“This is the last time.”
Lucian wiped the smile from his face and spoke in a low voice.
“Bring me the head maid.”
“….”
Seeing Lucian like that for the first time in their lives, everyone swallowed hard.
The feeling that something terrible would happen if they refused was very clear.
Even so, the servants forced themselves to ignore the instinctive warning they felt.
‘Even if the third young master gets angry, he’s still just the third young master.’
‘If we disobey Jordi, we could die, but getting scolded here is better.’
To the servants, Lucian was just a weak young master locked in his room.
No matter how angry he got, they were convinced he would never kill them.
Jordi, on the other hand, showed no mercy when it came to using force.
If they had to choose, it was better to disobey Lucian than Jordi.
“Young master, I’ll say this one more time—”
Smack!
The servant who was trying to justify himself suddenly saw stars.
Before he could even finish speaking, Hugo had delivered a brutal slap to his face.
“Look closely, you bastards. Who is your master? Your master gives an order and you’re afraid of someone else? You have no manners whatsoever.”
“Cough, cough! Why all of a sudden—?!”
“All of a sudden? You still don’t understand the situation.”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Each time that hand, the size of a pot lid, swung side to side, the servant’s face twisted violently.
Even though they were just slaps, the impact felt like getting hit with an iron bar.
After five or six blows, teeth began flying and blood dripped continuously onto the floor.
“Ghuu! Kgh! Cough!”
“T-this is enough! How dare you do this in front of the young master?!”
Seeing their companion turned into a bloody mess in seconds, the other servants protested, invoking Lucian.
But Lucian merely tilted his head with a mocking smile.
“I did it because I ordered it.”
“W-what?”
“I gave the order. I told him to train those who disobey, and he’s doing it very well. What’s the problem?”
“Y-young master…”
“Hugo. Keep hitting him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Smack!
“Ghuu!”
The hand, which had paused for a moment, swung again with even greater force.
With each blow, more teeth clattered to the floor with a dull sound.
Soon, the servant—his face now unrecognizable even to his own family—collapsed unconscious.
“Young master, this one passed out. What should I do?”
“Throw him to the side for now, and when he wakes up, hit him again.”
“Are you sure? If we keep hitting him, he might die.”
“That just means his body is weak. If he disobeyed his master’s order, he should’ve expected this beating.”
“That’s true. Understood. If he dies during training, we’ll roll him up in a rug and toss him out.”
“…”
Hearing that exchange, the servants’ faces turned completely pale.
It didn’t sound like a joke at all—they were dead serious.
It didn’t even seem like they’d hit the first servant with the intention of letting him live.
Even if he survived, with that many missing teeth, it was doubtful he’d ever chew properly again.
In the worst case, even his eyes or ears might never recover.
After tossing the unconscious servant aside carelessly, Hugo turned to the rest, who stood frozen stiff.
“Let’s see… I think you’ll be next. A moment ago you disobeyed the young master’s order and just kept begging to be spared, didn’t you?”
“W-wait… just a moment… kgh!”
Smack!!
With a terrifying sound, the palm swung again, even harder than before, like it was going to smash his cheekbones.
The other servants began trembling uncontrollably as they watched, and finally dropped to their knees.
“Y-young master! Please forgive us! Forgive us!”
“We made a mistake! We’ll go fetch the head maid right away!”
“No, there’s no need to bring her. You’re afraid of Jordi? How could I force you to do something you’re so scared of?”
“That’s not it! That’s not it! What does the second young master have to do with this?! Our master is young master Lucian!”
“No need to try so hard. I’ll kill you without giving any order. Better to die by my hand than Jordi’s. Don’t worry—Jordi will never kill you.”
“Ghuu! Young master! Y-young maaaster!”
The servants begged Lucian until the skin on their hands began to peel away.
Only now did they seem to realize how stupid they had been.
Yes, Jordi could kill them like flies.
But that also meant the duke, the other wives, and all the young masters could do the same.
Lucian could do it at any time, if he wished.
So at the very least, they should have been loyal to their own master.
Because their master, at least, knew who they were and might protect them if needed.
But Jordi—the one they feared so much—wouldn’t even know why they died if they were killed here.
And even if he did, he’d just laugh.
No one wants a servant without loyalty—much less pities them.
“Please, just give us one more chance! Please!”
“If you want, we’ll even offer our fingers!”
“Please, spare us! We only ask to live!”
The servants cried out like madmen as they begged Lucian.
Even amid the chaos, Hugo’s hand kept slicing through the air relentlessly.
When the second servant finally passed out, Hugo was about to choose a third target.
“Hugo, stop.”
“Yes, young master.”
Hugo stepped back the moment he received the order.
Only then did the servants let out ragged, trembling sighs, feeling like they had narrowly escaped death.
Lucian stared at them and spoke a single word.
“Head maid.”
“Yes, sir!”
No more words were needed.
The servants immediately got up and ran off at full speed to bring the head maid, Jenny.
***
It wasn’t even five minutes before the servants dragged Jenny back.
“You damn lunatics! Are you not afraid of Jordi?!”
“Shut up!”
The servants forced Jenny inside and made her kneel on the floor.
She had a wound on her cheek and her clothes were disheveled, so it looked like she’d been hit multiple times on the way.
