CMEH 13

Chapter 13

In Cremisa, rainy days far outnumbered clear ones, except in summer.

No matter how patriotic one might be, even the most devoted citizen would hesitate to call the capital’s dreary skies beautiful, if only out of politeness.

Perhaps that was why, flustered by her own words, Emily became even more animated in her attempt to explain.

“Madam, shall I brush your hair? Which oil would you prefer?”

“Violet, if we have it.”

Ariana raised an eyebrow, her curiosity deepening at the maid’s unusually enthusiastic care.

The truth was that most of the servants at the ducal estate disliked her.

Many kept their distance, barely concealing their cold glances.

‘But it has been a year since the marriage… This is usually when their guard begins to loosen.’

Nevertheless, taking all that into account, Emily seemed to be coming around far more often than usual.

“Emily, was it the head maid who assigned you to me? I think you were here yesterday, too.”

“Oh—no, madam! I asked Madam Karen myself.”

Karen Elmer, the head maid, was an elderly woman who had served the estate since the days of the previous duke.

She despised Ariana, though she was too professional to show it — she was the embodiment of a servant’s discipline.

Since Ariana had already decided to leave, she stopped trying to win over the staff.

Once she had a child, she planned to leave quietly. There was no point in clinging to a position of power that she had never wanted in the first place.

But why was this maid so different from the one in her previous life?

“Why?”

“Because… my dream is to become a lady’s maid!”

“Ah.”

Only then did Ariana understand the reason behind Emily’s sudden friendliness.

For a commoner woman, becoming a maid—while grueling—was one of the few ways to earn decent money.

Among them was a lady’s maid, whose job it was to help her mistress get dressed and groom herself. This was considered a prestigious position — one to be proud of.

Ariana let out a dry smile. Unfortunately, Emily had chosen the wrong person to cling to in this life.

“Emily, I’ll tell you now—there’s no power in my hands in this household. You won’t find the honour you’re hoping for here.”

“Oh…”

“I just don’t want to disappoint you. Of course, I can still write you a good reference if you need one.”

Besides, they still didn’t know who had left that gun under her bed.

However, as Ariana spoke indifferently, Emily hesitated, stumbling over her words.

“It’s not just because of that. The truth is, I’ve done a lot of wrong things.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“It’s just…”

“It’s all right. Speak freely — I won’t be angry.”

“When I first saw you, madam, I thought you were difficult, but not in a bad way.”

Emily had also heard the rumours about the infamous One-Day Crown Princess.

The tales painted her as extravagant and manipulative — a woman who threw herself at the current Duke to save herself.

Based on that alone, Emily thought she knew all she needed to about Ariana.

So, even though she didn’t really know her, Emily eagerly joined in the gossip.

After all, siding with the crowd made it easier to adjust to life in the capital.

As always, the senior maids sneered. This time, they said:

“Did you hear? The Duchess came back after being hit by a rock.”

“What about you, Emily? You were with her, weren’t you?”

“I… I was…”

Emily murmured awkwardly as she picked at a scone.

It was the same one that Ariana had bought her before she got injured.

“I don’t think she’s that bad, really. Getting hit by a rock just for walking down the street — doesn’t that seem kind of pitiful?”

“What?”

“I understand that the man who threw it had his own grievances, but there must have been a better way.”

Needless to say, the man who lost his job had every reason to be upset. However, Emily later learned that the incident hadn’t actually been Ariana’s fault, but had been caused by something her family had done.

But how responsible should one be for the actions of one’s family?

“This is too complicated…”

Emily couldn’t reach a simple conclusion.

When she looked up, she found the senior maids glaring at her.

“Are you taking her side now?”

“No! I’m not taking sides!”

“We let your little country-bumpkin act slide because you were cute, but seriously—crying over a car like a baby? Pathetic.”

That had really stung.

Emily was baffled that she had been brought down over such a trivial thing.

As she carefully brushed Ariana’s hair, she found herself expressing that very frustration out loud.

