“This is all for the sake of Duke Albrenovich. Are you saying that as the Empire’s sole Princess, I should just stand by and watch while the Lady who will soon become your partner ignores the palace’s laws and acts so arrogantly?”
Brandt’s head turned slightly.
The desperate Princess Lena spat out her defense, spraying saliva.
“Is it wrong to educate a Lady who grew up in the countryside under a lowly mother’s hand and knows nothing about the palace’s laws? Are both the Lady and you, Duke, persecuting me and scolding me for that?”
The twisted girl spared no words.
She kept boasting about being the ‘Empire’s sole Princess’ from earlier, which was annoying enough, but her insulting words about Edita’s mother made something hot and surging rise up inside me. Even though it wasn’t my mom, it hurt my insides as if my own mom had been insulted. I couldn’t just stand by and watch this.
“It seems Your Highness has made a misunderstanding that’s hard to make under normal circumstances. Everyone here saw that Duke Albrenovich lowered himself for the honor of Your Highness, yet you say he scolded you, which confuses even me watching. Of course, as the Empire’s sole Princess, it’s understandable that mere mortals like us couldn’t even imagine such a distortion.”
Princess Lena’s face, which had been looking at me with eyes saying ‘Why are you butting in here,’ turned ashen.
“And wasn’t it Your Highness who slandered His Majesty by talking about conspiracies? Isn’t that not a matter of the palace’s laws but of Ludenbach law?”
Brandt turned to look at me. He had a slightly surprised expression. I continued without regard.
“And you keep saying lowly, lowly, but half of my blood was given to me by His Majesty the Emperor, that is, my father. Then, isn’t Your Highness the Princess also the granddaughter of my Father?”
Even I thought this was a bit childish arithmetic, but there was no helping it. The best way to deal with an ignorant woman was to respond in kind.
“Duke, look! Her way of speaking is utterly vulgar.”
Vulgar again. How could that be a wall and not a person?
“This engagement itself is surely a stain on your honor. No matter that it’s His Majesty’s bloodline, because of the blood from a mother whose origins are unknown, there’s no trace of elegance to be found. From ancient times, unions unfit for status have been strictly punished for precisely these reasons. Aren’t you afraid of what will become of the Albrenovich Ducal family’s future?”
I couldn’t bear the Princess meticulously spouting nonsense and was about to say something again when Brandt silently stepped forward one step.
“Lady Edita will become Her Royal Highness, and it seems Your Highness Princess Lena knew that as well. His Majesty will not have forgotten the Empire’s tradition of strictly punishing unions unfit for status, so he will surely do so. If that happens, I too am afraid of what will become of the Albrenovich Ducal family’s future.”
Princess Lena, who had been repeating ‘the Empire’s sole Princess,’ turned pale when the words she most dreaded came from Brandt’s mouth.
If the head of the Empire’s premier Ducal family married the only direct-line Princess who enjoys the Emperor’s favor, that family’s power would become immensely vast without need to say. In other words, it meant she should stop being arrogant and know her place.
At that icy declaration, not only the Princess but all the noble ladies were speechless. The ladies, who had been chirping like sparrows, closed their small mouths and barely breathed.
Soon, one of the ladies gave a cursory greeting and left silently. Starting with that, the other ladies one by one departed from Princess Lena’s side.
The timid lady who had remained until the end took the immobile Princess Lena with her. I felt sorry for that lady too.
“Please generously understand that I am greeting you formally only now.”
Brandt greeted me. It was much more courteous and precise than the greeting he had given Princess Lena.
“Thank you for helping me.”
I too performed the most earnest bow among all the greetings I had done until now.
Under the bright noon sunlight, Brandt was still dressed in dark attire, but he looked tall and dignified. Because he had helped me, he even seemed like a knight hero from a medieval classic. The black clothes, which had felt like mourning attire at first, now looked closer to a military uniform in design.
“There’s no need to thank me. I merely said what was right. For my honor as well.”
Brandt replied in a smooth tone. His elegantly falling voice was unexpected.
“As expected of your reputation, your cultivation and demeanor are outstanding!”
