Who Could Have Loved the Monster Princess? - Chapter 62

As I unfolded a blank sheet of paper, dreaming of exposing the corruption of the ambitious in-law faction, Elena came by. I thought she would wake up late since we had talked until late last night.

“Belienne.”

Elena opened the door to my study with a lovely, radiant smile and peeked inside. When our eyes met, her eyes with its pale pink irises widened. She looked just like a rabbit.

“Oh! Ah…! Sorry. I guess I’m still not used to it.”

Ah, she was startled by me. No one in the mansion was surprised to see me anymore, so I had thought she was startled for some other reason.

“Did you sleep well, Elena?”

“Yeah! I really rested well. It was a bit tough preparing by myself this morning, though…”

Preparing breakfast alone must be difficult. Today, I also took more time than usual to get dressed since I only had Daisy and Lily’s help, without Rose.

Rose was sent to assist Elena with her daily life only until she could hire her own maid.

‘Huh? But why did Elena prepare by herself?’

Come to think of it, Rose wasn’t by Elena’s side.

“Did Rose not come?”

“Mm… She said she wasn’t feeling well, so I told her to take the day off. But, speaking of which, isn’t there another maid?”

“Hmm. I sent in a recommendation request yesterday, but the job posting will only go up today, so it might take some time to hire someone.”

I had no choice but to look toward Daisy and Lily. Daisy, who had been deep in thought, raised her hand.

“I’ll attend to the lady today.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“Yes!”

“Elena, if you need anything else, just let Daisy know.”

“Okay. Thank you, Belienne.”

Elena left the study looking satisfied. Then Lily spoke up cautiously.

“Um… It’s a bit strange that Rose is sick.”

I found it strange, too. Lily could use healing magic. Because of that, she was particularly sensitive when it came to monitoring her own condition as well as others’.

“Rose was perfectly fine before she went to bed. She seemed a little tired, but nothing that would warrant taking sick leave.”

“That’s true…”

Something felt off. I stood up.

“Let’s go see Rose. If she’s really sick, she should be treated.”

“You’re coming with me, my lady? I meant I’d just go check on her myself.”

“How am I supposed to work when Rose is sick?”

I rose to my feet and headed with Lily to Rose’s room. Though she worked as a maid, Rose was staying in one of the guest rooms reserved for attendants when they visited the estate. There were plenty of rooms and not many servants, so everyone was allowed to stay where they pleased.

It’s not like we had guests coming and going anyway, so there was no problem with the staff using the guest quarters.

“Rose, are you awake? Are you feeling alright?”

When Lily knocked and called out, there was the sound of hurried movement from within, and then the door burst open.

“Lily, my face…!”

With how forcefully she appeared, I nearly mistook her for Daisy. For calm, composed Rose to be in such a rush was completely out of character. And the moment our eyes met, I immediately understood why she had come out so urgently.

Both of Rose’s cheeks were bruised and swollen, a sickly blue color.

Lily was so shocked that she clapped both hands over her mouth and couldn’t make a sound.

I was stunned too.

‘What happened to her face?’

When I’d said goodnight to her yesterday, Rose had looked completely fine. I assumed she hadn’t come to greet me this morning because she had gone to attend to Elena, her temporary mistress.

‘But Elena is only her mistress temporarily.’

Rose’s real mistress was me. And she wasn’t the kind of person to shirk her duties. If nothing serious had happened, she would’ve come to see me this morning even with her face like that.

‘There must’ve been a reason she couldn’t come.’

For example, maybe she was afraid that the person who did that to her face would end up on bad terms with me — or something like that.

I clenched my fist.

There was only one person in this mansion who could have done something like this.

“Lily, take care of Rose.”

“Ah. Yes!”

I turned on my heel, heading off to find the person who had done this to Rose.

‘My instincts. I should’ve trusted them.’

From the very beginning, the first time I met Elena, I’d felt a strange sense of wrongness. But I’d been too distracted by how much she resembled my mother to think deeply about it.

‘When Rose introduced herself, she clearly said she was from Staedt, and yet Elena still attacked me even though I was obviously her escort.’

The only reason it hadn’t been a bigger deal was because I was the one who took the hit. If it had been Rose, she might’ve been seriously injured.

Elena had cast an explosive spell at a person in response to being startled without a second thought.

‘She must be used to using violence against others without hesitation.’

It only took me a few seconds to reach Elina’s room. There was no sound coming from inside.

‘A soundproofing spell?’

The room was wrapped in a barrier of silence. But why? This was the mansion guarded by the archmage Calcioso Staedt. What reason could there be for casting a soundproof spell?

I grabbed the doorknob and pulled. A locking spell had been placed on the door as well, but magic can be broken if the physical force applied exceeds what the spell can withstand.

With a loud crack, the door came off its hinges and fell to the ground.

What I saw inside was astonishing.

The room was in chaos. A tray of food had been knocked over, spilling its contents everywhere, and near the mess, two people were locked in a standoff.

But the roles of aggressor and victim weren’t quite what I had expected.

Daisy, whom I’d naturally assumed would be the one under attack, locked eyes with me, looking extremely flustered.

She was gripping Elena by the hair.