I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 122
Chapter 61.2
“Why are you doing this, Duchess?! These are the flowers the Madam ordered to decorate the room…!”
Madam Elbas’s maids protested against me, complaining that my order was too unreasonable. However, instead of talking to them, I summoned Lucy and Agwen and asked them sternly.
“Didn’t you explain to the guests that flowers aren’t allowed in this mansion?”
“I told them clearly, Madam.”
Only then did I look back at Madam Elbas’s maids.
“Then, didn’t your mistress break the rules of this place?”
“The Madam likes flowers very much. Flowers don’t do any harm, but isn’t that a very strict rule…”
“Did Madam Elbas say that, so she was allowed to break my rules?”
At that moment, the tiger came when I called for it. Madam Elbas answered instead as she ascended the stairs.
“Dimitri knows that I love flowers. I really thought you wouldn’t be narrow-minded about me by giving me that sleazy rule.”
I glared at her sharply.
“It’s not about being narrow-minded, it’s about exercising my authority. The guest, Madam Elbas, is now overstepping her authority.”
“What?”
Madam Elbas, who had stopped halfway down the stairs, looked down at me in a mocking way. Nevertheless, I confronted those eyes head-on as anger was boiling inside me like lava.
“You don’t seem to realize it yet, but the mistress of Blois is no longer the Madam but me. I have the right to set up any number of small rules and the right to abide by them.”
I continued sharply, glancing at her.
“Since I sat in the seat of the Duchess of Blois, it’s understandable that you’re too greedy to give it up to your daughter-in-law and come down here like this. However, even the sun humbly steps down when the time comes.”
“Ha.”
She bursted out laughing as if she was in high spirits. At the same time, the eyes of Madam Elbas and mine collided fiercely.
“You insult me out of nowhere, Rowaine.”
“I’m only telling you to abide by my rules in my house, Madam Elbas.”
With every word I uttered, my head was spinning tighter.
Madam Elbas had to tread carefully, as pushing too far could lead to her being referred to the Conduct Guidance Committee, which managed and supervised the behavior of nobles.
The Conduct Guidance Committee was an organization composed of senior nobles with good reputations and integrity, regardless of title. Simply put, it oversees aristocratic trials and disciplinary actions. Aristocrats feared reprimand from them above all else.
This was because being disciplined for misconduct led to being shunned by aristocratic society.
‘It’s not just social exclusion… It’s a total ruin, both economically and socially.’
I wasn’t particularly interested in the intricacies of aristocratic society, but it was a different matter when it came to fulfilling my marriage contract with Dimitri.
‘I can’t harm Dimitri.’
The elders who were already trying to kick out Dimitri already had lights in their eyes, but they couldn’t make a justification.
‘Besides, I played a prank on Madam Elbas in front of many noble ladies last time, so she won’t let me off a second time.’
At that time, Madam Elbas had been the one to throw an apron at me, starting the confrontation, and even her employees had witnessed it. So, even if I had acted slightly out of line during our exchange, she wouldn’t have been able to appeal to the Conduct Guidance Committee.
Most of all, she couldn’t have complained, ‘My daughter-in-law enjoyed sitting on my lap!’ because, well, that was all I actually did.
‘Back then, it was just a lighthearted joke to gauge the opponent, but now it’s a real fight.’
In my mind, I wanted to charge in and fight without worrying about maintaining the image of an adult, though the Conduct Guidance Committee still weighed heavily on my thoughts.
‘Conduct’ refers to moral qualities; in other words, how well one abides by moral principles and norms became the basis for judgment by the Conduct Guidance Committee, and that was why the committee was so feared.
Morality was a broad concept, a philosophical realm that could be interpreted differently by each individual.
‘…Sasha almost died.’
Sasha would have died after all had I not had the ability to heal her, fortunately.
Thinking of that made my mind have a thousand fathoms*.
[ T/N: It’s an idiom which means, ‘It’s very difficult to know what a person has in mind. ]
But here, Sasha was ‘only’ a pet slave. Didn’t I already realize something while talking to Dimitri about Coco’s business?
‘To these people, slaves are nothing more than objects, and if I get angry right now, I’ll be the only one sensitive…’
A daughter-in-law, who ran into her mother-in-law because of a mere slave, would surely be the object of rebuke from the nobles.
As I thought so, I tried hard to suppress my anger.
While I was thinking about how I could give Madam Elbas a stern warning, she first sarcastically sneered at me in a soft voice.
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