MPWRA CH 10

Chapter 10

“Phew.”

Believing the space to be completely empty, she naturally let her guard down.

“I heard before that almost no one comes to the floor where the library is located unless it’s the Duke.”

Anthony reassured Ivana, who had covered her mouth in shock. The Duke was a man far too busy to linger around the mansion.

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

Moving up another floor, Ivana let out a soft breath. Within the mansion, she always found herself watching her step whenever she had to raise her voice.

If it were her own palace in the imperial quarters, she could have lived much more comfortably, but since her adjacent room belonged to the Duke’s quarters, she always had to use her divine power to block out sound.

What kind of nonsense was it to tell her to live quietly while placing her room right next to his?

Though she rarely ran into the Duke since he was busy with work, she still had to walk through the hallways without making even the sound of her own breathing, always maintaining an elegant posture just in case.

There were aspects of it that were comfortable, but she also felt like she was trapped in a cage narrower than the imperial palace. Still, unlike the imperial family, this was a cage with an open door, so she could endure it.

As long as the Duke didn’t demand a divorce, she wouldn’t have to return to the imperial family.

Just as he had said they should stick strictly to the contract, she had no expectations of the Duke, either.

As long as he didn’t break the contract, she would remain faithful to it, too.

(I won’t give a single thing to the people who abandoned me.)

Though she had been grateful to Justin, it was practically like she had repaid that grace through this marriage.

Even the time she had shed tears looking at the items he sent as if tossing a bone to a stray dog had been short-lived.

She wished he had just let her die, or rather, that he had thrown her away entirely.

In a situation where she could neither meet them nor even harbor a proper grudge, disillusionment and hatred toward her family piled up layer by layer inside Ivana’s chest.

All smiles vanished from Ivana’s face.

The moment the library door closed and Ivana’s figure disappeared, a large silhouette materialized in the hallway.

(So she knows how to laugh like that, too.)

A man with pink hair and gray eyes stared down the hallway with a thoughtful expression.

It was the same face he had seen back at the princess’s quarters. It seemed the princess only showed her true self when nobody else was around.

The clear, ringing voice echoed through Cedric’s mind.

The drought in the territory was prolonging.

Having visited the library to clear his head because no solution was in sight, he was just about to head back.

The moment he was about to step out of the library, a clear burst of laughter echoed from downstairs.

It was the princess.

To think a woman who always wore a tense, hardened expression in front of him could laugh so unhesitatingly.

Cedric closed the door he had opened without realizing it. There was no reason for him to hide inside his own mansion.

Yet, he hadn’t been able to open the door.

The conversation shared between the princess and her attendant in that space she had avoided didn’t match the laughter at all.

How could she laugh like that when she was being mistreated? Cedric couldn’t make sense of the princess’s reaction.

Had what the princess said last time actually been true? That she was being ignored in violation of his orders?

Cedric’s eyebrows twitched. No such contents had been written in the reports he had received up until now.

“I heard the head housekeeper had cleared out some of the servants who caused problems. It seems it wasn’t handled properly after all.”

It was his own lapse in judgment for assuming things were resolved and failing to check up on it. This time, he needed to set things right.

And not for the princess’s sake.

While he didn’t expect absolute loyalty from the servants, he couldn’t simply overlook disobedience to orders passed down from above.

His large frame moved without a sound.

Arriving at his office, Cedric spoke:

“Bring me the reports regarding the princess.”

It had been an empty, vacant room, but suddenly a black silhouette dropped from thin air right in front of him, accompanied by a thick stack of reports. The figure prostrated himself before the Duke.

Rustle.

Cedric’s hand flipped roughly through the reports.

[Imperial Calendar, Year 2432, March 15th Morning – Warm vegetable soup, salad, bread. Lunch – 1 sandwich. Dinner – Salad, a single lump of lamb steak. … Imperial Calendar, Year 2432, March 20th Soup containing 2 chunks of meat served for breakfast. Lunch – 1 potato. Dinner – A piece of cold meat, a slice of bread.]

Cedric’s gaze grew increasingly fierce as he read through the reports. The princess’s claim that there was a problem with her meals had been true.

“Why hasn’t the princess’s situation been reported to me all this time?”

“I assumed there were no personal issues, as the princess’s attendant procured food from outside.”

At the shadow’s reply, Cedric fell silent. With things like this, he had no excuse to give the princess.

In the early days of the marriage, the reports from the shadow and the butler had matched.