Even so, despite clearly being in great pain, Jenny showed no signs of losing her arrogance.
She resisted so fiercely that the servants couldn’t fully subdue her, so Lucian clicked his tongue.
“Hugo, make her kneel.”
“Yes.”
At Hugo’s signal, his men pushed the servants aside and grabbed Jenny by both arms.
They were burly men, even taller than the others, so this time Jenny couldn’t move an inch.
Still grinding her teeth, she locked sharp eyes on Lucian.
“Young master! Do you really think you’ll walk away unscathed after doing this?!”
“….”
“….”
Everyone, except Jenny, was left speechless in disbelief.
No matter how much backing she had, that wasn’t something a servant could say to her master.
However, Jenny misunderstood their silence and shouted even more arrogantly.
“If you hurt me, Jordi won’t sit still! Have you already forgotten what happened in the training yard a year ago?! This will be much worse than that time…!”
Thud!
“Cough!”
Hugo, unable to stand it any longer, punched her to shut her up.
If they let her keep talking, she would clearly cross the line again and again.
Perhaps he had used too much force without realizing it, because with just one blow, Jenny nearly lost consciousness.
“Sorry, young master. My ears were bleeding.”
“No, you did well. Someone bring a whip.”
“Yes, sir!”
Unlike before, one of the servants immediately ran off and returned with a whip.
It was a water-soaked buffalo leather whip with small metal balls embedded in each strand—just looking at it gave chills.
“Wake her up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Slap, slap!
“Uugh…”
Jenny’s cheeks were slapped from side to side a couple of times before she opened her eyes with difficulty.
Lucian toyed with the whip as he crouched in front of her.
“Are you awake now?”
“Young master… what do you think you’re doing…?”
“What am I doing? Executing a servant who doesn’t know her place.”
“E-execution?”
“Yes, execution. Did you think this was just punishment? Sorry, but I have no intention of letting you live.”
Hearing Lucian’s words, spoken with a weary smile, Jenny’s face turned pale as paper.
Was he really going to kill someone who was Jordi’s milk sister?
“J-Jordi! Aren’t you afraid of Jordi?!”
“So you’re not afraid of me? I’m a noble—and your master. And what? Do you think you’ll get away with this? You know I could cut your head off right now for insulting a noble, and nothing would happen.”
“I told you! I—”
“So what if you’re Jordi’s milk sister? Even if I kill you, he won’t be able to do anything. At most, he’ll beat me up. And if my father steps in, not even that. Getting rid of an insolent servant isn’t even worth that price.”
Crack!
After finishing his words, Lucian cracked the whip through the air.
The sound of it slicing the wind made Jenny flinch.
She now understood that this wasn’t an empty threat, but something completely real.
“Hugo.”
“I’ll hold her steady. Hans, please bring a cloth. The floor’s going to get dirty soon.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Blood’s hard to clean afterward.”
The injuries caused by a whip varied depending on the type, but the one Lucian held was the most powerful among punitive whips.
Just a few lashes were guaranteed to draw blood, so it was better to be prepared in advance.
Completely pale, with her teeth chattering, Jenny spoke in a trembling voice.
“Y-young master… I… I made a mistake. It was a mistake. Please, forgive me this once.”
Lucian smiled faintly at her surrender.
“If you made a mistake, then you must accept your punishment.”
And the whip flew through the air.
***
Jordi finished his meal and wiped his mouth.
Even though the menu was the same as always, for some reason it tasted much better.
No, in truth, he knew perfectly well why.
‘What an idiot. He couldn’t even guard his own bowl of rice.’
Every time he thought of the humiliation his useless half-brother had suffered, laughter bubbled up on its own.
He knew he was looked down on, but not to the extent of being unable to manage his own servants.
And yet, unable to do a thing, he had run off like a coward.
Truly, he was a disgrace not only to the Valdecks but to all nobles.
“It’ll be interesting to see what he does now.”
The smile on Jordi’s lips deepened.
The real fun started now.
If he still had any pride, he’d try to get rid of Jenny no matter what.
But was that even possible?
Even though everyone feared Jordi, that bastard wasn’t afraid of anyone.
To lay hands on Jenny, it wouldn’t be enough to give orders—he’d have to do it himself.
That’s when things would really get interesting.
If there weren’t any servants to testify, a thousand reasons could always be invented for why a noble laid hands on a head maid.
‘My father will know the truth, but he couldn’t care less about the truth in this matter.’
Lucian had proven that he couldn’t even handle the basics—managing his servants and protecting his own meal.
Even if Jordi had planned it, just falling for such a trick was shameful.
Jordi might receive a light scolding, but Lucian would lose even the small sliver of expectation that remained.
Of course, he could also give up and leave Jenny alone, or ask for his father’s help.
In that case, his father would scold him furiously for not being able to solve his own problems.
“Young master! Something terrible has happened!”
“What is it?”
The cry of his personal servant interrupted his thoughts, and Jordi frowned.
He had been in a good mood, so the interruption immediately annoyed him.
But despite Jordi’s displeasure, the servant didn’t hide his urgency.
“Jenny! Jenny is being whipped by the third young master!”
“What?”
“You can hear the lashes even from outside! If we don’t go right now, she could die!”
“…!”
At that completely unexpected news, Jordi’s face drained of all color as he jumped to his feet.
____
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