Dog Fight (4)

The chefs of Blackwood Mansion stepped forward at Aeria’s request to summon witnesses.

As soon as I saw that sight, I naturally began to instinctively realize that I was fucked.

The reason Aeria confidently summoned the chefs as witnesses to this Disciplinary Committee.

And the reason those chefs agreed to be summoned as witnesses without any particular doubt.

Because my mind was working quickly enough to understand all of that at once.

“Are all five of the mansion’s chefs stepping forward as Lady Aeria’s witnesses?”

“””””Yes, that’s right.”””””

“It seems it would take too long to hear all five of your opinions, so could one of you, as a representative, summarize your testimony and speak?”

Hearing the Head Maid’s words, the chefs began to talk among themselves.

And among them, one chef, presumed to be the youngest, began to testify as the representative of all the chefs.

“I will summarize the opinions of my seniors and testify as a representative.”

“Understood. What are your name and period of service?”

“My name is Paul Raimson, and this year marks my fifth year of service at Blackwood Mansion.”

“…….”

Among the five chefs, the youngest chef’s length of service was five years.

It was a moment where I, who had only brought one junior maid with merely one year of experience as a witness, felt endlessly pathetic.

Unlike modern society where laws are applied equally, in a medieval fantasy world like this, when discerning right from wrong, the status or power of the individual concerned naturally influences the outcome.

That also applied to the status of the person stepping forward as a witness in this situation.

One junior maid with one year of experience and five exclusive chefs who had worked for at least five years-the weight of their testimony alone was already on a completely different level.

“Please speak, Paul Raimson-ssi.”

“The part I will testify about is that Lady Aeria and Lady Alicia diligently performed their kitchen duties, and that Lady Lilith over there committed a slight act of dereliction of duty.”

“Please also speak regarding the specific content of your testimony.”

“All of us chefs come to work from 7 AM to prepare for breakfast at 9 AM and begin cooking. Although the menu for meals changes from time to time, most dishes require prepped vegetables or fruits. And so far, during busy periods, it’s absolutely impossible for only the chefs’ hands to do the preliminary preparation of ingredients, so we receive help from the maids.”

“I see.”

“And when we came to work at 7 AM every day, the maids who handed over the prepped ingredients to us were none other than Lady Aeria and Lady Alicia over here.”

Haa, fuck.

Right. Of course it had to be that way.

Every day for two hours, after peeling hundreds of garlic cloves, while I, exhausted, went to rest, who else would have handed over the ingredients I had prepped to the chefs?

No matter how tired and miserable I was, I should have somehow stayed in place without leaving my post.

It was the moment I absurdly fell into a weakness that I had created an opening for myself.

“Only Aeria and Alicia? You’ve never seen any other maids?”

“The pink-haired maid over there, I’m not sure if I’ve seen her or not, it’s vague… but I have never seen Lady Lilith during the morning handover time.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Lady Lilith’s appearance is quite famous for being beautiful even among us chefs. If we had seen Lady Lilith in the morning, there’s no way we would have forgotten her.”

At Chef Paul’s words, the other chefs also nodded their heads.

This unnecessarily striking appearance was acting as poison instead at that moment.

Rather, if I had a plain appearance with no presence, like Katarina, I could have made them confused about whether they remembered me or not.

At this very moment, her plain appearance with no presence and small stature made me insanely envious.

“Ah, still, if you exclude the ingredient preparation time in the early morning, Lady Lilith diligently participated in her duties from after breakfast. She never missed tasks like tidying up the kitchenware or washing dishes every day.”

“Before breakfast, she only left her post during the ingredient preparation duties, is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s right.”

At least he certainly testified that I was present for duties after breakfast, but it was a meaningless testimony now.

From the beginning, the reason Aeria and I were debating whether to receive disciplinary action wasn’t simply whether we diligently participated in ingredient preparation duties or not.

Who started the quarrel first and who led the fight first in the brawl between junior maids.

And it was a place to distinguish who, with lies, made the disciplinary measures confusing.

Since those chefs don’t know that, they can probably testify so easily with a light heart.

They wouldn’t be able to imagine that such a severe disciplinary action would be imposed for merely skipping ingredient preparation for about three days.

“Lilith Rosewood.”

“……Yes.”

“Is Chef Paul Raimson-ssi’s testimony just now true? That you didn’t show your face to the chefs during the handover of prepped ingredients, is that what he means?”

“……Yes, it’s true.”

“If so, at that time, Lilith Rosewood, where were you and what were you doing?”

