The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 42

Dion was out on a secret mission assigned to him by Lant Agriche; a great honour our father bestowed upon us once he thought we were worthy and were of age. Helping the family business. Doesn’t that sound nice?

While Dion’s actual mission was top secret, everyone in the mansion knew the Lord’s favourite son was at least out of town, except for Maria.

Maria had never been interested in her only child. In fact, her coolness towards him were one of the only similarities she and her son had with each other. They did not have a close relationship. Still, Maria did play the part of a mother when she could take advantage of her son.

My face was still frozen in a fake smile. I truly did not how that head of hers worked. She seemed to think that having Dion here would make me bond with her, when nothing could be further from the truth.

“Call for Dion, won’t you?” Maria said again over her shoulder. None of the maids had moved from their spot upon the first command.

Even if Dion were here, I would rather eat glass than have tea with him. To smile at him and say pleasantries while he looked back at me vacantly, almost without blinking. Every memory I had with him made me sick.

“My Lady, Master Dion is away,” one of the maids finally announced Dion’s absence.

“Oh!” Maria brought a gloved hand to her mouth. Her small show of surprise showed how unconcerned she was about her son’s well-being. It wasn’t exactly a tearjerking performance you would expect from a mother whose son had been away from months, probably fighting devil monsters and assassins. Her response was shallow, as if she heard her son had been late to lunch.

“Hmm, what happened this time?” Maria said easily.

My smile became smaller as I looked attentively at this new maid I didn’t recognize. Didn’t she hear the warning bells ringing as well?

“I’m not sure, my Lady, but he is carrying out duties for Lord Agriche,” the maid curtseyed. She had plain brown hair tied back into a bun. Her eyes were looking downward. Pity the maid uniform had a white apron in front of the black dress. Bleach had not been invented yet. Therefore bloodstains didn’t always come out of white fabrics, easily.

Maria shook her head, acknowledging her maid’s response. “What was your name? You were the new girl that Lady Lowell recommended to me a while ago.”

“Yes, My Lady. My name is Lana.”

“What a pretty name!” Maria clapped her hands together. She folded her parasol and had the tip poke through the hard ground. “You already seem used to this home. You follow the family’s whereabouts very well.”

The maid was still in a curtsey, fanning out the hem of her skirt. Her face was red and her lips had turned upward from her mistress’s compliment.

Maria continued to look fondly at the maid. “But who said you can open your mouth without my permission?”

A slicing sound whistled in the air as Maria whipped her parasol outward. Blood splattered over Maria’s gaudy dress and face.

The maid’s eyes stayed open. Her head plopped to the floor before the rest of her body followed and crumpled onto the ground. A pool of blood spread out from under the maid’s body. She breathed no more.

The maid’s heart was still beating when Maria turned her back on it. “Feed this trash to one of our lovely pets,” Maria flicked her parasol outward before opening its folds like an umbrella. Blood splattered onto the green grass.

The two other maids in the vicinity obeyed instantly. One picked up the dead maid’s head and laid it on the headless body’s stomach before nodding to her accomplice. She bent down to carry the headless body’s shoulders. The fingers had stopped moving on the body. On a count of one, two, three, the two maids picked up the corpse by the shoulders and legs and carried her away.

“Oh, my!” Maria gasped and brought her hand to her face again. She licked the blood off her glove with a flick of her tongue. “I’m sorry, Sana. Did I get you dirty?”

It was a shallow act. Maria had expertly sliced the victim’s head off with an uppercut. The blood had spewed in a different direction from me, with only a few drops less than ten centimetres (four inches) from my feet. Maria, however, was caked in blood.

“No, I’ve been able to stay clean, thank you,” I said.

“How lovely. Shall we go have tea in the garden then?” Maria repeated her request.

My face was blank as I glanced at Maria’s bloodied dress. On the outside and inside now, she looked like a psychopathic killer.

“Sorry, I am engaged now, Mother. We’ll have fun next time,” I said.

Luckily, Maria handled rejections well. She lived her life on a whim and hardly held a grudge after a scrumptious meal. Her servants and toys only had to survive Maria’s goldfish memory to keep staying alive in her presence

“How disappointing,” Maria’s shoulders drooped. “You must come to my rooms next time to play then. I received some new clothes for my doll collection, but you’re prettier than all of them, Sana. Some of the outfits may even fit you.”

I gave her a tight-lipped smile, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. I would have to be threatened with being killed or tortured to seek Maria. I would never approach this psycho out of my own free will.

Maria and I began to laugh politely, most likely for two different reasons.

After curtseying to Maria again, I walked past the garden path towards the Main House again.

When no one was around, the smile disappeared from my face.

Translator’s Note: I think this Tiktok is a good clip of what happened. Chapter 9 in the webtoon. (See below if you’re okay with gore).