I was thinking about opening the bedroom and closet but decided against it. If I were really Anastasia, my memories might still be there...
As I had learned from Isabella, I was not supposed to open it with my own hands, but rather wait for a maid or servant to open it for me.
The society of the aristocrats was truly full of tiring and annoying things. When I was tired, I could just take off my clothes, open the door with my own hands, and go in.
"Your Highness."
As I was sitting at the tea table, nodding off, I heard the attendant call out.
I was so startled that I wiped the saliva from the corner of my mouth.
“Come in.”
I almost stuttered, but it was the moment when Isabella's special training shone through.
I pulled my chin in elegantly, pretending not to be asleep. The chamberlain came in not alone but with four women behind him.
“I apologize for the delay, Your Highness. These are the maids who will be attending to Your Highness from now on.”
“It is an honor to have you as my guest.”
Four people said that while bending their knees at the same time. Somehow, they seemed to have a strong spirit and force, so I nodded my head in bewilderment.
“Her Royal Highness can normally have five to seven maids and two to five servant girls. Since the palace entry procedures for the maids who were used privately at the palace are currently in progress, four have been selected as a priority.”
The attendant continued to speak stiffly. I thought four was too many, but he was talking as if he was going to find fault with me for not bringing all the people I had.
"Thank you."
I said so with a smile. I didn't like the way he spoke to me as if he were testing me, but there was no need to be mean.
Moreover, if he is the chief chamberlain, he must have been assisting the Emperor for a long time. It would be hard to believe that the girl who suddenly appeared was the Princess. I can't believe myself either...
“I will select the maids who will assist Your Highness the Princess within a few days as soon as the list arrives. If we are to keep to the schedule, you will need to appoint a direct knight within a month, and a priest will be dispatched from the temple to conduct an inspection. This is to identify the blood.”
"All right."
As I continued to answer meekly, the chief steward's stiff lips loosened a little.
I smiled, pretending to be innocent. If I kept watching, I would get used to it, and when I became attached to it, I thought that maybe he would say something helpful when the Emperor tried to kill me.
...It’s really hard to survive like this.
“Then, take a rest for today.”
After the attendant left, the maids cautiously gathered around me.
Finally, with their help, I was able to enter the Princess's private space. A comfortable space where I could take off this disgusting dress.
I was just about to take off my heavy jewel earrings and put them in a velvet box.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
The maid, who had gone out of the living room at the sound of footsteps, came over urgently and whispered in my ear.
“The Duke of Kairak has requested an audience.”
I opened my eyes wide. The hands of the maids who had been busily moving around stopped all of a sudden.
"Now?"
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“At this time?”
Although we left early in the morning, the waiting time was so long that the sun was already setting.
I looked down at my half-naked dress and my loose hair ornament and asked.
“I’m asking because I don’t know much, but is this usually the case?”
The maids kept their mouths shut and shook their heads. Instead, their faces darkened as if they were ashamed.
One of the maids, who seemed to be the oldest among them, opened her mouth very cautiously.
“They congratulate you on your return, Your Highness the Princess. It is proper for other nobles to visit and pay their respects...”
It was a very cautious statement. So it was not normal. I could tell before I even heard the whole thing.
They were experienced workers who had worked in the palace for a long time. If this was 'normal', they wouldn't have been so flustered.
I've imagined countless times the moment I would first meet Duke Kairak, but never once did I imagine facing him without Laskan.
He deliberately chose this moment. The moment when I and Laskan let our guard down.
Yes. This alone shows how experienced a politician Duke Kairak is.
Compared to him, I was a girl who had just recently washed off some of the smell of the back alley. Normally, it would have been difficult to even make eye contact, let alone have a proper conversation.
But there was something he was overlooking. There was something I had that the Duke of Kairak absolutely did not have. Desperation, and life-or-death desperation at that.
And I've always been good at practical things, no matter what.
I spoke calmly to the maid standing next to me.
“Can I have some paper and a pen?”
I hurriedly scribbled a few words on the paper the maid had brought me. Then I folded the paper in half and handed it to the maid standing nearest me.
“Duke Ashkabad has just left the palace, so you should be able to catch up. Be sure to tell him and bring him back.”