“Seriously, I couldn’t believe it! Okay, it’s true—I’d never seen a car before since we didn’t have one back home. And yes, I might’ve squealed a little, but I didn’t cry! I even made it here all by myself on the train!”

“I see…”

“And you know those scones you bought? We all shared them! If they really think I’m a country bumpkin, they shouldn’t have eaten them!”

Emily’s voice rose in indignation, but she froze a second later when she caught sight of the mirror.

Reflected in the glass was Ariana, her eyes wide with shock.

Realising she had gone too far, Emily bowed deeply, her cheeks flushing as though she had been sitting too close to a fire.

“My mother always says that if I just kept my mouth shut, I’d get through life just fine. But I swear it’s like my mouth has feet — it just keeps talking, and I can’t stop it!”

“Mmm.”

“I’m sorry, madam. I really do talk too much, don’t I?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Ariana smiled softly at the flustered maid.

Besides, she hadn’t planned on becoming attached to Emily in the first place.

She knew that opening her heart to anyone would only lead to heartbreak.

Yet after years of solitude, the maid’s bright, non-stop chatter filled the void more gently than she’d expected.

‘Besides, she probably hears far more gossip than I ever could.’

Now that she was no longer in the presence of nobility, Emily relaxed and opened up completely. Once she had loosened up, her tongue showed no signs of restraint. Even as her hands worked busily, she didn’t stop talking.

“Are you going to the Byron family banquet too, madam?”

“Yes, since His Grace is attending.”

“I heard it’s going to be held on a cruise ship! Is it really that different from a regular party if it’s on a boat?”

“Not really. Other than the view of the ocean, it’s pretty much the same.”

Ariana felt a little bad for disappointing Emily, whose eyes sparkled with curiosity.

But truth be told, she hated that party.

The Byron Count’s family were hosting an overnight cruise banquet to celebrate the launch of their new ship, which was departing from Lenthia’s harbour.

‘One night of nothing but bragging I don’t care to hear.’

And yet it wasn’t Theodora who made the event unbearable.

It was the fact that the empress would be in attendance.

She was the woman who should have been Ariana’s mother-in-law.

The empress had disliked Ariana from the moment she started preparing to become crown princess.

“That girl… how can she be so shameless? Honestly, the problem is my son’s awful taste in women.”

Although the imperial family had ostracised Ariana for the sake of appearances. The empress continued to insult her relentlessly.

She scorned the former princess-in-training who had become a duchess instead of fleeing with Andrew.

But Emily, oblivious to Ariana’s indifferent expression, continued to chatter excitedly away.

“But still, it’s all so exciting! I can’t wait to see the dress you’ll be wearing, madam!”

“I’ll have to choose something that suits His Grace.”

“Oh, but His Grace always wears black, doesn’t he? Just like today — he was dressed and gone by the early hours!”

“He must have left for the office already.”

“Mmm… maybe? But… the driver—Mr. Henry—didn’t go with him.”

“…?”

Ariana blinked slowly, saying nothing.

Ever since his miraculous return, Kenneth had devoted himself entirely to rebuilding the family.

Wasn’t that what she had once begged him for — just one day a week to herself, Wednesdays?

He devoted every waking hour to work.

He spent more time in the offices scattered across the capital than he did in his own sitting room.

‘But… the driver didn’t go out today?’

Ariana lightly tapped her fingernail against the vanity unit.

If Kenneth hadn’t brought the driver with him that morning, he probably wouldn’t have gone to the office or another noble’s estate.

In fact, he no longer trusted external venues for important meetings.

‘Unless it was the imperial palace, that is.’

This could, of course, be explained by what the Aberdeens had done.

If he had been working in the office of the main house, he wouldn’t have worn his usual formal black attire for outings.

So where had he gone?

‘Could it be the estate’s annex?’

The ducal residence had over three hundred rooms in total.

Staff often mentioned getting lost in the expansive gardens and corridors, so it wasn’t uncommon.

Ariana also knew that Kenneth often held business meetings in the annex without informing her in advance.

‘Who could be important enough for Kenneth to meet in person?’