Chapter 74 — Lady Grace's Predicament
Chapter 74 — Lady Grace's Predicament
Translation: Godtl
As expected, Lady Grace was in a truly unjust situation.
According to what she heard.
Recently, all of Princess Julianna's handmaids had been replaced. This was because one of the young ladies serving as a handmaid had a major dispute with Julianna.
Since that young lady had dared to shout and criticize the princess openly in front of her, she had nearly received a severe punishment.
'Given that the extremely zealous Emperor Perseus found out, it's no wonder that much happened...'
Anyway, the young lady who caused the incident was about to be buried in social society, but Julianna pleaded with the Emperor and she avoided that fate.
However, that young lady apparently had her own circumstances.
She was originally a young lady with a fiery temper, and she said she couldn't stand it when Julianna kept interrupting or ignoring her words.
She got angry and went around giving interviews to various newspapers, but eventually stopped out of fear that her family would be exterminated by the Emperor.
In any case. After that incident, the Emperor replaced all of Julianna's handmaids.
Lady Grace was also one of the newly appointed handmaids, and she had visited that fiery-tempered young lady's house a few days ago.
She said they had known each other since childhood, so she went to visit when she heard she was ill.
However, when Princess Julianna's other handmaids learned of this fact, they threw a huge fit.
They claimed this was a betrayal against Princess Julianna.
Then suddenly, a rumor started spreading that Lady Grace was a stalker of Prince Damian.
The reason was that she had forgotten to return a handkerchief Prince Damian had lent her before.
'Really, it's so childish...'
Lelia sighed inwardly.
She recalled the faction disputes that occurred among the teenage nobles of the Superion territory when she was around fourteen or fifteen.
Of course, Lelia wasn't in a position to be involved in such things (no one played with her), so she only heard the rumors.
Anyway, it was no different from the faction fights of those fourteen and fifteen-year-old children.
In this case, Lady Grace ended up being the biggest victim.
Because when Grace was said to have betrayed Princess Julianna, even Cedric and Prince Damian stepped forward.
'Being imperial princes and playing such childish bullying games...'
Lelia found Cedric and Damian pathetic, but it wasn't her concern.
Whether the royals, raised so delicately, were childish or not.
Since she was in a situation where she had to become enemies with Cedric and Damian anyway, Lelia decided to treat Grace even more kindly.
"It must have been really difficult for you, Lady Grace. I've experienced a similar situation, so I think I understand how you feel."
"Really?"
Grace's expression gradually softened at Lelia's warm comfort. She spoke with an apologetic look.
"But I'm worried that Sir Raymond might get into trouble because of me..."
Saying that, Grace looked in the direction where Cedric and Prince Damian were.
"As long as Lady Grace is okay with it, I don't mind. I don't particularly like those two princes anyway."
"But... those two become even more sensitive when it comes to Princess Julianna. You might end up completely at odds with them."
"That's what I'm hoping for."
When Lelia said that, Grace burst into laughter.
The two shared a bit more conversation on brighter topics than before.
But perhaps because she had been standing with Grace for a while?
Lelia suddenly turned her head and felt gazes directed at her from here and there.
There were looks of favor and respect, as well as expressions filled with shock and betrayal.
In particular, Damian and Cedric were glaring at Lelia as if they wanted to kill her.
'Success.'
Lelia thought that and looked toward Lute. His grin was stretched from ear to ear.
'Pathetic guy.'
Lelia turned her head again.
But that side was a bit unexpected.
It was Princess Julianna's handmaids. They looked at Lelia as if she were' a general who sold secrets to the enemy.'
Their faces were full of betrayal, as if the world had collapsed, and they were trembling.
Since they had a tea party together a few days ago, they seemed to think Lelia was on their side.
Julianna's expression was somewhat subtle.
Rather than betrayal, she had a slightly troubled expression.
Her face even seemed to be slightly mocking Lelia, which was unexpected.
'What is it?'
Lelia was curious about what Julianna was thinking.
Just then, the music changed and a beautiful mid-tempo melody flowed out.
Lelia felt that Lady Grace's expression had relaxed much more than before and asked.
"May I ask for your first dance, Lady Grace?"
"...Alright."
Perhaps because she had gained confidence, she grabbed Lelia's extended hand at once.
