Lady Edita - Chapter 3

"Madame Marie! My fiance! You didn't tell me that!"

The screams echoed throughout the room, and Madame Marie became contemplative. Worried that the sound would leak outside, she forced me to sit down. I tried my best to resist, but this lady had a lot of strength, unlike what she looked like. I was easily overpowered by her, and I just snorted and looked at her

"Madame Marie, what happened? Am I getting married? What should I do? I've never met a man!"

"Lady, calm down."

"How can I calm down? Oh, I really can't get married like this!"

Madame Marie frowned, wondering if I was overly luminous. However, for me. It was like a blue sky wall.

How could I have understood this ridiculous thing until now? Even if I didn't understand it, I put it in my head like I was putting food down my throat.

But a fiancé? This is too much to do! He will be back in a few days. When you come back from the expedition, I'll marry Edita's flancé, right? I married a man whose face I had never met, and... That's it, too... Do it all...!

Madame  Marie, who saw me on the day of the cry, sighed deeply.

"When will you cry and cry and beg His Majesty to marry you like that..."

"I don't know! I don't remember!"

"Lady, wait a minute."

Madame Marie hurriedly walked out of the room.

What, leaving me so anxious and going out alone again? I resented Madame Marie for no reason.

I felt that I had to resume my attempt to return to our world, which had been interrupted for a while because of a man named Stefano. Now that it's night, it's going to be quieter outside. If only I could just fall into the pond like this...!

"Lady!"

I stood up and saw Madame Marie coming in, and sat down as if nothing had happened.

She held a scroll rolled around her with a bright face. Her face was full of confidence, as if this scroll would solve all my problems right now.

"Lady, take a good look at this."

She placed the scroll on the table and spread it out. On the scroll was a portrait of a man I had never seen before. He was a man with such an outstanding appearance that it was difficult to express in this world or in the other world!

"...!"

I couldn't help but moan, and Madame Marie smiled as if she knew it was going to happen. I stared at the man in the scroll without feeling ashamed.

It is cliché to say this, but he was really a sculpture-like man. He had a perfectly proportioned face and both luxury and beauty. His gorgeous features, which may seem vulgar, were made rather clean by the stoic brown hair that flowed down like a wave and gently wrapped around him.

"This is the Lady's fiancé, His Excellency Baron Orleans."

The moment I heard that, my face became hot with excitement. The Joy of such an immediate physical reaction. It was embarrassing.

Madame Marie looked embarrassed by my reddened face. It was an explosive reaction than I expected.

"Lady, what's wrong? Where are you sick?"

"Does my fiancé really look exactly like this picture? Isn't it a painting that is glorified?"

"What about it? On the contrary, this portrait does not contain half of His Excellency's beauty."

"Uh, how could that be..."

"That's why the Lady cried and begged His Majesty to marry the Baron."

Edita... You were a very learned woman.

It was the first time in my life that I had seen such a handsome man. But this didn't capture half of his beauty! Such a man is my fiancé! I can't believe I'm marrying this guy! I do that and do everything!

Madame Marie was delighted with the blatant color on my face. The persuasion work that ended more smoothly than she expected got up from her seat satisfied.

"Can I keep this painting?"

"Of course."

I asked as I held the scroll in my arms, and Madame Marie nodded. Even if she had refused, she would never have been deprived of this precious scroll.

I looked at the face of the scroll, or rather, my fiancé, with caution that the man in the painting would disappear. Just looking at his face was very invigorating.

Ah, I spent all those hard years alone for the glory of today! It was clear that it was fate that I suddenly fell into this world and entered Lady Edita's body!

I don't even have to go near the pond anymore. I was determined.

Surrounded by maids dressing me, I screamed into the corset that tightened my waist.

"Ugh!"

I could say that this was crazy, like trying to put an elephant in the refrigerator.

"Lady, body pain!"

"What should I do when I'm hurt?"

"Still, you were like, 'Ugh!' Instead, make a gentle sound like 'Hmm, ugh!"

