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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: A Servant's Loyalty
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"The way you spout such nonsense with such sincerity..."
Just as Philip was muttering, the bedroom door burst open.
I quickly kicked Philip off the bed and hid myself under the covers. I had to hide my feet, which were caked in mud from running around shoeless.
"Ugh!"
Kicked in the back, Philip yelped and fell flat on the floor. And so there he was, sprawled on the floor, and there I was, tucked into bed.
The sight that greeted Lily, the maid from the Orleans estate, the moment she opened my door must have been rather baffling.
"...Oh, my. Sir Philip, you're here as well."
As Lily asked, skillfully hiding her surprise, Philip shot me a glare and nodded.
"Well... yes..."
"And Lady Imeline has slept in."
Lily said, giving me a peculiar look.
"Yes, well, that's right... But I'd like to sleep a little longer, so could you perhaps step out for a moment...?"
The truth was, I was just about to try and get some sleep. I'd exhausted my body and mind last night, and I hadn't slept a wink. I was so tired, truly.
I looked at Lily pleadingly, my face weary. But while Lily hesitated, my mother barged in.
"Are you two still sleeping?! Get up! We've been invited to the royal party tonight! Is this any time to be lazing about?"
Mother scolded us, her face gleaming as if she had diligently slathered on some sort of 'miracle cream' this morning. For a con artist, she sure falls hard for scams involving fake potions like that.
Anyway, the royal party.
Come to think of it, two days before my mother's wedding, we were scheduled to be summoned to a party at the royal palace.
According to what I'd seen in my dream, we were to be met with the scorn of all the nobles at that party.
That was because Vivian Cavendish would be there, exposing the fact that all of my mother's previous husbands had died.
Mother ran out crying. It wasn't out of genuine sorrow, but more of an escape, since she couldn't very well say, 'Those bastards all had it coming.' The Duke followed her out.
And there, in the garden, in front of all the watching nobles, the Duke would gallantly propose to my mother once more—
'Until the day our lives end, we are one.'
he had said.
'And then, just nine days later, he really did take my mother's life.'
An unpleasant feeling washed over me, and I shook my head, burrowing back under the covers.
"Ugh... Can't I just not go? I'm in no mood to go to a royal party and smile."
I don't know when Eric Orleans might contact me! I have to get the film hidden in the closet developed! And I need to hide the documents somewhere more secret!
"Do you smile with your feelings? A smile is made with the muscles in your face, Imeline!"
Of course, it was an excuse that held no water with my mother.
I peeked my head out.
My mother sat on the bed, smiling gently.
"Besides, today is the day the Duke and I finally receive His Majesty the King's permission to marry. Once His Majesty gives his sanction, our marriage will be perfect...!"
Mother was about to gush but then belatedly noticed Lily was there. Glancing at Lily, she cleared her throat and, resuming her elegant demeanor, said.
"In other words, it is a glorious day for your mother. Yet here my son and daughter are, carrying on like this! And Philip, you... why do you reek of alcohol? Ugh...! I told you not to go to that Rose that Blooms at Night place, or whatever it's called!"
Mother glared fiercely at Philip.
I let out a deep sigh.
Right. That damn marriage approval.
Once that marriage approval came through, the situation would become even more complicated. The Duke and my mother's marriage would then be under the protection of the royal family.
That was why I had deliberately given Eric only a day's time. Until the Duke, having spent the night with the royal family as per tradition, returned tomorrow morning with the King's written approval of the marriage.
'Make your move, Eric...! Move!'
While I was anxiously thinking about Eric Orleans, my mother and Philip left the room. Even as my mother smacked him on the back, Philip mouthed to me, 'I'm going to kill you.'
Lily remained in the room and began to tidy up. Unable to get out of bed, I just waved my hand and said.
"Um... just leave it. I'll clean it up."
"No, it's alright. I'll..."
Just then, Lily reached for the closet door.
'Hey, not there...!'
I shot out of bed and grabbed Lily's hand just as she was about to open the closet door.
"I said I'll clean it, didn't I?"