“…Because I was solely in charge of preparing ingredients in the early morning and was exhausted, I rested in my private room until breakfast time.”

Along with my testimony, the Disciplinary Committee’s seats began to stir.

In fact, it was a statement tantamount to confessing that I had committed an act of dereliction of duty, so it was only natural.

But in a situation with so many witnesses, it was impossible to brazenly push through with a lie.

Of course, what I had claimed from the beginning was that I had handled the preparation of all ingredients alone from 4 AM to 6 AM.

Unfortunately, there was no reliable witness for me who could testify to this part.

“I will ask one last time, Lilith Rosewood.”

“…Yes.”

“Between 4 AM and 6 AM, do you have a witness or evidence that can prove the fact that you came to the kitchen alone and worked?”

“…….”

For a moment, the face of some pig bastard flashed through my mind, but I immediately forgot it.

From that bastard, I had never expected anything from the very beginning.

Rather than having strange expectations, calling it my last hope, and then being let down, it was better to just give up on him from the start.

“From the start, preparing that much quantity of vegetables alone for two hours is an absurd story, Head Maid-nim. Lady Lilith’s words are obviously a lie….”

“Be quiet, Aeria Lawrence. This is not a place to ask about possibility or impossibility.”

“…….”

“This is merely a place to confirm whether the time you and Lilith Rosewood worked was accurate.”

“…I apologize.”

Although Aeria, who had been chattering with an excited expression, becoming sullen should have undoubtedly been a joyous matter, it was not good news for me at all right now.

If things continued like this, I would not be able to prove my innocence and would inevitably be unable to avoid severe disciplinary action.

But by dragging out time like this, there was no way to escape either.

In the end, I accepted reality and could only quietly shake my head.

“I don’t have… it….”

“…Is that so.”

“But, truly, the fact that I prepared ingredients alone for two hours every day is undeniable. To the extent that it wouldn’t matter even if I were to work alone in the kitchen starting tomorrow….”

“That’s enough, Lilith Rosewood.”

“…….”

At Melissa’s voice, as if she had already reached a conclusion in her mind, I quietly shut my mouth.

Quietly, as her mouth opened again, I could only wait for the next words to come out.

“…With this, your disciplinary levels seem to have been decided.”

Melissa, with her arms crossed, looked around at both sides, between Aeria and me.

Especially in her gaze towards me, I felt a strange look, like pity, but that was all.

Between a junior maid who had only been here for one year and the long-serving chefs of the mansion who had worked for at least five years, whose words were more credible was as clear as day.

Moreover, unlike the other side, who claimed to have directly witnessed Aeria in the kitchen, Isabel’s testimony was merely a testimony that she saw me ‘coming to work’.

In the end, both in terms of the witnesses’ status and the completeness of the testimony, it was my complete defeat.

‘Fuck, that cunning bitch Aeria.’

Somehow, I should have stubbornly endured without creating any openings.

No matter how dead tired I felt, I should have stayed in the kitchen until the end and shown my face to the chefs.

If I had done that, I wouldn’t have collapsed so futilely in this disciplinary trial.

…Now, even if I regretted it, it was a meaningless action.

“In that case, I will decide the level of disciplinary action for Aeria, Alicia, Katarina, and Lilith.”

Along with the sensation of my head going numb, the Head Maid’s voice felt like it was gradually fading away.

For one month, even with cleaning the entire first-floor corridor and the stables, I felt like my mind was going blank, so the disciplinary level would inevitably be higher than this, at least.

For three days, processing more garlic than Ungnyeo, as soon as I thought about the kitchen duties I had done being taken so futilely by that bitch Aeria, all sorts of negative emotions began to well up from deep within my chest….

“Aeria and Alicia receive no disciplinary action. Katarina, for perjury and acts of violence, will clean the entire first-floor corridor for one month. And Lilith, for perjury and acts of violence, and for dereliction of duty and insubordination….”

“…No, that’s not right. Lilith coming out alone in the early morning to work, I saw it last time.”

“……Huh?”

“……Huh?”

“……?”

At someone’s voice breaking the solemn atmosphere, the atmosphere in the hall instantly focused on one person.

As soon as I confirmed the identity of that voice, I was swept up in all sorts of subtle, inexpressible emotions.

“…Young Master Ethan?”

“Lilith working in the kitchen, I saw it. Yesterday and… and also this morning.”

That disgusting bastard… no, Ethan Richard Blackwood was testifying for me.