Ah, it's really noble and boring. Still, I obediently said, "Uh-huh!" and soothed the pain. However, I was only able to play the nobleness for a short time. The moment when the two maids tighten their muscular arms and pull the strings to opposite sides...

"Ahh..."

I asked, contemplatively, as if blood had drained from my body.

"I woke up just a few days ago. Can I do this?"

"Did you forget that the councillor admired the amazing speed of Lady's recovery? Above all, His Majesty said that he was not relieved and told you to take a great rest, but the Lady insisted that you would attend the return banquet to welcome His Excellency the Baron of Orleans today."

Madame Marie's complaint was true. The Emperor, who came to visit this morning and gave me a dreaded booby booby and a kiss on the cheek, said that my health had recovered to this extent, so I was ready to go see Orleans, but I was caught by the maids who were drying me. But since I saw my fiancé's beautiful face, how could I not go to see the real thing?

Yes! What I started! Let's hold on to the corset, and I couldn't help but be shocked again by the enormous things that the maids brought out. It was a large upside-down basket-shaped pannier. It was so bulky that I couldn't imagine how I could carry it under my skirt.

"Madame Marie, why don't I do that? I think it would be very ugly if I did it."

"Lady, what are you talking about? It's a shame not to wear a pannier."

"It's too big."

"Others can't make it bigger, but the lady is too."

As Madame Marie said, I was held by the maids and forced to put on a pannier. When I wore it, the weight and discomfort made it look like I was wearing a torture device.

At that moment, the door of the dressing room opened slightly, and someone beckoned to Madame Marie. She said she would be out and back for a while, and then let it. I had now completely surrendered myself to the maids of the birthplace.

Normally, noble maids enter the palace as high-class maids and serve the royal family, but in Edita's palace, there were only intermediate and low-class maids. No nobleman wanted to come to Edita's palace, who was not yet an official Princess. They must be playing the role of pawns in the palace, hoping for something, so it was not incomprehensible.

Naturally. Edita's nanny, Marie, who had been with her since she was a child, took charge of the lower-middle-class maids. In fact, it might have been easier for Edita. The only person who set limits according to etiquette was Madame Marie.

"Lady, don't flinch frivolously, but stand upright."

No, I have to correct it. Even if it wasn't Madame Marie, Lady Edita couldn't escape the bondage of etiquette.

This depressed mood disappeared as if washed away when I saw the beautiful dresses that the maids put on her. It was a voluminous dress made of elegant navy blue fabric with a subtle red flower. Behind my back, my robe was ruffled and dripped, and her sleeves, covered with lace and frills, were in full bloom like flowers waiting for butterflies.

I had only worn white underwear called chemise or light casual clothes made of muslin, but even those clothes felt as beautiful as evening dresses to me. But when I wore such a gorgeous dress, I felt like I was scooping up sweet ice cream to make my head ring.

"Lady, do you like it?"

The maids returned the full-length mirror to me. An exclamation came out of my mouth at that moment. An innocent, beautiful woman with white skin and pink cheeks stood there in an elegant and sweet dress that matched her perfectly.

I looked into the mirror as if possessed. Edita's beauty was so beautiful that even I, as a woman, fell in love with her. I was afraid that I would dare to borrow the body of such a beautiful woman.

"Lady, let's do your hair..."

"Lady!"

Interrupting the maid, Madame Marie hurried in. When she saw that I and the maids were all surprised, she quickly returned to her usual cultured madame.

"Just now, a messenger from His Majesty the Emperor came and hurriedly delivered the order. I should meet you in person and tell you about it, but the lady was unavoidably dressed, so he gave me the order instead."

"Even so, it's my father's order, and I have to go out and take it myself. Even now.."

"Lady."

As I hurried out to find the messenger, Madame Marie stopped me in a serious voice. I stopped at something unusual.

"I will deliver your order to Lady Edita on your behalf. Your Majesty said that there will be fireworks in the evening, and that the lady, who has not yet recovered, should not come to the banquet in the evening and take care of yourself in the palace."

