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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: A Strange Breed of Nobles
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The King, seeing the newlyweds emerge from the princess's palace—the bride pale and the groom with an injured hand—regarded us with an indescribably sly look.
“It seems our guests had a rather wild night……. Ah, when I was young….”
Ugh, I don't want to hear this.
Completely repulsed, I feigned a bout of morning sickness and hid my face behind Eric’s back.
Eric explained that his wife was unwell, hastily concluding the painfully awkward audience with the King.
“My apologies. My wife is in the early stages of her pregnancy….”
“Oh ho ho ho, no, it’s quite all right. My queen was the same when she was carrying Robert.”
Ella murmured under her breath.
“Robert is not Her Majesty the Queen’s child, Your Majesty. Please….”
Haha. I’d wondered who Ella took after to be such a hellion.
The King cleared his throat and gestured for us to leave. The moment the King’s dismissal was given, I clutched my stomach and exited the audience chamber.
Perhaps it was because the time spent with Rose, though only a day, had been so intense.
“Walk carefully. You’ll startle our Rose…!”
I would occasionally speak to the Rose in my belly, and each time, Eric would support me with a look of self-loathing and whisper in my ear.
“Cut it out……. Seriously, cut it out….”
I’m already holding back a lot, though…?
I shot Eric a quizzical look.
“This is all for Rose.”
After I’d gone on about ‘Rose’ so much, Eric seemed to give up.
“In any case, since we officially spent a night at the princess’s palace, it’s as good as having consummated our marriage after the wedding.”
My eyes widened.
“So the princess locked us up with that in mind…?”
“Well, somewhat.”
Eric licked his lips.
‘What a sly princess….’
“Then is all this pretending to be pregnant and everything unnecessary now?”
I looked at Eric, my face filled with anticipation. He shook his head sternly.
“No. If we’re caught, it’s a charge of deceiving the royal family. The princess won’t help us then.”
Tsk.
That means I have to keep up the act even when we get to the ducal estate!
I gently stroked my belly and said.
“Let’s keep up the good work… our Rose….”
Eric, looking displeased, was escorting me to the palace entrance.
The maids and the butler from the ducal estate, who were waiting for us at the entrance, covered their mouths when they saw Eric and me.
Especially the butler.
The middle-aged man’s eyes seemed to fill with emotion.
“Our Young Master… has truly… with his wife…!”
I whispered in Eric’s ear.
“What’s with him?”
“He must have… thought I’d never be able to marry.”
I tilted my head.
Even so, with such a major event happening in the family, was that fact really so moving?
I gave the butler an awkward smile. He beamed back and said.
“Little Madam. It is an honor to serve you.”
He truly looked honored.
Little Madam. I felt I had to affect an air of dignity, so I lowered my voice to reply.
“Yes. You should be honored.”
I smiled sweetly. The expressions on the butler and maids became peculiar.
Eric bowed his head toward me.
“If you don’t know what to say, just stay quiet. It’ll be better than what you’re doing now.”
“Hoho, I can’t do that, Eric. I am, after all, the ‘Little Madam’ now.”
Eric pressed a hand to his forehead.
**Chapter 7. These Strange Nobles**
Upon our arrival at the ducal estate, Eric and I were greeted by numerous servants and the Duke.
“In any case, I hope you will be well, Imeline. From now on, a royal physician will visit once a week to check on your condition.”
The Duke spoke in his usual gentle voice. He also told the butler to take good care of me.
A royal physician.
He was an unexpected obstacle, to say the least, so I looked at Eric with alarmed eyes.
Eric appeared calm.
‘Tell me you’ve already bought him off! Tell me we don’t have to go through the crisis of our fraudulent pregnancy being exposed on top of our fraudulent marriage!’
I pleaded with my eyes.
Thankfully, while the butler was guiding me to the room where I would be staying, Eric quietly came over and whispered that the royal physician was already aware of our ‘situation’.
“He has been my mother’s physician for a long time, so it won’t be difficult……. However….”
“However?”
Eric and I whispered quietly so the butler walking ahead wouldn’t hear.
The butler seemed pleased that Eric and I were sharing sweet nothings in low voices, and he kept looking at me with admiration.
Thanks to that, I had to smile every time I met his gaze, and my cheeks were starting to cramp.
‘It was painful enough acting like an innocent country bumpkin from the south in front of Lily at the estate……. Now I have to play the part of a gentle daughter-in-law….’
This is trouble, so much trouble.
Thinking this, I glanced back at Lily, who was following behind.
Having already been exposed at the chapel, she had changed into a full knight’s uniform and was accompanying us.
The Duke didn’t seem to approve of Lily but appeared to let it be, as he had no official grounds to stop her.
“However, we’ll be telling him that the two of us fell in love… and had no choice but to deceive both our families, so act accordingly.”
Eric stammered awkwardly, but I simply smiled sweetly.
“Oh, that’s simple enough.”
“……?”
While Eric wore a look that asked what could possibly be simple about it, the butler had already opened the door to my bedroom.
