IELNDMH - Chapter 77 < The Honor of Serving Her Highness the Grand Duchess>
I Ended Up Living Up Next Door With My Ex-Husband
'Suddenly... Treatment changes so much?'
The burdensome glances felt in a heated atmosphere.
I couldn't hide my bewildered expression as I looked at the people using the Mansion of Light.
When the employees saw me like that, they each coughed awkwardly and smiled brightly again.
“Your Highness, you don’t know how long we’ve been waiting for this moment.”
“That’s right, I was so heartbroken to know that you would never forgive us for failing to understand Your Highness’s deep thoughts..."
“We can’t miss this opportunity that has finally come. We all prepared incredibly well to properly serve Your Highness!”
It seemed like I wasn't the only one who was taken aback by the temperature, which was noticeably different from before.
Unlike me, who just made an absurd expression, Mina went even further and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk... Why are you, the elite group of people who use the Mansion of Light, suddenly acting like this? Didn’t you say that even if you die, you won’t believe that Her Highness has changed?”
She even snorted loudly as if showing off.
The residents of the Mansion of Light all glared at Mina with disapproving eyes.
But that only lasted for a moment, and they looked at me again with a shy smile on their face.
“That’s because Her Highness even established a welfare foundation for us mixed-blood demons... ”
“Is that all? Even the members of Gray Zone Village, who were from our Mansion of Light, are invited back.”
That time when everyone was hesitant with a lot of things they wanted to say.
The Mansion of Light butler stepped forward and slowly lowered his head.
“Your Highness. In the meantime... I sincerely apologize for not being able to serve you with all my heart.”
As soon as the butler finished speaking, all the employees bowed their heads one after another.
“I’m really sorry...”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
I can't believe that the people who used the Mansion of Light, who suffered Rebecca's abuse with all their might, and no one else, are offering an apology.
'In my conscience, I don't think this is right...'
Out of embarrassment, I just rolled my eyes.
The employees seemed to have taken my reaction differently and looked at each other with downcast faces.
“When you stayed in the Mansion of Light, we thought that Your Highness was just doing this because you hated us.”
The butler curled his lips and bit a couple of times, then opened his mouth again.
“...So, in fact, we treated Your Highness secretly coldly.”
A soft voice, as if he was making a new confession, flowed from his lips one after another.
“But now that I think back, we... We should have noticed that Your Highness's heart was sick and looked more closely. It was something that should not have been left until that happened.”
Soon, a self-deprecating smile spread across his lips.
“But in fact, we were presumptuous and elitist, ignoring the most important thing: examining the owner’s heart.”
“...”
“No, looking back now, deep down... It seems that Your Highness, who came here alone from the south, was not recognized as a member of the Twins family.”
“I did... It was.”
"Yes. To be more honest, I felt relieved after you moved to the dark mansion. however....”
The butler let out a short sigh.
“After going to the Dark Mansion, Your Highness gradually changed. From then on, I started to feel uncomfortable. So, I deliberately denied it even more stubbornly, thinking that Your Highness would not change.”
“...”
“But more and more... I couldn’t bear it without believing it.”
The butler, who had nodded twice with his gaze on the floor, made eye contact again.
“Now, the fact is that Your Highness, as the mistress of the Twins Grand Duke’s family, truly cares for us half-blood demons.”
He stared at Mina for a moment.
Then he turned his gaze towards me again and spoke carefully.
“If we had treated you better while you were here, Your Highness would have smiled at us and treated us kindly.”
“...”
"Now... Just like you do to the people who use the Mansion of Darkness.”
At the butler's words, the eyes of the residents of the Mansion of Light once again sank in sorrow.
For a while, only silence filled the space.
“... We lost, Your Highness.”
A gentle smile spread across the butler's lips as he broke the silence and calmly spoke of defeat.
The workers standing behind him had the same expression on their faces.
“I lost very, very happily.”
“...”
“For overcoming our arrogance to show off... Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Your Highness.”