After that, the shadows’ reports on the princess came in once a week, but assuming they would be the same as the butler’s reports, he hadn’t bothered to flip through them.

Pushed aside by other complex matters, the princess hadn’t been placed on his priority list. After all, he had plenty of things to handle besides the princess.

True to the contract, the princess had stayed quiet and caused no trouble.

A faint groan escaped Cedric’s lips.

“How did the princess slip out of the ducal estate?”

“She disguised herself as a servant and slipped out through the secret service doors used by the staff.”

Ha.

Cedric finally realized that there wasn’t just one or two problems within the ducal estate.

“Leave all the reports regarding the princess behind.”

Pulling a bundle of reports from a magic pouch, the shadow placed them all on top of the desk and withdrew his body.

He read through every single report in one breath.

Cedric immediately rang the bell to summon the butler. There were matters to deal with before he apologized to the princess.

“Duke? Is there something you require?”

“Howard. Dismiss all the servants in the mansion and hire new ones. You cannot escape responsibility, either.”

Head Butler Howard, who had rushed over at the Duke’s call, blinked in bewilderment.

“A-All? You mean all of them? Even me?!”

“Yes. There is no reason for me to keep people who fail to follow orders while working in my mansion.”

At the cold, piercing voice of the Duke, Howard swallowed hard.

“I apologize. I don’t know what happened, but I will take corrective action immediately.”

Trembling from the sharp aura radiating from the Duke, Howard bowed deeply at the waist.

“Do not make me give the same command twice.”

“…”

He couldn’t fathom what on earth had angered the Duke to this extent. Nothing had been reported to him directly.

“I was lacking. I will dismiss all the servants and recruit new ones.”

The head butler immediately stopped arguing. It seemed someone had seriously stepped on the Duke’s nerves.

No, rather than stepping on his nerves, failing to uphold basic principles was probably closer to the truth. And on top of that, his own neck was on the line now.

It was a bolt-from-the-blue command for someone who had devoted his entire life to serving the ducal house. However, prioritizing not provoking the Duke’s wrath came first.

“Bring me Agnes.”

“Yes. I will move right away.”

The young Duke of Reynold was rational and cold. That was precisely why he had elevated the ducal house to its current heights.

He had no use for limbs that refused to follow his commands.

There was an endless line of people wanting to forge ties with the Reynold ducal house, the most powerful family second only to the imperial family.

Even someone like him, who had served the ducal house for a lifetime, could be cast aside in an instant.

Watching the Duke’s retreating back, Howard swallowed dryly.

(Agnes isn’t going to just sit still and take this.)

Howard closed his eyes tightly at the impending storm of fire about to sweep through the ducal estate.

(I shouldn’t have brought in a woman unworthy of the position from the very beginning.)

Head Housekeeper Agnes, who had hurried into the Duke’s office, lowered her gaze with a polite expression as she thought to herself.

She had guessed why the Duke had summoned her.

The princess’s attendant had come looking for her several times. Because of that, she had turned a blind eye a few times and reprimanded the maids a few other times.

She held no personal grievance against the princess. The problem was simply that the princess was useless to the ducal house.

Though the Reynold ducal house had gained immense benefits through the marriage, that was only natural.

Marriages between nobles were transactions exchanging mutual benefits.

Yet the princess engaged in zero high-society activities as the mistress of the house, nor did she perform any actions that could benefit the family.

No matter how poor her health was, she needed to perform the bare minimum as the mistress of the house.

Because of that, while Agnes warned the maids, she paid no mind to the new mistress.

Inwardly, she had even been somewhat satisfied with a princess who knew her own place.

After all, there was no place for a powerless duchess in this ducal estate.

She had hoped she would just live quietly like that, but of all things, the maids had messed up.

“I apologize for showing shortcomings in my management.”

Chewing on her lip, Agnes bowed her head toward the Duke. A useless princess must not catch the Duke’s eye.

That was why she had commanded her subordinates to be extra thorough and careful.

To bring harm to the family—she had no intention of letting the issue slide easily, either.

“If you point out those who behaved insolently toward Her Highness…”

“Agnes.”

Absorbed in thoughts of cleaning up the mess, Agnes tensed up at the Duke’s call.

At the quiet reprimand, she bit down hard on her lower lip. There was no room for negotiation left.

If she ran her mouth carelessly here, she herself would be in danger.

“Did you take my words telling you to attend well to the princess so she could live quietly as meaning you were free to ignore them?”