Contract Marriage Rewritten
Chapter 30
- Efforts for the Night
“Finished.”
The moment she signed the final document, Laniakea let the word slip in a small voice before she could stop herself.
Startled by her own slip, she glanced around, only to see the maids seated at desks a short distance away continuing their tasks, hands moving impassively as though they hadn’t heard a thing.
Watching them, Laniakea was reminded once again that the people gathered here were exceptional.
Had it not been said that the first rule for those working in the Imperial Palace was to see nothing despite having eyes, hear nothing despite having ears, and speak nothing despite having a mouth?
The newly appointed maids strictly adhered to this. At least, in front of Laniakea.
‘A few pieces of information must have leaked already, though.’
Laniakea shifted her gaze toward Chelsea.
She had become the Empress’s maid. And not just Chelsea—Laniakea had hired all twenty candidates who had come that day.
‘We’re far too short-handed.’
Under such circumstances, handpicked talents had arrived on their own two feet, asking to be put to work.
Why send such people away? And so, Laniakea accepted them all.
Laniakea’s unprecedented move had even prompted the temporary clerks to ask if Her Majesty was truly certain.
‘I know full well what risks I’m taking.’
Among them were people belonging to factions aiming to bring Laniakea down. Just like Chelsea.
‘Still, she does her work well.’
Chelsea had strived from the start to win Laniakea’s favor.
Drawing upon her knowledge of noble relations and court etiquette, she offered earnest, helpful advice regarding official duties.
After all, performing well from the beginning was the only way to build deep trust.
Moreover, Hyperion had also suggested that accepting her at first would be best.
That way, her family would let their guard down, and she would remain devoted to her duties for the time being.
‘All the more so since it’s a temporary position.’
When hiring them all, Laniakea had announced that she would place them on a one-year probation period.
It was nothing unusual. No matter how strong their recommendations or how exceptional their skills upon entering the Imperial Palace, how well they could adapt was a separate matter entirely.
Thus, newcomers to the Imperial Palace were customarily granted an adjustment period, after which they would sign formal contracts and receive their official standing.
One year felt a bit long, but not so long as to seem suspicious.
And so, the maid candidates readily signed the contracts brought by the clerks. From that very moment on their first day, without a single moment’s rest, they began reviewing the matters Laniakea assigned to them.
‘Besides, any information they could leak outside right now isn’t all that significant anyway.’
With that thought, Laniakea turned her head. There, a few blossoms from the bouquet Hyperion had sent sat arranged in a vase.
Because he had sent such an enormous arrangement back then, the maids had untied the bouquet on Laniakea’s orders and distributed the flowers into separate vases. Decanted like that, there were dozens of vases in total.
Feeling it would be a shame to enjoy such beauty all by herself, she had placed one on each maid’s desk as well.
Once the maids had left for the day, she would shut the doors and summon Minnow. Minnow would flit from vase to vase, splashing in the water.
Thanks to that, the flowers in the vases would stay fresh far longer than usual.
After handing the final document to the clerk, Laniakea rose from her seat.
Today was the day she had to go to the Main Palace again.
As soon as Laniakea stood, the maid closest to her approached and draped a prepared cloak over her shoulders.
At the same time, she gathered the documents Laniakea had set aside, placed them into a bag, and held it.
“I will carry this.”
“Thank you, Hilde.”
“Don’t mention it, Your Majesty. It is only my duty.”
The woman called Hilde was the candidate Laniakea had appointed as temporary Head Maid.
The criterion for choosing her had been simple: Lucy had to like her.
‘Lucy is a good judge of character.’
Was that also an ability of the Lupin Tribe? Anyone Lucy took a liking to was always honest and diligent.
So on the first day, when introducing Lucy to everyone, Laniakea had explained that she belonged to the Lupin Tribe and was not yet fluent in the Imperial language, so they should not be alarmed.
Even so, they must have been startled. Lucy had walked around from the start, staring intently into everyone’s eyes.
That night, upon returning to the Empress’s palace, Lucy had whispered to Laniakea:
“Hilde. Reliable.”
And she gave a firm thumbs-up.
Laniakea was relieved. Hilde had seemed the most diligent and dependable in her eyes as well, and with Lucy’s approval, there was no reason to hesitate.
