There are two types of people in this world.
One is those who are stupider than you.
And the other, those who are not.
Keep the stupid ones closer.
And keep a safe distance from the others, and never let them get to your head.
That is the first rule of the game that I'm about to play.
The name of this game is...
"Operation: Divorce my slutty psycho husband"
"Pardon? What?" Mari asks.
"Nothing. Well so, the weather looks great today!" I smile looking outside the window.
"Yes, it's a beautiful sunny day!" Mari exclaims.
"Right? What a good day to fire all the servants!" I smile brightly.
Then pushing the door open, I walk to the dining room as Mari follows me behind.
The servants were waiting at the breakfast table with terribly nervous looks on their faces.
I sit down at the table with a smile and ask, "Where are my brother and my dear husband?"
The servants get very surprised at my question.
Why does the Duchess look so bubbly after what happened yesterday???
I look over to Teresa standing near Derick's empty chair and frowning.
"Hey what happened to Derick? Is he not hungry?" I ask.
"Master Derick already had his breakfast in his room" She answers, trying to avoid my gaze.
"Oh Is that so? Well too bad I wanted to have breakfast with my whole family" I sigh.
Her face twists into an expression of disbelief and anger when she hears the word family from my mouth.
"Lady please don't joke like that! How could you even say things like that after what you did to him yesterday!??" She screams.
"Ugh So loud!" I cover my ears.
"Teresa, have you lost your mind? How can you speak to the Duchess like that!?" Mari retorts.
"No it's okay I understand how she feels...I shouldn't have treated my only brother so harshly" I say in a regretful voice.
The servants' exchange confused gazes.
"Anyways, since neither my husband nor my brother is here, I feel very hurt and don't wish to dine alone..." I stand up from my seat.
"But you didn't even touch the food-"
"I have lost my appetite. I wish to spend time alone somewhere quieter so I would be at the library. The truth is I have no idea what was wrong with me yesterday. To think that I did such a thing to my little brother...I want time to rethink my actions and repent" I say apologetically.
The servants get very shocked upon hearing those words.
It's like the usual gentle and polite Rosetta has returned back...
I leave the dining room quietly and Mari follows me out.
After we leave, the servants start discussing among themselves.
"What do you think happened?"
"I have no idea, nothing is fitting in"
"Maybe she's really regretting her actions-"
"I don't trust her," Teresa says.
"Why?"
"Can you guys really forgive her after what she did to Master Derick yesterday!? Master can't even sit up straight because of his painful wounds, the doctor says that it will take months to heal the scars!" Teresa cries.
Then looking at the servants, Teresa shouts, "And besides that, yesterday, none of you came forward to stop her! Is this your loyalty to the master you serve? Hey Anne, didn't Master Derick give you 20 gold coins when you said your sister was sick last month??"
"And Peony, where is that girl now? Ask her how the Master bought a nice dress for her because her dress was torn just a little" Teresa says looking around for Peony.
"Teresa...girl just keep your mouth shut!" The head chef, Ron speaks up.
"Yes, I admit Master Derick has been greatly generous to us but do you think it was right for us to give in to greed for a few gold coins and try to kill the noble Duchess? After all, all those rewards he gave us, they were originally a part of her wealth!"
"You are stupid Ron! The Duchess is always so thorough with her finances that she would never pay us even a little more than what we work for! All of us are lucky that Master Derick was kind enough to pay us extra. And besides that, If the Duchess dies who do you think would be most benefited from it? It would be us who were on Master Derick's side from the beginning! Nothing good will come from being on her side now!" Teresa explains.
Ron bites his lips in response to her words.
She was right.
Even a fool wouldn't deny the gold handed to them.
But somewhere it just felt wrong.
And just then...
"FIRE!! FIRE!!!"
Everyone looks behind to find Mari running towards them while screaming dreadfully.
"What? What happened!?"
"I accidentally dropped the lamp and now the old manor is burning in flames!!!" Mari cries.
"The Duchess...She is still inside!!!"
The servants gasp in shock.
"Oh my god, you clumsy girl! What the hell have you done!??" Anne cries.
"Now is not the time to argue! We need to save the Duchess!!" Mari says.
"Yes! Everyone gather buckets of water!! We need to rescue the Duchess!"
"No need to do that...If the fire is in the library, it will take no time for it to spread till here! We should escape as fast as possible!!! I'll bring Master Derick out right now!!" Teresa says.
"What!? How can you do that??" Ron screams in disbelief.
But almost all of the servants agree with Teresa...
It would only be wise to escape as fast as possible to save their lives.
And so all the servants run out of the door that leads outside.
Except for Ron, Mari, and another maid Fiona...
They run in the opposite direction towards the door that leads to the library.
"Hey, I and Fiona will bring buckets of water!!! Mari, you go out and inform the knights of this fire!!" Ron suggests as they run.
Both Mari and Fiona agree.
But when they reach the library...
There is no fire.
Just the Duchess crossing her legs and sitting on a chair with a smirk, almost as if she was waiting for them.
"What? Where is the fire???" Ron asks looking around.
"There is no fire," I say.
"Huh!? But Mari said-"
They look over to see Mari smiling.
I stand up from my place and clap my hands.
"Congratulations to you all, you have officially passed the test!" I say cheerfully.
"Pardon!? What test??"
"The test to find out which of you are the idiots" I smile brightly.
They stare at me confused, with their mouths wide open.
"Well, I'll explain the rest at the main hall, gather everyone around over there!" I order.
At the main hall...
All the servants stand in a straight line with their heads bowed down in fear.
"1...2..." I start counting them one by one.
"What is she doing!? What about the fire??" A servant whispers.
"I have no idea..."
"12...and 13" I finish counting.
"There is a total of 15 of you so 2 are missing..."
"Teresa went to Master Derick's room when she heard of the fire...Oh and then there's Peony but I don't know where she is..." Ron says.
"Well, whatever. So out of the 15 servants here, only 3 of you came to save me..." I say looking at Ron, Mari, and Fiona.
"And the rest of you ran to save your lives..."
The atmosphere gets chillier...
"Milady what is the meaning of this? What about the fire?" Fiona asks.
A smirk takes over my lips.
"There was no fire. This was just a test to see which of you would be stupid enough to risk your own and save my life..."
"And which of you would run and save your own"
They all stare at me, dumbfounded with shock.
Walking behind Mari, I pat down on her shoulder.
"Mari is such a clumsy girl. She messes up her duties all the time. That is why none of you even doubted a single thing when this clumsy girl claimed to have dropped the lamp and started a fire...."
"When it's early in the morning and you do not even require a lamp" I sneer.
Gasps and curses fill the entire hall.
"I hope I did well Milady..." Mari smiles.
"Yes, good job girl" I pat her head.
"And as for you all..." I look over at them.
"Except the 3 of you who came to save me today..."
"All of you are fired!"