Flowers are beautiful, and if displayed in a room, they brighten the heart.
But, would Gloria remember the exact types and shapes of each flower in the bouquet she saw today ten years from now?
It's more likely that she would remember the process of receiving the bouquet—the who, when, and where—than the individual flowers themselves.
To Gloria, servants were like those bouquets.
Like flowers that are replaced once they wither, servants disappear when they are no longer useful, only to be replaced by someone new.
Only those with exceptional skills or those who have been trained by influential noble families leave a lasting impression.
Gloria had noticed Kyla's presence because of the betrayal and murder by her daughter, Kate, in her previous life.
Recently, Kate had been strangely quiet, which felt off to Gloria.
Soon, the duchy would participate in a charity event hosted by the church, donating handkerchiefs for a bazaar. As she embroidered, Gloria observed Kate, who was nervously organizing her embroidery threads, occasionally glancing at her.
The matters about the servants, much like A-ko's random trivia about shrimp anatomy like shrimps having their guts in their head, didn't really matter to her.
However, it wouldn't be good to completely ignore Kate, who seemed to want to talk. For now, she needed to keep Kate close as a trusted tool until after she graduated from the academy.
The saint and the crown prince had used Kate as a spy to gather information about Gloria. Kate, who had been utterly devoted to the saint, must have been a useful asset.
Gloria had cared for Kate—by her own standards.
Although Kate was a commoner, Gloria had trained her so that she could serve as a maid for a noble family. She had taught her the manners needed to serve the nobility, and for them, Kate must have seemed like the perfect servant.
She had even planned to bring Kate with her to the royal castle after marrying the crown prince. But then, she had been betrayed.
"What happened?"
Reluctantly stopping her embroidery, Gloria asked, and Kate immediately started to cry, her brown eyes brimming with tears.
"O-Oh, young lady..."
In her previous life, Gloria had strictly disciplined Kate for her shortcomings. But what she needed to do now, rather than forcefully controlling Kate, was what the saint had done in her past life: "coaxing."
This meant that she would have to tolerate a servant who prioritized her emotions over her master's requests.
Gloria felt thoroughly disgusted.
"Did something happen to Kyla?"
What Gloria was really asking for wasn't Kate's emotional reactions but the factual information about what had happened to her mother.
When she repeated the question, Kate answered through her sobs.
"My mother... she's sick! She has this terrible cough, and a fever... she's been unconscious for so long!"
Gloria tilted her head slightly, remembering a similar phrase from somewhere.
(Ah, wait, is this the moment? Can I speak now? This is the game's plot!)
A-ko, who had been speaking in her head, seemed frantic.
(This is from the scene where Kate first deeply hates the villainess and decides to betray her! If you don't handle this well, Kate will become an "ally" for the heroine, playing the role of a helper...)
Gloria, understanding the situation from A-ko's words and the images that had appeared in her mind, finally grasped that this moment had been the catalyst for Kate's devotion to the saint.