The next day, Laniakea announced that based on her observations from the previous day, she was appointing Hilde as temporary Head Maid.
Lucy was effectively demoted from Head Maid to guard maid, but just as expected, she did not care in the slightest.
Far from being disappointed, tears of gratitude even welled in her eyes when she saw Hilde taking away the documents that had piled up on her desk without shrinking at all.
And though only two days had passed, Laniakea could see that Lucy’s judgment was spot-on.
Over the past two days, Hilde had not only reviewed all of Laniakea’s schedule, but also checked how far the other maids had progressed with their assigned tasks.
Since it was only their third day, the hierarchy among them was still ambiguous.
Even with Laniakea having appointed a Head Maid, a subtle battle of nerves might have unfolded, but Hilde managed the other maids with seasoned skill.
“Then I shall escort you to the Main Palace.”
Hilde spoke in a slightly louder voice than usual and took the lead, as if making sure everyone inside heard where the Empress was heading.
Following behind Hilde, Laniakea felt a barrage of gazes prickling against her back.
Chelsea was likely glaring with the fiercest look of all.
Because the Empress going to the Main Palace meant she would be spending the night with the Emperor.
Upon arriving at the Main Palace, a familiar face awaited them.
“It has been a while, Your Imperial Maj—cough!”
Standing on the first floor was Signo, looking as gaunt as if he had lost half his weight since she last saw him.
When Lucy, who had come along, poked Signo in the side with her finger, he wobbled violently, confirming it wasn’t just her imagination.
“Work at the Emperor’s palace must be very demanding.”
“Yes. It is exhausting.”
Signo replied without the slightest hesitation.
“From early this morning, His Majesty badgered us so relentlessly that if we were even a second late, it felt like our heads would roll. We had to work without even catching our breath—”
“Judging by how you blabber, you seem perfectly fine.”
Just then, Hyperion’s voice rang out from behind. Hilde and Lucy bowed immediately, while Signo leaped in fright.
“Y-Your Majesty! When did you come back down…?”
His massive frame trembled like an aspen leaf.
“No, that is, I was just…”
“Stop spouting nonsense and get out.”
“By your command!”
At the dismissal, Signo bowed deeply and dashed off without looking back once.
“Is this the Empress’s?”
Hyperion looked at the bag in Hilde’s hands and held out his own, signaling her to hand it over.
Flustered, Hilde ended up passing the bag to him. Her face was full of concern: Is it really all right to hand luggage to the Emperor?
The other attendants standing nearby wore the same expression. The Emperor, carrying luggage himself?
Yet no one dared step forward to take it. The Emperor’s posture as he took the Empress’s hand and headed inside made it unmistakably clear: no one was to disturb them from this moment on.
Led along with her hand in Hyperion’s grasp, Laniakea recalled the previous night. When he had asked for her hand, she had given it to him without a second thought. And then, she had drifted off to sleep.
‘He said he was doing it because Mr. and Mrs. Ency told him to work on getting used to it.’
The method they had shared was right.
She had no idea how much longer Hyperion had held her hand after she fell asleep that night, but his hand clasping hers now felt remarkably familiar.
So much so that even when taken and led away so suddenly, she didn’t feel startled or tempted to pull her hand away in the slightest.
Just how much had he made her grow accustomed to him while she was asleep?
As they entered the bedchamber with quickened steps, the door closed from the outside. Then the door beyond that. And the outermost door beyond that as well.
The three doors leading into the bedchamber would now never be opened from the outside until the two called for an attendant.
From now on, it was their time together again.
The moment she realized that, Laniakea spoke to him.
“I’ve been looking forward to today.”
At those words, the corners of Hyperion’s lips curled up faintly.
He, too, had been waiting for today. Was that not why he had relentlessly driven Signo and the other ministers since morning as if whipping them into shape?
And to think Laniakea had been waiting as well.
In that case, wouldn’t it be all right to immediately proceed with what Mr. and Mrs. Ency had advised him to do today?
The moment Hyperion thought that, Laniakea took the bag he was holding, quickly opened it, and pulled out one of the documents inside.
“Could you help me with this?”
“……”
Evidently, Laniakea had been looking forward to today in a very different sense.