<Episode 554> The Hooded Bird That Listens to Daytime Talk
Gabrielle was having tea. The only place where she could breathe a sigh of relief from her harsh life as a daughter-in-law was chatting with an acquaintance.
"Good heavens. Even the old courtesan is going too far."
Young Lady Colonna covered her mouth upon hearing Gabrielle's story. She was the precious only daughter of the Marquis Colonna, the leader of the West.
"So, you said you're going to become a lady-in-waiting to Countess Contarini in the end?"
"No."
Gabrielle shook her head vigorously at the Marchioness de Montefeltro. Young Lady de Colonna was Gabrielle's new friend. Perhaps due to their age difference, the social seasons they attended strangely never overlapped when they were single. Furthermore, their estates were far apart, so they had little interaction, but they became much closer after she married into the family. This was because the Marquis de Colonna, who held tight control of the West, and her father-in-law, the Elder Marquis de Montefeltro, a force to be reckoned with in the Midwest, were quite close.
"I told you I couldn't do it even if my life died."
She let out a deep sigh. Lately, the only thing increasing was sighs.
"I gritted my teeth and fought back, saying it was a disgrace to the family and asking how a Marquis could enter the Countess's household as a lady-in-waiting."
"Oh my."
Young Lady Colonna covered her face. It was rude in itself for a daughter-in-law to challenge her mother-in-law, but honestly, she had to overlook it. In fact, not long ago, she had heard through her mother that her father had flatly refused a similar offer she had received, so it didn't feel like someone else's business, and she didn't feel like blaming Gabrielle.
"I told them that this wasn't just a disgrace to my face, but to the family name, and only then did they finally understand."
Young Lady let out a sigh of relief. It was a great relief. Gabrielle had escaped the humiliation of becoming that lowly woman's maid.
"Even the Marquis is reasonable when it comes to family affairs."
Gabrielle smiled bitterly at Young Lady Colonna's reasonable words. Her lips curled up as she trembled slightly.
Although she could not pour out every detail, as it would be like spitting in her own face, the Marchioness de Montefeltro had by no means let Gabrielle go willingly. It was even further from being rational.
"The Marchioness? You?"
The old courtesan scoffed first.
"You are the daughter of a Count, and the title belongs to me."
To be precise, the title belonged neither to Maxima nor to Gabrielle, but to the old Marquis Odantonio. However, to Maxima, her husband's possessions were as good as her own.
"The title my son received temporarily is also a countship, my dear daughter-in-law, from the Count family."
Maxima sneered as she observed Gabrielle's expression. Hmm. She's trembling. I like it. That noble daughter was in the palm of her hand.
"I know you don't want to become a lady-in-waiting because of your pride, since you were friends when you were young."
Gabrielle involuntarily sighed at her mother-in-law's remark, who had completely ignored everything she had said so far. However, this was merely an appetizer.
"You should know how to sacrifice for the family. Even your mistress wouldn't have raised you so spoiled just to make you act like this."
"...!"
At her mother's remark, Gabrielle clenched her fists so tightly that she didn't even realize her fingernails were pressing against her palms and drawing blood.
However, Countess Dellatore had raised her daughter very well. If nothing else, her patience was exceptional. Instead of punching her mother-in-law in the face or bursting into tears on the spot, Gabrielle explained everything again from the beginning, softly, why becoming Isabella de Contarini's lady-in-waiting would actually be a burden to the family.
"If I enter the government as a lady-in-waiting, isn't it certain that even the children will be looked down upon along with me, Mother?"
Upon hearing this argument, the Marchioness de Montefeltro finally gave up on assigning her daughter-in-law as Isabella's temporary lady-in-waiting. It seemed that even for this heartless woman, the safety of her grandchildren was of great importance. Young Lady Colonna frowned upon hearing the story that Gabrielle had conveyed in the mildest possible terms.
"She is being too much, the Marchioness. Usually, people include a distant relative in situations like this."
The Marquis Colonna had also received a suggestion from Lord Delpiano that if his daughter was not suitable, he should send a distant relative instead. The Colonna ducal family valued daughters highly, so finding a suitable lady-in-waiting candidate required traversing quite a distance in kinship, whereas the Montefeltro ducal family had many close relatives. Gabrielle could not hide her cynicism and snapped back.
"It seems you are closer to your relative's daughter than to your own daughter-in-law."
Ah, no. If we go any further, a full-blown round of gossip will begin. Young Lady Colonna did not want to go that far, so she hurriedly changed the subject.
"...But, it seems it is true that no one wants to be Countess Contarini's lady-in-waiting."
Since Gabrielle had shared a secret with her, it was her turn to reveal a secret of her own. Young Lady Colonna whispered into Gabrielle's ear.
"Since you have mentioned it, I would like to add that before the court departed for Taranto, Lord Delpiano came to my father as well and asked if there was anyone in the household suitable to be a lady-in-waiting to the Countess of Contarini."
She didn't want to talk about the fact that she was the one who made the proposal, out of embarrassment. Even being asked such a question was a disgrace. What do they think of her!
"Did the Colonna family refuse as well?"
Gabrielle, who had asked back, immediately realized that it was a foolish question. If that house had sent someone to be a lady-in-waiting, it wouldn't have come to her. However, the future Gabrielle would come to realize on her own that this wasn't necessarily the case. They soon changed the subject of their chatter. Yet, even when the topic changed, Isabella remained the center of all conversation in the end.
"Is it true that Lanaro Dressmaking Shop canceled all of Princess Julia Helena's orders?"