"What? That's what I told my father! I'm completely healthy!"

"Fireworks are a different matter. There are many nobles and young ladies who are frightened and faint when they see the fireworks suddenly exploding in the air. Lady's body may be healed, but her mind is..."

"My mind is fine. Can I show you?"

"Anyway, no!"

Madame Marie said in her characteristic firm tone. Even the maids froze in surprise.

How could an Emperor who is good at saying scary things to others make such a fuss because he is afraid that his daughter will faint when she sees the fireworks? I was exhausted, my nose was blocked, and I was frustrated.

'I really wanted to see Orleans...'

I stood there stunned as the maids quickly removed my dresses, panniers, and corsets. When I put on my clothes again and forced myself back to my room, I felt miserable.

Just looking at the portrait made my head go blank with the thought of him, as if I were already hooked. Did I say that people who are not good at romance fall in love quickly? But for me, Orleans was more than that.

He was the only 'thing to look forward to' in a strange and strange world. I tried to be strong, but the meaning of that existence was special to me, who felt the same anxiety as a lost little girl.

"Lady, get up and eat."

"What can I eat when I can't even go to a banquet because I'm not in good spirits."

"This is the soup you ate the day you woke up."

My body jumped out of bed like a spring. I need to correct what I said earlier. There was one more thing to look forward to in this world. It was this soup.

Soups, food, and various tableware were already on the table. I ran to the table and sat down at the table. Madame Marie looked distraught.

"It's hot, so blow it on and eat it."

For some reason, I was a little buoyed by the way she spoke, like she was handling a young baby.

"It's not me."

"You always look like a child to me."

It was like a mother saying something to her daughter. I looked at Madame Marie's face anew.

She said that when she was a child, Edita lived outside the palace with her mother. It was not normal for a child to live outside the palace, even though she had given birth to an Emperor's child. Even the children of the mistress gave their mothers suitable titles and grew up under the care of the imperial family. Still, living outside the palace meant that there was something wrong with her. Then... When did Madame Marie start with Edita? And Edita's mother...

It occurred to me that I had never seen Edita's mother before. It was true that it didn't really matter if she wasn't with me or not, but once I thought about it, I shuddered at a strange sensation.

She was a daughter who had died and come back to life. Even the Emperor ran up to me, hugged me, kissed me, and made a fuss, but my mother didn't come.

'Still abandoned outside the palace... She must have died.'

The daughter lives in the palace with the Emperor's love dearly, but the mother's existence is nowhere to be found. She was more likely dead. The soup on my tongue felt cold for a moment.

"Edita came to the palace after her mother died."

Edita's mother, who was of low status, would never have entered the palace despite the Emperor's will. But she was always confident.

I wondered what kind of person Edita's mother was.

The Emperor said that I had a very similar personality to Edita's mother. It must mean that I am confident everywhere like her, so I was doing something very dignified right now.

After dinner, I sent Madame Marie out to go to bed early, and I tried to escape the palace again. This palace was poorly guarded even though the noble Lady Edita lived in the palace, who was checked by the beasts.

There would be a parade of soldiers during the day and a welcome banquet in the evening, so it was the same, considering that the manpower would have flocked there.

I can't help but go to a place where people are gathered! I nodded and ran in my casual clothes.

Yes. Right now, I am heading to the banquet hall to see my fiancée!

To be honest, this was reckless even if I thought about it. I only heard that a banquet was held at the Saint Rejean palace, but I didn't hear where the Saint Rejean palace was.

If we held a banquet to welcome the soldiers back safely. It would surely be gorgeous and noisy. In addition, they even set off fireworks. It will be easier to find.

But unlike my vigilance, I wandered through the wide, labyrinthine palace for almost an hour. Thanks to this, even though no one introduced me, I was able to see various gardens and palaces. It was really strange that I looked at all the back corners of the palace and could not find the Saint Rejean palace.

I was almost desperate as I swept the palace floor when I heard a roaring sound like a bomb exploding somewhere.

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