Chapter 116: A Personal Opinion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: A Personal Opinion
Meisel scowled as she followed the two knights down the dark, spiral staircase.
The damp, musty stench unique to underground spaces stung her nose.
Do they have any idea how expensive this dress is!
Meisel pulled her skirts up as high as she could, terrified that the filthy dust on the floor might stain the fabric. The sight of the various jewels adorning her body flashing under the dim dungeon lights felt a bit grotesque, even to her.
After walking deep into the corridor, a silhouette sitting behind thick iron bars came into view.
“Nanny? Are you there?”
As Meisel approached, Marzella emerged from the shadows with the rattling sound of chains. Her face had grown gaunt in just a single day, and she desperately reached her hands through the bars.
“My Lady, please, you must get me out of here.”
Meisel hesitantly took Marzella’s dirty hands. The knights were following so closely behind that it would have looked suspicious if she had ignored her.
“It—it’s so cold here. And there are so many rats…”
“There are rats?”
Meisel’s voice rose in a sharp, startled pitch.
“My Lady, I’ve had nothing but a single bowl of soup since yesterday.”
With cracked lips, Marzella muttered in a hoarse voice about her hunger.
“Nanny. This is why I asked why you would do such a thing.”
“No matter how much you hate Her Highness, how could you? And how could you use the brooch I gave you for something like that?”
Suddenly, a poisonous glint flickered in Marzella’s eyes.
“My Lady. Surely you aren’t planning to abandon me?”
“Abandon you? How could I ever abandon you, Nanny?”
“Then get me out of here.”
“I don’t have that kind of power.”
Meisel said this while giving Marzella a subtle look.
“But if you reflect on your crimes and show true repentance, I’m sure His Grace the Grand Duke will show you mercy.”
“But, My Lady…”
Seeing Marzella’s confusion, Meisel pulled a blanket out of the basket she had brought. One of the knights standing close behind her immediately moved to stop her.
“It’s just a blanket. I’m only going to give her this and then I’ll leave.”
“Do you think this is a hotel? It is not allowed.”
“Nanny is old… If she freezes to death sleeping in a cold place like this, will you sirs take responsibility?”
Meisel snapped, her voice rising in indignation. The knight beside her narrowed his eyes.
“Hand it over. I must check to see if there are any suspicious items.”
“I told you, it’s just a blanket!”
Meisel personally unfurled the blanket, turning it this way and that to show them while glaring at the knights.
“Sir Hedrick gave me permission.”
At the mention of the Vice-Captain’s name, the knights finally gave their reluctant consent.
“Marzella. It’s cold at night, so make sure to cover yourself with this blanket when you sleep.”
As Meisel passed the blanket through the bars, she discreetly gestured toward one of its corners with her eyes.
“Th—thank you, My Lady.”
As she clutched the blanket to her chest, Marzella’s eyes widened slightly as her fingers brushed against the corner.
“If you do exactly as I say, you will surely be released.”
Having finished her business, Meisel was just straightening her back when it happened.
“K—Knight!”
A woman in the adjacent cell rushed to the bars, the sound of clinking metal echoing.
“Why aren’t you interrogating me?”
“Be quiet.”
The knight struck the bars with his sword as if the noise was a nuisance. The woman screamed and recoiled for a moment, but then she stubbornly thrust her face forward again.
“It’s been ages since I was locked up here! Has everyone forgotten I’m even here?”
The woman burst out in frustration, demanding to know why no one was looking for her.
“Do you have any idea who I am? I’ve been Her Highness the Grand Duchess’s maid since before she was even married!”
She was the Grand Duchess’s maid? Why is that woman locked up here too?
When the knights ignored her and began walking out as if they were used to it, the maid hurriedly turned her gaze toward Meisel.
“You there, My Lady! You know Her Highness, don’t you? Go tell her that Janet has something to say! If you deliver the message, she’ll definitely want to see me!”
Why should I?
Meisel was already plagued by enough of her own problems. It was obvious the woman had been discarded by the Grand Duchess; if she wasn't useful, there was no reason to pay her any mind.
The maid’s sleeves were stained with dark grime. Meisel gave a disdainful snort and followed the knights out of the dungeon.
“I’m innocent, I tell you! You have to tell me why I’m locked up so I can explain or defend myself!”
Janet’s spiteful voice echoed hollowly behind them.
*
Count Pacio of the delegation was walking with Loik through a small garden near the Guest Castle.
“Did you have a good look around the shopping district yesterday?”
Pacio nodded readily.
“Her Highness the Consort personally guided me.”
The corners of Loik’s mouth curled upward softly.
“Was it worth seeing?”
“She has a surprisingly mischievous side,” Pacio said with a wry smile. “Must you hear it from my own lips?”