Gabrielle let out a deep sigh at the Young Lady Colonna's question. At that reaction, the Marquis's daughter clapped and asked.
"Oh my, then is that rumor true?! That the Marchioness de Montefeltro pressured Lanaro's dressmaking shop not to make the Princess's outfit?!"
"Don't even get me started. It's driving me crazy."
To survive for long in San Carlo society, one had to possess at least one skill that would make even a worm squirm. The skill possessed by Maxima, the Marchioness de Montefeltro, was the art of pleasing her superiors. She had succeeded in carrying out, through excessive loyalty, a matter that Leo III desperately desired but could not bring himself to issue an order for.
"They say it's to keep Countess Contarini happy, but I'm not sure if they really need to go this far."
Gabrielle had no idea what kind of butterfly effect this would come back to haunt her. They say that when you're unsure, it's better to stay quiet to at least get by, but her mother-in-law kept placing risky bets.
"What did you promise Lanaro's Dressmaking Shop that made those merchants cancel such a lucrative deal? You said it was 3,500 ducats worth of dresses and jewelry!"
"I don't know the details."
Gabrielle was so embarrassed that she cut short the rest of her sentence. In fact, the Marchioness de Monfefeltro did not break the contract with Lanaro's dress shop by promising them compensation, but rather intimidated them with blackmail.
"It is only right to refuse that order!"
"However, His Majesty did not issue such an order. As designers, we also have a conscience to uphold with our clients."
The commoner's dignity was superior to that of the Marchioness in that he did not bluntly ask how he could break a contract worth 3,500 ducats.
In fact, dressmaking shops and fashion houses throughout the country were in a state of emergency these days. This was because an order had suddenly been issued from the central government prohibiting commoners from wearing silk clothes.
They said there was some kind of law. It was a law you had never heard of before, but the high-ranking officials claimed that it was a traditional decree existing for over a hundred years, and that anyone who violated it would not escape severe punishment.
It was a miserable time for dressmaking shops. Fashion houses were worse than dressmaking shops, and among them, the upper-middle class rather than the top-tier were hit hard by the decree banning commoners from wearing silk.
The top-tier dressmaking shops were already fully booked with transactions with great nobles, so they had no capacity to handle orders from commoners. Although Lanaro Dressmaking Shop was an excellent shop, it was located in the provinces, so it was difficult to turn a profit without orders from wealthy merchants placing orders from all over the southern region.
On top of that, there was also the issue of raw materials. A law prohibiting a family from owning more than five sheep had also suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was said that the local lord's office was being overwhelmed with inquiries regarding the definition of this "family' whether it should be based on the nuclear family or the entire clan, and whether a second son, who is married and has his own wife and children, still living with his father, constitutes one or two families.
From the perspective of Lanaro's dressmaking shop, it was impossible to gauge whether the price of wool would rise or fall once this issue was resolved. Therefore, now was the time. They had to make a substantial profit while they could.
Madame Lanaro practically begged the Marchioness de Montefeltro.
"Marchioness, please do not do this. I promised to make it for Princess Manchike, so it is my duty to keep my promise."
"Who among the subjects of this country dares to defy the will of His Majesty the King!"
Madame Lanaro felt utterly wronged. His Majesty the King had said nothing to her about the cancellation of Princess Manchike's order. However, the Marchioness scoffed with an arrogant attitude.
"Didn't His Majesty order that Countess Contarini's package be sent by express first? That is exactly what it means. Even after he went to such lengths, do you still not understand His Majesty's intentions?"
Madame Lanaro merely blinked. She was well-versed in the moods of noble ladies, but that was limited to cases where the result was unsatisfactory or where she didn't look pretty despite the dress being fine. She had never faced a situation like this. Certainly, a real noble lady would be better at reading the King's mood.
"Those lowly ones have no common sense."
The old Marchioness grumbled to herself. However, Madame Lanaro had not yet said that she would cancel Princess Julia Helena's order.
"That vicious thing."
Madame de Montefeltro finally let out her final shout.
"If you don't want to be arrested, cancel it immediately! Otherwise, I will personally report to His Majesty the King that you insulted His Majesty in Lanaro!"
In the end, Madame Lanaro, with tears in her eyes, sent a letter to Princess Julia Helena stating, "We are unfortunately unable to fulfill the contract because all the fabrics you selected are out of stock, and we will return the deposit."
"The social scene is going to be abuzz!"
Gabrielle let out a deep sigh.
"Since they say the Princess isn't fussy and has a smooth personality, I guess I'll just have to look forward to that."
While the Young Lady Colonna and Gabrielle were engrossed in chatter, a maid who had been wiping furniture with a dry cloth in the corner of the young lady's drawing room quietly left the room with a meaningful expression. The maid pulled her hood up and headed toward the entrance. An older maid stopped her in her tracks.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
The maid answered calmly.
"I'm going on an errand. Miss ran out of black ink."
"There is ink all over the house, so why are you going out?"
"Miss, only use that ink."
This is why having a personal maid was so good. The older maid couldn't say anything more and just let out a futile annoyance.
"Don't waste time out and about, go and come back cheap!"
The hooded maid answered nonchalantly
"Yes."
However, upon arriving at the market within walking distance, instead of heading to the ink shop alley, she hailed a hired carriage and headed toward the royal palace.
The hooded maid, having lightly jumped out of the carriage, stood outside the castle wall and peered around. Soon, a blonde woman scurried out of the castle's side gate.
Bribing the guard with silver florins and exiting through the side gate ensures no entry is recorded in the logbook.
The blonde woman spotted the hooded maid and gestured with her chin. The voluptuous blonde woman was none other than Barbara.
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