As always, it began with something trivial.
People had started watching Eleanor.
The servants often looked at her whenever she passed by, so at first glance it might not have seemed unusual.
But there was a clear difference between the absent-minded glances born of curiosity and the furtive looks cast with unmistakable intent.
The latter carried a distinctly unpleasant, ominous feeling.
Every maid Eleanor passed would steal a glance at her, but the moment she sensed their eyes and turned to look, they would hurriedly scurry away as though nothing had happened.
There was no way that wasn't strange.
"The atmosphere feels unusually restless today."
"I know, right? Why does everyone keep staring?"
Lisa, not yet sensing anything truly serious, rested her cheek against one hand and tilted her head. Eleanor simply shrugged.
She assumed it would end as nothing more than an odd little incident that lasted a single day.
But the stares stubbornly continued the next day as well.
By the following evening, when it was nearly time for dinner, both Eleanor and Lisa had begun to realize something was wrong.
Hidden eyes seemed to prick at Eleanor's skin from every blind corner of the castle.
The gazes were too gloomy to be considered friendly, yet not openly hostile enough to be called outright malicious.
Back in her room, Eleanor and Lisa sat together, trying to make sense of it.
They had been staying here for more than just a day or two.
Why would attention that hadn't existed even on their first day suddenly appear now?
"Why are the people in the castle acting like this all of a sudden? Could it be because we went to Levin?"
Lisa shook her head helplessly.
"I honestly have no idea."
"I don't think it has anything to do with Levin."
"Then what's the reason?"
"I'm not sure either... but I don't think it's anything good."
If Eleanor searched her memories for a similar experience, one immediately came to mind.
The time when her engagement to her second fiancé had been broken off because of Lydia.
The servants at the Stikov estate had whispered endlessly behind Eleanor's back. Her withdrawal from the Academy had happened around the same time, giving rise to countless rumors.
The people of House Stikov had spun every possible theory about Eleanor, so long as none of them reflected poorly on Lydia. They had forgotten their duties, stealing glances at their young mistress while gossiping incessantly.
If this was anything like that...
Then it wasn't a good sign.
The atmosphere of those days returned vividly to her—the way people alternated between portraying her as the most despicable woman alive and the most pitiful girl in the world.
Eleanor frowned.
What made this even worse was that, this time, she had the distinct feeling she was being cast solely as the villain.
"Lisa, could you investigate?"
"Yes, my lady. Don't worry."
Lisa placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as though it were nothing.
But Eleanor couldn't shake the unease.
The warning bells forged from years of experience were flashing bright red in her mind.
This definitely wasn't nothing.
Whatever had happened, some incident had clearly changed the opinions of the people in the castle.
Something had given them reason to become wary of Eleanor.
They might only be employees, but they were still people of Pomfury and Oklama.
If Eleanor truly intended to become the next baron, she would need their support.
If this was nothing more than childish territorial hostility, she could resolve it.
She was willing to overlook something that petty.
Though it was rather laughable for servants to act possessively toward a noblewoman when they weren't even the owners of the castle.
Still...
They had devoted themselves to Oklama for many years.
She could understand that.
As long as it remained nothing more than unpleasant looks.
These days, Anna had become the most popular maid in the castle.
Aside from Lisa, whom Eleanor had brought from the capital herself, Anna was the first castle maid Eleanor had allowed to stay close to her.
As a result, every maid who admired Eleanor flocked to Anna with endless questions.
"What's Lady Eleanor's usual diet like?"
"Where does she buy those gloves she always wears?"
"The dress she wore the other day... is that the latest fashion in the capital?"
"Does she wear perfume? Every time she walks by she smells so nice!"
The maids bombarded Anna with trivial questions about Eleanor.
A young noblewoman from the capital was naturally an object of admiration for girls who had spent their whole lives in a rural territory.
Eleanor's wheat-blond hair, almost platinum in color, her jewel-like blue eyes, her snow-white complexion, and her graceful elegance made her especially beautiful.
The maids looked at her with sparkling eyes, as though they had encountered a handsome knight from the capital.
She was exactly the kind of lady they wanted to resemble.
The kind they wanted to serve.
Baron Pomfury was undoubtedly a good man...
But to girls their age, he wasn't exactly an exciting master.
