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Chapter 24
Mirva’s Last Happiness
Diana gazed silently at the candies. The sweets on the pretty plate sparkled brightly. She didn’t eat them, only set them quietly on the bedside table. Just looking at them gave her comfort.
Her heart warmed at the rare kindness she had received while living in this place.
Rustle.
Startled by the sound, Diana turned and saw Guiscard standing there. It seemed he had entered the room earlier. He was staring at her with a stiff expression, almost as if in shock.
“What is it?”
At her question, Guiscard said nothing—he only kept staring. An awkward silence hung in the air, one Diana couldn’t understand. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he said:
“I came to talk about Lady Alexa.”
“……”
“She’s fine now. She even apologized to me.”
“……”
“As you ordered, I looked after her. But… truthfully, it didn’t go very well. I apologize.”
When Diana nodded, Guiscard added:
“I just wanted to tell you that.”
Was that meant as comfort? Or was he proving his loyalty as a faithful servant? Diana couldn’t tell.
“Thank you. You tried to follow my order.”
“……”
“Thanks to you, I think I can enter the palace without worry.”
When Diana smiled, the stiffness in Guiscard’s face loosened for an instant. Why is that? she wondered, when he asked:
“My lady, how do you plan to drive that woman out? Will you ask Her Highness the Princess to expel her?”
Diana’s eyes widened briefly before she laughed.
“Of course not. How could the Mother of the Nation interfere with the affairs of one small household? Even royalty cannot meddle in family matters so easily.”
“Then why…?”
“Guiscard, I can’t tell you everything.”
In her previous life, she and Guiscard had never exchanged such words. Their relationship had been one-sided—she gave him favors, and he resented her.
But for some reason, things felt different now. She spoke openly.
“Just watch.”
“……Then I need not do anything?”
“Probably not. For now, there’s nothing for you to do.”
Guiscard nodded, but Diana thought he looked somewhat dejected.
“Guiscard. Mirva will give up her own power on her own.”
So Diana added—she had already begun winning over the head maid and the servants. The seeds had been sown; all that remained was to wait patiently for them to bear fruit.
Diana took Mirva out to tea parties several times. At first Mirva had been delighted to join, but one day she stopped going. She had found her own circle of friends.
“My lady, you can manage fine on your own now, can’t you?”
Mirva still cared nothing for her actual duties. She carried herself with her chin high, like a self-important noblewoman. Whether Diana was embarrassed or not at those gatherings was none of her concern. In fact, Mirva thought Diana might even benefit—if she made mistakes without Mirva’s supervision, people would think more highly of her when she managed well.
Not that I care about those haughty women anymore.
In truth, Mirva found those noble ladies unbearably stiff and pompous. She had admired them when first invited, but things had changed. Now she had the patronage of Duchess Poliana.
Ah, how petty those “well-bred” ladies were compared to a duchess! And yet they had dared to look down on her.
Duchess Poliana was like the Queen of the Night itself. Though born the daughter of a concubine, she had married a duke and become a trailblazer of the nobility’s “true nights.”
Mirva remembered well—those “refined” circles she once longed to join were nothing but dull chatter. What was so great about people who didn’t even know how to enjoy themselves?
“Welcome, my friend.”
The duchess, widowed, ran a casino. She too had been born a fallen noble and a concubine’s child, so it was only natural she felt kinship with Mirva. She took a liking to her and began to favor her.
Chatting with the duchess, Mirva sometimes encountered ladies she had once met at Diana’s tea parties. Their envious looks thrilled her—it was deliciously satisfying.
The gambling the duchess taught her was exhilarating. She sometimes lost money but the thrill of winning was greater. The higher the stakes, the more people watched her.
Soon people began to recognize her: Lady Linus, soon-to-be Duchess of Brienne. That’s what they called her.
Together, she and the duchess were a perfect pair. They knew how to torment those beneath them, and they had not a shred of morality or restraint.
“Lady Linus, have you ever had an unforgettable night?”
“An unforgettable night? What do you mean?”
