They are all characters I control.

With tears welling in her eyes, Elena turned to the Marquis of Rost, her voice trembling with a sob:

"Father! Look, now it's not just my sister bullying me, even her maid dares to insult me ​​like this..."

She sobbed, her acting was superb.

Anna almost rolled her eyes. How come she never noticed that the second young lady was such a green tea bitch before?

Lady Mara immediately stepped forward to comfort Elena, but her words were meant for the Marquis: "Elena, don't cry. You are the younger sister, you should know how to be considerate of your older sister."

The Marquis of Rost was already troubled by official business, and the dinner table was in an uproar, especially since it involved his eldest daughter, Lydia, who always "caused trouble" for him.

He looked at Anna with a gloomy face: "A maid, why don't you apologize to Elena right now?"

"Miss Elena, I'm so sorry." Seeing this, Anna could only obediently bow to Elena.

Elena looked at Anna, who was holding Lia's breakfast and was bowing but not kneeling.

She was even more dissatisfied; was this maid disobeying her?

She used to be completely obedient to me and even helped me bully my sister Lia, but now she's rebelling against me?

So Elena resumed her usual performance: "Father, perhaps Anna didn't mean it. How about this, give her a chance to make amends?"

"Since Anna is making fun of me, why don't you let Anna or Sister Lia come up with a solution for you?"

“If you can come up with a better idea than mine, then Anna will be spared punishment. If you can’t, then it’s not too late to punish Anna more severely. It will also be a good opportunity for you to discipline your maid.”

These words, seemingly offering a chance, actually put Anna and Lia in a very difficult position.

Elena simply didn't believe that the magically useless and socially inept Lia could have any brilliant ideas. Wouldn't it be great to humiliate her together?

“This, this has nothing to do with the master…” Anna tried to explain.

You have to understand, the Lia at this time is not the Lia who is usually bullied by them.

If they really let them come, Elena will definitely be the one in trouble.

But Anna was more worried about displeasing her master than about Elena being humiliated.

"What? Anna, what did you say? I didn't hear you clearly." Elena interrupted Anna directly.

With a seemingly casual wave of her hand, she swept the milk glass and plate off Anna's tray and onto the floor.

The delicate porcelain plate shattered instantly, and breakfast was spilled all over the floor.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, my hand slipped." Elena apologized insincerely, then turned her back to Marquis Rost and gave Anna a malicious smile.

Anna was furious at the sight of the messy breakfast on the floor.

Just as that evil 'Lia' said, even if she works for Marquis Mara and Elena, she won't have a good ending.

If it weren't for the fact that Lia is still alive, she would have long since lost her usefulness.

Anna didn't have a choice before, but things are different now. The master she serves is different from the one she used to serve, Lia.

"What's wrong? Anna, what were you trying to say? Why are you still standing here? Go find your sister." Out of Marquis Rost's sight, Elena stepped on Anna's hand as she was tidying up the breakfast on the floor.

Anna kept her head down; she wouldn't be foolish enough to put up any resistance at this point.

She had already caused trouble for her master by ruining his breakfast, and she didn't want to cause him any more trouble.

"What's wrong, Anna? Are you ignoring me, Anna?" Elena urged Anna while stepping on her hand.

Marquise Mara watched indifferently, naturally not caring whether Anna lived or died.

However, the Marquis of Rost grew impatient.

Marquis Rost, already preoccupied with work, had no time to comfort Elena as he usually did.

He interrupted the farce, saying, "If you have nothing else to do, get out of here. Lia is a useless thing. What does her maid know? If it weren't for the engagement with the prince, Lia should have been kicked out long ago."

Just as the Marquis of Rost stood up to leave, Anna, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly spoke.

"I... I know how to increase taxes."

Regardless of the Marquis of Rost's impatience and readiness to reprimand him, and the mocking looks from the Marquise Margrave and Elena.

Anna continued speaking.

“The master said that she could collect ‘healing magic insurance’, which would allow commoners to pay a small amount each month. If they were injured or sick, they could get treatment from the church at a lower price. However, the premium would double every time they received treatment, and the insurance would be void if they missed a payment.”

“There are also people who must ask the church to pray for them after they die, otherwise they will not be blessed by the goddess and will not be able to rest in peace. Therefore, a ‘burial tax’ should be levied.”

"There are also 'indulgence tickets' that can be sold; if you repent to the goddess and receive her forgiveness, you can be spared punishment..."

Anna regretted it as soon as she said it.

The evil 'Lia' said these things in a mocking tone at the time, and she clearly did not support these taxes.

However, just now, the second young lady, Elena, kept stirring things up and even tried to involve her master over such a trivial matter.

This is something that the maid Anna definitely doesn't want to see.

Causing trouble for that master is far worse than being scolded and punished by the second young lady, Elena.

At this moment, Anna noticed that the restaurant had suddenly become quiet.

She slowly raised her head and noticed that the Marquis of Rost's initially furrowed brows were gradually relaxing.

His eyes widened, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table, and he muttered repeatedly, "Healing magic insurance... Funeral tax... Indulgence..."

He was trying to process what Anna had just said when he suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

“Excellent! Excellent! This is the best way to make a lasting contribution to the Empire and the Church. I must write it down and give it to His Majesty the Emperor immediately.”

Without even having breakfast, the Marquis of Rost got up, grabbed his documents, and ran to his study.

Mrs. Mara and Elena stared in disbelief at the scene before them, their mockery freezing on their faces, replaced by disbelief and deep regret.

