Previously
Irenia confronts the head maid Elda and other servants who are falsely accusing Delfina of theft to test the new princess's authority.
I was about to order the servants stationed behind Elda to drag her away when my eyes suddenly locked onto one of the maids. The young girl flinched, trembling, and hastily cast her gaze down to the floor in a manner that looked suspiciously forced. Had she simply been seized by sudden terror amid this chaos, or was there something else entirely?
“Wait. You, over there.”
The words slipped out before I could think, driven by a strange intuition seeping through me that I simply could not ignore. The girl turned back, her voice shaking.
“Y-Yes?”
A cold sensation swept over me, raising the hair on my skin like a sudden strike of lightning. It was impossible to dismiss. I gestured to one of the servants by the door.
“Search that girl.”
The servant hesitated, bewildered by the instruction. My brow furrowed, and my voice tightened.
“Did you not hear me?”
The servant stepped forward slowly and seized the frozen girl by the arm. She gasped in sheer panic.
“My Lady!”
I might have been mistaken, or I might not. But I could not stomach the persistent chill prickling across my skin. Even if I turned out to be wrong, they would merely brand me the mad mistress they already took me for.
I said calmly,
“Search her thoroughly. Check if there is a hidden pocket lining her apron.”
Even to my own ears, it sounded unhinged, yet an unwavering certainty told me something was tucked away right there. My instincts did not betray me.
“H-Here it is!”
The servant gasped in surprise, pulling a small, glimmering gold bracelet from the folds of her dress. It dropped to the floor, exposed for all to see. While not excessively lavish, it was plainly far beyond what a humble maid could ever possess.
It had to be the very piece of jewelry Delfina stood accused of stealing. There was not a shred of doubt.
The servant retrieved it and offered it to me. Taking it into my hand, I fixed the girl with a piercing gaze.
“They claimed Delfina stole my jewelry. How, then, did this end up tucked inside your pocket?”
The girl hung her head without uttering a single word, her entire frame shuddering uncontrollably. Silent tears spilled down her cheeks as panic rippled through the remaining maids.
Now that undeniable proof had surfaced, none of them could escape retribution.
“Take all of them away and interrogate them.”
The maids were dragged from the room, helpless and stripped of their defiance. Only Delfina remained kneeling upon the floor, glancing around in a daze as she struggled to grasp what had just transpired. When her eyes met mine, she bowed deeply to the floorboards.
“Thank you… Your Ladyship.”
Theft was a grave offense, and the conspirators’ fate would not be kind. They had intended to frame Delfina as their disposable pawn; had the truth remained buried, she would have been the one dragged away in chains.
I let out a heavy breath. I started to tell her there was no need for gratitude, but merely waved my hand instead. Murmuring repeated thanks, she quietly took her leave.
Quiet settled back over the bedchamber, yet my thoughts remained in turmoil. I realized with absolute clarity that I desperately needed people by my side whom I could truly trust.
“Ren.”
Caesar’s voice broke through my reverie as he tugged at the hem of my dress.
“What is it?”
Our gazes met, and the boy smiled with pure innocence. It was an endearing sight, yet my chest tightened with sorrow. I gently brushed my fingers over the faint bruise marking his cheek, his gaze following the path of my hand.
It was only a fleeting look, but it struck a deep chord of grief within me. Perhaps Caesar had endured this very cruelty time and time again. Perhaps his frantic shrieks and furious thrashing were the only language he knew to cry out for help.
In that quiet moment, I contemplated my own reality—a woman who possessed no ally in this place save for her husband.
‘I must change everything.’
We were bound together in the same boat now. If I could rein in insolent servants, I could not tolerate those who dared lay hands upon their master.
For Caesar’s sake, and for my own, I had to purge this palace and fill it with trustworthy people. And to achieve that…
‘I must speak with the Empress.’
Right then, a knock broke the silence at the door. Mercedes entered, followed by several maids bearing clean water and fresh garments.
“We had been searching for the young prince, and here he is.”
“Greetings, Madame Arontio.”
“Please, call me Mercedes.”
“Very well, Mercedes.”
A twinge of awkwardness pricked at me. Caesar sat beside me atop the mattress, his arms wrapped securely around my waist with no intention of letting go. Nothing untoward had taken place, of course, but the mere sight of us sharing a bed before others was unsettling.
Mercedes, however, showed not the slightest hint of dismay. I was the only one flushed with embarrassment, trying to gently pry Caesar away, yet he clung all the tighter.
Mercedes calmly directed the attendants, warning them to make no noise. With Caesar refusing to loosen his grip, I cleared my throat with a small, embarrassed cough.
“C-Caesar…”
Mercedes watched us with an affectionate, understanding smile as I hurriedly tried to straighten my clothes. I was uneasy about displaying such physical intimacy between husband and wife before onlookers, knowing how easily it could be reduced to vulgar gossip.
Mercedes chuckled softly and spoke.
“You handled the matter with great wisdom. Those maids stepped far beyond their station.”
So she had already caught wind of the incident. I asked her point-blank,
“Are the servants here always so insolent?”
She smiled wryly, as though the question answered itself.
“They acted as though they carried the weight of Countess Elvira behind them.”
I reflected on how they had treated me since the early morning hours, acting as if they refused to acknowledge me as the mistress of this palace.
I reached down to card through Caesar’s messy, curly locks.
“And the way they treat Caesar as well…”
“Indeed. Even that.”
We exchanged a quiet look. After a brief pause, I spoke tentatively.
“Mercedes… I did not have the chance to ask yesterday, but you see my circumstance. I entered this imperial palace alone, without a single maid from my maiden home. There is no one I can lean on.”
A faint gleam flashed through her eyes, its meaning unreadable to me.
“My Lady…”
“Only until I can secure a lady’s maid… could you assist me?”
She lowered her head in a deep, respectful bow.
“It would be my great honor, though I fear my humble efforts may fall short.”
“Your presence alone is more than enough.”
And so, Mercedes became my temporary lady’s maid. Having a prince’s wet nurse attend directly to his wife was far from ordinary practice, but I was left with no other choice.
Looked at from that vantage, my entire situation was irregular; entering the imperial family without even a single attendant from my family home was completely unheard of. Was there truly a single thing about this marriage that could be called normal?
Because of that, it was vital that I secure someone on my side here, even if it were only a single soul.
“Thank you deeply, Mercedes.”
We spoke at length. Having spent years within the palace, she knew its hidden inner workings intimately.
“It is true those attendants have been cast out, yet no one can guarantee such an occurrence will not repeat itself.”
I wanted to know, at the very least, whether I possessed the authority to appoint new court ladies. If I wished to shield myself, I had to choose who surrounded me.
“That matter… will need to be discussed with Her Majesty the Empress. Incidentally, Countess Elvira asked me to inform you that the Empress wishes to grant you an audience.”
I realized the meeting the countess had alluded to earlier had finally been scheduled—a tea gathering arranged for this evening.
“Her Majesty wishes to see you shortly.”
“Customarily, after the first night of marriage, an audience is arranged between the imperial newlyweds and those of higher rank. Even the former Empress followed this tradition by meeting with the Queen Mother.”
Mercedes explained to me that the meeting would serve as an unstated arena of negotiation, where palace boundaries would be staked out and rights of appointment decided.
“And should the Empress bestow upon you the insignia of the Blue Flame Dream at that time…”
FADE OUT