Chapter 47. Calen Castle, Part VIII

The banquet hall in Calen Castle was opened after a year's silence.

Killian sat at the long tabletop in the middle of the hall. At the right of him was the family of Anais, and on the opposite side was Marquis Oswald, Count Adam, and Count Valerian. The rest of the seats were occupied by Bertino nobles.

The diners cleaned up the fish dishes and were served the main dishes. Marquis Oswald, who glimpsed the private servants of the nobles and the maids waiting beside the wall, asked when the hall fell into disorder, "I don't see the maid of Your Highness. Where did she go?"

Killian's face frowned disapprovingly at the question, but Oswald was just waiting for an answer, with no regard for him.

"I asked her to do something, so she's in the room."

Killian had attended the dinner with Albert's servant at Adam's dissuasion, who did not want Julietta's appearance to be talked about. He had been in a bad mood. Moreover, his nerves grew sharper due to Lady Anais, who looked at him and struggled to talk to him more.

The actions of the woman became bolder as she saw him covering up his irritation and responding as gently as possible, while the blood vessels on Killian's forehead began to stand out so clearly as to be visible.

As Oswald felt increasingly anxious as the atmosphere seemed to be crossing the line of danger, he noticed the slight touch of the hand of Lady Anais on Killian's, as if it were a coincidence. When it was repeated a few times, Killian finally burst into a rage.

"This..."

"Your Highness! I had a quick report to give you, but I forgot. We're almost finished with the meal, so I'm sorry, but I'd like you to spare me a moment."

Oswald quickly interrupted Killian's anger, which was about to burst out. As everyone's eyes turned to them at his cry for asking, Christine's hand, which had been encouraged by other kindnesses before, and which was trying to approach Killian a little more intimately, retreated sharply.

Killian barely calmed down at Oswald's desperate gaze at him.

"Okay. I'll leave here now, so enjoy your meal. Adam, Valerian, Oswald, follow me to the Oval Office."When the Prince got up, everyone in the dining room also stood and saw him off. Christine, looking anxiously at the back of Killian, who went out without looking back, felt sorry without even knowing that she would have been disgraced in public.

It was worthwhile to come all the way to Bertino with her hard work. At the appearance of Killian, who was different from his cold and indifferent attitude in Austern, she lightly smiled in excitement and hope, and decided that she would act a bit more aggressive.

Julietta cleaned up the mess in the bathroom and prepared a bed for the Prince as he set off for the dinner, and then left the bedroom for dinner.

Julietta's steps were very quick, not knowing the evening time, as she had been driven out of the room without meeting Sir Albert at the Baroness's command. If she couldn't eat on time again this time, she would have to skip eating until tomorrow morning, and she was in a hurry because of that. She ran down the stairs leading to the first floor and quickly headed for the maid's quarters.

As she hurried past the dark path, she heard a sudden call for her.

"There, hold on. Would you like to see me for a while?"

Julietta looked back with a grimace at the thought of the Baroness she had encountered around this spot during the day, and she saw a pretty woman standing there.

"Did you call me?"

The woman in front of Julietta, who was waiting for her to make a fuss about her appearance, spoke indifferently, "You must be a new maid for His Highness, right? Are you going to eat?"

"Yes, that's right." Julietta answered quickly and tried to get on her way because she thought she would be late for dinner.

"You can only eat at a fixed time in the dining room in the dorm. If you don't make it that time, you should go to the maids' dining room in the main castle. It's a leftover from the nobles and knights, so it may be short of the amount and not have many varieties."

Julieta was deeply moved by the woman in front of her, who spoke to her kindly, not laughing or surprised at her.

"Thank you. By the way, where is that dining room of the main castle? I can't guess because it's too big. Can you tell me which direction it is?"

Julietta's polite question made the woman in front of her smile.

"I was just on my way to dinner. Follow me."

Julietta didn't think she was a maid, because she wasn't wearing a uniform, but she seemed to be ranked as high as the Baroness and her followers. While she was thinking about what to call such a complicated system of positions, unlike Harrods Street's, the woman took the lead after signaling Julietta to follow her.

"Huh? I just passed the entrance?"

The woman turned slightly at Julietta's question.

"The door used by the maids is over there. The dining room is closer to that side."

Julietta nodded at the gentle remarks. She had vowed to act prudently in accordance with her position, but went back out through the main gate without any concern. She grumbled, Anyway, I am still not used to this society with a class system, and thought she'd have to be more careful if she wanted to live a thin, long life. Suddenly there was someone blocking them.

"Oh, my God, who is this? Isn't it Sylvia?"

A figure with a dark dress and a hood appeared, pretending to know the woman leading the way, and abruptly slapped her in the face. Julietta was looking at them, as she wanted to know what this was about, and this time the newcomer grabbed the head of the woman named Sylvia and began to beat her wildly, shaking her head without mercy.

While frightened Julietta jumped in and stopped her, the fallen woman screamed with an ear-splitting sound. The knights on guard ran to the commotion. As the clatter of armor drew near, the mysterious figure suddenly ran away.

The knights arrived as Julietta smoothed down her shirt and lifted up the woman who had collapsed and was unable to move. "What's going on?"

At an important time when dinner was being held to celebrate the return of the monarch and VIPs visited, this commotion happened, so a bitter interrogation came down at the uproar.

"Suddenly, a woman appeared and hit her severely." Julietta pointed to the side where the figure with a hood ran away, and tried to explain.

Suddenly the woman who fell down raised herself and said to the knights, crying bitterly, "No, she's lying.

This maid hit me. She asked me where the dining room of the maids was, and I was in the middle of guiding her, but she suddenly pushed me and started beating me severely."

Surprised by the woman in front of her, Julietta cried out in dismay. "What are you talking about? Why are you lying? I didn't do that, did I?"

'Was she beaten on the head?'

She shook the woman's shoulders as if she were going to wake up, and a tough hand held her back.

"Are you sure you were hit by this maid?"

"Yes, that's right. I was on my way to guide her to the dining room, as I heard she was a new maid of His Highness. As soon as I passed the entrance door of the main castle, she asked me why I was dragging her to the wrong place, and she suddenly started hitting me. It's a crime against a noble since she hit me, the daughter of Viscount Chaister! Please punish her severely."

Julietta could not believe what had happened in a flash.

"Take her."

She was taken to the prison in the basement for allegedly swinging her fist at the noblewoman with no excuse. Julietta, trapped in her cell, was devastated, and sat down on the floor.

She had assumed the other was a high-ranking woman, but didn't know that she was a daughter of the family of the Viscount. She couldn't understand why that kind woman, who had showed her the way, had suddenly changed and put the blame on her like that.