Lily, her hand caught in mine, froze completely. Her gaze, starting from what must have been my terrifying face, slowly dropped downward to my mud-caked feet.
'Oops...'
A chill ran down my spine as I looked at Lily, feeling as though a cold sweat was trickling down my back.
For some reason, she didn't seem the least bit surprised. Was it because she was an experienced maid? Noble houses were probably full of all sorts of promiscuous aristocrats.
I gave an awkward laugh.
"The truth is, I snuck out somewhere last night. You know how it is, this kind of thing is a secret. You won't go running to Eric Orleans like last time, will you?"
I said, my voice laced with a clear threat. Lily flinched.
"O-Of course not..."
Well. As long as she doesn't tell my mother.
I stared down the traitorous Lily. She glanced at her hand, which I was still holding, and made a troubled face.
Only then did I realize I had been holding her hand for too long, and I let go.
I shrugged, gave the closet door another firm push for good measure, and returned to bed. Lily also tore her gaze away from the closet and stepped back.
"Lady Imeline, you're truly different from what I've heard."
"People are always different up close than they are from a distance. The same goes for Young Lord Eric Orleans, doesn't it?"
At the name Eric Orleans, Lily's expression changed. What should I call it? The face of a solemn swordsman?
It was a look that didn't suit an ordinary maid at all.
While I was pondering this, Lily quickly relaxed her expression and spoke brightly.
"Of course not. Young Lord Eric is someone whose inside and outside are perfectly aligned. I know because I have watched over the Young Master for a long time."
Lily's voice had returned to that of a skilled maid, but I was overcome with a strange feeling.
The kind of strange feeling that made it seem like I wouldn't be able to forget the look on Lily's face from a moment ago.
Eric Orleans, a man whose inside matched his outside...
I thought of the documents Eric Orleans had been holding and pursed my lips.
It was a well-known fact that Eric Orleans had enjoyed the princess's favor during his time in the knight order.
At the time, the princess had negotiated with the North—whose political power was so strong it was said the Helenia continent belonged to the king, but the North belonged to Grand Duke Gerda—and had succeeded in reverting some of the northern mithril mines to the crown. For this, the princess earned the king's trust and became first in line for the throne, though there was some opposition from the council.
The North is a harsh land, a place rife with conspiracy and betrayal among its lords. That was why Prince Robert had been reluctant to venture there, despite its immense natural resources.
No matter if one was a princess or a prince, the North was a place where one could easily be assassinated, the death disguised as a common natural disaster, without a soul ever knowing.
And the one who had protected the princess during that northern expedition was Eric Orleans.
Afterward, combined with the princess's reputation as a libertine, many nobles came to suspect a relationship between the two.
The truth of the rumors was unknown. But what was certain was that Eric had risked his life to protect the princess in that harsh northern land.
'But Eric's father, the Duke, sided with Prince Robert, and Eric confirmed it with those documents...'
So, which way will Eric lean?
Betray his father and pledge loyalty to the princess? What's the point of loyalty to the princess if his family is ruined?
Does that make any sense?
I was certain that Eric would negotiate with me for the sake of his family.
That was more convenient for me, too. I had no desire to start a romance rumor with Eric and make an enemy of that psycho Duke, and if I took those documents to the princess...
'What if the princess is just as strange as the Duke? Royals, nobles... the powerful ones are all cut from the same cloth...'
I thought, looking at Lily.
"No matter how good a person is, they all find a way to save their own skin in the end. Don't you think Young Lord Eric will be the same?"
When I said this with a faint smile, Lily gave me a strange look.
"I would hope so. I truly hope the Young Lord does just that."
What does she mean by that?
I felt that Lily had a tendency to be a bit too invested in the master she served. Perhaps that was why she had made such a solemn face.
The moment Lily left, I opened the closet door. Beneath a pile of messy dresses lay the crumpled documents and the film.
Right. Once this one thing is over, I'm going to live a good, honest life.
I gathered the documents and the film.
It seemed sleep was out of the question after all.
