...To be honest, I didn’t know. It was only relatively recently that I started to learn about art. In my eyes, it was a really lovely painting. Is it because I don’t have an eye for art?
No matter what I said here, it would be difficult to escape the stigma of being an uneducated Princess, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut and become a Princess who uses Sonya.
The maid continued speaking in a trembling voice, as if convinced by my silence.
“I... don’t have the financial means to support her tuition.”
“...”
“That child should know her place. She started to covet precious things without knowing the place... What mother would be happy to see her child become a fool?”
At those words, something I had been ignoring the whole time weighed heavily on my chest.
That was a valid point. Just because I was a Princess, just because I was in a position where I could easily give something to someone... I had no right to give out cheap sympathy like that.
Some people's lives are shaken by just one capricious glance or pity from me.
Stupid Sasha. I can't believe I forgot about that already.
“Maid. I...”
I bit my lip. Anything I said here would only serve as an excuse.
“I’m sorry. I admit my mistake.”
At those words, a faint look of surprise appeared on the maid's stern face.
"Then..."
“I will call Lapizello as scheduled. I will support Sonya to receive as much education as she wants. If she is not suitable for painting, I will support her until she finds her suitable. If she wants, I can write her a letter of recommendation for the college.”
“...”
“If Sonya continues to work hard, we will continue to support her in the form of a scholarship.”
“...”
“Does this mean I am responsible for shaking up Sonya?”
The maid stood there for a long time with an expression on her face, seemingly unsure of what to say.
I was confident that I could convince her no matter what she said. The maid had already looked halfway there.
But what she said the next moment was enough to shock me.
“...Your Highness, my daughter will not live long.”
“What does that mean?”
“Lenoux disease. It is an old disease endemic to this region. The cause and the cure are unknown. It starts in children under fifteen without warning, but once the symptoms appear...”
The maid bit her trembling lips.
“Sonya doesn’t know yet. So please, leave her alone.”
My mother's appeal weighed heavily on me. I could see my Olga in her eyes, in her voice, in her trembling lips.
I opened my mouth half impulsively.
“You know that the palace doctor came with me for my health. I will ask him to look after Sonya.”
The maid suddenly raised her head. She asked with a confused look in her eyes.
“Dear Imperial Doctor, my daughter, a maid, needs to be examined?”
“If you wish.”
“...Why, why are you doing this?”
I couldn't answer right away. What should I say? Just for Sonya?
If I said it like that, it would be a very touching story, but it wasn't true. Saying it was half impulsive meant saying the other half was calculated.
I didn't want to deceive anyone with such words. Besides, is calculating necessarily a bad thing? I could give her what she desperately wanted, and she could give me what I desperately wanted.
“I liked Sonya, but to be honest, I need your strength.”
“...I cannot go against my lord.”
The maid said weakly.
“I don’t mean to suggest that you go against the lord head-on.”
“...”
“You just need to arrange for me to use some of the servants. Or you can just spread a few kind words about me to your colleagues.”
“...”
The maid's hands clenched the hem of her skirt. It seemed as if her desperation to save her daughter and her fear of losing her livelihood were fiercely competing with each other.
I understood the maid at that moment. But I couldn't back out here.
I casually blurted out the lines I had prepared from the very beginning of the conversation.
“I am a Princess raised by Duke Ashkabad.”
If my intentions had been conveyed well, the head maid would have remembered two things: that I was a Princess who had grown up 'just like a commoner' in the North, and that I was the fiancée of Duke Ashkabad.
That was the meaning of the name Ashkabad in the North. Just as in the East, Reston was held in higher esteem than royalty, in the North, those five letters were held in higher esteem than God.
Ashkabad. This was the magic word that could convince any northerner.
“And this is a town not too far from where I lived for a long time. I really want to do well in this work. I want to be more successful than anyone else.”
“I cannot receive Your Highness’s excessive kindness with mere words or whispers to the servants...”
I raised my hand and cut off the maid's lengthy speech.
“If we join hands, you can save your daughter, and I can get what I want.”
“...”
“It’s a basic principle of trade that the desperate pay the higher price. Can’t you see that I’m this desperate?”
The maid raised her trembling eyes and met my gaze.
After staring at me silently for a while, she finally bowed deeply and greeted me. Her attitude was even more polite and sincere than when I first saw her.
