C29
With Terence and Laura on my left and right, I entered my room without hesitation.
"Little Miss, just a moment...!"
The head maid followed us as if she had something more to say.
"Wow, holy sh—"
I was surprised. I almost cursed when I saw the sight of the place I visited after a long time.
"I thought there would be one or two at most!"
The red eyes stared at me from all around.
One, two, three, four...
There were a total of eight portraits of Liena hanging in my room!
While living in the Cassius mansion, I couldn't avoid seeing Liena's face, even in my own room. It made my stomach turn just thinking about it.
In fact, this wasn't the first time they made such a fuss over a portrait. Liena's followers, like extreme religious people, have the habit of wanting to spread their love for Liena to others.
I've been through a lot in the past two years. At first, it wasn't so bad either. Because Liena was the protagonist of my favorite novel. But...
"You have to do it as much as possible."
The novel showed only a small part of reality and raised the white flag in less than a month.
Although I obtained good evidence, I couldn't have been happy with what the head maid had just said in the grand banquet hall.
Furthermore, my heart warmed as I remembered the past when the workers forced me to look at Liena's portrait and only say good things about her.
Three maids slowly appeared behind the head maid.
These were the people I was trying to punish for the portrait issue. They seemed to be worried that I would lose my temper and stab the head maid because of them.
No way. I know a method that is tens of times more effective.
"There are so many portraits. Are they all gifts for me?"
The maid replied.
"Yes. These are recent works by new artists supported by Cassius."
"Since it was a gift, it's my property. Although I'm not the hostess, I still have the right to do whatever I want with my belongings, right?"
"... Yes, that's right. If it offends you, I'll remove them immediately."
"I understand. Take them all down and leave them on the floor."
In response to my unusual order, the maids slowly removed the portraits from the wall.
Eight Lienas were piled up in the center of the floor. From when she was very young, through her adolescence, to now as an adult.
The next command couldn't have been simpler.
"Destroy it."
The head maid and the maids seemed not to understand for a moment.
"Little Miss?"
"What did you just say...?"
Crack!
When a merciless kick landed on Liena's face in the painting, the canvas, along with the frame, shattered into pieces in one blow.
"Can we do it this way?"
Terence, who followed my order as soon as I said something, asked with a smile.
"Aaaahhh!"
The head maid's scream, upon seeing the broken painting, echoed for a long time.
The head maid ran wildly and tried to push Terence away, but when he didn't move, she looked at me and tried to speak.
"What kind of indecency...?"
"Shut your mouth!"
In something like this, it's important to control one's impulses. The tone of the speech also changed.
"Are you sure you don't know your sin, which is disgraceful to humanity?"
Conversely, when interrogated, the embarrassed maid lost her composure.
"...W-What, me?"
"Not only did you order such a profane portrait to be painted, but you decided to hang it in my room! Even if you and these people lose your minds here, there's nothing more to say!"
The maids who were helping the head maid push Terence with their bodies were surprised when they were also pointed at.
"Stupidly, you still don't understand. Take a good look at that wicked image! In your opinion, which seems more beautiful, the woman in the picture or the real Lady Liena?"
Although the head maid hesitated, she gave a response befitting an excellent follower of Liena.
"The real Miss. It's a portrait of a young lady, but how can it equal the beauty of the real thing?"
"That's right. Images like this are nothing more than forgeries attempting to clumsily imitate the appearance of the young lady. It's not even a drawing made with the young lady in front of you."
Liena hadn't visited Cassius recently. Even if she did, she wouldn't have time to spend her short holidays in her hometown working as a model for new artists.
"It's obvious even without looking. They must have copied it from another portrait or relied on their memory. If you think about it, isn't it just another imitation of a forgery trying to imitate the young lady, or an impious object created through the artist's imperfect memory? Disrespectful, impious. It's absolutely blasphemous."
At that moment, a maid mustered the courage.
"Is it so blasphemous? Portraits are supposed to..."
"Shut your mouth!"
Dissenting opinions must be nipped in the bud.
I spoke passionately in a tone that, in my opinion, was exaggerated. It wasn't difficult.
The frustration and loneliness Leandro gave me, the last years of being ignored among these lunatics, and above all...
"That's what I felt when I heard Laura's story, who was beaten and kicked out for ridiculous reasons just because she met a defenseless teacher."
It has become the source of the burning and bloody rage I'm emitting now.
"Is it reasonable to say that's the case for the young lady? Just because others do it, should you do the same? Are you saying Lady Liena is like the rest of the common people?"
"N-no.
"Then tell me. Why should I turn a blind eye to you who put these damn paintings in my room? Why can't we destroy them? Say it out loud! Quickly!
"Well, that's...
" I'm giving you a chance, so why can't you tell me?
The maid, overwhelmed by my fierce spirit, finally began to cry.
"Ugh. I'm sorry, Little Miss. I said something presumptuous. Please, forgive me.