Following the butler who bowed his head respectfully, all the residents of the Mansion of Light bowed their heads in unison.
“Now, we are all ready to sacrifice our lives for Your Highness, the mother of our half-blood demons and the mistress of the Twins Grand Duke’s family.”
Each employee raised their head and looked at me, and each of them had a serious light in their eyes.
“So, could you please give us the honor of serving Your Highness one more time?”
Inside the banquet hall of the Mansion of Light.
After finishing the conversation with the employees, I entered the dining room and saw Cedric, Bianca, and Anton sitting around the table.
As expected, Anton's face was very flushed.
As soon as he finished greeting me, he started praising me.
“It really feels like a dream! I can’t believe I’m coming to the Twins Grand Duke’s castle, and I’m even invited to dinner!”
He was busy looking around the dining room.
“Oh, that gold decoration on the stove is the Twins family crest, right? And the name of that stove is ‘Dewalt’s Stove’. I've seen it in books. Those colors, those elegant lines... It’s even more beautiful than it looks in pictures!”
Even the smallest objects and gaps could not escape his praise.
Bianca's eyes, which were nearby, also sparkled, following Anton's.
“That’s right, it’s a name derived from the title of His Highness the 4th Grand Duke! But is there really such a book in the human world?”
“Of course, Princess! The bookshelf in my boarding house in the capital is full of such books?”
"Wow... !”
Since this was Bianca's first time meeting a human who was truly interested in mixed-race demons, she seemed to enjoy the situation.
Meanwhile, Cedric, sitting across from me, looked half-entranced.
Before I arrived, it seemed like Anton had already been overwhelmed by the barrage of compliments and questions.
'Nevertheless, he must have held back because he assured that Anton was a very precious guest.'
Laughter escaped without me even realizing it.
When Cedric noticed me like that, he slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
“The foundation opening ceremony was a success, right? It would have been nice to be with you until the end, but I couldn't....”
Cedric paused for a moment, then his harsh gaze turned to his aide.
“...I’m so sorry.”
Then he even clicked his tongue as if he was disapproving.
The aide tried hard to avoid his eyes.
He urged Cedric, saying that 30 minutes after arriving at the opening celebration, there was a mountain of work.
Even if there was a knife at his throat, he was the type of person who ended up speaking out his blunt words.
Of course, Cedric showed signs of dissatisfaction even then, but it was inevitable because it was true that his workload was heavy.
Isn’t he the owner of this huge Twins Grand Duchy?
“What can you do with so much work? Thanks to you, today’s work and the celebration of the opening of my welfare foundation went well, so stop glaring at my aide like that.”
At my words, Cedric looked away from his aide as if he had no choice.
The poor aide then let out a deep breath that he had been holding and secretly gave me his thumbs up.
“Your Highness, I was so happy to be able to go to the foundation’s opening celebration today!”
Bianca said cheerfully, her round eyes sparkling.
"Really? Bianca, can you tell us what you liked so much about it?”
When I asked while stroking that cute head, Bianca narrowed her eyes.
“The foundation building was very big and pretty! And it was really nice to see the mixed-race demons happy! Still, the best thing among them was... It was our visionary who created that wonderful foundation!”
"Really?"
"Yes! Now, all mixed-blood demons will unconditionally respect Your Highness. Not to mention the people here at Twins Castle!”
Bianca, who was pouring out words passionately with her cheeks flushed, soon took a deep breath.
“I’m glad I heard that.”
Anton suddenly intervened and added.
I slowly shifted my gaze to Anton.
When I looked at him questioning the meaning of those words, Anton looked embarrassed and ran his hand over the back of his head.
“Oh, that’s... I heard this from Mina on the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason Your Highness left for the Mansion of Darkness was because the people who used the Mansion of Light did not serve Your Highness properly...”
After hearing those words, Cedric and Bianca's faces suddenly hardened.
Aside from that, Cedric was blinking in surprise at seeing Bianca for the first time.