Among her friends, she might have looked short, but Lelia was relatively tall among women, and Lady Grace was about a handspan shorter than Lelia.
Because of that, Lelia in men's clothing and Grace looked like a pair of lovers.
Lelia proudly led Grace to the center of the stage.
The gazes of the people were a bit frightening, but no one seemed to suspect her gender.
'Like a playboy... like a playboy.'
Lelia chanted inwardly and began to dance with Grace.
Exclamations poured out from among the watchers.
This was because among Donatelli's recently announced new works, there was a painting called, and Lelia's appearance was as elegant and beautiful as if she had stepped right out of that painting.
"How can this be..."
"It's so beautiful. To think such a man really exists in this world..."
"Haah..."
The noblewomen sighed with rapture and took in the sight.
On the other hand, the male nobles had faces as if they had chewed on rotten meat. Even so, they sneered while pretending to be unbothered.
"I wonder if he can even perform a man's role, really."
"What's there to do properly? You can tell just by looking, he's probably this small."
They made nasty jokes and degraded Sir Raymond.
Just then, one male noble spoke as if something had occurred to him.
"Ah! Come to think of it, I heard that Prince Romeo was seen with a man who looked like the handsome man in 'Donatelli's' painting..."
"What do you mean?"
He blabbered the rumor he had heard.
Before anyone knew it, 'Sir Raymond 'in the rumor had become involved in a certain kind of relationship with Prince Romeo.
The content was trashy - that he wasn't a distant cousin but actually Prince Romeo's male mistress.
"And yet he pretends to be such a fine man, laughing and chatting with a woman like that... tsk tsk."
"How can men do such a thing."
They all clicked their tongues in unison.
The people watched the two dancing elegantly like a painting on stage, utterly entranced.
However, Princess Julianna, watching from the seat of honor, suddenly burst into laughter.
"Your Highness, how could Sir Raymond betray us?"
The maids were already furious, and seeing Julianna laughing only made their blood boil.
"Your Highness, how can you laugh? You really are too kind for your own good."
"After all the consideration Her Highness showed, to think he would betray her! I never knew Sir Raymond was such a man without loyalty!"
The maids united in their criticism of Sir Raymond.
However, Cecile defended Sir Raymond with a voice on the verge of tears.
"Surely Miss Grace must have seduced Sir Raymond like a fox!"
Even at those words, Princess Julianna remained unmoved.
Because she knew the reason why Sir Raymond was acting that way.
'Truly childish.'
But perhaps somewhat cute....
Julianna raised the corners of her lips as she gazed at Sir Raymond.
At first, she too had been angry.
She thought the kindness she had shown Sir Raymond was being returned as betrayal.
But upon closer thought, that wasn't the case.
It was along the same lines as when Sir Raymond had particularly praised other men during the tea party.
'He's trying to make me jealous...'
Just like how she had employed tactics to make Lute jealous.
But Sir Raymond seemed to be a higher-level player than herself.
'I mustn't let myself be swayed.'
Even as Julianna scoffed inwardly, she couldn't take her eyes off Sir Raymond.
After the banquet ended, Lelia returned to her quarters, utterly exhausted.
Romeo said he had business outside the imperial city and told her to go ahead.
Thanks to that, Lelia was able to travel comfortably, sprawling across the carriage seat.
'Dancing is no ordinary feat.'
How much effort she had put in last night to dance like a man at the ball.
'Still, it seems no one suspects anything.'
Lelia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. She seemed to have done well playing the role of a flirt, and as Lute wanted, she had earned the hatred of the princes.
Now all that remained was for Lute to confess.
With a light heart, Lelia descended from the carriage and walked through the quiet corridor.
It was late, so the attendants and servants all seemed to have gone to sleep.
She was heading to her room, trying to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible, when suddenly a speech bubble appeared before her eyes.
[Aaaah!! Someone nearby is in danger! Help them and receive 3000 crystals!!]
The speech bubble flashed red, creating a commotion as if it were a disaster situation.
'What the!'
The crystals were one thing, but what caught her eye first was that someone was in danger.
Lelia looked around in surprise.
She saw a red exclamation mark flashing in the darkness.
Wait, but that place is...
'Kalix's room?'
Could Kalix really be in danger?
Lelia ran without hesitation and opened Kalix's door to enter. Fortunately, the door was not locked.