The Kindly Madame Brun
Still, thanks to that, returning to the Royal Guard felt considerably easier.
“If I were other people, I’d probably feel awkward around me too. So if people hate me, you don’t have to talk to me either.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Georges made as if to smack Chloe on the back.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why would I hate you? Get a grip.”
“Gigi…”
For some reason, tears sprang to her eyes at that, and Chloe called him by his nickname with a moved expression.
Georges’s eyes immediately began to sparkle.
“Hey. Make sure you call me that in front of other people too. Gigi.”
“Huh?”
“And then you invite me as the very first guest to your very first banquet.”
“Mm?”
As Georges stroked his mustache with one finger and puffed himself up, his ambitions unfolded in an instant.
“And then you introduce this Georges Renard to all the young ladies there as Her Highness Grand Duchess Berk’s dearest friend and the finest groom in the capital!”
Of course.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed.
Georges prattled on, entirely undeterred.
“Tell them, too, that only the noble Warrant Officer Renard recognized the worth of his poor friend from the Navy!”
“Just die.”
“What was that, Your Highness? Your rank has suddenly risen so high I can’t hear you!”
The two warrant officers traded one smack each to the back, doubled over, and cackled.
Passing guard members glanced their way, but neither of them cared.
The old woman who introduced herself as “Madame Brun” descended upon them the next day.
“Warrant Officer. You haven’t even had lunch. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Second Lieutenant Noel.”
Though she had taken leave against her will because of the marriage, it had been more than three weeks since Chloe had been away from the aide’s office.
And when Chloe had stepped into the office yesterday, Second Lieutenant Noel’s face had lit up as though he had met his savior.
Nor was he the only one. The administrative officers who handled miscellaneous work had also welcomed her with tremendous enthusiasm.
At the same time, every time they asked her for work while murmuring “Your Highness the Grand Duchess,” the mood turned apologetic.
On top of that, Curtis had doubled her guilt by deploying the words, “Didn’t you say you hated overtime?” and, the moment work hours ended, snatching her up and putting her into the Berk Grand Ducal House carriage.
So Chloe had come to work at the crack of dawn today, skipped lunch, and was deliberately hunting for more work to do.
Then why did I even get married?
Just as she was battling the drowsiness tormenting her with that thought, the guard before the office door announced the presence of a visitor.
“Madame Brun is here.”
“I have come by His Majesty the King’s command.”
The moment she entered the office, the woman said that. If God had gathered only stubbornness and rigidity and made a person from it, Chloe thought, the result would surely look exactly like her.
At the words “His Majesty the King,” everyone working in the office rose to their feet.
Chloe, who had left the aide’s office door open, did the same.
A deeply satisfied smile appeared on Madame Brun’s wrinkled face.
As it happened, Curtis was away from his desk.
Second Lieutenant Noel tried to approach, but Chloe stopped him and stepped forward herself.
“I am Warrant Officer Chloe Le David Berk. What brings you here?”
“You are a member of the royal family. Why are you working?”
I asked what brought you here. Why is that your answer?
Of course, given that she claimed to have been sent by His Majesty the King, Chloe had already guessed she would not be a sensible person.
Second Lieutenant Noel’s face hardened, and he opened his mouth to say something.
But Chloe shook her head once more, and Noel closed his mouth and stepped back.
“I asked what brings you here.”
“His Majesty the King has sent me for the banquet celebrating the 28th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with Glintland.”
Having said that, Madame Brun swept an displeased gaze around the office.
“As His Highness Grand Duke Curtis Xiarnach an Berk has not relieved Her Highness the Grand Duchess of her position, assistance from the royal household has become inconvenient. In his oceanic magnanimity, His Majesty the King has shown consideration for Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
“…”
“Therefore, with a heart full of gratitude toward His Majesty the King, I ask that all of you be seated for now.”
Chloe thought of an old saying.
The damned dog at home barks day and night, then disappears the moment a robber breaks in.
Where the hell did Curtis Shan Berk go?
