Thanks to that, Ayla was one of the best preys among the royal palace maids.
No matter what she did, behind her back, there was an unjustified torrent of criticism directed at her.
It was unfair, but she thought she must endure it for the sake of her family or to make up for her father's mistakes.
But now she didn't want to do that anymore.
She didn't want to be cowering in a corner anymore, at a time when it was clear that Count Serdian had been framed.
She wanted to regain her self-esteem, which had been disgraced and destroyed ever since she entered the royal palace.
"Answer what I asked!! Why are you hanging around Grand Duke Arrot?"
The freckled woman's voice faltered greatly, as if she were speechless at Ayla's unusual reaction.
Ayla just gave her a pretty smile and kept silent.
Soon, she glanced at her up and down and snorted.
She quickly finished the tea she was drinking, got up from her seat, and came closer to the freckled woman's ear.
"Grand Duke Arrot He likes pretty things. However You are a bit I won't say the next word."
The woman's face turned red and she panted in her seat, as if Ayla's whisper had brought her a sense of humiliation.
The maids looked at Ayla with dumbfounded expressions, as she slowly exited the break room after patting the woman's shoulder a couple of times.
***
All laughter disappeared from Ayla's face as she entered the office.
There was a huge pile of documents stacked up on the table, which had now become her exclusive seat.
Theon, the starting point of the problem, was absent.
Ayla, who hesitantly came into the office, saw Theon coming out of the archive room with both hands full with stacks of documents.
Isn't he like a workaholic?'
Ayla stared at Theon, with her mouth wide open.
Theon turned his head towards Ayla and pointed at the table, as if telling her to sit down.
"First, the tea"
"This comes first, so sit down."
At Theon's resolute words, Ayla sighed with both her eyes closed.
Then, she took a seat in front of the table, as if she couldn't help it.
Ayla's gaze naturally turned to the piles of documents on the table.
At a glance, she could tell that the documents were clearly different from the ones she had been reviewing.
"Now, shall we do some work earnestly?"
What more do you want me to do here?'
Immediately Theon smiled lightly towards Ayla, who was blankly looking at his movements as if she had given up.
He's lucky because he's handsome; if he had an ugly face, she probably would have overturned the table.
"What kind of work?"
"What you have done until now was kind of a warm-up exercise. I know the extent of your abilities so you should do your job properly, don't you think?"
As Ayla nodded her head silently, as if she were used to it, while pointing at the pile of documents with her finger, Theon picked up a document, with a look of acknowledgement in his eyes, and handed it to her.
"This is the data that summarizes the expenses used on the banquet the other day."
When she received the papers, she quickly reviewed the contents and let out a small sigh.
It was the document she saw when she first came to the office as a substitute; but there was a noticeable difference compared to that time.
She gently covered the documents he was seeing as if he didn't want to see the messed-up accounting data any more.
"What should I do?"
Ayla asked calmly, with her blue eyes filled with Theon.
Theon silently handed her another document.
She was curious about the contents of the document as the folder it was in gave off an exclusive feeling, unlike the documents on the table.
Looking at the document, Ayla's eyes were getting bigger and bigger until they were about to pop out.
Ayla stuttered, covering her mouth that had opened unknowingly.
"T-This"
"It's a secret account I've made by secretly pocketing the donations. Let's work properly from now on, Miss Ayla Serdian."
***