Meanwhile, Tie swallowed.

Because at that moment, she saw something that only she could see.

Right before her eyes, waves of magic stretching out from bodies turned into threads and bound the souls of the two maids.

‘Waa, what is this?’

It had all happened just moments ago.

At the moment when the maids brought plates to Tie and Selina.

And only then did Tie finally understand.

‘Selina... is being mistreated!’

Of course, at first it had only been a faint suspicion.

When they entered the mansion, she had seen a woman throw sharp words at Selina.

But soon she thought that wasn’t the case.

‘Usually, the ones who bully are bad roles — strong and rich...?’

In Heungbu and Nolbu, Nolbu was the one who bullied.

In Kongji and Patji, the stepmother and Patji bullied the main character.

But unlike them, the maids in this house were merely hired workers.

People who received wages from Selina’s parents and helped around the house.

And Selina herself?

‘Selina is very rich, pretty, she has a mom and dad, she is a noble girl.’

So Tie couldn’t think otherwise.

‘Right. Selina can’t be bullied.’

But when the maids brought food with a stale smell, her thoughts changed.

And then Tie realized that she had forgotten one very important thing.

‘Selina... she’s also still a small child, just like Tie?’

She was smart, beautiful, and rich, but still a child.

And some adults treat children badly.

Because they think children don’t understand anything.

Tie had experienced that too.

In Room 205, where she was sometimes left when there was no one to look after her.

“You’re eating again? You just ate so much, and already again? What an appetite you have. Honestly...”

The woman from Room 205 didn’t like Tie.

When her father asked her to look after Tie, she would smile and say she would take care of her, but the moment the door closed, her face would turn cold.

That woman never gave Tie the milk her father had specially sent for her.

Instead, she gave her old bread, just like now in front of her — with the same stale smell.

‘Selina...’

Realizing what was happening, Tie felt so sad she could barely endure it.

Do Selina’s parents know that she is given tasteless food and spoken to harshly in this house?

Most likely, they don’t.

Because Tie also never told her father that in Room 205 she ate bread and later her stomach hurt.

She couldn’t tell the truth because she was afraid it would hurt her father.

Tie lowered her brows as she looked at the plate.

‘If only Tie could tell Selina’s mom and dad instead...’

And at that very moment—

Boom—

A wave of magic suddenly burst out from Tie’s body.

The wave immediately turned into dozens of thin threads and stuck to the bodies of the two maids.

And then Tie began to clearly see their souls before her.

On the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) surface of the souls touched by the threads, small cracks appeared.

As the cracks deepened, something began to swirl out from within.

“Helga! Have you gone mad? What are you doing?”

“I didn’t mean to say that! My mouth just—!”

“Do you even realize that if you say something like that right in front of the young lady, you’ll be fired?! Ugh... this job— you can slack off and still get a good salary, and you... why, why would you...!”

Watching this, Lucarion grabbed Tie’s hand with interest.

“You created the cracks in their souls.”

Tie looked at him, confused.

“Cra... cracks...?”

“Yeah. A cracked soul can no longer hold in its true feelings and emotions. That’s why they leak out like this.”

Tie swallowed and looked at the maids again.

It seemed Lucarion could see the same thing she did.

At that moment—

“Lea, can you shut up for once?! You act like you’re so smart every day, but at the crucial moment you can’t tell what should and shouldn’t be said? That’s exactly why— ugh!”

“What did you just say? How dare you—! Last time, I pretended not to notice how you stole the baroness’s earrings!”

“What nonsense are you spouting in front of this tin can?! Then I’ll tell the baron and baroness everything too! How you pull her hair tight every morning on purpose so it hurts! Ugh!”

Watching them expose their own misdeeds, Tie nervously turned her head toward Selina.

Selina stood there, staring blankly at the two maids.

However—

‘That’s not a surprised face...?’

Selina didn’t look shocked or hurt by their words at all.

As if she had been treated like this for a long time.

“Unlike you, I never bullied the tin can directly! If you get exposed, you’ll go to prison, but I won’t!”

“Oh really? And what if I tell everything you’ve done?! When exactly did you not bully her? Every time you bathed her—”

“Alright, that’s enough. Both of you, shut up.”

At that moment, a dry voice came from behind.

When they turned around, the threads binding the maids’ souls snapped, and the dining room fell silent.

Bale was standing behind them.

“Money really is a good thing, huh? Who would’ve thought these communication artifacts record now too. I wonder if they can send as well?”

On his palm lay the communication artifact that had been upstairs.

“Th-that...!”

One of the maids’ faces turned pale.

The other opened her mouth in shock.

“Kid, I did good, right?”

Meanwhile, Bale slowly walked over to Tie.

“I saw you move and ran to grab it right away. Well? Feels like we worked well together, huh? I’m better than Basto, right? Yeah?”

Pressing a button on the artifact, he played the recording.

A clear voice came from inside.

—My mouth just...!

—Do you even realize that if you say something like that right in front of the young lady, you’ll be fired?! Ugh... you can just slack off and still get a good salary...

Tie listened to the recording and looked at Bale with admiration.

Just a second ago, he had been beside her.

And the next moment, he had already run up to the second floor.

At that moment, she suddenly understood why Raul always praised his agility.

The recording continued to play.

—Unlike you, I never bullied the tin can directly!

—Oh really? And what if I tell everything you’ve done?!

“Give that here!”

At that moment, one of the maids lunged at Bale.

But he easily dodged and looked at her with a smile.

“Oh? So you want to put on a show in front of the children? I won’t stop you... but are you sure? This won’t end lightly.”

Frightened, Tie quickly ran to Bale.

“Don’t, Bale oppa! We promised not to dirty our fists anymore!”

“......”

Silence fell.

Bale clicked his tongue and looked at the artifact.

“Right. Why am I getting involved in someone else’s family matters.”

Then he pressed the button.

“Better leave it to the ones who should handle it.”

And he sent the recording to the coordinates that Selina had entered.

“W-what... did you just do?”

Selina snapped out of it and jumped up from her chair.

Panting, she tried to snatch the artifact from Bale’s hands.

“Where did you send that?!”

Bale raised the artifact higher and answered calmly.

“There was only one saved address. Your parents, right?”

Tears welled up in Selina’s eyes.

“Y-yes, but I didn’t allow you to send that! Give it back!”

At that moment—

“Selina, don’t...!”

Tie sobbed and tightly hugged Selina.

And in a trembling voice, she said:

“Tie knows you don’t want to upset your mom and dad. But if you don’t tell them now, it will hurt them a hundred times, a thousand times more later!”

When Tie lived in Korea,

her father only found out that the woman from Room 205 had been mistreating her after a long time.

After the neighbors grew suspicious and caused a scene with that woman.

At that time, her father looked the saddest Tie had ever seen him.

“Selina did nothing wrong!”

Selina’s lips parted slightly.

She was already about to cry and say something—

“Kyaaaaa!”

At that moment, a piercing scream came from the direction of the entrance.

As if he had been waiting for this, Bale tossed the artifact into the air and caught it.

“Perfect timing. Looks like they’ve already started reacting on the other side.”

He looked at Tie and smiled.

“Kid. Want to see how your poison works?”