Rothgar leisurely finished his breakfast.

After breakfast, Anna quietly tidied up, bowed, and left. Vodo followed her to the door.

Rothgar's residence was near the garden. He poured himself a glass of wine from the Pala Highlands and soon saw Anna walking away with the food box. Not far from the small building, she was intercepted by three maids.

Rothgar raised an eyebrow, recognizing one of them as Abigail, the maid he had used for an experiment.

Parish's hearing was quite good, so Rothergar only needed to slightly open the window to hear their conversation.

Anna felt relieved after leaving Parish's residence. Facing a demon, especially a malevolent one, was extremely stressful.

She hadn't walked far when three maids blocked her path.

"You're the new girl, Anna, right?" Abigail, a blonde with her hands on her hips and her chin raised, asked.

Anna glanced over the three maids, noting their beauty and haughty expressions. They all seemed hostile toward her.

Anna smiled. "Yes, that's me."

Abigail looked Anna up and down with a contemptuous expression.

Another maid with long, pale gold hair covered her mouth and giggled. "Yeah, compared to me, you're really nothing."

The last maid, a brunette, looked at Anna disdainfully, raising her chin high. "Tell me, is the rumor true?"

Anna didn't want to get into a conflict with these maids. She confronted Lily because Lily was no longer at the earl's mansion. But these maids had been here longer. It wouldn't be wise to fall out with them.

"I'm not sure what the rumor is, but I know that rumors often have fabricated parts, sometimes they're entirely made up," Anna said sincerely.

Her words didn't seem to convince the three.

Abigail glanced at the food box Anna carried and said irritably, "You just served Master Parish, right? Normally, he wouldn't need a new maid for his meals. Why was it you?"

"Yeah, did you use some tricks to seduce Master Parish?" Kelly, the maid with pale gold hair, frowned at Anna.

Fiona, the brunette, kept it simple. She stepped forward, a cold smile and raised her hand, ready to teach Anna a lesson.

Anna quickly stepped back two paces.

Fiona didn't expect Anna to dodge. She glanced back at her companions, Abigail and Kelly, and then sneered, “Abigail, Kelly, what do you think we should do to teach her the rules around here?”

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Anna sighed internally, realizing that her earlier idea of getting along with them might have been too naive. Even if she wanted to be friendly, it was clear they had no intention.

Thinking it over, she concluded it didn't matter much. These girls weren't part of the kitchen staff, so it wasn't like she had to see them every day.

Anna wasn't one to take things lying down. When Lily had tried to sabotage her, Anna had fought back and taken the job Lily wanted. Now, facing these three, she knew she couldn't take them on all at once. But she had an idea.

“I advise you not to act rashly,” Anna said, standing her ground and meeting their gazes without fear. She smiled. “Whatever rumors you've heard, I can tell you the truth is even more exaggerated.”

Abigail pulled Fiona back, glaring at Anna. “What do you mean by that?”

Anna smiled again. “It's not that I seduced Master Parish; it's that he insists on marrying me, and I just haven't agreed yet.”

The three maids stared at Anna in shock.

In response, Anna flicked her long hair and winked at them. “Parish is completely smitten with me. Now, if he finds out you’re bullying me, what do you think he’ll do? ”

“You’re lying! There’s no way Parish would fall for someone like you!” Kelly couldn't stand the “truth” coming out of Anna's mouth and yelled in frustration.

Anna's smile widened. “Ask yourself this: if Parish wasn’t head over heels for me, why would he let me work in the kitchen just because I wanted to? And why would he summon me on my very first day?”

The logic behind Anna’s words made the trio’s faces change. They didn’t want to believe her, but they also couldn’t afford to dismiss it completely. After all, they were here because they half-believed the rumors.

Anna’s explanation, rooted in “facts,” was starting to sway them. Could it be true that Parish really was infatuated with this young girl?

The three exchanged glances, seeing hesitation mirrored in each other’s eyes. None of them wanted to risk their positions in the count’s mansion.

“I just remembered I have some tasks to finish…” Fiona was the first to speak, avoiding eye contact with Anna.

“Yeah, me too. Lots of work,” Abigail and Kelly quickly chimed in.

Seeing them retreat, Anna sighed with relief. At least she wouldn’t have to fight on her first day at the mansion.

But as she relaxed, Anna caught a glimpse of someone striding toward them out of the corner of her eye. Her heart skipped a beat.

The demon!

These maids were so foolish, causing trouble so close to Parish’s residence.

As the three maids turned to leave, they noticed “Parish” approaching. They dropped their knees, trembling and trying to come up with excuses.

Rothgar ignored them, walking past them without a second glance.

He stopped in front of Anna.

He had heard every word this girl named Anna had said, and he found it utterly amusing.

Just as he had suspected, she was utterly despicable. In front of him, she acted as innocent as a sheep, but when faced with other women who might threaten her ambitions, she showed her true, vile nature.

Rothgar's eyes gleamed with contempt and disgust, but his smile, borrowed from Parish, was sincere and tender. "My beautiful girl, were they bullying you? Are you hurt?"

He paused, suddenly realizing this was a golden opportunity.

He appeared just as she was being bullied, offering her another proposal, which would undoubtedly feed her vanity.

"They didn't understand how much I cherish you. I can't tolerate seeing you suffer... Anna, marry me, and no one will dare to disrespect you again."

Hearing the proposal directly from Parish was a whole different matter for Abigail and the other two maids. They were still kneeling on the ground, but they turned their heads in unison, faces filled with shock and fear.

The proposal was real!

Anna had lowered her head as soon as "Parish" approached. No matter how many times she saw him, the demon hiding in another's body still frightened her.

It wasn't that the demon looked ugly; she had been forced to look closely at him just now. Besides the goat horns and his aura of gloom and evil, his face wasn't misshapen—in fact, he was quite handsome.

But did it matter? That didn't change the fact that he was a demon who wanted her dead!