Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends-Chapter 2.6 - The Leiria Household After the Disappearance of Kuna

“Why isn’t my new dress here!?”

“Lady Agnès, the dress wasn’t purchased because the master did not approve of it, was it not?”

“Lies! Father buys me whatever I want!”

In the country of Aluda, at the Leiria Count’s estate, Agnès, Kuna’s stepsister, was throwing a tantrum in her room.

“And on top of that, the flowers in my room have wilted! The cleaning isn’t done properly either! I always say I hate the dust gathering on the window frames!”

The room, with its large windows, was overflowing with cuteness.

A chandelier themed around roses and fairies, wallpaper adorned with floral patterns, and a canopy bed that was so plush it resembled a room in the royal palace.

Yet, in such a magnificent room, Agnès was yelling.

She refused to accept the maid’s explanation that her new dress couldn’t be purchased, and she also screamed about the cleaning being inadequate.

Watching from a distance, the maids whispered to each other.

“Oh no, it’s Agnès-sama throwing a tantrum again.”

“Since Lady Kuna left, there’s no one left to bear the brunt of it, and it’s gotten even worse, hasn’t it? Kuna used to handle all the cleaning, so we’re pretty clueless now.”

“Ugh, we were happy when Kuna-sama left, but honestly, things were easier when she was here.”

“Yeah, she used to take care of everything.”

Cooking, cleaning, laundry, plant care—even helping with Agnès’s outfits.

Because Kuna’s stepmother forced everything onto her, the servants had an easy time back then.

“Honestly, it was easier when Kuna-sama was around.”

“I wish she’d come back.”

“She was a demi-human, after all, and very cost-effective too.”

Kuna belonged to the White Wolf Tribe, a race of wolf beastkin. Beastkin generally had lower magic power but were far superior to humans in stamina and physical abilities.

Even when Kuna was deprived of meals or overburdened with excessive work, she managed to handle it somehow. A human wouldn’t have been able to cope with that workload.

But it seemed her stepmother feared Kuna for that very reason.

She was concerned that one day, Kuna might rebel and resort to violence against them.

Kuna’s place in the estate was a dark storage room.

Even though there were still rooms available in the Count’s estate, she was told to eat and sleep in the storage room.

As for meals, she was given whatever scraps were left over.

But since the servants often ate most of the food or took it home, there was usually almost nothing left for Kuna.

That’s why Kuna, although she was fifteen years old, looked no older than twelve or thirteen.

The White Wolf Tribe, by nature, tended to have men and women who were larger than humans.

But due to the punishments that could only be called abuse and the severe stress she endured, Kuna had become emaciated, small, and frail—like a rag doll of a woman.

To prevent her from running away, she was forced to wear a tight corset and high heels, which left her waist unnaturally slender and slightly deformed her legs.

With that body, she wouldn’t even be able to run freely anymore.

It seemed that her stepmother was finally at ease because of that.

“But what’s surprising is that the master seems to be grieving, don’t you think?”

“Exactly! I was shocked too. I always thought the master didn’t care much for Kuna-sama.”

The truth was, the Leiria family wasn’t doing well financially.

The reason Agnès couldn’t get a new dress was also because of this.

Despite the land having plenty of resources that could have been profitable, they weren’t being utilized because Kuna’s father, Count Leiria, had fallen into a deep mental illness.

Since Kuna’s disappearance, Count Leiria had become despondent. He barely worked and remained shut up in his room most of the time.

“The master is a problem too, isn’t he?”

“Well, the biggest problem is Agnès-sama!”

With no one left to lash out at, Agnès began taking her frustration out on the servants.

Part of it was because she couldn’t get the dress she wanted.

But the biggest reason was that even after Kuna’s departure, Roy, whom Agnès had been infatuated with, still paid no attention to her.

Agnès had feelings for Kuna’s fiancé.

She had always resented that Kuna was chosen as his fiancée simply because she was the elder sister.

But even after Kuna disappeared, Agnès couldn’t take her place as his fiancée.

To make matters worse, Count Leiria became furious and annulled the engagement with Roy and the Grad family altogether.

“Hey, did you hear? There’s a rumor that Kuna-sama might still be alive.”

“What? Really?”

“Well, you see…”

Just as one of the maids leaned in to whisper, an older maid interrupted.

“Stop it. Even if she is alive, so what? Do you think they would actually want to bring back a girl they essentially killed?”

“No way, that’s not…”

The younger maids shook their heads vehemently.

“For what purpose? To enslave her as a servant all over again?”

“Of course not! We were just gossiping…”

“Then stop talking about it. Leave Kuna-sama to be free…”

The older maid trailed off, her voice growing faint.

“Head maid?”

“...Tell me, is it just my imagination?”

“Eh?”

“Just now, from Agnès-sama… I thought I saw something—a black mist.”

The older maid rubbed her eyes.

“No, we didn’t see anything...?”

“...Perhaps it was just my imagination. Now, enough of that. Go and replace the flowers in the vase. They’re wilting again, just like always.”

“What? No way.”

One of the younger maids raised her hand to her mouth in surprise.

“But we just replaced them earlier today.”

“Don’t lie to me. They’re clearly wilting. Or did you intentionally choose to display dead flowers?”

“No way!”

The head maid scolded the younger maids to pull themselves together and sent them off.

“...Honestly. But it’s true—the flowers in this mansion have been wilting far too quickly lately,” she muttered with a sigh.

“...It feels like the long-standing darkness in this house is finally catching up with us,” she added quietly.

The head maid had been the only one in this household to show kindness to Kuna. After Kuna’s death, she often implored those in the mansion to stop further tarnishing the girl’s soul.

“...I’m sorry, Kuna-sama,” she whispered.

The head maid knew all too well.

—Kuna had been treated as a mere tool.

There was no girl more unfortunate than her. But it was all because she was born as a beastkin.

Beastkin are inferior.

Beastkin are deceitful.

Even if a Beastkin falls victim to a crime, it must be their fault.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Beastkin lie.

But they’re beautiful, so humans want to keep them nearby.

It’s acceptable to dominate beastkin.

Beastkin should obey humans.

That was the role they were born into.

A horribly twisted, muddied atmosphere hung over this house.

The head maid thought so.