Translator: Nox
(35) Star Festival and Gray Wolf (7)
As soon as Roxana gave her permission, the maids bustled into the drawing room. At first, she thought they were coming to protest, dissatisfied. But the maids, like Petria, had flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, as if something pleasant had happened.
'What's going on?'
Among the maids, there were familiar faces and unfamiliar ones. Among them, the maid she had become acquainted with at the laundry cautiously stepped forward.
"Princess. We've prepared something..."
Only then did Roxana notice the large bundle the maids had brought. The maids put down the bundle and took out a dress from inside.
It was a white dress.
It had lace around the shoulders and wrists, small beads attached to the hem of the skirt, and long lace added to the bottom of the skirt, which originally came down to the calves, to cover the ankles. There was a large pink ribbon at the waist, small white ribbons near the sleeves, and sparkling beads densely embedded around the neck.
Roxana, who had been examining the dress in bewilderment, realized only after a long delay that it was the white dress she had chosen yesterday.
"This is...?"
Petria explained to Roxana, who widened her eyes in doubt.
"Since you're going out today, we thought you should wear something a little more fancy. We modified the dress little by little with what we had."
"Ah..."
She didn't know what to say.
Pretty lace, high-quality ribbons, transparent beads...
Roxana knew that these might be worthless to the nobles, so much so that they wouldn't even notice if they lost them, but that wasn't the case for the maids.
The maids had given Roxana their treasures without hesitation, treasures they had been collecting one by one, intending to decorate their own dresses with them on a special day.
Roxana felt something very hot and touching swelling up inside her chest.
She had always lived a life of being cared for. But back then, she was a member of the royal family, so she was just receiving the consideration she deserved.
Now, having lost everything and become a slave, the kindness of strangers she received at an unexpected moment was excessively lovely and dazzlingly brilliant. It was difficult to control the emotions that flowed like spring rain into her desolate heart, which had always thought only of death after losing everything.
Roxana slowly blinked her eyes, trying to suppress the surge of emotion.
As if misunderstanding Roxana's prolonged silence, the maid she had become acquainted with at the laundry said,
"Of course, it may look shabby in the Princess's eyes, but we decorated it with the best we had..."
"No."
Roxana quickly replied.
"No. Shabby? It's wonderful."
Roxana's fingertips trembled slightly as she received the dress that had once been a simple one.
"It's my first time receiving something so precious, so I don't know how to express my joy... Thank you so much. I didn't expect it, thank you."
The maids smiled brightly as they watched the lovely princess express her gratitude, hugging the dress tightly.
The maids roughly knew Roxana's situation. When they heard that the princess, who had lost everything and become a slave, had come to occupy the Lily Palace, they had been harboring complaints, saying, 'She doesn't even know her place, and the Lily Palace... She must still think she's a princess.'
But as they spent time together, they realized that the princess was well aware of her situation, was polite to the employees, and always wanted to die, even while under the protection of the Grand Duke. Even so, she treated those who had collapsed from the Contaminated Water.
Everyone who knew, knew that Roxana, who had treated the patients, had collapsed looking like she was about to die, though they didn't know what power she had used. Nevertheless, Roxana did not show off what she had done and lived quietly as usual.
She was a princess who couldn't help but draw their hearts and attention.
The maids were also delighted to see the princess, who always lived like a ghost with no expression, looking so happy that her eyes were red. They even felt that if they could make the princess, who couldn't smile even in happy moments, smile someday, they would do anything.
Even after the maids left, Roxana hugged the dress for a long time. The warmth conveyed at an unexpected moment was so comforting, as if telling her that she wasn't just a worthless burden who didn't deserve to live.
+++
Around noon, Roxana was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room, looking at the crackling fireplace.
'What should I do now?'
She wanted to try to do anything to become a useful person, but every time she tried to do something, Floyd got angry, so there was nothing she could do. But she couldn't live a life of enjoying parties like a noble lady, as he said.
'I need to be someone who can help this Torkan, so that when I say I want to find my family's bodies, there won't be much opposition. Or... should I ask the Grand Duke to get me commoner status and leave the Grand Ducal Palace?'
She had also thought about earning money outside and hiring mercenaries to sneak into Kant, but it seemed like it would take too long. Besides, it wasn't easy for a woman alone to hire good mercenaries.