“How is it?”
“It’s called Lenoux’s disease. I guess that’s what they call it here.”
The palace doctor let go of Sonya's arm and said, "I didn't notice it when she was covered by the maid's uniform," but there were several large and small red spots on Sonya's arms and the back of her neck.
The palace doctor mixed several medicines from the bag he had brought, put them in a small glass bottle, and handed them to Sonya.
“They say that if you apply this, it will help with the itching.”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you, Your Highness.”
Sonya bowed repeatedly as she greeted him. The ribbon on her back fluttered as she ran out of the room.
I watched the child's innocent face for a moment and then turned my head towards the palace again.
“What is the cause?”
“Nobody knows. It only appears in some parts of the north, and the only thing they have in common is that the climate is a bit warmer than other northern regions. It’s not a contagious disease either.”
“Is there a cure?”
The palace official shook his head with a gloomy expression.
“No, but fortunately, the child’s illness is in the very early stages. We have taken some simple measures, so we should be able to stop the progression to some extent.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“But it’s only a temporary measure. In three years, she’ll have a rash all over her body, and from then on, she’ll have high fevers, vomiting, and seizures all day long. Death will be the only peace.”
“...”
It was a much more horrifying story than I had expected. I grabbed the hem of my dress with trembling hands.
“If we take that child to the palace and have her examined by other palace doctors, perhaps one of them might know the cure?”
“No one in the palace knows anything about the cure. Not just the palace, but any doctor in the empire.”
“...How can you be sure of that?”
It was a question that might have sounded sharp. However, the doctor simply pushed up his glasses and answered calmly.
“My teacher has studied this disease for a long time.”
“...”
“In the end, no cure was found.”
Have you been researching for a long time? That means that even if you didn't find it then, you might have found a cure now. I looked up desperately.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He left the palace over ten years ago.”
“...Is that so?”
“If you wish, I can lend you the information my teacher has compiled on this disease.”
I accepted the bundle of papers the palace doctor offered me. I glanced at it and saw an old charcoal portrait sticking out from among them.
The royal doctor added, closing his bag.
“The child will recover for a while. At least as long as Your Highness desires.”
Those words brought an uncontrollable wave of shame. After the palace doctor said goodbye and left the room, I was unable to move for a long time.
Sonya, who had been given medicine by the palace doctor, seemed to really be recovering from her illness.
The small spots that covered his arms and the nape of her neck had faded to the point where they were barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
The maid kept bowing her head to me and expressing her gratitude.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her mother, who was so happy, that her daughter's recovery was only temporary. But I didn't dare to be a coward forever.
“Maid, actually...”
The moment I opened my mouth to tell the truth, I realized that the maid knew the whole story.
She said in a faint voice.
“I know that Your Highness has tried hard.”
“...”
“Just by showing me the possibility of recovery, I...”
The maid bit her trembling lips and swallowed back the tears that were welling up. The moment I took a step closer to comfort her, she bowed deeply.
“I promise that I will give you all the help I can from now on.”
Although I was embarrassed, I couldn't afford to turn down her offer.
From the next day on, I could feel how great a position the head maid held.
Above all, the attitude of the maids who serve me has changed. In the past, they were not only noticeable but also lacked respect, but now at least they seemed polite and tried to perform their duties without any inconvenience.
That alone loosened many of the restrictions I had been holding onto.
I thought persuading the butler would be the biggest challenge, but when the servants all gave in, he seemed to have no choice but to let me go out.
But the biggest change came from elsewhere.
“Your Highness, the Princess!”
I turned around at the old gardener's call. He was out of breath, as if he had come running from afar, and his wrinkled cheeks were red.
I took the tilbot basket he thrust in front of me.
“Some are growing on the mountain behind me. They are really sweet and delicious, so I picked a few and brought them home.”
It was a very harsh northern accent. But I understood everything. And I answered back with the same northern accent.
“I’ll eat well. Thank you.”
I burst into an awkward laugh as I tried to hand the basket I had received to the knight standing next to me. The gifts I had received while walking around the castle were already too many for the knight to carry alone.
From the bottom up, in order, a box of cake from the kitchen, a glass bottle of freshly squeezed milk, a cute flower wreath, to a bunch of scented candles hanging by the bedside...
“What is all this?”
