Secret Wardrobe of the Duchess

Chapter 8

Rubica was quite surprised to hear herself lying like that. The man then stared at her with his bright brown eyes.

She thought it was her last chance to convince him and didn’t avoid his gaze. So, Rubica looked back at him as well.

‘… oh, I see.’

Even though the man was wearing a mask, his nose was quite sharp and high.
His two eyes looked deep with double eyelids. Moreover, his bright brown irises had a blue hue at the center, so they felt strange. And what about the shadows created by the long and thick eyelashes?

‘You’re handsome.’

Rubica forgot that she needed to fool him and stared into his eyes in a daze. The man eventually burst into laughter at that blank expression.
“You should have not lowered your guard and tried harder to fool me.”

Then, he forcefully took Rubica’s leather bag and said, “This bag is too good to belong to a maid.”

He mercilessly opened it and had the things inside fall to the ground. Some old clothes fell down, but he didn’t miss what he had to find among them.
He carefully grabbed a wrapped cloth and quickly opened it.

Then, ruby accessories and a few silver coins fell into his hand.

“You even stole, how shameless. Whose accessories are these? Do they belong to the future duchess?”

The man was right. However, the problem was that the future duchess was Rubica.

But would the man believe her if she said so? Her dress was way too shabby. He had gotten mad when Rubica had tried to tell him who she was earlier. So, Rubica couldn’t do anything. Then, a light came to their direction. As it got closer, the man got slightly nervous and stood up straight. He acted like a soldier waiting for his general. Rubica was surprised and looked at where he was looking at.

‘… a carriage? No horse. Does it work with mana stones?’

There were some splendid carriages, with bright lamps on both sides, coming to the Berner Mansion without making any clopping sound of hooves and the neighing of horses. A carriage that worked with mana stones was expensive, most nobles couldn’t even dream of owning one. And now, there were at least three mana stone carriages coming.

It had to be at least a marquis for it to be that rich, and a bad feeling rushed over Rubica. She was hoping her feeling was wrong, but then the man sealed her fate.

“The duke will decide what to do with you.”

There was a black eagle holding an ax drawn on one of the carriages’ door. If Rubica’s memory was right, it was from the Claymore Family.

Before Rubica could blink twice in surprise, the carriage quietly arrived at the door. The man grabbed Rubica’s hand tight so that she would not be able to run away and took a step back.

“Your Grace, it’s Stephen. I was going around the mansion to see if there was anyone suspicious before your arrival and caught a maid running away with the Berners’ treasures.”

Then, he put enough pressure on Rubica’s shoulder to make her kneel.

“Please decide on her punishment.”
Nobles, who were counts or at a higher rank, had the rights to punish commoners. Rubica wasn’t a commoner but a lady. However, her dress was too shabby.

‘Punishment for a maid running away with the master’s objects is… yes, cutting one of her wrists.’

The kingdom of Seritos had strict rules. Rubica sadly looked down at her wrists as she didn’t think the duke would mercifully listen to a maid and decide.
He was going to give the order in his carriage, and Stephen was going to immediately cut her wrist with his sword. She couldn’t help but think negatively.