“Is Count Pacio not a man of honesty? I cannot miss the chance to hear an objective evaluation.”
Loik clasped his hands behind his back leisurely, a smirk playing on his lips as if inviting the Count to speak his mind.
“While having lunch, several merchant guild leaders remarked that this is a crisis for Rondoris.”
Pacio glanced briefly at the Nephras flowers filling the garden.
“They said we’re on the verge of losing all our summer vacation tourists.”
“That’s an exaggeration.”
Though the Grand Duke denied it, his face was lit with an irrepressible joy. It was a response made out of mere politeness, and everyone knew it.
Since the Grand Duke of Blenheim was not a man swayed by diplomatic flattery, and because the scene at the shopping district yesterday had been objectively overwhelming, Pacio spoke his true feelings.
“Even I could not help but be impressed by the fountain show and the circulating carriages.”
“The Grand Duchess conceived of it all herself.”
“She seemed to have a profound understanding of commerce.”
“The shopping district is essentially her creation,” Loik said, no longer even trying to hide his grin. “She is so brilliant and inventive that the administrators working with her can hardly keep up.”
“Is that so?”
“Furthermore, she has such a beautiful heart… Did you see the play area? Ever since she visited the orphanage, she worried for a long time that the children had nowhere to play. When she planned the shopping district, that was the first thing she looked after.”
He moistened his lips as if he had much more to say.
“You probably know of it? That orphanage established a few years ago. No one even asked her to look into it, but as soon as she arrived in Blenheim, the orphanage was the first place she visited. She even bought all the children’s play equipment with her own privy purse…!”
Loik, who had been boasting excitedly, caught Pacio’s stiffening expression. He cleared his throat slightly and added in a lower voice, “She is a person far too good for Blenheim.”
“Your Grace.”
Pacio stopped walking, his voice dropping to a low tone.
“I actually have something to say regarding that matter.”
He scanned the surroundings before speaking.
“When winter comes, the mourning period for Her Majesty the Queen will end.”
At those words, Loik’s face hardened into a mask of stone.
“Regarding the marriage, is there not an agreement we discussed previously?”
“Princess Pelianes has asked me to obtain confirmation from Your Grace that the promise made then still holds valid.”
“I am already married.”
“And you said you planned to divorce within a year.”
At that moment, a bird fluttered out from the bushes. Loik glanced toward the shrubbery and spoke quietly.
“The reason you are bringing this up now is because you, too, realize the situation has changed.”
“To be honest, I had heard rumors that the relationship between the two of you was unusual, but…”
Pacio rubbed his brow with a troubled expression.
“Seeing Your Grace run toward Her Highness at the lakeside yesterday gave me much to think about. What do you intend to do?”
Loik kept his mouth shut tight.
“If you are no longer considering divorce, I will need to think carefully about how to relay that to the Princess.”
“The divorce…”
He wouldn't do it.
Loik looked down at the Nephras flowerbed, where the petals had wilted slightly compared to the morning, and spoke with resolve.
“The only Grand Duchess of Blenheim is Annette Blenheim.”
No one else could ever take that place. He clenched his fist tightly.
“It is not my place to interfere, but Your Grace had a specific purpose for seeking a marriage with the Princess, did you not? The goal of escaping the influence of the Empire and Marquis Frais.”
Pacio narrowed his eyes.
“I do not believe you have forgotten whose daughter Her Highness the Consort is.”
“You are overstepping.”
“…I have misspoken.”
“I will not be changing my mind.”
Pacio looked down at the flowerbed along with him, then suddenly spoke in a slightly different tone.
“Up to this point, I have spoken from my position as the Foreign Minister of Rondoris.”
“Do you have a personal position as well?”
“If I may speak as someone who has watched Your Grace for a long time…”
A somewhat mischievous look directed itself toward Loik.
“I hope that, by whatever means necessary, you do not let Her Highness go.”
“Has the Grand Duke’s Castle not changed this much already?”
Pacio let out a light laugh.
“A garden overflowing with flowers. I had even forgotten that flowers could bloom in the North.”
Loik brushed back his bangs, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“Blenheim has changed immensely as well.”
Pacio recalled the cheers and laughter of the Northern people he had heard by the lakeside last night.
“Though, of course, the one who has changed the most is Your Grace.”
“It seems the sun is finally beginning to shine on the North.”
Seeing the Grand Duke look bashful rather than denying it, Pacio wore a complicated smile.
It was certainly something to celebrate that the lonely Grand Duke he had known since the age of ten had found his match. However, he felt at a loss as to how he would report this to the Princess, who would be waiting for the Grand Duke’s answer back in Rondoris.