When I Quit Being A Wicked Mother-in-law, Everyone Became Obsessed With Me

Just as Liliana was happily watching the sunlight sparkle off her shoes, she suddenly heard a loud sigh.

“Aah, this is so exhausting!”

Startled, Liliana looked up from her bench.

Not far from where she was sitting, a few maids were gathered, sweeping the floor. One of them had just let out a lament.

“Did you hear? The kitchen is a total mess this time.”

“Yeah, they said there was cookie dough stuck everywhere, right?”

Hearing the voice filled with resentment, Liliana instinctively shrank her shoulders.

After all, the last people to make cookies were her and her mother.

“They say the head maid can’t even lift her arms after cleaning up all that dough.”

“Oh my, is she suffering from muscle pain?”

“How awful, the head maid is having such a hard time…”

Could it be that Mag is suffering from muscle pain because of me?

But the last time I saw her, she seemed perfectly fine…

Liliana swallowed hard.

“Wasn’t the lady originally an aristocrat? She wouldn’t even step foot in the kitchen…”

“Exactly. And it’s just so pitiful for the young master.”

…Why is Elliot even involved?

Liliana glanced toward the maids.

They were now raising their voices, as if to make sure Liliana heard them.

“It’s true! The young master has practically lost his mother to Liliana, hasn’t he?”

“It seems like the young master isn’t receiving any of the lady’s attention because of Liliana.”

The maids lamented about Elliot, each chiming in with their thoughts.

It was a petty approach.

After Anriette warned them not to speak ill of Liliana, they were now disguising their complaints as grievances.

“Liliana’s arrival has increased the workload for the maids, causing them undue stress.”

“Liliana has changed the lady, who used to be so aristocratic.”

“It’s so sad that Elliot has lost the lady’s attention.”

In the end, they were essentially saying that all the problems arose because of Liliana.

If Liliana thought about it calmly, she would realize that these complaints were nothing but baseless slander.

Mag wouldn’t suffer from muscle pain just because the kitchen was messy; Anriette had tidied up before going out, after all.

Moreover, Mag was not only the head maid managing the townhouse but also Elliot’s nursemaid.

There was no way that Mag would be responsible for cleaning the kitchen.

Above all, before Liliana arrived, the relationship between Elliot and Anriette had been at its worst.

In fact, it was because Liliana came that Elliot had started to get a little closer to his mother.

However, Liliana was still young and her mind wasn’t mature enough for rational judgment.

Moreover, she was afraid of being disliked by the people of the Valua Ducal family.

‘In the end… I’m the problem.’

Liliana bit her lip tightly and curled up her body slightly.

Everyone treated her warmly, spoke to her in kind voices, and smiled gently.

So she had forgotten.

‘Because of me, there’s trouble in the Valua Ducal family.’

Meanwhile, a pair of eyes was watching Liliana’s sullen expression.

It was Anriette.

‘Wow, these people really…’

She clenched her fist tightly.

‘I warned them not to bully the child, and now they’re being passive-aggressive?’

How could they go so far as to come up with ways to torment a child!

What about our Liliana could possibly be so displeasing that they hated her like a thorn in their side?

‘…That aside, something feels off.’

Anriette narrowed her eyes.

On the first day Liliana entered the Ducal family, Anriette had warned the maids directly not to treat her carelessly.

After that, the maids had at least pretended to be polite to Liliana.

‘But now they’re being so rude to her?’

Anriette couldn’t hide her suspicious expression as she strode forward.

At that moment, one of the small-framed maids spoke up, swallowing hard.

“…Please stop, Lady Liliana will hear you.”

Oh?

In an instant, Anriette’s expression turned to one of surprise.

‘Look at that, there’s a maid standing up for Liliana?’

Liliana also seemed taken aback, her eyes widening as she turned this way.

‘Ah, that maid is…’

At the same time, something special sparkled in her green eyes.

The maid was the same new maid who had been sheltered by Liliana before.

The maid who had been leading the gossip glared at her.

“What did you just say?”

