Chapter 18
"What kind of Count's family is this?"
Of course, he didn't really know what a true count's family was supposed to be like. But at the very least, when the head of the family returned, there should be someone to welcome him.
“The house is unnecessarily large. To maintain such a house, it needs a lot of people.”
Frankly, by his standards, he didn't need such a large house or such a large number of servants.
The brothers lived comfortably in a decent house in a middle-class neighborhood, and they employed one servant to look after the horses and lift heavy loads and two maids to help with housework.
Even that was a fairly luxurious life.
However, when the emperor granted them the palace, he recommended the appointment of at least ten male servants, including a chief servant, and sixteen female servants, including a head maid, a cook, and kitchen assistants. He even stated that this was the minimum number of staff.
'We haven't even hired a head butler yet, and maids keep resigning, so we barely have ten. Ah, with that new girl, we now have eleven maids.'
Upon entering the palace, he looked around at the house, which still seemed incongruous with it.
Linnea had been asked to decorate the place almost with the help of a head butler, but the palace still felt lacking in some way, although he could not put his finger on what it was.
"Ugh. So annoying."
He muttered in a low voice as he headed to the second floor, where Linnea came running out of her room to greet her brother.
“Brother! Are you home?”
"Yes."
He answered nonchalantly and went to his room, followed by Linnea even though she had nothing particularly to say.
"What did you do at the palace today?"
"Same as usual. Why do you ask?"
"Just, you know…"
Linnea followed him to his room. Although her brother showed signs of fatigue when he took off his coat and loosened his tie, she showed no intention of leaving.
Finally, Laszlo asked.
"What? What happened?"
Linnea trembled at his angry tone and muttered quietly.
“Well, it’s not a big deal… I’ve been invited to a tea party in two weeks. It’s being hosted by Mrs. Emerson. Do you know her?”
"no."
"Really? Oh, okay…"
Laszlo found his sister's behavior frustrating. He wished she would speak more clearly, but since moving into the palace, Linnea had been observing his reactions and wandering in the bushes.
“If you don’t want to go, there’s no need to.”
“No, that’s not all! If I don’t go to these things, I won’t be able to wear the beautiful dresses I made.”
"Then go."
“But… I don’t know what to say when I’m there.”
“If you don’t know what to say, it’s better to remain silent.”
“What if they ask about you? Should I just say that I don’t know?”
"Yes."
Linnea nodded reluctantly.
In fact, I found the invitations both welcoming and exhausting at the same time.
As a young lady from a noble family, her head servant told her she should make contact with other nobles. It seemed like the right thing to do.
However, at tea parties, gatherings, and banquets, Linnea was always the target of exclusion or ridicule. It wasn't overt, but she wasn't naive enough not to notice.
'If they're going to treat me like I'm invisible, why invite me in the first place?'
She only knew that not showing up without reply was a serious breach of etiquette, but she didn't know how to decline invitations properly.
The fact that she had no other reasons to leave made it even more frustrating.
Therefore, she forced herself to attend every invitation she received, but with each event, she became more aware and frustrated.
“Miss Linnea needs to learn manners and etiquette from scratch. It is unacceptable for a young lady approaching marriageable age not to know how to use cutlery properly.”
After hearing such comments, she could no longer even tolerate eating in public places.
“Brother, can you find a suitable tutor for me?”
Laszlo turned his cold gaze towards her at that moment.
"If you do that, will you finally behave and learn properly this time?"
"Well, I mean…"
“Lenia Crisis. Answer me properly. How many times have you hired teachers for yourself? And who is to blame for them resigning within two weeks?”
Linnea couldn't say anything and stared at the ground.
But deep down, she felt wronged.
'These women laughed at me first!'
The teachers, who had behaved very politely in front of Laszlo, changed their attitude the moment they realized that Linnea knew nothing, absolutely nothing.
Condescending looks.
Each time she felt their contempt, she decided to endure it for her brother's sake. But when they criticized her directly, saying things like, "How could you not know this?" or "How many times do I have to tell you?", Linnea couldn't back down.
“If you are being paid, you should teach properly instead of looking down on your employer!”
Just saying that made the noble teachers tremble and leave in anger.
'Was this my fault?'
Even Laszlo wouldn't let it slip away.
But she could not tell her brother the whole story in detail, for fear that it would break his heart or even lead to his murder.
'These women were raised very carefully. They quit their jobs simply because they got a little talk from their employer.'
“If this means you still have no intention of correcting your behavior, then there will be no teacher. Moreover, there is nowhere else to find one anyway.”
Linnea, who had been criticizing her brother's lack of support, suddenly mentioned someone who came to mind.
“Oh, by the way, that woman who was the Duchess of Lancaster looked a little different.”
Laszlo, who turned his head away, looked at Linnea, but she continued to chatter without interest.
“She was far superior to all the other teachers so far, yet she didn’t really have any pride. When I asked her to kneel, she actually did it! I was so surprised.”
"What? You told her to kneel? Why?"
“Just because. I called her to see her crying, but she kept answering and acting with dignity. It was very upsetting, so I asked her to kneel…”
“Lenia Crisis!”
Linnea was startled and looked up when Laszlo shouted.
His eyes looked angrier than before.
"Why are you yelling at me?"
"Don't you even realize how disgraceful your behavior was?"
"What did you do?"
Laszlo ruffled his hair in frustration and sighed.
He didn't completely fail to understand the confusion Linnea had been experiencing since suddenly becoming a noblewoman. However, Linnea was mimicking the mannerisms of the nobles he despised.
"How is what you are doing different from what the nobles who looked down on you did?"
“…”
“If you continue to trample on people weaker than you using force, you can’t complain about being trampled on yourself. Isn’t that right?”
Although Linnea understood what Laszlo was saying, she felt a sense of rebellion.
“I want to look at the nobles who looked at me with contempt! Is that so wrong?”
“You are not looking at a nobleman. You are playing with a maid. That woman is no longer noble.”
"but…!"
“You are too shy in front of real nobles, but you think he is not a coward?”
Linnea was eventually torn apart.
"You... you don't know anything! Do you know how angry and wronged I felt?"
“Lenia!”
“Since you know that I can’t even open my mouth in front of others, shouldn’t you think of helping me in some way? What am I supposed to do!”
Laszlo sighed deeply again as he watched his sister cry and scream.
He understood Linnea's feelings, but he also didn't know how to help her.
“If it’s that difficult, then don’t attend noble gatherings anymore. It’s that simple.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
"You don't want to be ignored, but you wish to mingle with the nobles?"
"Well, you're very great! You don't care what happens to me, do you?"
Finally, Linnea wiped away her tears and left.
Laszlo felt frustrated.
It has been three years since he was forced to live in the unwanted Earldum because of the Emperor's intrigues.
He himself hasn't changed much since then, but everything around him has been changing rapidly.
Of these changes, Linnea, who was eighteen and soon needed to think about marriage, was his biggest headache.
“It was easier when all I needed to do was make a lot of money.”
Laszlo poured himself some water from a nearby bottle and drank it to relieve his frustration.
Then he suddenly thought of Idil, whom Linnea had brought to her knees.
“She must have tried to remain respectful in front of Linnea out of pride as a former duchess, but she may be crying alone now.”
That wasn't his concern. If she couldn't handle that much, she wasn't worth anything.
But the thought of Edel kneeling in humiliation only deepened his despair. Laszlo left his room impulsively and headed towards the servants' quarters in the west wing.
As for the servants, who had not yet finished their work, they bowed their heads when they saw him, but Idel's face was not visible anywhere.