Chapter 31
Bang—crash!
With a loud noise, the door flew open.
“Lady Renée!”
And there she was—the peacock-like ducal lady’s maid!
As always, she was extravagantly dressed. She must have rushed over in great haste; with her panting breaths, her gold-thread-like hair swayed and shimmered.
It was quite a beautiful sight, but…
“Gasp!”
Maybe because the terrifying momentum with which she’d once gone for my hair was still burned into my memory—
Every last fine hair on my body stood on end with a chilling sensation.
“What’s going on…?”
She’s coming. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
Damn it, and this time there wasn’t even a grand duke around to use as a human shield!
I forced an awkward smile, tense to the max, but contrary to her dramatic entrance, the voice that came back was gentle.
“Lady Renée, I hear you’ll be staying in the main residence from now on?”
“Uh-huh. I guess so.”
“Congratulations! As expected, now that this room has found its true owner, it seems to shine all the more.”
The room really was bright, and sunlight streaming through the large windows made the chandelier sparkle…
Forcing my eyes to relax, I carefully asked her,
“Thank you… but what brings you here?”
Being around you is kind of scary, you know…
Could you please just get to the point and leave?
Perhaps she sensed my lack of enthusiasm.
Her face stiffened slightly, and then—thud!—the woman dropped to her knees right in front of me.
“Huh?”
I could only blink in confusion at the sudden turn of events.
With her head bowed deeply, unexpected words spilled from the maid’s lips.
“Last time, I committed a grave offense. I’ve come to apologize for that.”
Her thin voice stirred a strong sense of pity in the listener.
But I couldn’t relax just yet.
She’s talking about what happened in the library, right? Apologizing now—what’s her angle?
I stared at the maid still kneeling so pitifully before me, utterly confused.
Could someone really flip their attitude this drastically, like turning over a pancake?
But… as I listened to what came next, it started to make some sense.
“To be honest, I truly believed you were committing an act of sacrilege, Lady Renée! I was the one who witnessed you meeting an unknown man!”
“What?”
“Find out who that man is. Someone reported to me that he’s your secret lover….”
In an instant, I remembered what the grand duke had said in the library.
The one who’d reported that dragon as my secret lover was this maid.
“It was the day I went to the cabin without any notice, wanting to surprise you. I went with good intentions, hoping to keep you company at last… but you looked so perfectly matched with that handsome man that I completely misunderstood!”
Aaaah! Stop it!
Please, for the love of everything, stop pairing Ternox and me up like that!
“That’s absolutely ridiculous—”
I was about to hurriedly protest when—
The maid’s gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, suddenly snapped upward toward me.
At the same time, our eyes met head-on.
“!”
A beautifully distorted face.
Good grief! A beauty!
And exactly my type, no less!
All beauties are righteous, but she was especially my favorite kind—the cat-eyed type.
Eyes that tilted upward delicately, enormous eyes that seemed to take up half her face.
The irises within them sparkled, clear and bright like finely cut sapphires.
I pressed down my wildly wavering heart with all my might, yet still couldn’t tear my gaze away from her face.
Her cherry-like lips parted again.
“In truth, my family—the House of Count Hugo—has long been the closest ally of the House of Celeste. Until you arrived, Lady Renée, I too served His Grace the Grand Duke devotedly.”
As she spoke, the maid covered her mouth and averted her eyes shyly.
Oh… judging by the nuance, it seemed there really had been something between them.
Apparently, the two had grown up together as childhood friends.
“But that’s all in the past now.”
The peacock maid’s eyes looked deeply sad as she continued.
A shadow fell over her gorgeous face, lending her an air of fragile melancholy.
Her eyes even seemed to glisten with moisture.
“The true Grand Duchess has arrived… and I have become a maid to Her Grace. So please understand if I still feel more familiarity toward His Grace the Grand Duke.”
“Of course, of course. I understand completely…”
Beads of cold sweat trickled down my spine.
As I listened, a terrible premonition flashed through my mind.
This is way too cliché.
Childhood friends who bickered without realizing their feelings for each other.
Secretly wishing that situation would last forever.
Then—cruelly—an abrupt political marriage for one of them.
Two people drifting apart, misunderstanding each other!
I knew this kind of story all too well.
Don’t tell me…
Was I the villain wedged between the two of them?
The evil woman whose role was to drive them apart?!
If that’s the case…
Then was the grand duke’s icy attitude toward the peacock maid in the library actually just a tragic performance—an act to forcibly push her away?!
“……”
Come to think of it, his efforts to appear like a loving husband with me in front of others suddenly made a certain sense.
An overwhelming wave of guilt washed over me.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, the beauty before me grabbed my hand, her eyes brimming with tears.
“But I, Katarina Hugo, have made up my mind. I will become your closest friend, Lady Renée!”
“…Me? With me?”
How did it come to that conclusion…?
Though—her name’s Katarina. Even her name is pretty.
Ignoring my lukewarm reaction, the peacock maid—no, Katarina—poured out her words with passion.
“The House of Hugo has always served Celeste. And since you have become a true Celeste yourself, Lady Renée, it is only right that I cast aside my former feelings and devote my loyalty to you.”
Her expression was resolute—truly so.
It seemed Katarina firmly believed the rumors circulating within the ducal estate about cohabitation (?).
At the same time, my own heart—now suddenly in a reader’s perspective—felt like it was being torn into a thousand, ten thousand pieces.
Aaaagh! Katarina, what on earth are you thinking?!
You think the grand duke you love is actually married to me for real?!
And yet you want to be friends with me?
Because it’s your duty?!
“Th-that’s really not necessary…”
I had no idea what kind of misunderstanding this peacock had fallen into, but the more I listened, the heavier my worries grew.
I couldn’t even guess where things had first gone wrong.
But then…
“So… will you forgive all my past misdeeds and accept me as your friend?”
Katarina said softly, stroking my hand with her gentle fingers.
At the same time, a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye, rolling down her smooth cheek like a jade bead.
Ugh…
An angel.
This woman is an angel!
Somehow, the fact that she was the same person who’d once tried to yank my hair faded into the background.
Let’s just say she’s an angel with a bit of a competitive streak.
In any case, an aura impossible to refuse radiated from her, as dazzling as her shining blonde hair.
I forced a smile and nodded.
“Of course. Katarina.”
At my answer, Katarina’s face instantly brightened.
She looked fresh and radiant, like a blue rose in full bloom.
“Thank you so much, Lady Renée! How can you be so kind…? I truly thought I might be stripped of my position as a maid. After all, what I did was inexcusable….”
The fearsome presence she’d had in the library was nowhere to be found; Katarina covered her mouth, looking utterly pitiful.
Seeing that, I hurriedly showered her with reassurance.
“Of course not! You acted out of your feelings for the grand duke, didn’t you? The misunderstanding was… deep, sure. But still! From now on, we can clear it up! Nothing’s ruined!”
Though, to be fair, I do love a ruined romance!
They say among faith, hope, and love, the greatest is doomed love!
Still, since I’d gotten caught in the middle, willingly taking on the villainess role felt deeply uncomfortable.
I need to remember something—anything—about this novel. Even the smallest clue…
I was lost in that new goal when—
“Lady Renée, then… to commemorate our friendship, would you accompany me tomorrow? There’s something I simply must show you.”
Clap!
Katarina smiled as she clapped her hands together. Her eyes, though, held a strangely sharp glint.
At the time, I thought it was nothing more than my imagination.
