Mrs. Howard’s face twisted even further.
“Come out right now! Are you coming out or not?!”
But there was no way the culprit would voluntarily reveal themselves.
Furious to the very top of her head, Mrs. Howard raged hysterically.
“Is nobody there?! Find the culprit immediately!!”
At her shrill demands, the other servants hurried over.
“What happened?”
“Oh my goodness, were you splashed with dirty water?”
Meanwhile, watching the servants chatter noisily around them, Cecilia’s heart dropped.
‘What if Milena gets caught?’
Mrs. Howard was notoriously ruthless toward servants.
If Milena were discovered, she would definitely be punished severely.
In the end, Cecilia pretended to know nothing and calmly spoke up.
“Nanny, I know you’re angry, but shouldn’t you go inside and wash up first?”
“What? But—!”
“It’s still cold out. It’d be terrible if you caught a cold.”
Cecilia looked at Mrs. Howard with a carefully crafted expression of concern.
“You can always send people to search for the culprit later. You’re already shivering from the cold.”
It was true.
Mrs. Howard’s shoulders were trembling pitifully.
Eventually, unable to argue, she left with the support of several maids.
“Just let me catch them! I won’t let this go!!”
As her ringing screams gradually faded away, Cecilia slowly lifted her gaze toward the third-floor balcony with wide eyes.
At the same moment, a golden head suddenly popped up above the railing.
It was Milena.
After cautiously peeking around to check the surroundings, Milena locked eyes with Cecilia.
Without making a sound, Milena gestured with her hands.
‘Did she leave?’
Cecilia nodded before she even realized it.
Milena immediately straightened up.
She flipped the now-empty bucket upside down and gave it a little shake, then placed one finger dramatically against her lips.
‘Shhh.’
Cecilia’s turquoise eyes shook violently, as though an earthquake had struck them.
After flashing one last bright grin, Milena disappeared back inside the building.
A little while later, Milena came running over from the first floor.
“My lady!”
Breathing hard, Milena quickly asked,
“What happened to Mrs. Howard? I had to hide, so I couldn’t check. But judging by how angry she sounded, I guess she really got soaked.”
“Uh— y-yes? Yes, she was completely drenched, but...”
Replying absentmindedly, Cecilia suddenly snapped back to her senses.
“Y-You really did that?”
“Yes.”
Milena nodded proudly, lifting her chin with a scoff.
“Honestly, I almost wish she’d catch a terrible cold.”
“W-Why would you do something like that?”
So shocked that she unconsciously stammered, Cecilia stared at her.
Milena answered as though the reason were obvious.
“Because she was way too rude to you, my lady.”
“Really?”
Cecilia blinked blankly.
Just for that reason?
...To stand up for me?
“Of course! Even if she’s your nanny, the way she spoke to you was completely unacceptable.”
“B-But... Mother personally assigned her to me...”
“So what? Does that mean she’s allowed to disrespect you?”
Milena’s eyes flashed sharply.
“It doesn’t matter who assigned her to you. What matters is how she treated you.”
“...”
It was the first time.
The first time someone had ever become angry for Cecilia’s sake.
Everyone always told her she needed to try harder.
That otherwise, she would never be loved.
But Milena instead insisted that Cecilia deserved respect naturally.
...And somehow, that realization made her unbelievably happy.
“And besides, if she’s your nanny, shouldn’t she always stay by your side? Why does it feel like this is the first time I’ve ever seen her?”
“That’s... because she’s busy with my brother.”
Cecilia forced a smile.
Meanwhile, seeing that weak smile only made Milena’s face darken further.
So that damned “real son,” the young duke, was the one receiving all her attention—
while Cecilia was treated like leftovers?!
‘No, I knew the original story said she was constantly discriminated against, but...’
Actually witnessing that blatant favoritism with my own eyes is seriously making my blood boil.
And what’s with all this “the real Cecilia” nonsense every five seconds?
I can totally understand now why Cecilia sharpened her blade of revenge.
...The problem is that I’m supposed to be one of her revenge targets!
But then—
“Still... thank you.”
A tiny whisper fell softly against her ears.
‘Huh?’
Milena looked at Cecilia with wide rabbit-like eyes.
As though she had never said anything at all, Cecilia quickly averted her gaze and pretended to be distracted by something else.
The tips of her pale ears had already turned bright red.
“Pardon? My lady, I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that.”
Feeling playful, Milena deliberately asked again with an innocent face.
Cecilia immediately returned to her usual prickly expression and snapped back,
“If you didn’t hear it, then forget it.”
Then she quickly started walking ahead as though fleeing the scene.
‘Ha... what do I do?’
Why is this happening?
In the original story, she was supposed to be a cool and elegant beauty.
So why does she look more like an aggressive little kitten to me?!
Desperately holding back her laughter, Milena hurried after her.
“My lady? Lady Cecilia! Wait for me!”
Ever since the day dirty water had been dumped over Mrs. Howard’s head, Cecilia’s attitude had subtly softened.
“Won’t your legs hurt if you keep standing there? Why don’t you just sit here?”
Even while reading alone, she would insist on having me sit beside her instead of standing nearby.
Or—
“Say, Milena... what kind of food do you like best?”
She would casually ask questions about me.
Today was the same.
Out of nowhere, Cecilia declared that they would have tea time, then proceeded to cover the tea table with an absurd amount of desserts.
Strawberry tarts piled high with fruit, fluffy whipped cream cakes, chocolate éclairs stuffed full of custard cream, cookies, and thick sandwiches overflowing with filling.
The desserts painstakingly crafted by Baron Trancier’s pastry chef looked absolutely delicious, of course, but...
‘Isn’t that way too much for one person?’
Just as I stared suspiciously at the tea table, Cecilia suddenly jerked her chin toward the mountain of desserts.
“This is too much.”
Yes. It certainly looks that way...
At the same time, Cecilia looked directly at me.
“Sit down.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t finish all this by myself.”
“But—”
“It’d be wasteful to leave it.”
After saying that, Cecilia lowered her head toward her cake plate as though nothing had happened.
Watching her desperately avoid eye contact, I barely managed to suppress the smile threatening to escape.
‘Ah, so she prepared all this on purpose so we could eat together.’
Well... although even considering that, it still seemed like a ridiculous amount.
Pretending to reluctantly give in, I sat down.
Cecilia glanced sideways at me, then quietly slid a plate toward me.
It was a tart topped with strawberries sparkling like jewels.
“This one’s good.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
Without refusing, I picked up my fork.
The rich, crispy tart shell, the smooth custard cream—
and the fresh strawberries.
The explosion of sweetness filling my mouth was honestly moving.
‘Wow, this is seriously delicious.’
Meanwhile, Cecilia, who had been carefully watching me, suddenly asked,
“Is it good?”
“Yes! It’s really delicious!”
My eyes sparkled as I looked at Cecilia.
Her face instantly brightened like the sky after rain.
“Really? It’s good?”
Then she quickly tried to compose herself again and added in an indifferent tone,
“W-Well then, have more.”
A pound cake packed full of nuts and dried fruit was placed in front of me.
Naturally, I had no intention of refusing.