Chapter 64:Family Meeting

As Rosa was swayed by the carriage on her way home, she pondered.

(So in the end, am I to be poisoned by the force of the story and have my family crushed? But I refuse! I, who survived being thrown from a horse, am not to be underestimated. Don’t underestimate my vitality.)

Rosa barked internally at the unseen enemy.

Upon returning home, Rosa immediately confided in her mother about what she had heard from Ethan.

Rosa also made sure to inform her mother that a go-between was involved, thanks to Oliver’s introduction.

In the following days, troubles continued to arise within the household.

After somehow settling matters with her mother and taking a breather in her room with a cup of tea, Helena, unusually, expressed resentment towards Rosa.

“Miss, why didn’t you consult with me?”

“No, because you wouldn’t like it if you knew you were monitoring the servants.”

“You were monitoring the newcomer, weren’t you, Miss? If you had mentioned it, I would have assisted you.”

“Don’t you handle Rozelian matters as well?”

“I am your lady’s maid.”

Helena didn’t back down.

“I’m at a loss. We need you both at the store and at the mansion. Hey, Helena,do you think we can  be together?”

“Another strange thing like that…”

Helena gave Rosa a disbelieving look in her usual manner.

“But I’m relieved this time. Thanks to your report.”

There was theft in the estate, and two new maids with sticky fingers were dismissed. Then, three poorly behaved maids quit.

It was all thanks to Helena, who quickly saw through their actions.

“I have had experience with maids on a couple of estates before, so I can somewhat see through them.”

“Doesn’t that make your job difficult?”

“Not at all; please don’t worry about it. Thanks to you, Miss, for raising my position in the estate; there’s no problem at all.”

If circumstances were different, Rosa thought she would want to become great friends with Helena.

And yet the estate was suffering from a serious shortage of personnel.

Despite having more than enough money, there weren’t enough servants to clean the estate, and the management was lacking.

At her father’s instruction, unused rooms and parts of the estate were hastily closed off.

Even though there was an abundance of money.

The Croitzer family meetings were often held in the salon or dining room, but now it had become a strict choice of her father’s study.

The reason is that the newly arrived servants cannot be trusted.

Tonight, the entire family is gathered.

“The junior maids will continue to be individually interviewed and selected by me in the estate,” Mother declared, and Father, Philbert, and Rosa nodded in agreement.

Then Father began slowly.

“Actually, just a while ago, we dismissed two newly hired senior servants.”

“Eh? From His Highness, were they former officials recommended to us?” Rosa asked, and her father nodded with a grim expression.

“They were involved in tampering with the accounts. They claim it was a mistake in the records, but who knows” Philbert said gloomily.

(As expected, the Croitzer family is being undermined from within.)

Rosa shivered.

“The other one had entered the vault room despite being instructed not to, so we kicked them out of the estate on the spot.”

Father, usually cheerful, was unusually angry.

“His Highness has brought in quite the characters,” Rosa agreed.

“Well, His Highness probably just checked and signed the documents. But why does Lord Griffith cooperate with you to such an extent? If it weren’t for his information, you wouldn’t have been so busy monitoring the new servants,” Philbert asked Rosa curiously.

“Isn’t it because he’d be in trouble if the ‘Rozelian’ bath bombs ran out? He’s ordered special ones with herbal ingredients. I’ve heard they’re quite popular with the patients,” Rosa explained.

Selling products and being appreciated was a very gratifying feeling.

“Well, leaving that aside, let’s make sure the long-standing servants don’t leak out for some reason. There seems to be something behind this matter, but I’m too busy to investigate it thoroughly. For now, let’s track the situation of the former servants who quit. Let’s gradually uncover the truth,” her father’s words concluded, closing the curtains on the Croitzer family meeting.

Leaving her father’s study, Helena, as usual, walked behind Rosa like a shadow in the corridor.

“Ah, it’s quite stressful, isn’t it?”

“I’ve got a mountain of tasks to do.”

Rosa was well aware of that, but she had learned a lesson from her past life as a workaholic: the busier you are, the more you need to let off steam.

“Yes, so I’m going to the top jewelry store in the capital right now!”

“Very well, you’re going shopping a lot then.”

Helena, accustomed to the routine, arranged for the carriage.

“Ho ho ho, today we’ll do this and that at the jewelry store!”

Rosa declared loudly as she descended to the ground-floor entrance and boarded the carriage from the porch.