Jacqueline, who had come closer without notice, put his arm on the knight's shoulder and asked.
No matter what I said here, it would be difficult to escape the stigma of being an uneducated Princess, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut and become a Princess who uses Sonya.
The maid continued speaking in a trembling voice, as if convinced by my silence.
“I... don’t have the financial means to support her tuition.”
“...”
“That child should know her place. She started to covet precious things without knowing the place... What mother would be happy to see her child become a fool?”
At those words, something I had been ignoring the whole time weighed heavily on my chest.
That was a valid point. Just because I was a Princess, just because I was in a position where I could easily give something to someone... I had no right to give out cheap sympathy like that.
Some people's lives are shaken by just one capricious glance or pity from me.
Stupid Sasha. I can't believe I forgot about that already.
“Maid. I...”
I bit my lip. Anything I said here would only serve as an excuse.
“I’m sorry. I admit my mistake.”
At those words, a faint look of surprise appeared on the maid's stern face.
"Then..."
“I will call Lapizello as scheduled. I will support Sonya to receive as much education as she wants. If she is not suitable for painting, I will support her until she finds her suitable. If she wants, I can write her a letter of recommendation for the college.”
“...”
“If Sonya continues to work hard, we will continue to support her in the form of a scholarship.”
“...”
“Does this mean I am responsible for shaking up Sonya?”
The maid stood there for a long time with an expression on her face, seemingly unsure of what to say.
I was confident that I could convince her no matter what she said. The maid had already looked halfway there.
But what she said the next moment was enough to shock me.
“...Your Highness, my daughter will not live long.”
“What does that mean?”
“Lenoux disease. It is an old disease endemic to this region. The cause and the cure are unknown. It starts in children under fifteen without warning, but once the symptoms appear...”
The maid bit her trembling lips.
“Sonya doesn’t know yet. So please, leave her alone.”
My mother's appeal weighed heavily on me. I could see my Olga in her eyes, in her voice, in her trembling lips.
I opened my mouth half impulsively.
“You know that the palace doctor came with me for my health. I will ask him to look after Sonya.”
The maid suddenly raised her head. She asked with a confused look in her eyes.
“Dear Imperial Doctor, my daughter, a maid, needs to be examined?”
“If you wish.”
“...Why, why are you doing this?”
I couldn't answer right away. What should I say? Just for Sonya?
If I said it like that, it would be a very touching story, but it wasn't true. Saying it was half impulsive meant saying the other half was calculated.
I didn't want to deceive anyone with such words. Besides, is calculating necessarily a bad thing? I could give her what she desperately wanted, and she could give me what I desperately wanted.
“I liked Sonya, but to be honest, I need your strength.”
“...I cannot go against my lord.”
The maid said weakly.
“I don’t mean to suggest that you go against the lord head-on.”
“...”
“You just need to arrange for me to use some of the servants. Or you can just spread a few kind words about me to your colleagues.”
“...”
The maid's hands clenched the hem of her skirt. It seemed as if her desperation to save her daughter and her fear of losing her livelihood were fiercely competing with each other.
I understood the maid at that moment. But I couldn't back out here.
I casually blurted out the lines I had prepared from the very beginning of the conversation.
“I am a Princess raised by Duke Ashkabad.”
If my intentions had been conveyed well, the head maid would have remembered two things: that I was a Princess who had grown up 'just like a commoner' in the North, and that I was the fiancée of Duke Ashkabad.
That was the meaning of the name Ashkabad in the North. Just as in the East, Reston was held in higher esteem than royalty, in the North, those five letters were held in higher esteem than God.
Ashkabad. This was the magic word that could convince any northerner.
“And this is a town not too far from where I lived for a long time. I really want to do well in this work. I want to be more successful than anyone else.”
“I cannot receive Your Highness’s excessive kindness with mere words or whispers to the servants...”
I raised my hand and cut off the maid's lengthy speech.
“If we join hands, you can save your daughter, and I can get what I want.”
“...”
“It’s a basic principle of trade that the desperate pay the higher price. Can’t you see that I’m this desperate?”
The maid raised her trembling eyes and met my gaze.
After staring at me silently for a while, she finally bowed deeply and greeted me. Her attitude was even more polite and sincere than when I first saw her.
***
“How is it?”
“It’s called Lenoux’s disease. I guess that’s what they call it here.”