It often happened that noblewomen hired the wrong mercenaries to protect them and were subjected to terrible things. Each country severely punished the crime of recklessly touching noblewomen, but the mercenaries avoided punishment by selling the noblewomen to slave traders.
They could just say, 'We were attacked by bandits and lost the noblewoman.'
'After all, it's best to shamelessly stay here.'
While she was racking her brains over a problem that had no answer, Persi, Hexter's wife, visited. She was carrying a large basket as always.
Roxana, who knew what was in the basket from her past experiences, felt her mouth watering even before she checked what was inside.
'I guess I'm getting better now.'
Now that she knew there were things she had to do to stay alive, she wanted to live, and as she wanted to live, she also developed an appetite.
Inside Persi's basket were homemade raspberry jam and kumquat jam, well-baked lemon pie, and fluffy bread. The savory scent of freshly baked bread and the sweet scent of jam filled the drawing room.
"Am I interrupting you while you're busy?"
Roxana shook her head at Persi's question.
"Busy? I have nothing to do, so I was just looking at the fireplace like this."
"The streets are bustling with the festival, so why don't you go out and take a look?"
"Ah. Grand Duke Floyd said he would take me to see the circus together in the afternoon."
Persi's eyes widened. For some reason, she stared blankly at Roxana's lips before exclaiming, "Oh my, oh my, oh my."
"His Highness said he would take you to see the circus together? Really? Just the two of you?"
Persi's voice was louder than before. Roxana didn't know why she was so excited, but she answered calmly.
"Yes."
"Oh my, oh my. What's going on? The circus... just the two of you... oh my. The circus..."
Roxana, seeing Persi's cheeks flushed and muttering to herself, wondered if going to the circus with a man and a woman in this Torkan was as unspeakable as sleeping together.
'Did I say something I shouldn't have?'
At that moment, Persi leaned forward abruptly and asked.
"Have you decided on the dress you're going to wear? If you're going out in the afternoon, you should start getting ready soon, am I taking up too much of your time? What about the maids who will help you dress up? Ah, do you have any accessories?"
Roxana, blinking at the flood of questions, went to the closet in the drawing room and took out the dress the maids had made for her.
"I'm going to wear this. The employees worked hard to make it."
It was a dress made by adding various things to an ordinary one-piece dress that anyone could see. It was not close to the latest fashion, and if you looked closely, you could see the stitching marks of the lace and the glue marks of the beads.
However, Persi, who read Roxana's affectionate gaze as she looked down at the dress, showed consideration by not pointing out that part.
"Then I'll lend you a hat and shoes that go well with that dress. If you wear a hairpin and necklace with blue jewels, that dress will look much brighter."
Roxana did not refuse Persi's request to go to Viscount Lenardo's mansion. She was already worried about what to do with hats, gloves, and accessories. She didn't care about herself, but since she was going to accompany the Monarch of a country, she had to consider her partner's position.
While leaving the Lily Palace with Persi and heading to the place where the carriage was parked, there were people who glanced at Roxana, but no one stopped her. She didn't know if it was because she was accompanied by Viscount Lenardo's wife, or because of Floyd's instructions not to stop Roxana from going anywhere.
'I'm not locked up.'
Roxana felt a little lighter knowing that she could leave the Grand Ducal Palace whenever she wanted.
'Well, the Grand Duke never told me not to go anywhere.'
That didn't mean she was going to wander around recklessly.
'If someone recognizes me and tells Lucas, there will be conflict between Torkan and Gania.'
Roxana slightly opened the curtain in the swaying carriage and took in the passing scenery.
'Come to think of it, it's my first time riding a carriage since then.'
The scene she had seen through the carriage window was vivid.
She never dreamed that she would see the end of the loyal and strong Sir Robert Chenare with her own eyes. She never thought she would see the loyal knight, who was cautious and tight-lipped but occasionally made jokes, die so easily.
The sadness she had barely suppressed suddenly welled up, and Roxana quickly put strength in her eyes and pushed back the tears.
No matter how painful it is.
'Not now.'
Roxana tightened her grip on the hem of her skirt.
It's not time to cry yet.
'Someday, when I get my family back. Then.'
Cry. Until this lung bursts and my heart is torn apart, until the tears become blood and no breath comes out of my burst throat.
