The Divine Beast of Earth

The Idra Duchy’s villa was located quite a ways out from the capital, in the outskirts.

The carriage stopped near a forest path.

“We’ll arrive at the villa soon.”

Celia, the head maid of the Idra Duchy, said this while looking at me—seated beside Linna—with a dissatisfied gaze.

“I’ve already contacted Madam. About this girl as well.”

“Okay.”

Linna smiled sweetly and held my arm tightly.

After observing for a few days, I’d come to realize something—Celia definitely acted as if she outranked Linna.

She did speak politely, sure. But there wasn’t the slightest trace of warmth or genuine affection.

‘If even the head maid acts like that, the rest of the staff must be worse.’

No wonder the original maid on the Entoho had acted like that.

They all fawn and pretend they’ll do everything for you, but their behavior shows absolutely no respect.

Maybe that’s why Linna kept me at her side the entire time. She told me pregnant women shouldn’t work and made me sit beside her, so I’d been comfortably living like her friend.

“This girl...”

Celia muttered with a scowl as she looked at me.

“In just a few days, she’s acting like she’s some noble lady or something?”

Well, I am a noble lady...

“She pretends to be a maid, but she’s a maid herself and doesn’t even feel embarrassed having other maids serve her. Honestly...”

Good lord, the head maid of the Idra Duchy was very competent! I thought I’d hidden it well...

I figured nothing good would come from letting this topic continue, so I opened my mouth with a sorrowful expression.

“That’s because... noble blood runs through my veins...”

Well, it’s not technically a lie... My grandfather bought the title with money, but it still counts.

“Right, the Lavendal Duchy is disgusting, but it’s still duchy blood.”

That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but Linna jumped in to take my side anyway.

“I promised to take care of Heidi. We have to treat her well so she doesn’t go back to that bastard Ray.”

“Hmph...”

Celia gave me a contemptuous look and muttered,

“Madam still doesn’t know this girl is pregnant. She’s always only ever worried about the young lady. This will surely cause her concern.”

Linna softened her expression slightly and spoke soothingly.

“Celia, don’t make that face. I’ll tell Mother about Heidi myself.”

She even broke into a smile as she said “Mother.”

“I’ll explain that Heidi helped me a lot on the Entoho, so from now on I’ll stay grounded and live responsibly with her. If I say that, I’m sure Mother will be pleased.”

She must have known we were nearly at the villa, because Linna was acting very different from usual since morning.

Her makeup was light. She even wore one of those ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) “normal dresses” other noble ladies usually wore.

Her accessories were high-quality but modest. And her hair, which usually looked like it’d been hit by a bomb, was neatly pinned up.

‘Seeing as everything’s been prepped at the Idra estate, she must have always dressed like this when going to the villa.’

I looked at Linna and thought to myself:

‘She must really want to make a good impression on her mother.’

As we neared the villa, she sat up straight with perfect posture. Knowing how she usually was made it all the more surprising.

Still, watching Celia’s dagger eyes wasn’t pleasant, so I eventually opened my mouth.

“Ugh...”

“Heidi!”

“Young lady... the baby says it wants to hurry and go...”

“Got it! Let’s go, quickly!”

Celia clicked her tongue and backed away, and the carriage started up again.

In the distance, the Idra Duchy’s villa came into view.

Just by looking at it, it was clearly a sturdy and splendid building. The villa was beautifully located—with a sparkling lake view in the front and lush forested mountains behind it.

Looking at a villa that rivaled a noble household estate in scale, I swallowed dryly.

The conversation I’d had with Julian before coming here floated into my mind.

“There’s definitely something about the Duchess. From what I can infer, Linna’s acting that way because the Temple’s got something on them related to Anais’s illness...”

“I don’t know, Rosie... I mean, if her daughter’s suffering, would she really force her to do something bad? While she lives it up in luxury, no less?”

“There are mothers who abandon their kids. You think this kind doesn’t exist?”

“...Yeah, good point.”

We, two siblings who had both been abandoned by our mothers, agreed on that easily.

“Still, that’s just a guess. We need to figure something out for sure. If it is the illness, I might be able to heal her with my divine power... Then the Earth Duchy could break free from the Temple.”

My divine power was immense after all—if the Temple could provide it, so could I. But first, I had to get a clear read on the situation.

Julian showed me the layout of the villa he’d obtained in advance.

“Rosie, this is the Duchess’s room. According to reports, she rarely leaves it.”

“Then is there any way I can stay near that room? If I’m going to find anything out, I need to be close.”

“No. That whole floor is used by the Duchess and her maids. The room directly below is for the head maid, so that’s out too.”

“What about the room above?”

“That’s the attic. They built the Duchess’s room at the top because of the view. The very top floor gets hot during the day and cold at night, so they tacked on another floor above it. It’s usually used to lock up servants as punishment.”

“Aha. Then it’s simple.”

“Rosie? Don’t tell me...”

“I just have to piss off the Duchess and get locked up there.”

“...You’d be good at that...”

I was reminiscing about that conversation when the carriage stopped.

“We’re here!”

Linna beamed brightly. On her lap, Cashie shook his head with a gloomy face.

“Meowwwww...”

He clearly looked annoyed, so I turned to Linna and spoke bluntly.

“Young lady, I don’t think your Divine Beast likes this place.”

“Yeah.”

Linna answered cheerfully.

“Maybe he prefers the capital. Guess he’s like my mother?”

“Meowww...”

Cashie meowed in protest, but Linna didn’t seem to care. She looked at me and continued.

“My mother also enjoys social life and used to be a noble princess back in her homeland. She’s always wanted to live in the capital.”

“Oh, really?”

“But after she had me, her health got so bad... she had no choice but to move here.”

Linna explained with a bitter smile, then pulled me by the hand.

“Let’s go, Heidi!”

I nodded and followed Linna.

* * *

The exterior of the villa was impressive, but the interior was even more so.

‘Wow, this rivals the Noart estate.’

That was my highest praise—by my standards, that meant they’d spent a lot of money.

Linna, Celia, and I headed straight to the Duchess of Idra’s chambers.

‘Her daughter’s come all this way, and she doesn’t even come out to greet her?’

Even the room, after Celia knocked and we stepped inside, was so lavishly decorated that it was hard to know where to look.

And there, in the center of the luxurious, spacious room, stood the Duchess of Idra—Anais—adorned in full finery.

Anais had platinum blonde hair and turquoise eyes, and her upright posture and stern expression radiated authority.

“Mother, I’m here.”

Linna greeted her politely, even looking a bit intimidated.

“Have you been well...?”

It was a truly shocking attitude, especially considering she acted like royalty even in front of the Empress Dowager.

Anais nodded with a commanding air, then spoke coldly.

“I heard you were rude to Sir Payton.”

Sir Payton... that must be the Holy Knight Commander we saw on the Entoho.

“All the priests who came back said something about it.”

“Ah...”

Linna lowered her eyes, hands clasped in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I wasn’t thinking...”

Standing silently behind Linna, I inwardly clicked my tongue in disbelief.

Seriously? That’s the first thing you say to your daughter who traveled all this way to visit you?