Madame Marie said with a smile that threatened to split her mouth. Then, surprisingly, Brandt shyly smiled at Madame Marie! I was startled by that smile that didn’t suit him at all.
Of course, being human, he would cry and laugh, but for me, who had the stern and dark first impression firmly imprinted, Brandt’s smile—no, his shy smile—was truly hard to get used to.
To make matters worse, Brandt, with that expression, turned his gaze to me.
“Have you come out for a walk?”
His expression and voice had softened considerably. Looking at his face, I realized that Brandt wanted to walk with me.
I didn’t particularly like Brandt, but he had helped me, his face was likable, and above all, he was my fiancé for better or worse, so I thought it would be good to accept his request.
I smiled brightly and said.
“No, I’m going back to the annex.”
Aaaah! Aaaah! Why am I like this! I’m crazy!
I had overlooked that I was a long-seasoned single. The iron wall algorithm etched into my entire body was blocking my thoughts from turning into action. Madame Marie was looking at me with eyes of shock, but it was already irreversible.
“I will escort you to the annex.”
“It’s fine. I can go alone.”
Once the iron wall algorithm with boosters attached couldn’t be stopped midway!
Seeing Brandt’s face rapidly darkening, I wanted to cry.
Duke Albrenovich
While looking at the map of Saint-Liselle Palace spread out on the table, Madame Marie said in a voice that sounded like she was dying.
“The place where Lady went for a walk is the Eastern Palace located to the East of Saint-Liselle Palace. It’s a place used for banquets or receiving nobles, and it faces Liselle Garden on its side… You know Liselle Garden, right? The very place where Lady chased away her fiancé…”
How could our Madame Marie even scold with such elegance.
It was the first time I hoped she would outright ask why I did that.
Due to my terrifying iron wall in Liselle Garden, Madame Marie seemed greatly disheartened. And that was understandable because as soon as I put up the iron wall, Brandt had said ‘Then I’ll see you next time’ and left as sharply as a knife. Thanks to that, Madame Marie had also seen the sharp glint hidden under Brandt’s affectionate yet awkward smile.
I was dull when it came to iron walls, but I could amazingly catch on to things like that.
If I married that man in the future, how would I live? The darkness before my eyes was no less than Madame Marie’s. He looked bold enough to chew on stones if there was no food…
‘No, the biggest problem is me putting up an iron wall right in front of my fiancé.’
After finishing my self-reflection, I really wanted to cry.
While both Madame Marie and I were fretting, a maid announced a visitor. It was a decree from the Emperor.
“His Majesty has commanded that ‘Lady Edita shall have luncheon with Duke Brandt Albrenovich at the annex tomorrow.’”
“What?”
Madame Marie and I both jumped up from our seats, shouting at the same time. The difference was that I shouted out of panic, while she did so out of joy.
At the two women’s intense reaction, the messenger smirked as if he had expected it and then left.
Why are you smiling, why! I didn’t shout in that meaning!
“W-what is this? Is Duke Albrenovich getting revenge on me?”
“What are you saying, Lady. His Grace the Duke is completely smitten with you.”
Interpretations of one incident could differ so vastly.
“After what happened in the garden, suddenly having luncheon tomorrow feels ominous. What should I do?”
“Even His Majesty wouldn’t arbitrarily command two people who haven’t even formally been engaged to have luncheon alone. Perhaps His Grace Duke Albrenovich himself requested it from His Majesty.”
“It’s already awkward, and suggesting lunch together is a declaration of war, a declaration of war!”
“How can you think that way? It’s because he likes you enough to brave the awkwardness.”
Madame Marie, unconcerned with my anxiety, hurriedly called the maids to prepare for tomorrow’s dressing. And saying she would prepare for tomorrow’s luncheon as well, she hummed a tune and left the room. I envied the positive Madame Marie.
While I, left alone, was pondering whether it would be better to flop over the table and cry or bury myself under the bedcovers and cry,
I heard a tapping sound from somewhere. Absentmindedly turning my head toward the sound, I spotted Sir Stefano Russell outside the window and was shocked.
He had climbed up a thick tree branch extending to the second-floor room’s window and was looking at me with a grin. Startled, I flung the window wide open.
