That dawn, the four former Hera maids woke up from their sedatives, felt a bit weak and dizzy. They could only stare at each other through the bars of their cells, unsure when they were no longer in the same cell as before.

The four maids approached their cell door, limping, holding their heads that felt like they were spinning and heavy.

“What happened?” The first maid murmured, her entire body writhing in pain.

“I just remember they asked something about Ume.” The second maid, who was pale and already sat in front of her cell, responded.

“Why are they bringing up Ume now??” The third maid spoke in hushed tones.

The three other maids could only shake their heads in confusion.

“... I'm not sure. It must have something to do with Ra--He--... Lady Hera. I overheard some guards discussing that the Duke was seeking out information about his daughter now.”

“Ck... Why do you keep referring to her in that manner? Since two years ago, we were no longer her maids.” The first maid sneered.

“And your fear of her is still hidden under your harsh words.” The always silent fourth maid retorted with a scoff.

The first maid turned her head and stepped back to the corner of her cell, no longer willing to talk to her three maids and wanted to rest her aching body.

Unconcerned about the first maid, the three maids resumed their whispering conversation. They simply don't like her to begin with.

Only their whispers could be heard in that gloomy and cold dungeon.

“They must have known everything. Otherwise they won't ask us about Ume.”

“Then what if they figure it out? We're still unable to say anything about Lady Hera.”

“Is it necessary to be afraid of her at this point?”

“Sir Nix, have you forgotten about him? We witness how he died after inadvertently uttering things about Lady Hera while he was drunk. Even Ume would prefer to die of poison than…” The second maid choked and didn't finish her sentence, so did the other two.

The cold and empty dungeon was deafeningly silent since then.

They couldn't help reminiscing about their life on the quiet eastern side of the mansion after reuniting in this dungeon. Although, of course, they are in an extremely dreadful situation right now.

They wondered if Freya was still working here or not. After all, from among them, only Freya was the one Hera asked to return to work in the main house.

After thinking about Freya, they all couldn't help but think about Ume.

Ume was the other servant, apart from Freya, that Hera let into her room. She was also the source of all the rumors about Hera that circulated throughout the mansion.

But despite the fact that Hera had been abandoned, they did not dare to do anything that would offend her directly, since she still had the status of the Duke's daughter. Because of that, they treated her with some respect for several years after Mrs. Ruth had left her.

But, thanks to Ume's influence, none of the servants cared about Hera's existence after a couple of years, especially because that girl never left her room unless she had a reason and never tried to get along with them.

Days turn into months.

Months turn into years.

They've become accustomed to their laid-back days and, despite their status as servants, are becoming increasingly haughty.

Everything was doing well until Ume got arrested for poisoning Alicia one day. They were starting to wonder about the truth of the situation. Ume was constantly with them; they couldn't possibly do that without them knowing.

But who would have guessed that Ume wasn't the person they'd known from the beginning, she had a specific goal of working for the Silverna family, and by the time they realized what it was, it was too late.

The day Ume was imprisoned was the day they couldn't find Hera anywhere in the mansion. She wasn't in her room, the library, or the kitchen, which she had snuck into on multiple occasions for a snack.

Their panic, however, did not last long. They discovered Hera on her bed the next day, her body quivering in pain and cold sweats, as if she had never left her room before.

They had no idea where Hera had gone that day, and when they learnt the next day that Ume had died in her cell, that matter had quietly faded from their minds.

Nobody knows why Ume preferred to die rather than reveal why she tried to poison Alicia. At least not until the four of them took Ume's place on a rotating basis to stay by Hera's side at mealtime.

They didn't know what Ume did with Hera on a regular basis, but once they were alone with her, their impression of her shifted dramatically.

When they realized it, it was too late, and Hera managed to make them keep their mouths shut about anything that concerned her for the rest of their lives or else.

Or else what? Sir Nix was the perfect example of why they shouldn't say anything about Hera to others who had no close connection with her.

By any means, Hera was not the person described by Ume in her rumors. No, she's more than a rumor, and it terrifies them.

No one has spread rumors about Hera after Ume's death, and no one has discussed the Duke's daughter who is living on the mansion's eastern side since then.

With no one spreading rumors about Hera, and a new batch of servants will be replacing the old ones, with only a handful remaining in the main house and on the eastern side. Everyone will eventually forget about her, and along the road, the eastern side servant realized that was exactly what Hera expected.

Until one day, Hera disappeared for the second time, this time for a longer period of time. Then something happened again to Alicia and her mother and someone in the mansion was accused once again, they were fortunate that it was not one of them this time.

With all of the accusations laid against some of the mansion's servants for what happened to Alicia and her mother, they were uneasy living in a mansion that would endanger their lives at any moment, especially since Hera had disappeared.

They didn't want to be accused of Hera's disappearance, but they also took this opportunity to get away from her, so they decided to run away.

They shouldn't have run away just because Hera disappeared again, but things have been different since Ume's death. Hera certainly gave them the freedom to do anything as long as they didn't bother her, but the girl's way of conveying it wasn't like a plea but more of a threat.

And now it's been more than a week that they were confined in this dungeon, through several interrogations from Killian, they did not answer anything about why they escaped and everything about Hera.

Lost in their mind, they were completely unaware as several guards with icy expressions walked towards their cells, stopping short in front of them to give them a piercing glance before opening the first maid's cell and dragging her out.

“You will be interrogated by the Duke.” A guard said in a rough voice.  “Please cooperate as this will most likely be your last interrogation.”

The guard who had been holding the first maid's arm loosened his grasp before continuing to bring her into the interrogation room without saying anything.

Several other guards remained with the other three maids, who were becoming increasingly agitated.

JennyRey

Here's a little bit about what happened on the eastern side of the mansion from the maid's perspective before they left.