I responded to Kishian's absurd question with a short answer.
"No."
"Because you were just sitting there silently, like a corpse."
This time, I didn't have the strength to respond, so I answered with a light laugh instead.
I thought the conversation would die down after that, but after a while, he asked again.
"Why are you so skinny?"
"Am I skinny?"
"I can definitely feel it when I hold you in my arms. How small and thin you are."
After all, just as his body felt huge to me, mine must have felt small to him.
He grabbed me by the arm as I leaned against him and muttered mockingly.
"I guess you were pressured by the Duke of Herssen to lose weight."
"Yes, that's right. I starved myself hard because he kept complaining that fat women were disgusting."
"...He said that?"
Kishian's voice seemed quieter than before.
For some reason, it seemed like he was angry, so I immediately explained.
"I'm joking. Duke Herssen didn't say anything. It's just that we usually keep in touch. I was already like this, but I must have felt even thinner after such a long time."
"..."
"Anyway, thank you for worrying about me."
As expected. Kishian didn't just pass by, but muttered, "What am I worried about?" and made it clear that he wasn't worried about me.
As if he didn't want to be misunderstood even a little bit as being worried about me.
The conversation was cut off and there was a brief pause, but it was soon filled with the loud cheers of the people of Grand Duchy.
"Long live His Highness the Grand Duke! Long live Her Highness the Grand Duchess! May you reign long!"
"May you reign long!"
"Long live His Highness the Grand Duke, Her Highness the Grand Duchess!!"
The shouts of the people cheering us were loud, and the flowers scattered over our heads were fresh.
Just from that alone, I could feel how wealthy and prosperous Grand Duke Lennon was.
There was not a shadow of poverty to be found on the faces of the cheering people.
We passed through several villages amid the cheers of these rich and happy people.
Of course, I did not forget to smile brightly at them and pretend to be a kind and gentle Grand Duchess.
The long march finally came to an end when the sun had set.
"I've arrived. I can see it ahead of me."
After hearing Kishian's words, I looked ahead.
I barely raised my head to look, and in front of me was a neatly placed, pure white mansion.
It was an old and beautiful mansion as if it had a long history.
"That's Grand Duke Lennon's residence..."
"This is where you will be staying from now on."
After hearing Kishian's response, I simply nodded.
I didn't feel anything special because I just wanted to go back and rest.
It was then that Kishian asked an unexpected question.
"What are your thoughts?"
"...What are my thoughts?"
"Your Impressions of the place you will spend the rest of your life with."
Even though I thought he was asking me all sorts of questions, I gave him my proper opinion.
"It's cool."
"..."
"It's more beautiful than the palace. It's simple, but it feels like it has a long history. I think it's a beautiful mansion."
Even though he asked me the question and he answered it, he didn't show any reaction to what I said.
He simply held on to the reins and rode his horse towards the mansion.
After moving in silence, the parade finally came to an end and we entered the mansion.
The butler, the chief chamberlain, the chief maid, and all the other servants who had been waiting bowed their heads to greet us.
Kishian greeted them and then gave instructions to a woman who appeared to be the head maid.
"Hurry up and lead the Grand Duchess to her bedroom. And call the doctor as well."
"Shall we take you to His Highness the Grand Duke's bedroom?"
At that moment, I couldn't help but admire the maid's sharpness.
The reason why she didn't lead me, now that I was the Grand Duchess, straight to the Grand Duke's bedroom must have been because she had sensed the cold atmosphere between Kishian and me.
As expected, Kishian shook his head and showed his discomfort.
"Take her to the bedroom on the second floor of the north wing."
I'm not sure, but it seemed like the northern wing wasn't a very nice place. Judging from the expressions of the servants surrounding us, they were frozen.
However, the maid did not show any particular expression and began to support me and guide me.
Madame Bianca and the other maids who had been serving me on my way here did not follow me.
Perhaps they were the maids staying in the main building, so if I went to the north wing, there would be other maids waiting on me.
So, the path leading from the main building of the mansion to the annex.
I thought I would hear a brief introduction from the head maid on the way, but for some reason, she didn't say anything.
It seemed like she was planning to postpone the introduction until later because I wasn't feeling well.
So, I, the head maid, and the two maids following us went to the annex without saying a word.
Contrary to my nervousness, the annex didn't look that shabby.
Although it was somewhat simple, the furniture and decorations that filled the interior were all expensive.
The maid and two maids took me to the second-floor bedroom of the annex and sat me down on a well-made bed.
Soon the maids came over and removed my makeup and took off my outerwear.
Only then did I feel like I was starting to feel better? My poor physical condition was partly due to the corset that was terribly tight around my waist.
When I took off the corset, I felt like I had some of my strength back.
The head maid, who had seen me leaning against the head of the bed with a much more relaxed face, gave orders to the two maids.
"You guys, you go out and have a look."
The maids immediately bowed their heads and left their seats.
At that moment, I felt a little bit strange.
'Why don't you follow Keshian's orders?'
I waited quietly without knowing what was going on, but the head maid seemed unwilling to do what Kishian had told her to do.
"I think you'll be staying in the annex, so I've cleaned up this place in advance. If you get thirsty, you can drink the water on the table, and if you want to wash up, you can go to the bathroom and wash up. That's all for now."
The head maid, having finished what she had to say, turned around and tried to leave the room.
I continued to be puzzled, but eventually, I couldn't hold it in any longer and asked.
"Aren't you going to call the doctor?"
Earlier in the main building, Kishian had clearly ordered the head maid. He told her to guide her to the northern annex and then call the doctor to check on my condition.
But as if she had forgotten, the head maid was just guiding me here and then leaving.
She didn't even introduce herself, and she didn't even introduce the maids who would be serving me from that day on.
I originally wondered if she was just being sloppy with her work or if she was intentionally ignoring me, but judging from her attitude, it seemed to be the latter.
"Shall I call the doctor? It's late at night."
"No. There is nothing uncomfortable enough to require treatment. I just reminded you because you seemed to have forgotten His Highness's orders."
Brown eyes, dry and rough like the desert, turned toward me.
The head maid responded, not hiding her contempt for me.
"How could I have forgotten? It seemed like it was just dizziness, so I decided not to call the doctor."
"Just a simple case of dizziness? It seems like you can tell the patient's condition at a glance. Shouldn't you have been a doctor rather than a maid?"
At first, she came out as rude, so I just countered her a little.
It seemed like my attitude had really irritated the maid.
The maid, who had walked to the door to go out, turned around and came towards me.
Then she bent her upper body slightly and looked at me.
"Those below may not know, but I know very well what kind of woman you are."
"..."
"You had a dirty affair with the Duke of Herssen while His Highness was away?"
"..."
I listened silently, wanting to see how far she could go.
The maid's words gradually became longer as she judged that I was scared.
"Those of us who actually manage the mansion like me are well-versed in social gossip. Ordinary servants may be kind to you without knowing your true identity, but you can't expect that from me."
Hearing that, I became genuinely curious.
Has this woman forgotten that I am a member of the royal family and a Grand Duchess?
I felt like I wouldn't get an answer if I thought about it alone, so I asked directly.
"Are you crazy?"
"..."
"If you were in your right mind, you would know how absurd it is for you, a mere maid, to act this way toward me, the Grand Duchess. I sincerely wonder if you have lost your sense of place because you have been acting like a superior while ordering around the maids in the mansion."
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