Early the next morning, Vicky strode into Christiana’s room in exceptionally high spirits.
“Dear sister. This room belongs to me starting today.”
Soft sunlight filtered in through the large, south-facing window, overlooking a garden where roses bloomed in brilliant full color. It was the warmest, brightest, and most beautifully scenic room in the entire estate.
“Vicky…?”
“That’s right. After all, it’s completely wasted on you. Such a wonderful room is far too good for someone who can’t even use magic.”
Vicky turned in a slow circle, taking in her new surroundings.
“Isn’t it only right that I should have this room? Father decided this himself. Oh, this vanity table is gorgeous. And this chair is so cute! Ah, I’ll take this jewelry box, too.”
“Wait! That was a gift from Mother!”
Christiana reached out in a panic, but Vicky quickly clutched the jewelry box to her chest and slapped her hand away.
“So what? Are you planning to defy me? Father told me himself that I am far more important to him than you are.”
“But… that’s mine. Please give it back.”
“Tee-hee! You don’t need jewelry anyway, sister. You won’t have any reason to dress up ever again.”
Vicky was practically bursting with glee. Until just recently, she had been nothing more than an illegitimate child—the secret daughter of the mistress, Claudia. She had never lived in a grand mansion like this, nor had she ever been treated as a count’s daughter.
Yet, after Joanna’s death, her mother had been taken in as Count Tenies’ lawful second wife, officially making Vicky a legitimate daughter of the count’s household.
And now, Christiana who had been a count’s daughter since the day she was born—was treated as nothing more than a talentless failure unable to cast magic. Her room, her dresses, her jewelry… Vicky was free to take every last bit of it for herself.
(Ah, this is wonderful! I’ve never been so happy in my entire life!)
“…Why? What do you mean… I won’t need to dress up?”
“Because you, the little nuisance, are going to become a maid! Oh, that’s right. I don’t even have to call you ‘sister’ anymore, do I? Ahahaha! Serve you right! Even though we were born around the same time, Mother and I had to live in hiding while you enjoyed a life of luxury without a single worry in this estate. But the tables have turned now!”
Vicky hugged the jewelry box even tighter against her chest.
That very day, Christiana was driven out of her room. Her chamber, her dresses, and the jewels gifted by her mother—everything that had been inside became Vicky’s possession.
Driven from her own room, Christiana stood frozen in the hallway. Just then, Claudia’s voice echoed out from the room of her late mother, Joanna.
Peering inside through the wide-open door, she saw Claudia seated in front of Joanna’s vanity, picking up her mother’s jewels one by one.
“These will do nicely. As for the ones with outdated designs, I can simply have them remade.”
“How could you… Even Mother’s room… I can’t believe this. Today is my birthday…”
As Christiana murmured in stunned disbelief, Count Tenies materialized behind her without a sound.
“It is precisely because today is your tenth birthday. Every bit of this is your own fault. If only a magic crest had appeared and you were capable of using even a fraction of magic, things would never have come to this. Blame your own incompetence.”
The moment he spat those words, Count Tenies grabbed Christiana and dragged her along. He brought her to a dilapidated shack standing at the rear of the estate. Having once been used to store gardening tools and broken furniture, the interior smelled heavily of stale dust. Inside was a tiny window and a single, battered bed. Cracks ran down the walls, and the floorboards creaked underfoot.
“There. Starting today, this is your room, Christiana. Perfect for someone who can’t even use a single spell, wouldn’t you say?”
“I am to live here?”
“If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to sleep in the stables.”
Turning around, Christiana saw that Claudia and Vicky had followed them over as well.
“Mother, living in the stables would be a bother to the horses, wouldn’t it? Christiana is worth even less than a horse, so she’d just be in the way.”
“That is certainly true. A horse is far more precious than a useless daughter.”
Count Tenies laughed in complete agreement with Vicky.
“Starting tomorrow, you will work just like the other servants. Cleaning, laundering, helping out in the kitchen… There is endless work to be done. You will work to pay back every bit of the luxury you enjoyed up until now!” Count Tenies snapped bitterly.
Unable to watch any longer, the maids who had served Christiana and Joanna since the old days stepped forward.
“My Lord! No matter the circumstances, this is simply too cruel! Please, at least leave Lady Christiana with her mother’s keepsakes. Furthermore, this is nothing more than a storage shed…”
“Consider yourselves dismissed as of today.”
Count Tenies declared with cold finality.
“What…?”
“Did you not hear me? Pack your belongings and get out of this estate! I no longer have any need for servants who served the previous wife, nor a personal maid for Christiana.”
It was not just those maids who were driven away.
The butler and head maid who had served the estate ever since Joanna first married into the family were dismissed, and every single servant who tried to defend Christiana was forced to leave.
“Lady Christiana…”
As they bade her farewell through tears, Christiana gripped their hands tightly.
“I’m so sorry. This is all because of me… If only I had a magic crest, if only I could use powerful magic, none of this would have happened…”
“You have done nothing wrong, Lady Christiana. We are the ones who must apologize for being unable to protect you.”
With those final words, the butler and the servants departed from the estate.
And with that, the voices that used to call her “Lady Christiana” vanished entirely from the household.
All she was given was a single maid’s uniform.
Looking through the tiny window, she could see the light shining from her former room in the main mansion.
Up until yesterday, that had been Christiana’s room.
Yet, she was no longer permitted to return.
On the very day she turned ten years old—
Christiana was stripped of everything she had possessed as a daughter of the House of Tenies.