin. The snow outside crunched beneath her, and the sharp winter air stung her face.
"Head maid! Are you all right?!" A few loyal gardeners and maids hurried to her side, worry etched across their faces, panic rising in one of the maids' voices as she knelt beside her.
The old woman nodded, though pain shot through her body, making her grimace. "Yes, I'm fine," she managed to say, her voice strained but determined.
She glanced back at the mansion, her eyes falling upon the warm glow coming from inside, while its gates were surrounded by four maids standing like guards, clearly possessing offensive awakened abilities, signifying that no one was going to enter.
Outside, the whole area was covered in snow, unlike inside the mansion, where separate magic circles etched on the walls glowed warmly.
But neither the head maid nor the servants around her cared about the cold chilling their bodies.
Instead, they looked inside toward the mansion, knowing that if this didn't stop, they would lose their young master.
Looking back inside, the head maid noticed that the ladder leading to the upper floors was just in front of her.
'!?'
"Y-young master?!"
She saw six maids slowly descending while holding a small newborn child in their arms, and her eyes widened, realizing that there would be no stopping this.
If she still remained hesitant, thinking of how Lady Kassidy would awaken her motherly affection and refrain from harming her child, it would be too late.
Grabbing the shoulder of one of the maids, she yelled, "Lily, contact the Count using your ability! The Mistress will kill the young master! Tell him to COME BACK NOW!"