Chapter 30: The Birthday Gift Showdown

Molly asked with a hint of confusion, “Miss, you know there are problems with Nora and the others. Why not just dismiss them? I bet it was they who stole your poetry book at the last royal garden party and gave it to Miss Selena. Such people are nothing but trouble.”

Miranda sat gracefully, using a hairpin to pry open a nut, and replied calmly, “It's easy to find a reason to send them away, but if I dismiss my maids one after another in a short period, it will be rumored that the Count's household treats its servants harshly and is difficult to serve. So, either I gradually dismiss them over a year or two, or—”

She paused, her expression darkening, and the nut shell in her hand cracked with a sharp sound.

Though she was not in a hurry, these maids were getting too audacious!

Although Count Croyso had been called back from the frontier to a civil position, seemingly losing the Emperor’s favor, he had served in office for many years and had extensive connections. His thirty-eighth birth