Translator: Nox
(31) Star Festival and the Gray Wolf (3)
"How could that be? He entered the Grand Duke's palace with such dignity on his own two feet."
"Him? Hmm... Rumor has it that an unwelcome guest has a brand on his shoulder. There are whispers that His Grace the Grand Duke is infatuated with a slave and makes him attend to him at night."
That can't be true. She must be imagining things on her own.
Eldred suppressed the urge to snap back and spoke gently.
"Madam, it's best not to say things that could be misunderstood. The Grand Duke's guest has no brand whatsoever. Perhaps you mistook a shadow on his shoulder."
"Hmm... Didn't seem like a guest... The people who have to attend to him at Lily Palace are all very dissatisfied..."
Eldred, still smiling, called a maid and ordered her to summon the cooks, maids, and servants of the Grand Duke's palace. Eldred asked the summoned employees.
"Are you dissatisfied with serving the Grand Duke's guest?"
The quick-witted head chef stepped forward.
"Of course not. The guest is so kind and wonderful that we are all serving him with all our hearts."
"That's right. He is very kind and beautiful."
"It is our honor to serve the guest."
Eldred had heard that the attitude of the Lily Palace employees had changed after Roxana treated the victims of the contamination.
After dismissing the employees, Eldred said to Countess Tibran.
"Does that answer your question now?"
"A woman is a woman, I suppose. What is her relationship with His Grace the Grand Duke that she occupies Lily Palace for so long?"
"How rude, Madam. To try to dig so deeply into something His Grace the Grand Duke told you to keep your mouth shut about, are you perhaps trying to defy His Grace? May I report this matter to His Grace?"
Countess Tibran's face turned red and blue, having failed to find out anything. Carrie couldn't lift her head because of her mother's vulgar behavior.
"Hmph! I'll see if those words are true."
"What we'll be seeing is your attitude. You'd better think twice before opening your mouth, Madam. If those vulgar and despicable imaginings you have in your head become rumors, I will report today's conversation to His Grace the Grand Duke in detail."
+++
I can't die like this.
I must retrieve the bodies of my family members who were thrown into the well.
Once I had a goal, it was hard to stay cooped up in the bedroom. Roxana could do something for her family.
It would be nice if she could help Floyd with the power she possessed, but there was no place where this power was needed right now. She couldn't possibly pray for people to collapse from Magical Energy again.
'What should I do to make the Grand Duke want to help me?'
-"Princess. A woman's weapon lies in her beauty. Even if you don't hold a sword, you can seduce a man, win his heart, and ask him to become your sword instead."
Elise had said that to Roxana, who had been following her older brothers around, asking them to teach her swordsmanship whenever she had time.
-"So, Princess. Don't think about learning swordsmanship, but learn the skills to win Lucas's heart. Use this hand to caress Lucas, not a sword."
I wanted to ask Elise.
Did you use that method to win Lucas's heart? Did you use Lucas as your sword and wield him against my family?
I calmly suppressed the surge of emotions. Now is not the time to be angry, thinking about relationships that are already over. I have to find something I can do. I can't remain an unwelcome guest at Lily Palace, unable to do anything.
Elise had given her various pieces of advice on how to win a man's heart, but she had always ignored them, so she couldn't think of many methods.
'Ah, there's one. She told me to pretend to be drunk and go to his bedroom by mistake and lie on the bed.'
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn't even laugh.
I couldn't even imagine myself waiting for him in his desolate bedroom, which didn't even have curtains, wearing revealing clothes.
So Roxana decided to do what was appropriate for her station. She changed into comfortable clothes, rolled up her sleeves, and asked the maids for directions to the laundry area.
Originally, slaves were supposed to do the laundry and cleaning. It was something that someone branded as a slave should naturally do, but the maids in the laundry area were horrified.
"Princess, you can't do this here."
"We have enough people to do the laundry."
Ah, there's nothing for me to do here either.
Roxana was dejected, but she didn't go back. Instead, she squatted down in the laundry area and watched what the maids were doing.
Soaking a large duvet cover in water, scrubbing it with soap, stomping on it with her feet, and rinsing it with clean water seemed difficult, but not impossible.