"My lady doesn't follow any special diet. She's just naturally slim. Her gloves are custom-made at her favorite boutique in the capital. As for her dresses, she doesn't chase trends—she just chooses whatever suits her style. And she doesn't wear perfume. She naturally smells that nice."
Anna answered proudly, shoulders squared.
She wasn't Eleanor's personal maid like Lisa, but among all the maids of Oklama Castle, there was no denying Anna had become the closest to Eleanor.
"Do you think she'll ever hire more maids? She's always with you and the maid she brought from the capital."
Sally clasped her hands together hopefully.
Anna looked at her apologetically and slowly shook her head.
"I don't think so..."
"What? Why?"
"My lady isn't the type of noble who keeps a crowd of servants around just to show off."
Anna's expression dimmed slightly.
"Even in the capital, she only kept a few maids. Miss Lisa handled almost everything."
In truth, Anna herself had once asked Lisa the very same question because she wanted to become one of Eleanor's attendants.
But Eleanor had grown weary of the capital maids constantly siding with Lydia despite being her own servants.
Since then, she had deliberately kept only a small number of attendants.
Lisa, who was practically Eleanor's sole personal maid, handled almost every task herself.
She was capable of doing nearly everything, leaving little need for anyone else.
Had Anna not been guiding Eleanor around Oklama, she probably would never have had the chance to serve beside her at all.
"Still, she'll definitely recruit more maids someday. Once she becomes the lord of the territory, she'll have to."
Anna brightened again.
Even if Eleanor inherited the barony, relying on only one maid would be impossible.
She wouldn't even need to wait until the inheritance.
Once Eleanor became the official heir, she'd undoubtedly hire more attendants.
Anna had already decided she would work as hard as possible so Eleanor would choose her.
"Oh, you're right! Then I'll aim for that too!"
"Me too! I want to be Lady Eleanor's maid at least once!"
The three girls laughed merrily together, shoving one another's shoulders playfully.
Watching them with obvious displeasure, one of four nearby maids finally approached Anna.
"Isn't that actually the arrogant thing?"
"...What?"
Anna frowned and turned toward the sharp voice.
It was Bianca.
The maid who had long made subtle remarks criticizing Eleanor.
Within the castle, the servants had gradually split into three factions:
Those who supported Eleanor.
Those who remained neutral.
And those loyal to Vanessa.
Bianca was one of Vanessa's leading supporters.
"Maybe she only uses the maid from the capital because she looks down on country girls like us."
"That's not true!"
Anna protested immediately.
"What do you mean it isn't? She thinks she's too good for us because we're just villagers!"
"I said that's not true! Bianca, you've never even spoken to my lady. How can you say that?"
Anna straightened proudly.
She vividly remembered the day she had accompanied Eleanor through the Merba marketplace.
Eleanor had willingly taken Anna's dirt-stained hand.
She had even graciously forgiven Anna's younger sibling's rudeness.
Someone like that would never despise people simply because they lived in the countryside.
The accusation was absurd.
"They say you can know ten things from seeing just one."
Bianca lifted her chin defiantly.
"You haven't even seen one thing."
Anna muttered in disbelief.
Bianca's brow furrowed.
"She even looks down on Lady Vanessa. Do you really think she'd treat maids like us as people?"
"...What?"
Anna froze.
Bianca immediately pressed the advantage.
"Ivy told me. Yesterday in Levin, your lady teamed up with the Duvar young ladies to bully Lady Vanessa."
Ivy belonged to the neutral faction.
Hearing a neutral maid's name caused Anna to hesitate.
The other maids around them also looked shaken.
"Lady Eleanor did that?"
"Really? Poor Lady Vanessa..."
"I never thought she was that kind of person..."
Seeing Bianca smile triumphantly, Anna raised her voice.
"But Ivy didn't even go to Levin! How would she know? Does she have any proof?"
"She overheard them talking beside the carriage when they came back."
Bianca had anticipated that objection.
"W-What did they say?"
"My lady supposedly told Lady Vanessa not to misunderstand—that she never intended to help her in Levin. Then she warned her not to damage Lord Oklama's reputation by overstepping her place. Lady Vanessa lowered her head and apologized."
The truth had become twisted long before it reached Bianca.
Ivy really had overheard part of Eleanor and Vanessa's conversation the previous evening.
