Chapter 77

Leon said that it would never work, and the next day, he took Terra in front of Dana.

Terra, whose hands and feet are tied tightly, was seated on the floor on her knees. Since she was trapped, she could only drink enough water not to die from time to time, and even that was very little.

Because of that, her appearance was disastrous. Her cheeks were hollowed, her eyes were blank, and her lips were dry and broken. Seeing that, Dana almost became sympathetic.

No, even so… Let’s not be weak.

Holding onto her shaky mind at the sight of Terra, Dana’s eyes were clear. Looking at her, Leon’s ruthless personality cooled her spine. She also felt that Leon was being generous to her.

If I’m happy with this, then I must be very foolish and pitiful.

Dana glanced at Terra and gracefully picked up the teacup. She was sitting alone on the sofa in the middle of a separate drawing room on the second floor.

The main drawing room on the first floor could be occupied mainly by the owner and hostess of the castle. Sophia was still alive, and Dana and Leon were not officially engaged, so it was too much to use the first floor.

However, this alone showed that Dana was superior in this castle.

As if proving him, Lily winked at the maid next to her as soon as Dana’s teacup was emptied. The maid quickly poured tea water into the teacup.

“Release the gag.”

As soon as Dana’s words fell, the soldiers loosened the gag Terra was biting. How hard they tied it, the skin on both cheeks next to her lips was peeled off red.

Originally, she was older, but in a few days, her hair was whiter and her skin had become much more wrinkled.

“…”

Terra couldn’t say anything and shed tears even though the gag was loosened.

Dana decided not to be misled by the appearance. She still hadn’t forgotten her appearance when she shamelessly lied that she didn’t know Dana with malice. And before that, she remembered vividly what she tried to do when Dana couldn’t talk.

Dana casually turned away from her and picked up a cookie on the plate. Terra couldn’t take her eyes off her hand slowly taking it into her mouth. In her eyes, Dana stopped her hand and asked calmly.

“Do you want to eat this?”

Then Terra shook her head vigorously up and down.

“I’ll give you this, then answer me. Do you still hate me?”

Terra flinched a little at an unexpected question and turned her head left and right. Dana gestured to the maid, and the maid picked up a cookie with a shivering look and handed it over to Terra’s mouth.

“Then, did you hate me?”

Terra chewed up the cookies, and this time she quenched to see if she was thirsty. Dana shook with a glass of orange juice that looked cool.

“Answer me honestly.”

Terra slowly nodded up and down as if she was contemplating for a very short time.

Then Dana handed over a glass of juice to the maid again, and the maid handed over the juice from the glass to Terra.

Terra, who drank juice once, finally looked like she was going to talk and opened her mouth.

“Why did you want to see me?”

“Why did you volunteer to be my exclusive maid?”

Rather, she was asked, but Terra only looked at Dana from afar and did not answer. Instead, she only stared at the cookie plate.

Dana smiled leisurely and leaned back on the sofa, distancing herself from her.

“I guess my question is annoying. Let’s stop and send her back.”

“Oh, wait a minute! I just thought it would be comfortable to be an exclusive maid. There’s no other reason! I heard rumors that you were the daughter of a rich family.”

As the soldiers tried to raise her, Terra urgently replied and begged with her eyes. Then Dana nodded and handed over a cookie again through the maid.

The servants signaled with their eyes as they watched the repeated scene several times. Just like taming animals, Dana was taming Terra with carrots and sticks.

Asked a few meaningless questions, Dana ordered Terra to be locked up again.

“Please, let me go! Lady, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

Dana stood up from her seat and smiled innocently.

“I can’t do anything about that. It was ordered by His Grace. I’ll tell you that much.”

Terra looked at Dana’s back, leaving the drawing-room, with an incredible look. It was hard to believe that she was the one who used to be clumsy and gentle.

* * *

The offices of each department in the capital Imperial palace were always busy. Among them, the Ministry of Finance was particularly famous for being busy.

Marquis Montello, the current merchant, was famous for urging and pecking his subordinates. But now that he was away, his subordinates had begun to gather in the center.

They consistently looked dissatisfied. Among them, the deputy chief secretary, Count Opel, had an unhappy expression on his face.

“Did you see that?”

“I saw it. It’s completely changed.”

“No, no matter who you look at, he is wrong, but why is the Prime Minister mad at me?”

“What can I do since I don’t have anyone on my back? The Son-in-law of Hamilton got the calculations wrong on his own!”

It wasn’t unreasonable for them to complain. According to his career, Count Opel, who had a lot of experience in the Ministry of Finance, should have become the chief secretary.

However, Count Rian Felice, who suddenly fell from nowhere, became the chief secretary, and he was pushed to the next seat.

“I heard that the academy’s grades were good, but I don’t know if they planned it all out.”

“Hmm, rumors say he’s an illegitimate child…”