“Is that true, Your Highness?”
Bianca asked, her eyes wide open like an angry baby lion.
In an instant, the people in the dining room who were sitting on thorn cushions sent me a request for help with their eyes.
Yes, reception.
I quickly shook my head.
“It’s not like that, Bianca. Mina was just teasing Anton, who doesn’t know much about the situation here.”
After saying that, I quietly winked at Anton.
Since I was in front of a child, I just wanted to conclude that what I said was right and move on.
Anton, who was confused for a moment by the wink, also seemed to understand what I meant and nodded.
Fortunately, my momentary attitude toward Bianca paid off.
“Well, maybe it was in the past, but it can’t be like that now. Do you think everyone who uses the Mansion of Light wants Your Highness to return as much as I do?”
Bianca smiled brightly as if she had never looked like an angry baby lion.
“So, I hope Your Highness returns to the Mansion of Light as soon as possible, and our family of three can live happily together for the rest of our lives!”
Cedric and I exchanged glances at the child's bright words.
There is now just over a month left until the divorce is announced.
That meant that our time together was not far away.
A sense of guilt washed over me as I saw the child dreaming of a happy future for her family without knowing anything.
Cedric and I were looking at Bianca with bitter smiles.
“Your Highness, a letter has arrived from the Holy See.”
The aide who had left the dinner room a little while ago hurriedly returned and handed Cedric a letter.
Cedric's dark eyebrows arched high at the unfamiliar address, 'The Holy See'.
“At the Vatican?”
“Yes, I think the Pope sent it directly.”
A personal letter from the Pope?
In the Western Empire, the power of the Pope was as great as that of the Emperor, and his personal correspondence was always considered important and noble.
That meant that no one could ever disobey the Pope's orders written in his personal letters.
'It must be good news...'
However, contrary to his wishes, Cedric's expression gradually darkened as he read the letter.
“What kind of letter is this?”
Cedric did not easily answer my anxious questions.
After a moment of silence, his eyes turned to me again.
In Cedric's eyes, a faint sadness had already melted.
“The order is to have High Priest Diat stay here for the next month.”
I couldn't hide my bewildered expression as I looked at the people using the Mansion of Light.
When the employees saw me like that, they each coughed awkwardly and smiled brightly again.
“Your Highness, you don’t know how long we’ve been waiting for this moment.”
“That’s right, I was so heartbroken to know that you would never forgive us for failing to understand Your Highness’s deep thoughts..."
“We can’t miss this opportunity that has finally come. We all prepared incredibly well to properly serve Your Highness!”
It seemed like I wasn't the only one who was taken aback by the temperature, which was noticeably different from before.
Unlike me, who just made an absurd expression, Mina went even further and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk... Why are you, the elite group of people who use the Mansion of Light, suddenly acting like this? Didn’t you say that even if you die, you won’t believe that Her Highness has changed?”
She even snorted loudly as if showing off.
The residents of the Mansion of Light all glared at Mina with disapproving eyes.
But that only lasted for a moment, and they looked at me again with a shy smile on their face.
“That’s because Her Highness even established a welfare foundation for us mixed-blood demons... ”
“Is that all? Even the members of Gray Zone Village, who were from our Mansion of Light, are invited back.”
That time when everyone was hesitant with a lot of things they wanted to say.
The Mansion of Light butler stepped forward and slowly lowered his head.
“Your Highness. In the meantime... I sincerely apologize for not being able to serve you with all my heart.”
As soon as the butler finished speaking, all the employees bowed their heads one after another.
“I’m really sorry...”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
I can't believe that the people who used the Mansion of Light, who suffered Rebecca's abuse with all their might, and no one else, are offering an apology.
'In my conscience, I don't think this is right...'
Out of embarrassment, I just rolled my eyes.
The employees seemed to have taken my reaction differently and looked at each other with downcast faces.
“When you stayed in the Mansion of Light, we thought that Your Highness was just doing this because you hated us.”