The palace doctor let go of Sonya's arm and said, "I didn't notice it when she was covered by the maid's uniform," but there were several large and small red spots on Sonya's arms and the back of her neck.
The palace doctor mixed several medicines from the bag he had brought, put them in a small glass bottle, and handed them to Sonya.
“They say that if you apply this, it will help with the itching.”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you, Your Highness.”
Sonya bowed repeatedly as she greeted him. The ribbon on her back fluttered as she ran out of the room.
I watched the child's innocent face for a moment and then turned my head towards the palace again.
“What is the cause?”
“Nobody knows. It only appears in some parts of the north, and the only thing they have in common is that the climate is a bit warmer than other northern regions. It’s not a contagious disease either.”
“Is there a cure?”
The palace official shook his head with a gloomy expression.
“No, but fortunately, the child’s illness is in the very early stages. We have taken some simple measures, so we should be able to stop the progression to some extent.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“But it’s only a temporary measure. In three years, she’ll have a rash all over her body, and from then on, she’ll have high fevers, vomiting, and seizures all day long. Death will be the only peace.”
“...”
It was a much more horrifying story than I had expected. I grabbed the hem of my dress with trembling hands.
“If we take that child to the palace and have her examined by other palace doctors, perhaps one of them might know the cure?”
“No one in the palace knows anything about the cure. Not just the palace, but any doctor in the empire.”
“...How can you be sure of that?”
It was a question that might have sounded sharp. However, the doctor simply pushed up his glasses and answered calmly.
“My teacher has studied this disease for a long time.”
“...”
“In the end, no cure was found.”
Have you been researching for a long time? That means that even if you didn't find it then, you might have found a cure now. I looked up desperately.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He left the palace over ten years ago.”
“...Is that so?”
“If you wish, I can lend you the information my teacher has compiled on this disease.”
I accepted the bundle of papers the palace doctor offered me. I glanced at it and saw an old charcoal portrait sticking out from among them.
The royal doctor added, closing his bag.
“The child will recover for a while. At least as long as Your Highness desires.”
Those words brought an uncontrollable wave of shame. After the palace doctor said goodbye and left the room, I was unable to move for a long time.
***
Sonya, who had been given medicine by the palace doctor, seemed to really be recovering from her illness.
The small spots that covered his arms and the nape of her neck had faded to the point where they were barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
The maid kept bowing her head to me and expressing her gratitude.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her mother, who was so happy, that her daughter's recovery was only temporary. But I didn't dare to be a coward forever.
“Maid, actually...”
The moment I opened my mouth to tell the truth, I realized that the maid knew the whole story.
She said in a faint voice.
“I know that Your Highness has tried hard.”
“...”
“Just by showing me the possibility of recovery, I...”
The maid bit her trembling lips and swallowed back the tears that were welling up. The moment I took a step closer to comfort her, she bowed deeply.
“I promise that I will give you all the help I can from now on.”
Although I was embarrassed, I couldn't afford to turn down her offer.
From the next day on, I could feel how great a position the head maid held.
Above all, the attitude of the maids who serve me has changed. In the past, they were not only noticeable but also lacked respect, but now at least they seemed polite and tried to perform their duties without any inconvenience.
That alone loosened many of the restrictions I had been holding onto.
I thought persuading the butler would be the biggest challenge, but when the servants all gave in, he seemed to have no choice but to let me go out.
But the biggest change came from elsewhere.
“Your Highness, the Princess!”
I turned around at the old gardener's call. He was out of breath, as if he had come running from afar, and his wrinkled cheeks were red.
I took the tilbot basket he thrust in front of me.
“Some are growing on the mountain behind me. They are really sweet and delicious, so I picked a few and brought them home.”
It was a very harsh northern accent. But I understood everything. And I answered back with the same northern accent.
“I’ll eat well. Thank you.”
I burst into an awkward laugh as I tried to hand the basket I had received to the knight standing next to me. The gifts I had received while walking around the castle were already too many for the knight to carry alone.
From the bottom up, in order, a box of cake from the kitchen, a glass bottle of freshly squeezed milk, a cute flower wreath, to a bunch of scented candles hanging by the bedside...
“What is all this?”
Jacqueline, who had come closer without notice, put his arm on the knight's shoulder and asked.
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