Making an Example

"Huh? Do you want to tell this greedy brat what you've been stealing her family's money for?"

"That's...the master, he!"

"My father? What did my father do? Did he instruct you to do this? Are you working for him?" Kalina got up abruptly, her expression blazing with fury. She didn't know that her father had started stealing money this early on.

"Yes! The master told me to! I just followed orders! He said it would be fine, that, that the Duchess wouldn't care! He said that we wouldn't be taking that much!"

Kalina, enraged, threw the stack of financial records at the butler. He hurriedly lifted his arms up to shield his face and small cuts appeared on his hands. When the flurry of papers settled, she was once again seated, her fingers digging into the armrests of her chair.

"You're the trusted butler of the Ephraim family," she said through clenched teeth. "But you would rather follow an outsider than the Duchess who you watched grow up? Someone who treats my mother like garbage?"

The butler didn't respond and put his head in his hands. He was beginning to cry, the tears falling down his wrinkled cheeks as he thought about the Duchess that he had betrayed.

"Our family doesn't need a greedy, disloyal dog like you. Return all the money you've swindled and I'll let you leave quietly, for the sake of you and my mother's relationship."

Suddenly, Kalina didn't feel like giving him a harsh punishment anymore. She knew that her mother treated the butler like a family member who helped raise her. The Duchess would be heartbroken if he were severely punished, and seeing her mother sad hurt her as well.

She knew she was being too soft, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she decided that it would be better for her mother to decide what to do. In Kalina's previous life, her mother was a lenient person, so much that she was considered a pushover by many.

Kalina hoped that her mother would be able to fight back against Nessa. This time, her daughter would help her sharpen the knife.

"I don't have it...Lady Kalina, please..." the butler sobbed.

"Fine, fine." Kalina felt a headache coming on from the old man's crying. "How about you apologize to Mother and everyone in the estate and have her decide your punishment?"

"Yes, yes, I will! Thank you, Lady Kalina!" He bowed down to her on his knees a few times.

Kalina sighed and got up, tidying her clothes a bit before walking to the door. Before she left, she turned back and looked at the butler still kneeling amid a mess of papers that she had thrown.

"Clean up the mess before you go, will you? Oh, and make sure to write down the names of everyone who worked with you for me."

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"Hubert, are you really telling the truth?"

The Duchess had her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Kalina stood behind her and massaged her mother's shoulder gently as she wept silently.

"Yes. I, I'm sorry. There is no excuse for my actions." Hubert, standing in front of the Duchess while she was seated, bowed so that his torso was parallel to the floor. He was shaking. He felt ashamed and regretful.

"I don't believe it...it can't be."

"I was coerced," the butler began. A sharp glare from Kalina, who was wiping her mother's tears with a handkerchief, warned him not to use her mother's sympathy. "But in the end, it was me who did it."

"Coerced? Who would dare to coerce the Ephraims? A family that comes from royal blood?" Kalina cut in, moving to sit beside her mother and squeeze her hand. She wanted her mother to find out her father's true colors.

"That's right, Hubert! You should have come to me, and told me...I could have helped! Who was it? Who was so great that the second most influential family in the Empire couldn't take them down?"

Hubert hesitated and turned to Kalina for help. She caught his eye and gave him a silent and subtle nod.

"It, it was Master. He said that the Madam wouldn't mind, and that...he had a right to the money too," he finally spit out after great effort.

Crash!

The teacup that had shakily made its way to the Duchess's lips fell to the ground and shattered. Her eyes were wide open and her hand was frozen in place.

"Mother!" Kalina screamed, springing up and frantically checking her mother for injuries. She was genuinely worried and afraid. As the maids rushed in due to the smashing sound, Kalina hesitantly checked the Duchess's expression.

Instead of looking distressed, the Duchess's eyes looked dark. Her hand slowly clenched into a fist and she lowered it onto her lap. The maids were crowding around her, asking if she was hurt, but she just raised her other hand and dismissed them. She brought a hand to her forehead, covering her eyes.

"Is that the truth?"

Her voice was solemn and trembled slightly.

"Yes. I have deceived Your Grace before, but please trust me on this."

The room was silent for a few minutes.

"Alright. Thank you, Hubert. You are dismissed." The Duchess gave Hubert a thankful smile. It would be the final one she would give to him..

Hubert, who thought of the little girl who clung to his leg and hugged him many years ago, bowed his head to his master one last time and somberly left the mansion.

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"Mother, are you really okay? Father, did he really...?"

"Kalina, your father is not a good person." The Duchess's voice grew weaker as she held Kalina's shoulders. "Okay? You definitely must not become like him. You must grow up well, no matter what."

'I'm sorry, Mother. But I can't fight evil with good. I can only get revenge if I become more villainous than my enemies.'

The Duchess and Kalina stayed there for a long time, each trying to comfort the other. When night fell, the Duchess retired early as the entire ordeal had made her very distressed.

Kalina made sure her mother was asleep before she returned to her own room and called Olivia to tell her to call all the servants out to the garden.

While the Duchess slept on a tear-soaked pillow, the workers quickly filled the main garden. Many of them had been woken up and told to rush here, and that the young lady was calling them.

"Hello." Kalina appeared on the terrace like a ghost, and many of the servants jumped with fear before they hurried to greet her.

"As many of you may have seen earlier, Hubert has left the mansion and will not be returning. The reason for his removal is, simply, the fact that he served the wrong master. You are servants of the Ephraim family, not anyone else. We do not pay you your salaries for you to betray us."

A few servants averted their gaze uncomfortably as Kalina swept over the crowd with her narrowed eyes.

"Before, we were lenient. But now, my mother and I will not tolerate any sort of disloyalty. Hubert received a light punishment as he has been working here for a long time, but to those of you who haven't–remember, you are easily disposable. Now, remember, the ones that you serve are the Duchess and her daughter. This is the last reminder you will be given."

After her words fell, her hard gaze turned soft and she giggled childishly although it wasn't a funny situation.

"Oh, look at your faces! I was just passing on my mother's words, there's no need to act so serious!"

The workers chuckled nervously with sweaty palms and backs. In reality, they felt a bit like crying. How could their young lady change so drastically? It was shocking.

"Well then, I won't hold you any longer. Get a good night's rest, everybody."