The butler curled his lips and bit a couple of times, then opened his mouth again.
“...So, in fact, we treated Your Highness secretly coldly.”
A soft voice, as if he was making a new confession, flowed from his lips one after another.
“But now that I think back, we... We should have noticed that Your Highness's heart was sick and looked more closely. It was something that should not have been left until that happened.”
Soon, a self-deprecating smile spread across his lips.
“But in fact, we were presumptuous and elitist, ignoring the most important thing: examining the owner’s heart.”
“...”
“No, looking back now, deep down... It seems that Your Highness, who came here alone from the south, was not recognized as a member of the Twins family.”
“I did... It was.”
"Yes. To be more honest, I felt relieved after you moved to the dark mansion. however....”
The butler let out a short sigh.
“After going to the Dark Mansion, Your Highness gradually changed. From then on, I started to feel uncomfortable. So, I deliberately denied it even more stubbornly, thinking that Your Highness would not change.”
“...”
“But more and more... I couldn’t bear it without believing it.”
The butler, who had nodded twice with his gaze on the floor, made eye contact again.
“Now, the fact is that Your Highness, as the mistress of the Twins Grand Duke’s family, truly cares for us half-blood demons.”
He stared at Mina for a moment.
Then he turned his gaze towards me again and spoke carefully.
“If we had treated you better while you were here, Your Highness would have smiled at us and treated us kindly.”
“...”
"Now... Just like you do to the people who use the Mansion of Darkness.”
At the butler's words, the eyes of the residents of the Mansion of Light once again sank in sorrow.
For a while, only silence filled the space.
“... We lost, Your Highness.”
A gentle smile spread across the butler's lips as he broke the silence and calmly spoke of defeat.
The workers standing behind him had the same expression on their faces.
“I lost very, very happily.”
“...”
“For overcoming our arrogance to show off... Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Your Highness.”
Following the butler who bowed his head respectfully, all the residents of the Mansion of Light bowed their heads in unison.
“Now, we are all ready to sacrifice our lives for Your Highness, the mother of our half-blood demons and the mistress of the Twins Grand Duke’s family.”
Each employee raised their head and looked at me, and each of them had a serious light in their eyes.
“So, could you please give us the honor of serving Your Highness one more time?”
***
Inside the banquet hall of the Mansion of Light.
After finishing the conversation with the employees, I entered the dining room and saw Cedric, Bianca, and Anton sitting around the table.
As expected, Anton's face was very flushed.
As soon as he finished greeting me, he started praising me.
“It really feels like a dream! I can’t believe I’m coming to the Twins Grand Duke’s castle, and I’m even invited to dinner!”
He was busy looking around the dining room.
“Oh, that gold decoration on the stove is the Twins family crest, right? And the name of that stove is ‘Dewalt’s Stove’. I've seen it in books. Those colors, those elegant lines... It’s even more beautiful than it looks in pictures!”
Even the smallest objects and gaps could not escape his praise.
Bianca's eyes, which were nearby, also sparkled, following Anton's.
“That’s right, it’s a name derived from the title of His Highness the 4th Grand Duke! But is there really such a book in the human world?”
“Of course, Princess! The bookshelf in my boarding house in the capital is full of such books?”
"Wow... !”
Since this was Bianca's first time meeting a human who was truly interested in mixed-race demons, she seemed to enjoy the situation.
Meanwhile, Cedric, sitting across from me, looked half-entranced.
Before I arrived, it seemed like Anton had already been overwhelmed by the barrage of compliments and questions.
'Nevertheless, he must have held back because he assured that Anton was a very precious guest.'
Laughter escaped without me even realizing it.
When Cedric noticed me like that, he slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
“The foundation opening ceremony was a success, right? It would have been nice to be with you until the end, but I couldn't....”
Cedric paused for a moment, then his harsh gaze turned to his aide.
“...I’m so sorry.”
Then he even clicked his tongue as if he was disapproving.
The aide tried hard to avoid his eyes.
