"A-Are you sure this will be fine? No one would come after us, right? No one would know we broke down the door either, right?"

The night was dark, and the moonless sky made it feel even more gloomy.

On this night, one of the kids Duke Lockhart was sponsoring quickly hid himself under his blanket and asked his maid this question.

"Young Master Austin, you don't have to fear so much. Lord Henry promised you that nothing would happen to you. Besides, there is no evidence that you broke the lock.

Even if anyone comes here to check what happened, they won't be able to find you because of your 'special' properties."

The maid assured her charge with as much patience and confidence as possible. She was certain about what she was saying, but her charge still felt weak and lifeless as he lay down on the ground and did not move.

"I know. B-But what if they did? I have heard about Layla and M-Mary! Isn't that maid super capable? Surely, she can-"

The kid burrowed himself further into his blanket as the sound of something shattering reached his ear.

The maid's harsh panting followed it as she tried to keep her emotions under control. But she could not keep herself in check and clenched her fists harder.

"Oh my! It seems like I failed to control my strength again. Young Master, it would likely be in your best interest not to speak such nonsense in front of me.

I assured you that nothing would happen to you, right? Then, nothing would happen to you. And also, Master Henry assured us that he would protect us if we were ever discovered. Don't you trust him?"

The maid asked with a smile on her face.

Austin could not hear the maid smile, but he could hear the confidence in her voice. She was reassuring her about being right again and again.

It finally brought the kid out of his headspace, and he blinked up at his maid in shock and kindness.

"I-I see! If that is the case, then I will be fine for sure. Brother Henry always keeps the promises that he makes."

Austin breathed out a sigh of relief as he finally fell asleep.

His maid kept the supportive look on her face this whole time before it finally faded away from her face once her charge was asleep.

Only then did the maid pick up another cup and throw it at the wall to break it and calm her anger down.

"That stupid Mary! She is always there to show me up. If not for her, I would be this place's best employee! I would be the maid the Duke would look for and call over all the time. But because of her-"

The maid looked angry, but then she calmed herself down. She knew this door-locking plan was risky but had huge rewards.

If the person who broke down the door was not found, Mary and the other people who looked after Layla would shoulder this responsibility.

Even the Duke would not be able to protect Mary under such circumstances.

'I cannot wait to see the look on Mary's face once she is abandoned. She would be devastated once the Duke turned away from her and stopped supporting her. I will be there.'

Maid Sherry was looking forward to it. She wanted to compete in the race to become the head maid and get her only competition out of the way beforehand.

...

The morning came before anyone anticipated it, and Layla headed back toward her room the first chance she got.

Raziel had gone out with an official message to call for the people she needed, and Layla noticed all the maids in the background. They looked at her with surprised looks on their faces.

Finally, the news reached Henry, and he quickly came down to check on what Layla was doing.

"What happened to your door and this corridor, Layla? Did you get attacked last night? The damage looks like it is bad. Do you need my help?"

Henry asked in a clear voice. His voice sounded worried when he spoke, but Layla only looked at him blankly before she turned back to look at her door.

She was giving Henry the cold shoulder, and he instantly looked offended that Layla was not paying attention to him.

*Cough*

"I said, I can help you if you want me to. You should not ignore it when someone is talking to you, Layla. It can offend that person."

Henry tried to make Layla understand he was there to help her and would not take 'no' for an answer.

But her blank and uninterested look did not change, no matter how much he tried to show that he was there to help her.

"I am sure you want to help, but I don't want you anywhere near here. I have called for a professional to come and check out what happened. If you come too close, it can contaminate the site and get you into trouble.

Ah, but if you want to confess to being the mastermind behind what happened, I don't mind! You can come forward and check the site all you want."

Mary smiled as she spoke. She also stepped before Layla to hide her from Henry's gaze, and her challenging smile remained.

Mary was the last person Henry expected to face out of everyone here. He was taken aback, and he quickly stepped back.

But then he remembered where he was and quickly caught himself before making an even bigger fool of himself.

"I see! I was just asking these questions because I was worried about you. But I can see that I do not need to do that anymore. But still, you should not have called an out-of-Dukedom professional. What would the Duke say if he hears about this-?"

"You don't have to worry about it. I already asked the Duke and got his permission. Surely, you won't interfere now that we have the Duke's agreement, right?