The maid politely held it up with both hands and ran outside.
I spoke softly to the maids, who were still awkwardly holding on to the ribbon of my underwear.
“Put it back on.”
This time, I held my breath as hard as I could. My underwear was suffocating me, but I didn't moan once.
Duke Kairak's intention was clearly to ignore me. If I lost here, he would definitely look down on me in the future.
The maids quickly restored the dress to its original shape with skillful gestures.
The wrinkled areas were smoothed out, and the slightly pressed areas were quickly made fuller. The hair was held in place with elegant jeweled ornaments and tied tightly.
As I was finishing the delicate work of touching up the erased makeup, I heard the sound of the reception room door opening.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
The maids screamed softly at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar man's voice.
Anyway, I was fully dressed, and there was a thick curtain drawn between the reception room and the inner room, so Duke Kairak couldn't see a single bit of my feet.
But he couldn't dare do this to a real Princess. I said in an angry voice, slightly pushing away the hand of the maid who was holding the brush to my lips.
“Your Excellency. Did I grant you an audience?”
“I was so moved by the news that you had entered the palace today that I felt I had to do something rude. How could I let today pass without even saying hello?”
He was a more cunning man than I had thought. I wanted to open the curtains right away and see his shameless face.
My hands were shaking, but fortunately my voice came out fine.
“You have dared to invade the palace of an unmarried Princess without permission. Remember the gravity of this matter, Duke.”
“The Emperor has searched for Your Highness the Princess for a long time, and I understand that you have rushed things and disregarded even the proper procedures.”
“...”
“My duty as a servant is to be the shield of the empire. Please understand that I cannot serve Your Highness with complete loyalty until the results of the temple’s autopsy are out.”
It was a dirty, complicated statement. Anyway, it was saying that he didn't trust me. And Isabella had told me some good things to say in response to dirty, complicated statements.
“...I understand.”
With a very cold and sullen tone. It sounded plausible even to me. So much so that I didn't regret the days I spent biting my tongue to get this feeling.
“I also saw a newspaper article about it being widely known, but you say you have no memories of your childhood.”
Cesare said that he had completely fabricated my past before handing over the materials to the newspaper.
If Duke Kairak's personality is what I've heard, he would have finished investigating me. If he had caught even a single nit, the Duke wouldn't have come to see me today.
It would have been quiet for a while before the newspapers blew it up and made it into a story.
That's probably why he brings up stories from my childhood. I couldn't find anything suspicious, but I don't think they would have accepted me so readily.
You'll have to go and see for yourself and hit the most likely spot to hurt. You'll have to come here on purpose when Laskan isn't around.
“...Yes. My memories from that time are rare.”
I answered briefly. He was not a man to talk to for long. I was saying that he might find fault with some weak point that I could not see and attack me.
Many eyes were watching in the palace, and if I made even one mistake, it seemed as if the next day, rumors would be circulating in the salons of high society that Princess Anastasia was ill-mannered and untalented.
“I guess you were quite shocked. Oh, but you still remember Carl Bismuer’s Rahpe.”
It was the title of a compulsory book that nobles had to read when they came of age. In a faithful empire, it was the book that became even greater because it denied religion.
According to the newspaper article, it would be a very suitable textbook for me, who was educated by a noble lady and grew up reading.
If they had just picked up a similar woman from a back alley and taught her manners, she wouldn't have known. It would have been too obvious and vulgar to even mention it.
“The end of religion frees humanity from the constraints of conventional ethics. From that comes the right to pursue everyday happiness. Seeing the Duke today, it seems that you are faithfully following the teachings of Bismuer.”
“...”
“You ignore not only ethics but even etiquette so much.”
I can confidently say that I had never even opened the book once. It was all thanks to Cesare's efforts that I was able to answer so smoothly, as if I knew everything.
He forced me to memorize a few passages, saying that if I just knew these passages, I could pretend to have read the entire book.
It was truly a remarkable insight. It was as if the Duke had anticipated that such a question would be asked so suddenly...
Anyway, it was good that the Duke knew that, it was not something that could be done to get him to rush in and have a deeper conversation.
I smiled and continued, pretending to be relaxed.