After watching several times, she secretly took some laundry nearby and soaked it in water. The maids moved their lips as if they wanted to stop her, but they closed their mouths when they saw Roxana's determined expression.
Roxana soaped the laundry and was about to step on it when she thought the hem of her dress would touch the water, so she pulled her skirt up to her knees and tied it above her knees. Exposing her legs was not something a noblewoman would do.
'I'm not a noble anymore, so it doesn't matter.'
Stepping on the soaped duvet cover with her feet was much harder than she thought. The water was too cold in the cold weather. Her feet were numb with cold, and muscles she hadn't used before were screaming. Several times, her feet got tangled in the duvet cover and she almost fell.
It was such hard work that she gritted her teeth and concentrated, so she didn't have any other thoughts.
Father, mother, older brothers and sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, younger brother, my country. And Lucas and Elise.
The many thoughts that had dyed Roxana's mind with darkness and blood were worn away by the hard work.
She remembered an incident when she had briefly left her room late at night and ran into her father on her way to the garden. Her father was surprised to see his daughter at such a late hour, but he soon smiled and held out his hand.
-"This father of yours can't sleep, so will you stay with me?"
Roxana liked her kind but busy father very much, so she happily took her father's hand and walked with him.
The place her father headed to was an open space beyond the stables. After dismissing the people, her father grabbed an ax that was lying around and began to chop wood.
Roxana was curious and amused by her father's appearance, which she had never seen before, so she widened her eyes and watched what her father was doing. Thwack, thwack, the sound of the ax chopping. Crack, the sound of the wood splitting. Roxana enjoyed the sounds she had never heard before.
After a while, her father put down the ax and sat next to Roxana, wiping away his sweat.
-"It's hard to do something you're not used to."
-"Why are you doing this, Father?"
-"Sometimes when I have a lot of thoughts, doing hard work makes my body tired and my mind goes blank. After letting go of my worries one by one and sleeping soundly in a clean state, I have the strength to worry again."
I thought it was difficult to understand. At that time, I didn't understand the meaning of those words, and I didn't even think about understanding them.
I just laughed because the state of the firewood her father had chopped was so messy, and I just liked the way her father stroked her head as she giggled.
It was just such an event that I had forgotten about it, but it was vividly remembered when I was in a difficult situation.
-"Lotty, I will give you all the support you need so that you can live happily without any worries, but if you ever have a big problem that is difficult to solve, then try chopping wood and doing laundry like your father, and try to get away from painful thoughts even for a moment by doing things you are not used to."
-"Will that give me a solution?"
-"What if it doesn't? At least you'll be too tired to dream that night and you'll be able to sleep well."
Is that really true, Father? But I want to dream tonight. I hope my father, mother, and siblings will come to my dream.
I want to fall into a dream where nothing happens and no one dies, and I don't want to wake up.
I don't want to think or worry. I'm not as strong or steadfast as my father. I'm just a foolish and weak woman who has only been protected and has therefore failed to protect her family.
The despair that had briefly disappeared thanks to the hard work dyed Roxana's heart black again. Just as she was about to cry and bit her lower lip tightly.
"Who on earth ordered the Princess to do this?"
An angry voice echoed loudly.
The maids bowed their heads and cowered. Roxana stopped her feet, which had been working hard on the laundry, and turned around.
Under the pouring sunlight, a huge beast, shining as red as another sun, strode across the laundry area. He stopped in front of Roxana and looked around in disbelief before grabbing Roxana's arm.
"Tell me, who told the Princess to do this kind of thing?"
His eyes, glaring at the maids, were blazing as if he wouldn't let anyone off the hook if he caught them. The maids turned white as if they were about to faint and bowed their heads even further.
"No one."
At Roxana's calm voice, Floyd turned his gaze from the maids to her. She raised her head and met his gaze and said.
"No one ordered me to, Your Highness. But it's something someone has to do."
Floyd frowned.
"That someone shouldn't be the Princess."
"If I can't treat people, I can't go on expeditions, and I can't even do laundry, then what am I supposed to do?"