The problem was that she had been too far away, and her hearing wasn't very good.
She had only caught scattered fragments.
On her way back, she had eagerly repeated those fragments to Bianca.
"Lady Eleanor and Lady Vanessa were having a really serious conversation."
"Really? About what?"
"Lady Eleanor said... something about not helping her. Like, 'Don't misunderstand. I wasn't helping you.'"
"Huh? Really? Helping with what?"
"I don't know. Lady Vanessa mentioned Levin, so maybe something happened there."
"...I see. What else?"
"Oh, and Lady Eleanor also told her that Lady Vanessa's reputation reflected on her aunt's reputation, so she should be careful. Lady Vanessa apologized and said she'd overstepped herself."
From those scraps of conversation, Bianca spent the entire night drawing what she considered perfectly logical conclusions.
Naturally, as she replayed the conversation in her mind, parts of it gradually changed.
But to Bianca...
Her version had already become the truth.
She already knew the Duvar ladies had always looked down on Vanessa.
So she convinced herself that Eleanor had watched Vanessa being bullied in Levin without lifting a finger—and afterward had even scolded Vanessa for tarnishing Lord Oklama's reputation.
"My lady would never do that!"
Anna trusted the Eleanor she knew.
The problem was...
She was the only one here who truly knew that Eleanor.
"Lady Eleanor is awful."
"How can someone be so cruel?"
"I'm so disappointed. I don't think I'll admire her anymore."
Before Anna's eyes, Eleanor's reputation among the maids rapidly crumbled.
Even if Anna wanted to clear things up, Ivy—the one who had supposedly heard the conversation herself—wasn't even present.
"Lady Eleanor isn't that kind of person!"
"Hah. As if."
Bianca snorted loudly before looking around at the gathered maids.
"She grew up pampered in the capital. I'm sure she looks down on country people like us. Just imagine someone like that becoming our lady. Doesn't that sound terrifying?"
"Exactly! What if she becomes the lord and fires all of us?"
Mia, another member of Vanessa's faction, chimed in.
Watching maid after maid turn against Eleanor in real time, Anna looked close to tears.
There was nothing she could do.
"You should wake up too, Anna. Once she becomes the lord, you'll be the first one dismissed."
Bianca shoved Anna's shoulder hard before walking away with a mocking laugh.
Anna rubbed her shoulder, eyes welling with tears.
Only Sally came over to ask if she was alright.
And so the resentment toward Eleanor began to spread through the castle like wildfire.
It was only a small step from stealing disrespectful glances...
To taking action.
Even while calling Eleanor cruel and heartless, not a single one of them realized that they had unconsciously begun to see her as an easy target simply because she had never once treated them harshly.
The stares were only the beginning.
Soon came actions they could no longer hide.
Clack.
The cup was set down so roughly that water spilled over the rim, a single drop trickling down its side.
Expressionless, Eleanor watched the droplet trace a line across the porcelain before falling onto the table.
The cup had been filled to the brim.
She couldn't even laugh.
Proper etiquette dictated that a water glass should only ever be filled halfway.
Yet here it was...
Overflowing.
They're starting to push their luck.
She had hoped they weren't foolish enough to go this far.
Unfortunately...
Not everyone in the world could be intelligent.
If they had limited themselves to dirty looks, Eleanor would have been more than willing to overlook it.
But since yesterday, some of the maids had begun acting on their hostility.
At least they weren't stupid enough to be openly insubordinate.
Instead, they resorted to subtle acts designed to irritate her.
Not yet.
Looking at the maid who had slammed the cup down without the slightest hint of remorse, Eleanor forced herself to remain patient.
Not yet.
She still didn't know the cause.
She couldn't start wielding the whip without understanding what had happened.
So Eleanor waited until Lisa returned.
And when Lisa finally came back with answers, Eleanor quietly asked,
"Why are they doing this?"
"I questioned Anna and several maids close to her. I think I've pieced together most of the story."
Lisa looked exhausted.
The castle maids had begun treating her with hostility as well, making it difficult to gather information.
She had endured subtle ostracism for days while quietly investigating.
Fortunately, Anna had been willing to cooperate, helping her discreetly and persuading others to talk whenever she could.
"I see."
Eleanor nodded slowly.
"Then let's hear it directly from Anna."
