The Virtually Exiled Duke’s Daughter Is Troubled When Her Fiancé in a Neighboring Country Says, "I Will Never Love You" - Episode 14

Martha is the second most veteran maid after Mrs. Lauren.

Most of the servants at the Sisley Marquis family lived on the premises, and Martha also had a large room in the servants’ quarters of the annex, where she lived with the head chef’s husband.

“Huh?”

“So, why don’t you let Lady Deborah try doing some work?”

“What are you saying, you fool! Even if she’s just a figurehead, she is still, in terms of her position, your lord’s wife, the marchioness!”

“Well, he himself said he wants to try it, and your husband approves too.”

At Martha’s words, the husband who had been speaking forcefully until just now fell silent. She smirked.

“Isn’t it great? If you miss this chance, you’ll never get to use the marchioness like this again.”

“I don’t need that kind of chance!! Besides, I’m a hostage, right!? I can’t just hand over a knife, and using fire would be dangerous too. Even washing dishes… if I break a plate, what then? There’s no way I’m doing any work that woman would make me do!”

Despite his bad mouth and loud, rough voice, Vito, her husband, always makes sure that nothing dangerous happens, and Martha couldn’t help but smile more and more at his clumsy kindness.

Martha and Vito have been married for 18 years now. Their 16-year-old son recently declared that he would surpass his father as a chef and left home to train at a restaurant in the capital. The couple returned to living alone together. While there are couples in the world with cold relationships, Martha found herself realizing once again that she loves her husband.

Of course, my first encounter with my husband was at the Sisley Marquis residence. When Martha started working as a kitchen maid, she greeted Vito, who was still the sous-chef at the time, but her first impression was terrible.

He was big in stature, had a sullen expression, and his demeanor was intimidating. He spoke little, but when he did, his words were rough and his voice was loud. Overall, he gave the impression of being very scary.

It was shortly after Martha started working. The former Marquis de Sisley had invited numerous nobles to the mansion for a dinner party. The kitchen was like a battlefield, with Vito barking orders at the apprentice cooks and maids. Marna desperately held back tears, thinking, “I’ll never get along with him!”

“…Everyone, I’m sorry.”

The next day, Vito bowed his head in front of everyone.

“This is my first time at such a big banquet… I was trying to do well and got flustered…”

Fortunately, the head butler, Swallow, was present at the scene and jokingly winked, saying, “You shouldn’t try to do everything by yourself. You need to let us show off a bit too.” This lightened the mood for everyone present, including Vito. Seeing Vito’s embarrassed face as he said, “Sorry. The head chef really chewed me out afterward,” Martha’s heart was deeply moved.

From there, Martha slowly closed the distance with the clumsy and easily misunderstood him, and they became romantically involved. Because of that experience, she found a commonality between Deborah’s behavior today and her husband’s.

When I first met Deborah, I thought, “She looks like a villain straight out of a story.”

The figure clads in a flamboyant dress, with an ideal body shape marked by pronounced curves, seems designed to intimidate women and seduce men. Large eyes surrounded by bushy red eyelashes appear beautiful at first glance, but the gray irises are cold and devoid of color. That cold expression suddenly transformed into a beautifully sweet smile.

“I am Deborah Mauzy. I have come from the neighboring Mammut Kingdom. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Her perfectly beautiful smile and demeanor were so flawless that they seemed almost eerie. It was no wonder.

The Sisley territory was a rural area close to the outskirts of Volks, so there were few opportunities to meet such a perfect noble lady in the first place.

Additionally, Deborah is a person from the enemy nation that waged war against us. Because of that war, we lost the lives of our loved ones, and everyone at the Sisley residence held a grudge against the Mammut Kingdom.

That’s why Deborah’s sudden change in expression seemed even more terrifying.

Anyway, everyone must have thought in their hearts that this woman is untrustworthy…

Today, Deborah appeared in a simple dress with her hair neatly tied up and said, “I would like to help with something.” When Martha let her try polishing some silverware, she thought, “Oh.”

Except for her forced smile, Deborah had no expression, like a doll. However, Marna, who had been with her surly husband for many years, could see the emotions in Deborah’s eyes.

The serious eyes when polishing silverware, the shadow of disappointment in the eyes when he couldn’t polish as well as the maids, and the eyes that sparkled like a child’s when he removed all the tarnish from the silverware.

These were strikingly similar to the times when my husband, in his youth, made various efforts in cooking to somehow gain the head chef’s recognition.

“Ms. Deborah, this is acceptable.”

When Martha looked at the spotless silverware, Deborah smiled brightly.

“Well, thank you. Is there any other work I can do?”

At that moment, the sparkle in her eyes disappeared, and she put on her usual perfect fake smile. Glancing sideways at the maids whose faces had stiffened, Martha felt a slight sense of exasperation inside.

(Perhaps, Lady Deborah… does she not realize that her gap is so severe that it seems suspicious?)

Deborah might not be a bad woman. If that’s the case, she might be a bit more capable… Martha wanted to confirm whether her thoughts were correct. So she suggested to her husband to give Deborah some work to see how she handles it.

“Well then, Vito, how about peeling onions? That way, you won’t need any knives or fire.”

“Idiot, do you think a young lady would do something like that?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you just make a suggestion for now?”

The next day, in the corner of the kitchen.

In front of Deborah, who was sitting on a shabby chair, a basket piled high with onions was placed.