“That remark was a bit much, wasn’t it? There’s no need to go that far…”

But the maid trying to defend Liliana couldn’t finish her sentence and lowered her head instead.

Several maids shot her fierce glares.

“Are you really defying me right now?”

One maid, hands on her hips, let out a shocked laugh as she asked.

Following her, other maids chimed in one by one.

“Isn’t she just a newbie who has only been in the townhouse for a month?”

“Right? That newbie has some nerve.”

“What gives her the right to interrupt the seniors like that?”

The gazes directed at the maid were so ferocious that she couldn’t even move her lips to respond.

Hmm.

Anriette watched those maids closely.

It seemed that not all the maids were hostile toward Liliana.

There were a few maids who held some affection for her.

However…

‘The ones who have affection for Liliana are the newbies, and the ones trying to assert their dominance are the maids who have been in the townhouse for a long time. That’s the problem.’

Anriette sighed.

On one side, they had been there for no more than a month; on the other side, the maids had been working for at least five years…

From the beginning, it was an inevitable situation where the ones with affection would be suppressed.

Meanwhile, the situation was escalating even further.

“You seem to have a lot of free time, huh? Speaking out against your seniors.”

“Th-that’s not it!”

“Instead of running your mouth, how about you go clean the storeroom?”

“Y-yes? But how can I clean the storeroom all by myself…!”

The face of the maid who was given the order turned pale.

And understandably so, since the storeroom of the Ducal family was enormous.

There was no way she could clean a place that required a big clean-up by maids and servants once a year all by herself.

Moreover, the items in the storeroom were also an issue.

Although they might not be valuables by Valua standards, many items were too expensive for the maids to manage.

If she accidentally touched something valuable…

“Right, she should be able to handle that much so that the reckless one can come to her senses.”

“A newbie should act like a newbie and keep her mouth shut!”

Just as the maids were sharply lashing out…

“P-please don’t do that!”

A youthful voice interjected.

It was Liliana.

Liliana came running over and protected the maid who was speaking up for her.

“Y-you’re angry at her because of me, right? Please don’t do that.”

Liliana spoke clearly, even while feeling tense.

The maids’ expressions twisted.

In their hearts, they wanted to snap back, “Who do you think you are, a fallen noble?” but…

‘…But the lady does care for that little girl.’

It seemed they were scared of Anriette standing behind Liliana.

“There’s no need for everyone to make such disgruntled faces.”

At the same time, a calm voice echoed.

‘Gasp!’

‘N-no way?!’

The maids turned around, their faces pale.

Anriette was glaring at them with a sideways glance.

“You all are in a position where you must follow Liliana’s orders from the start.”

“L-lady…!”

“It’s truly amusing to hear. Even if it’s the truth, to say that a ‘newbie’ shouldn’t even open her mouth is ridiculous.”

As she spoke, Anriette took a step forward.

Just by the lady approaching them, the maids had already tensed up.

Anriette gestured with her chin toward the maid who was cowering behind Liliana.

“And also, the act of assigning that maid to ‘clean the storeroom’ is an outright overstep of authority, isn’t it?”

“W-well, that is…”

“The only people who have the authority to give orders in this townhouse are the head of the family, myself, and Elliot.”

The gentle violet eyes gazed at Liliana.

“And only Liliana.”

With that calm voice, tears welled up in Liliana’s greenish eyes.

Anriette was clearly declaring, ‘Liliana is a member of the Valua family.’

“I’m very disappointed in you all.”

Disappointed.

At that word, the maids felt their hearts drop.

Until now, Anriette had never once used the word ‘disappointed’ in front of the maids.

Of course, the previous Anriette had never regarded her servants as anything more than ‘objects that could be commanded with the tip of a toe’…

‘…The lady must be really angry.’

‘What should we do?’

Anriette’s choice of words was enough to darken the maids’ expressions.

Her calm voice continued.

“Just the other day, you openly gossiped about me. If you were going to point that out, you should have thought about how to correct it…”

“…”

“…”

“Instead, you pretended to complain while giving Liliana the cold shoulder.”

Anriette glanced around at the maids, her eyes icy as she surveyed those who had bowed their heads before her.