Revenge of Reborn Villainess

“Why did this lowly maid come all the way to the kitchen to steal food, huh?”

As Hermos approached menacingly with a knife, Eshika reached out her hand.

The space between Hermos’s eyebrows wrinkled as Eshika grabbed his sword firmly between her index and middle fingers.

Thinking she was mocking him, Hermos was furious.

“What are you doing you little rat……!”

He tried to pull the blade out of Eshika’s hand, but it wouldn’t budge.

It felt as if it were stuck between two giant rocks.

Hermos wiggled his eyebrows.

Then he tried again.

“……?”

However, the knife in Eshika’s delicate hand remained unmoved.

He probably didn’t know that it only took a little effort for her to do this.

“Let go of this……!”

As Hermos attempted to pull the blade from Eshika’s hand, it stayed steadfast.

With just a bit of pressure, she could easily handle it.

“I merely blocked your attempt to swing a gruesome weapon, but your running posture was surprisingly charming.”

A cold voice came from the maid’s curly lips.

“Dare to mock a maid!”

Eshika glared at the bald chef, who was struggling to get the knife out of her hand, and she gave it a little more force.

Then, with a pop, the knife snapped in half.

“…….”

Hermos stumbled back a few steps, his eyes widening as he watched the pieces of the knife fall to the floor.

Horror and fear began to fill his eyes.

“…Who… are you!”

Something was wrong with the way she had nonchalantly held the knife between her fingers earlier, but this was clearly no ordinary maid.

“…Why would you come to find me? Are you an assassin sent by Herald? My gambling debt, if given a little more time…”

Eshika narrowed her eyes.

Hermos misunderstood her as an assassin trying to extort money from him.

Everyone had weaknesses, and she was adept at penetrating others’ vulnerabilities.

Hermos’s weakness was ‘money,’ and it was relatively easy to control.

“I am Eshika Klaus. You work in the Duke’s kitchen and you don’t recognize me?”

At the mention of her surname ‘Klaus,’ Hermos was taken aback.

After staring at her for a long moment, he raised an eyebrow and asked.

“No way… Are you the Duchess?”

Eshika raised her chin slightly and nodded.

“Indeed.”

Immediately, Hermos, who had been desperately trying to retrieve the fallen knife, stared at Eshika with disbelief.

But a duchess would be a different story.

After ruffling my unruly hair, Hermos turned to Eshika with a troubled look in his eyes.

“Why is your ladyship here, dressed as a maid?”

Naturally, Hermos looked down on the powerless duchess.

There was no one in the manor who didn’t bully the duchess.

Anyone who tried to be nice to her would be whipped if they were seen by other maids.

“I have come to ask for your help with something.”

Hermos smirked at the word ‘help’.

He had no intention of helping the Lady who was no more powerful than a scarecrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous, and go away. The Duchess will have another fit if she realizes you’re wandering around, and I’m very busy.”

What the hell did he just do?

Eshika took a couple steps toward Hermos, who grumbled and stooped to pick up the fallen blade.

“Then…….”

And then something sparkled and fell in front of him.

There were more than a dozen of the precious pearls he had received from Sella the other day.

“How about this one? I hope you’re not too busy to pick it up.”

Eshika said to Hermos, who looked up at me with a different expression in his eyes.

“I need your kitchen and your help.”

“What…… if you say so, I can’t help but…….”

Hermos frowned, reaching for the fallen pearl.

If he could just ignore the bullshit of a spineless Lady who knew nothing and take the pearl, he could…..

“Ow!”

But his hand reaching for the pearl was trampled straight down by Eshika’s foot.

“What……!”

Eshika moved her neck to lock eyes with Hermos, who arched an eyebrow.

Hermos felt his heart sink for a moment as he met Eshika’s cold eyes.

Earlier, when he had held the sword with two fingers, he had thought he had honed his skills.

But the Duchess in front of him now was…….

“Hermos.”

Her eyes were bright and young, and her lips were naturally smiling.

It wasn’t an eerie look she’d worn once or twice, and it wasn’t one she could mimic.

It had sent chills down his spine when he’d seen it on the face of the woman who’d followed his godmother, but an abyss darker than that…… was staring back at him.

“It shouldn’t be difficult to register these pearls as merchandise.”

“What do you mean……? What do you mean…….?”

“You have already sold three of my pearls to fund your gambling. They are of the finest quality among the pearls of House Brigitte. And they’re engraved with a number so small it’s almost impossible to miss……..”

A cold sweat broke out on Hermos’s back.

“That means we can track who sold them.”

The words sent a chill down Hermos’s spine.

“Madam.., why are you doing this to me, after giving me this as a gift?”

“It was not a gift, only currency entrusted to me in hopes of a return. But you have not met my expectations.”

Hermos felt a sharp pain as if his hand was about to be torn off.