"Suicide?! This hasn't occurred in a very long time, at least not while Nikolai was still employed at Nexus." Maria Novikov made clear how deeply upset she was by the news of the maid's suicide.
While the maid's body was removed, Maria gathered all of the chief servants in the courtroom in anticipation of Nikolai's arrival. But she didn't want to keep her opinions to herself.
The servants all bent their heads as she angrily paced around. They were still reeling from what had happened.
Due to Nikolai, suicide was a common practice among the castle servants three hundred years ago. No one was aware of his techniques for coercing them into killing themselves, but they were all aware that it was a terrifying strategy that sapped a person's will to live.