They intended to humiliate Leah and Anna, but instead, they gave Leah a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate her "value" in front of her father!

Anna, however, was more concerned about the breakfast that had been spilled at her feet.

Now, he's going to get whipped again.

Chapter 24 Collecting Three Tokens

The atmosphere at the Rost family breakfast table wasn't very good today.

Of course, the main reason was that the Marquis de Margrave and his second daughter, Elena, were not in a good mood, while the Marquis de Rost was in high spirits.

These were not things Anna cared about at the moment.

She was carrying a freshly prepared breakfast, her heart pounding as she walked nervously toward Lia's bedroom.

The breakfast that was prepared again was a bit simple, but at least it was quick enough.

Normally, the kind-hearted Lia wouldn't have said anything to Anna, but the problem is that this is the time for the evil 'Lia' to take over.

Arriving at the door of Lia's room, she took a deep breath before pushing it open.

Lia was already dressed and sitting on the bed with her back to her, intently flipping through an old notebook "borrowed" from the Marquis's study, her brows furrowed as she pondered something.

The usually kind-hearted Lia would never do such a thing. Anna was glad that she got up early today and wasn't discovered to be sleeping in bed again.

After catching her breath, Anna walked over and placed the breakfast tray on the small table on the bed. She said softly, "Master, this is your breakfast. I'm sorry, the original, more lavish breakfast was spilled by the Second Miss. This is a new one, so it might be a bit simpler."

Claire didn't even look up, only letting out a muffled "hmm" through her nose.

He casually picked up a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes still glued to his notes.

The expected reprimand or whipping did not come.

Anna breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt inexplicably empty inside.

However, she still has a chance to be beaten.

"Well, this morning at the restaurant, Miss Elena was discussing tax increases with Marquis Rost, and I mentioned the tax increase proposals you had mentioned before..."

After recounting what had happened that morning, Anna closed her eyes, awaiting her punishment.

"Oh, I see." Claire's page-turning motion didn't stop at all.

He's currently preparing to dig up the Rost family's ancestral graves; he doesn't have time to care about taxes right now.

But Anna remained standing there, looking at Claire with an uneasy expression.

Feeling a little uncomfortable being stared at, Claire finally looked up at the maid and waved to her.

“Yes, Master!” Anna happily picked up the whip and handed it to Claire.

Claire raised her riding crop and gave her a slap.

Looking at Anna, who had been beaten but looked relieved and happy, he felt that this maid seemed to be developing in a strange direction.

However, keeping her around is still somewhat useful.

"Help me change my clothes, prepare to go out, and take me to the Rost family's ancestral graves."

Claire put down her notebook and got out of bed.

“Yes, Master.” Anna was taken aback, but did not ask any further questions.

Claire and Anna had both changed into more understated outfits.

Yesterday's attack didn't stop Claire from going out today. In order to get out of prison as soon as possible, she naturally needs to speed up the process of finding the [Guardian's Gaze] that can break the seal.

Before heading out, Claire and Anna rented a carriage, considering the presence of many people.

The carriage drove out of the city and eventually stopped near a desolate monastery.

That makes perfect sense. Although the monastery in front of us is currently abandoned, the Church of Goddess has a larger and more luxurious church in the capital, and placing the cemetery near the monastery is a privilege reserved for nobles.

The first Marquis de Rost did indeed guide the church. Although the family has declined by the third generation, it once held a very high position.

Claire and her maid Anna walked around the church and into the woods for about five minutes before they saw their destination.

What comes into view are rows of tall marble tombstones, engraved with the coat of arms of the Rothschild family and the names and achievements of their ancestors.

The cemetery is surrounded by a low stone wall, and at the entrance is a small stone archway with gargoyles on both sides, symbolizing guardians. Their surfaces are covered with moss, and their eyes stare blankly into the distance.

This is the Rost family cemetery.

Claire surveyed the entire cemetery; the next challenge was finding clues.

The Rost family's journal records that because the royal family coveted it, the second Marquis of Rost hid it in the cemetery.

The exact location of the "Guardian's Spying" was not mentioned later.

Claire strolled through the cemetery; the noble family cemetery before her looked no different from any other ordinary cemetery.

Given the nature of nobles, there's probably some kind of mechanism or secret.

When Claire sent her brothers away, she made things much simpler by cremating them and scattering their ashes. There was no need for the trouble of building a cemetery.

Unfortunately, Claire had never been a tomb raider.

He could only squat down and observe every crack in the stone wall and every detail of the gargoyle, tapping the wall with his hand to listen to whether it was solid inside.

"Master, are you looking for something?" Anna asked curiously, following behind Claire.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, go play somewhere else."

Claire stared at a stone ball under a gargoyle's claw, turning it around but it didn't react.

He then walked around the family's tombstones, looked them over, and tapped on them.

Seeing Claire so busy, Anna obediently stepped aside and leaned against another gargoyle to rest.

But when Anna instinctively braced herself against the back of the gargoyle with her elbow, she happened to touch a slightly loose base stone.

"Click..."

A slight clicking sound of a mechanism turning was heard.

Anna was startled and quickly jumped away.

The gargoyle she had been leaning against, along with a small patch of ground beneath its feet, slowly rotated inward, revealing a dark, downward-pointing opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A cold wind, mixed with the smell of dirt and decay, rushed out from the cave entrance.

Hearing the commotion, Claire immediately ran over and, looking at the hole in front of her, unusually praised, "Well done, Anna."

Anna was flattered and felt that it would have been better to slap her.

Claire stared at the opening in front of her and raised her hand to release a flashing mark inside.