“If you have to ask, then clearly you never have.”
The duchess blew a puff of smoke in Mirva’s face, mocking her naivety.
“What do you mean? Madam, I… I don’t understand those words…”
“What else could I mean? A night with a man, of course! Your Duke of Brienne must be useless in bed.”
“How dare you…”
It was scandalous to speak so of her husband, but also strangely satisfying—because it was true. The duke was terrible in bed.
“Oh, how adorable! My friend is as proper as they come.”
Laughing, the duchess summoned her handsome male slaves and offered them to Mirva.
“Show my innocent friend what true pleasure is.”
Mirva blushed as the men knelt before her. She had imagined such things before. She had even spent nights with a handsome servant of the ducal household. But this—this was another world altogether.
The old duke had never thrilled her. He hadn’t even known how to please a woman; satisfying him had always been labor.
But the pleasures the duchess gifted her were sweet and intoxicating. The men competed to satisfy her, rushing to respond to her slightest gesture.
Then Mirva realized—everything she had struggled for until now was meaningless. This was what it meant to be a duchess!
She began to pursue pleasure as though addicted.
“Oh darling, don’t you see? You’re doing free labor there.”
“Free labor?”
“You give him your body, you manage the whole estate without any title. If that’s not free labor, what is?”
“……”
“The duke is using you. Wake up, my dear friend.”
So the duchess told her. And indeed, once Mirva saw the wider world, her own life seemed pitiful.
“Lady Mirva, the duke will return soon. Dinner must be prepared—”
“Lady Mirva, a maid has left. The laundress begs for a replacement—”
“Lady Mirva, Jessie neglects her cleaning terribly—”
“The household budget is running low. We must adjust—”
Listening to their complaints, Mirva thought: Why must I bother with such dull matters?
“Have the head maid handle it!”
“……”
“Stop dumping every little task on me!”
How long must she continue cleaning up after this dreary household? She much preferred the duchess’s dazzling nights.
“The butler can handle meals. Why should I care if a maid leaves? Hire another! Train her yourself! And as for the budget—deal with it yourselves!”
“……”
“How much of your work am I supposed to do for you?”
She snapped furiously. This family never gave her anything, only complained. Couldn’t they handle things themselves?
Seething, she stormed out, eager to see the duchess again. The duchess loved luxurious clothes, always ornate but never gaudy. Matching her refined tastes was difficult, but rewarding.
That day Mirva had ordered a dress from the Sardia boutique. Surely the duchess would praise how well it suited her.
Mirva spent nights sweet as honey. She gambled with Diana’s mother’s fortune, bought clothes, and lived lavishly. It was only a matter of time before the money ran out.
Though the ducal family was wealthy, before harvest season cash was scarce. So Mirva began borrowing from moneylenders the duchess introduced.
She slept with handsome slaves whenever she pleased. What use was the duke at night? Pleasure could be found even in the day.
Sometimes she managed the duchess’s casino. And whenever she returned to the duke’s bed, it felt like torment.
“What on earth are you doing, Mirva?”
One day the duke’s gaze turned cold. Once, she would have recognized that as a danger sign. He was merciless to those he discarded—that was how his previous duchess had died, how “that woman” had perished so miserably.
But Mirva, dulled by her pleasures, no longer noticed. She didn’t even realize she had gone too far down an irreversible path.
That night was no different. Hearing that the duke would be away on royal business for several days, Mirva spent a fiery night in the ducal estate with five male slaves.
The night was still sweet. She was happy.
But when the hidden room’s door suddenly burst open, her happiness ended.
“She’s one of Duchess Poliana’s accomplices!”
Knights stormed in and seized her. At first she screamed and resisted, but when she saw their royal armor, dread gripped her. Something had gone terribly wrong.
At the duchess’s mansion, knights were already raiding, dragging away her followers. The estate was in chaos.
“Lord, we’ve found one of her remnants.”
Thrown before the commander, barely covered, she lifted her head to beg—and her face froze pale.
“You—how…?”
The Duke of Brienne was staring down at her.