If Curtis had been here, this woman would never have been able to put on such airs.
Noel seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“This is His Grace Grand Duke Berk’s office. No one but His Grace may give us orders here.”
But Madame Brun replied as though she had seen every absurdity under the sun.
“I gave a suggestion, not an order. Surely His Grace the Grand Duke is not such a man that he would refuse to permit this old woman to invite young people to make themselves comfortable.”
“…”
See? You should have just stayed quiet…
Chloe looked at Noel with pity.
Madame Brun, regardless, turned her gaze to Chloe and opened her mouth.
“Your Highness the Grand Duchess. Will you grant this old woman the honor of assisting you?”
I’d rather not.
She probably shouldn’t answer that way.
Contrary to her true feelings, Chloe smiled faintly and guided her into the aide’s office.
“This way, please.”
Even at Madame Brun’s pace, the aide’s office was barely twenty steps away.
Madame Brun peered inside from the doorway, then gave a loud, pointed sigh meant for everyone to hear.
“Your Highness. The Royal Castle has offices assigned to royal ladies. Why would you bring this old woman into such a cramped place?”
Chloe was not ignorant of that.
But using that office meant walking right under the King’s chin.
Madame Brun’s little scheme was obvious.
“If it’s too cramped, you may assist me while standing there.”
A few administrative officers peeking in from outside pressed their lips together.
The way their nostrils flared made it clear they were holding back laughter.
But Madame Brun looked every inch a woman who had survived every storm the Royal Castle could offer.
She gave another long sigh, then said, “It seems Your Highness the Grand Duchess intends to let this old woman savor the joy of teaching the young,” and stepped into the aide’s office.
“Oh, dear me. My knees are aching already.”
To begin with, an aide’s office was a side room attached to an office.
It had originally been a maid’s room that had been remodeled, and in Curtis’s generation, various circumstances had even led to a bed being placed there. There was no way it could be spacious.
There could not possibly be enough room for an elderly lady wearing an old-fashioned dress stiffened with all manner of supports to stay comfortably inside.
Chloe spoke deliberately brusquely.
“If it’s too difficult, you may sit on the bed.”
“How indecent…”
Whatever Madame Brun was imagining, she frowned at the bed.
But Chloe doggedly ignored the old woman’s complaints.
“Then you may stand.”
“Even a maid’s room would not be like this. Truly, why do you refuse to give up work when you have been incorporated into the royal family? Thanks to that, one more pitiful old woman must drag these old bones into this suffocating little room and work. His Majesty the King is so very unfeeling…”
…Now that I look at her, whenever she seems to be at a disadvantage, she just says whatever she wants.
Chloe sighed and glanced through the open door.
Second Lieutenant Noel lightly clenched a fist, signaling for her to stay strong.
Even after that, Madame Brun’s lamentations continued without end.
Most of them were praise for the King, coupled with remarks about how the immature Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Berk were pointlessly rebelling.
In the end, Chloe made a decisive choice.
She picked up the stack of documents piled before her and began reading.
“…Your Highness?”
“Please continue.”
“This old woman is speaking. Why are you looking elsewhere? That is a breach of etiquette. Truly, you ought to be grateful to His Majesty the King! There is no one in the Royal Castle kind enough to tell you such things openly!”
Isn’t it also etiquette to stop talking when the other person is bored?
Though that thought occurred to her, Chloe sighed and set the papers down again.
“I believe that kind person is right before my eyes.”
“I, too, would never have shown such kindness to Your Highness the Grand Duchess had it not been for His Majesty the King’s command…”
“I understand, kind Madame Brun.”
Chloe cut the woman off with a smile.
Madame Brun looked irritated all the way to the tips of her hair, but Chloe judged it better not to give her another chance to say anything useless.
“I understand that you have received His Majesty the King’s command and that you are to help me host the banquet for the 28th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with Glintland.”
“Then…”
“So how does one host a royal banquet?”
Madame Brun’s mouth fell slightly open.
“Are you… asking that as a question?”