“I don’t know if I gave you the answer you wanted because I am still lacking in education.”
As I had learned from Isabella, I was not supposed to open it with my own hands, but rather wait for a maid or servant to open it for me.
The society of the aristocrats was truly full of tiring and annoying things. When I was tired, I could just take off my clothes, open the door with my own hands, and go in.
"Your Highness."
As I was sitting at the tea table, nodding off, I heard the attendant call out.
I was so startled that I wiped the saliva from the corner of my mouth.
“Come in.”
I almost stuttered, but it was the moment when Isabella's special training shone through.
I pulled my chin in elegantly, pretending not to be asleep. The chamberlain came in not alone but with four women behind him.
“I apologize for the delay, Your Highness. These are the maids who will be attending to Your Highness from now on.”
“It is an honor to have you as my guest.”
Four people said that while bending their knees at the same time. Somehow, they seemed to have a strong spirit and force, so I nodded my head in bewilderment.
“Her Royal Highness can normally have five to seven maids and two to five servant girls. Since the palace entry procedures for the maids who were used privately at the palace are currently in progress, four have been selected as a priority.”
The attendant continued to speak stiffly. I thought four was too many, but he was talking as if he was going to find fault with me for not bringing all the people I had.
"Thank you."
I said so with a smile. I didn't like the way he spoke to me as if he were testing me, but there was no need to be mean.
Moreover, if he is the chief chamberlain, he must have been assisting the Emperor for a long time. It would be hard to believe that the girl who suddenly appeared was the Princess. I can't believe myself either...
“I will select the maids who will assist Your Highness the Princess within a few days as soon as the list arrives. If we are to keep to the schedule, you will need to appoint a direct knight within a month, and a priest will be dispatched from the temple to conduct an inspection. This is to identify the blood.”
"All right."
As I continued to answer meekly, the chief steward's stiff lips loosened a little.
I smiled, pretending to be innocent. If I kept watching, I would get used to it, and when I became attached to it, I thought that maybe he would say something helpful when the Emperor tried to kill me.
...It’s really hard to survive like this.
***
“Then, take a rest for today.”
After the attendant left, the maids cautiously gathered around me.
Finally, with their help, I was able to enter the Princess's private space. A comfortable space where I could take off this disgusting dress.
I was just about to take off my heavy jewel earrings and put them in a velvet box.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
The maid, who had gone out of the living room at the sound of footsteps, came over urgently and whispered in my ear.
“The Duke of Kairak has requested an audience.”
I opened my eyes wide. The hands of the maids who had been busily moving around stopped all of a sudden.
"Now?"
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“At this time?”
Although we left early in the morning, the waiting time was so long that the sun was already setting.
I looked down at my half-naked dress and my loose hair ornament and asked.
“I’m asking because I don’t know much, but is this usually the case?”
The maids kept their mouths shut and shook their heads. Instead, their faces darkened as if they were ashamed.
One of the maids, who seemed to be the oldest among them, opened her mouth very cautiously.
“They congratulate you on your return, Your Highness the Princess. It is proper for other nobles to visit and pay their respects...”
It was a very cautious statement. So it was not normal. I could tell before I even heard the whole thing.
They were experienced workers who had worked in the palace for a long time. If this was 'normal', they wouldn't have been so flustered.
I've imagined countless times the moment I would first meet Duke Kairak, but never once did I imagine facing him without Laskan.
He deliberately chose this moment. The moment when I and Laskan let our guard down.
Yes. This alone shows how experienced a politician Duke Kairak is.
Compared to him, I was a girl who had just recently washed off some of the smell of the back alley. Normally, it would have been difficult to even make eye contact, let alone have a proper conversation.
But there was something he was overlooking. There was something I had that the Duke of Kairak absolutely did not have. Desperation, and life-or-death desperation at that.
And I've always been good at practical things, no matter what.
I spoke calmly to the maid standing next to me.
“Can I have some paper and a pen?”
I hurriedly scribbled a few words on the paper the maid had brought me. Then I folded the paper in half and handed it to the maid standing nearest me.
“Duke Ashkabad has just left the palace, so you should be able to catch up. Be sure to tell him and bring him back.”
The maid politely held it up with both hands and ran outside.