The butler took the bonnet I was taking off and said with a gentle smile.
“Although… the surrounding circumstances have become somewhat complicated, all the servants of the estate welcome you, Miss Imeline… no, Little Madam, as the new mistress of the ducal estate.”
Was I just imagining the next sentence, ‘She took care of our troublesome old bachelor of a Young Lord,’ ringing in my ears?
More importantly, Little Madam.
My jaw dropped as I looked at the enormous bedroom, so large you could play tag in it.
‘So this is what moving up in the world feels like.’
Perhaps my mother’s argument—that using marriage was the fastest way for a poor woman to improve her station—wasn’t wrong.
Imagine if I had earned money on the continent through scams or labor. No matter how much I conned or worked, I could never have afforded a house this size, let alone a room like this.
With my mouth agape, I roamed all over the room.
Of course, I had sensed it while dining and snooping around the office at the ducal estate, but seeing the living quarters made it clear.
The gold decorations here. The jewels there. This ivory statue. That painting by a famous artist.
‘Just grabbing all this and running would be a profitable venture!’
In my dream, my thoughts had been so focused on the events that I had forgotten, but it seemed there were far more valuables in the more private spaces.
As if sensing my delight, Eric put an arm around my shoulders, leaned down, and said.
“Could you perhaps… close your mouth… while you sightsee…?”
“I’m sorry, but it won’t close.”
“Imeline.”
“Yes.”
I answered quickly and shut my mouth on my own.
But that didn’t last long, as I soon opened a drawer beneath the vanity.
“……Ughh!”
The moment I opened the drawer, I clutched my heart and collapsed. Eric grabbed my hand with a startled look.
“What’s wrong? Are you dizzy again?”
“Little Madam! Oh dear. We must call the royal physician….”
The butler, also flustered, called for the maid assigned to this bedroom.
I quickly waved my hands and said.
“No… it’s not that…… It was just so dazzling……. But all these jewels are…?”
I pointed to the contents of the drawer.
Inside the drawer I had opened was an incredible amount of sparkling things.
They were all jewels. And not just any jewels; the designs were so sophisticated, each piece imbued with a master artisan’s touch, that they were clearly the work of no ordinary jeweler.
I looked at the butler and the maid with an expression of awe.
They looked at Eric with puzzled faces.
Eric said with an embarrassed expression.
“She’s asking if all these jewels are hers.”
“Ah, ah! I-I see!”
The butler nodded, his face lit with the joy of someone who had escaped a predicament.
“Yes, yes! Of course. Most of these were left by the late Great Madam for the Young Master’s future wife. In fact, there are still the jewels we were preparing for the marriage to Lady Helena, but that is a matter to be decided after consulting with His Grace the Duke….”
The late Great Madam must mean Emily Orleans.
My happy expression faded, and I cautiously glanced at Eric. He whispered lowly.
“Just wear them. You’ll need them for social gatherings anyway.”
……Still…….
I should have demurred, but the words wouldn’t leave my lips.
I nodded.
When a person has been poor for a long time, they tend to lose things like shame. Shame, pride—those are luxuries for the rich…….
Speaking of social gatherings.
I recalled the social event I had attended with Helena.
Tea parties, formal dinners, and balls, swarming with dozens of people like Vivian Cavendish.
‘Ugh….’
“Well then, you two must be tired from your journey from the royal palace. Please get some rest.”
The butler smiled warmly.
It was barely an hour from the palace to here.
A maid named Nina, who had been assigned to my bedroom, taught me how to pull the servant’s bell and asked if there was any meal I desired.
I rattled off a list of foods that I considered expensive.
Nina smiled slightly and said with an air of respect.
“The Little Madam is so very frugal. To see you enjoy commoners’ food. Well then, I shall take my leave.”
So it’s possible to insult someone so guilelessly.
Not forgetting my resolve to project the image of a gentle noblewoman, I suppressed my foul mood.
“Yes. I’ll be in your care….”
I had a weary and ominous feeling that the nobles and royals I would be dealing with from now on, like Princess Ella and Young Lord Eric, would be even worse than this, not better.
After Nina and the butler left, I was about to sit on the large bed when I stopped and frowned at Eric, who was standing squarely in my bedroom.
“What are you doing?”
“……What?”
“I mean… why aren’t you leaving……. I need to change and all that.”
I looked at Eric, puzzled. He cleared his throat awkwardly and avoided my gaze.
“This is the marital bedroom.”
I blinked, processing his words.
Marital bedroom? Don’t nobles usually have separate bedrooms?
“It’s difficult to prepare a separate room for you right away, and since we’re newlyweds, my father instructed that this room be made our marital bedroom for now. My own bedroom has already been ordered to be converted into a study.”
At that, I shot up from the bed. I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t be sitting here.
I looked back and forth between the bed and Eric.
The bed.
And Eric.
Ah, I’m married. And with a scandal that rocked the century, at that.
So, of course, I had to be seen sharing a bedroom with my husband.
‘I forgot that obvious fact!’