“You really have some guts.”
Sir Stefano said what I was about to.
“Is that something Sir Stefano should say right now? What are you doing here?”
“I was curious about what the Lady who did such a bold thing was up to, so I came to see.”
He annoyed me by not twitching an eyebrow at my scolding and just smiling.
“What do you mean by bold? The fight with Princess Lena?”
“I mean your engagement to His Grace Duke Albrenovich.”
At the unexpected answer, my wide eyes soon settled. It was natural for him, one of the faction keeping me in check, to be displeased with my engagement to Duke Albrenovich.
“You’ve come to spy on me again?”
“I’m a bit hurt that you’re only realizing it now.”
Shouldn’t you at least pretend to be surprised a little in times like this? I thought I had caught him off guard to some extent!
“My nanny told me to be careful of you and Princess Lena.”
“Why would Madame Marie repeat to Lady something you already clearly know?”
That’s because my memory… Huh!
It was I who was caught off guard and flustered in reverse. Fortunately, Sir Stefano was looking down at the base of the tree, so he didn’t catch my surprised face. Pressing my pounding chest with my hand, I stared at him with lowered eyes.
“Is Madame Marie trying to change strategy? Is that why you quarreled with Her Highness Princess Lena in broad daylight where everyone was around?”
“Princess Lena picked a fight first. She called me lowly.”
Sir Stefano looked up at me with a pitying gaze.
“Her Highness Princess Lena has always been like that. But Lady has always been so careful with your words, so very careful. It’s not that you didn’t clash, you just didn’t know how to.”
“If it were just me getting insulted, it would be fine. But should I stay silent when she insults Madame Marie and my mother too?”
As I continued speaking, I got choked up. Sir Stefano leaned his back against the tree without answering. Seeing him maintain his balance was so intriguing that my agitated emotions calmed.
I leaned my body forward a bit and quietly asked.
“Are you really a spy coming and going from the annex to monitor me?”
“If it’s for my family, I have no choice.”
He confessed so easily again, to the point of emptiness. I barely suppressed the urge to grab his collar and shake him.
“That’s an excuse.”
“And you, Lady? Didn’t you get engaged to Duke Albrenovich right after Baron Orleans passed away?”
Sir Stefano’s eyes gazing at me were persistent.
“It was decided arbitrarily by Father and Duke Albrenovich. You saw it. I couldn’t say a word there.”
“Then, as Her Highness Princess Lena and His Highness Crown Prince Fabio say, will you live alone for the rest of your life?”
“……”
The sharp question left me speechless.
I really hated that. I’d lived in forced chastity until now, but I couldn’t continue living that way forever.
Seeing me unable to answer, Sir Stefano sighed.
“Everyone is just acting for their own benefit. You too, and me as well.”
His meaningful words settled heavily on my chest. The surrounding air grew thick along with it.
“You must live like that from now on too. That’s how you’ll survive, Lady.”
The worries that had been piling up little by little suddenly squeezed my heart with all their might. Without realizing it, a hot sigh burst out.
“Sigh.”
“You’re not crying anymore.”
“Pardon?”
“Before, whenever I said such harsh and scary things, you would just cry.”
Edita, you were really a crybaby, even crying in front of him of all people.
‘No, more than that, did Edita secretly talk with a spy like me too?’
What kind of person is Sir Stefano exactly? Is he just someone to be wary of, as Madame Marie said, or someone Edita could cry freely in front of? The gap between the two was so vast that I felt confused.
I stared at him, filled with swirling questions. But Sir Stefano was looking at me, who was thinking such things, with a somehow proud gaze. That gaze was embarrassing, so as I tried to lower my head, Sir Stefano twisted his body.
“Madame Marie is coming. I must go.”
“You got caught by me, but you’re scared of Madame Marie? At this rate, can you even call yourself a spy?”
At my jab, Sir Stefano chuckled and said.
“After you marry, if you feel something is wrong, look for me.”
“How can I trust a spy?”
“Even someone you can’t trust will become necessary at some point.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but Sir Stefano disappeared like the wind. At the same time, the door opened.
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