I spoke softly to the maids, who were still awkwardly holding on to the ribbon of my underwear.
“Put it back on.”
This time, I held my breath as hard as I could. My underwear was suffocating me, but I didn't moan once.
Duke Kairak's intention was clearly to ignore me. If I lost here, he would definitely look down on me in the future.
The maids quickly restored the dress to its original shape with skillful gestures.
The wrinkled areas were smoothed out, and the slightly pressed areas were quickly made fuller. The hair was held in place with elegant jeweled ornaments and tied tightly.
As I was finishing the delicate work of touching up the erased makeup, I heard the sound of the reception room door opening.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
The maids screamed softly at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar man's voice.
Anyway, I was fully dressed, and there was a thick curtain drawn between the reception room and the inner room, so Duke Kairak couldn't see a single bit of my feet.
But he couldn't dare do this to a real Princess. I said in an angry voice, slightly pushing away the hand of the maid who was holding the brush to my lips.
“Your Excellency. Did I grant you an audience?”
“I was so moved by the news that you had entered the palace today that I felt I had to do something rude. How could I let today pass without even saying hello?”
He was a more cunning man than I had thought. I wanted to open the curtains right away and see his shameless face.
My hands were shaking, but fortunately my voice came out fine.
“You have dared to invade the palace of an unmarried Princess without permission. Remember the gravity of this matter, Duke.”
“The Emperor has searched for Your Highness the Princess for a long time, and I understand that you have rushed things and disregarded even the proper procedures.”
“...”
“My duty as a servant is to be the shield of the empire. Please understand that I cannot serve Your Highness with complete loyalty until the results of the temple’s autopsy are out.”
It was a dirty, complicated statement. Anyway, it was saying that he didn't trust me. And Isabella had told me some good things to say in response to dirty, complicated statements.
“...I understand.”
With a very cold and sullen tone. It sounded plausible even to me. So much so that I didn't regret the days I spent biting my tongue to get this feeling.
“I also saw a newspaper article about it being widely known, but you say you have no memories of your childhood.”
Cesare said that he had completely fabricated my past before handing over the materials to the newspaper.
If Duke Kairak's personality is what I've heard, he would have finished investigating me. If he had caught even a single nit, the Duke wouldn't have come to see me today.
It would have been quiet for a while before the newspapers blew it up and made it into a story.
That's probably why he brings up stories from my childhood. I couldn't find anything suspicious, but I don't think they would have accepted me so readily.
You'll have to go and see for yourself and hit the most likely spot to hurt. You'll have to come here on purpose when Laskan isn't around.
“...Yes. My memories from that time are rare.”
I answered briefly. He was not a man to talk to for long. I was saying that he might find fault with some weak point that I could not see and attack me.
Many eyes were watching in the palace, and if I made even one mistake, it seemed as if the next day, rumors would be circulating in the salons of high society that Princess Anastasia was ill-mannered and untalented.
“I guess you were quite shocked. Oh, but you still remember Carl Bismuer’s Rahpe.”
It was the title of a compulsory book that nobles had to read when they came of age. In a faithful empire, it was the book that became even greater because it denied religion.
According to the newspaper article, it would be a very suitable textbook for me, who was educated by a noble lady and grew up reading.
If they had just picked up a similar woman from a back alley and taught her manners, she wouldn't have known. It would have been too obvious and vulgar to even mention it.
“The end of religion frees humanity from the constraints of conventional ethics. From that comes the right to pursue everyday happiness. Seeing the Duke today, it seems that you are faithfully following the teachings of Bismuer.”
“...”
“You ignore not only ethics but even etiquette so much.”
I can confidently say that I had never even opened the book once. It was all thanks to Cesare's efforts that I was able to answer so smoothly, as if I knew everything.
He forced me to memorize a few passages, saying that if I just knew these passages, I could pretend to have read the entire book.
It was truly a remarkable insight. It was as if the Duke had anticipated that such a question would be asked so suddenly...
Anyway, it was good that the Duke knew that, it was not something that could be done to get him to rush in and have a deeper conversation.
I smiled and continued, pretending to be relaxed.
“I don’t know if I gave you the answer you wanted because I am still lacking in education.”
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