He urged Cedric, saying that 30 minutes after arriving at the opening celebration, there was a mountain of work.
Even if there was a knife at his throat, he was the type of person who ended up speaking out his blunt words.
Of course, Cedric showed signs of dissatisfaction even then, but it was inevitable because it was true that his workload was heavy.
Isn’t he the owner of this huge Twins Grand Duchy?
“What can you do with so much work? Thanks to you, today’s work and the celebration of the opening of my welfare foundation went well, so stop glaring at my aide like that.”
At my words, Cedric looked away from his aide as if he had no choice.
The poor aide then let out a deep breath that he had been holding and secretly gave me his thumbs up.
“Your Highness, I was so happy to be able to go to the foundation’s opening celebration today!”
Bianca said cheerfully, her round eyes sparkling.
"Really? Bianca, can you tell us what you liked so much about it?”
When I asked while stroking that cute head, Bianca narrowed her eyes.
“The foundation building was very big and pretty! And it was really nice to see the mixed-race demons happy! Still, the best thing among them was... It was our visionary who created that wonderful foundation!”
"Really?"
"Yes! Now, all mixed-blood demons will unconditionally respect Your Highness. Not to mention the people here at Twins Castle!”
Bianca, who was pouring out words passionately with her cheeks flushed, soon took a deep breath.
“I’m glad I heard that.”
Anton suddenly intervened and added.
I slowly shifted my gaze to Anton.
When I looked at him questioning the meaning of those words, Anton looked embarrassed and ran his hand over the back of his head.
“Oh, that’s... I heard this from Mina on the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason Your Highness left for the Mansion of Darkness was because the people who used the Mansion of Light did not serve Your Highness properly...”
After hearing those words, Cedric and Bianca's faces suddenly hardened.
Aside from that, Cedric was blinking in surprise at seeing Bianca for the first time.
“Is that true, Your Highness?”
Bianca asked, her eyes wide open like an angry baby lion.
In an instant, the people in the dining room who were sitting on thorn cushions sent me a request for help with their eyes.
Yes, reception.
I quickly shook my head.
“It’s not like that, Bianca. Mina was just teasing Anton, who doesn’t know much about the situation here.”
After saying that, I quietly winked at Anton.
Since I was in front of a child, I just wanted to conclude that what I said was right and move on.
Anton, who was confused for a moment by the wink, also seemed to understand what I meant and nodded.
Fortunately, my momentary attitude toward Bianca paid off.
“Well, maybe it was in the past, but it can’t be like that now. Do you think everyone who uses the Mansion of Light wants Your Highness to return as much as I do?”
Bianca smiled brightly as if she had never looked like an angry baby lion.
“So, I hope Your Highness returns to the Mansion of Light as soon as possible, and our family of three can live happily together for the rest of our lives!”
Cedric and I exchanged glances at the child's bright words.
There is now just over a month left until the divorce is announced.
That meant that our time together was not far away.
A sense of guilt washed over me as I saw the child dreaming of a happy future for her family without knowing anything.
Cedric and I were looking at Bianca with bitter smiles.
“Your Highness, a letter has arrived from the Holy See.”
The aide who had left the dinner room a little while ago hurriedly returned and handed Cedric a letter.
Cedric's dark eyebrows arched high at the unfamiliar address, 'The Holy See'.
“At the Vatican?”
“Yes, I think the Pope sent it directly.”
A personal letter from the Pope?
In the Western Empire, the power of the Pope was as great as that of the Emperor, and his personal correspondence was always considered important and noble.
That meant that no one could ever disobey the Pope's orders written in his personal letters.
'It must be good news...'
However, contrary to his wishes, Cedric's expression gradually darkened as he read the letter.
“What kind of letter is this?”
Cedric did not easily answer my anxious questions.
After a moment of silence, his eyes turned to me again.
In Cedric's eyes, a faint sadness had already melted.
“The order is to have High Priest Diat stay here for the next month.”
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