Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Humiliation
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Daphne kept repeating it to herself. She was just a mere maidservant. She deserved to quietly endure this kind of humiliation.
She had to get used to things like this.
She had to become accustomed to it.
She was the daughter of a criminal, a lowly maidservant who had lived in the cleaning supplies storage room. She couldn't afford to get angry over every little thing like this. So please, she told herself, don't get hurt anymore.
But the situation had crossed a line that Daphne could reasonably accept.
Daphne hated being alone. To be precise, she was so terribly lonely that she wished that loneliness would just disappear.
She wanted someone to take her side. But the maidservants standing behind her didn't even catch her when she fell backward.
"Pfft."
A burst of laughter came from behind her, directed at Daphne's comical fall.
It wasn't as if she had been lording it over the maidservants thanks to the Emperor's favor, or ordering them to do absurd tasks—nothing like that.
If anything, Daphne was the one who had been careful around them. Back when she was a maidservant herself, they had been senior maidservants.
Even though they were the ones mocking her, she hadn't expected them to become friends, but she had still tried to accommodate them. She had even set their salaries higher. They had been a bit kinder then. But this was how it had ended.
They wouldn't take her side. She knew they disapproved of her. Even if they wouldn't defend her in front of Calista, they could at least have refrained from mocking her.
Looking at those who were laughing at her from both front and back, Daphne felt a profound solitude.
There was no one on her side anywhere.
Daphne squeezed her eyes shut. She killed off the shame that tried to force her head up, killing it again and again. She stood from her seat, bowed to Calista, and backed away step by step.
"You, where are you going? How about a walk with me?"
"......"
"I've changed my mind. I'm bored now."
Calista showed no intention of letting Daphne go just like that. Or perhaps she wanted to see her beg even more desperately.
How could someone with such an angelically beautiful face torment her so viciously? Daphne felt a wave of helplessness.
She desperately wanted to escape this place, but in that moment, she had no idea what to do. She didn't know the refined ways of the imperial court to elegantly evade such bullying.
There was only one thing she could do in a situation like this. She just had to endure Calista's mockery until her anger subsided.
"I greet Your Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager."
At the sound of the man's voice, Daphne made a puzzled expression. The man approaching her, with his chestnut-brown hair and dark brown eyes, was someone she had never seen before.
"Oh, Viscount Turbul!"
Calista brightened and welcomed him warmly. Viscount Turbul, Yohannis Turbul, greeted her with a faint smile on his lips.
"What brings you here?"
"I was ordered to bring this young lady."
"By whom?"
"You know."
The young man avoided a direct answer and looked at Daphne instead. Daphne nodded awkwardly in greeting.
"Come along."
The only one who would summon her like this was Asherad. Someone who could openly call for her in front of the Empress Dowager. At least that was a relief. Daphne followed after Viscount Turbul.
Seeing the maidservants trying to follow behind Daphne, the viscount raised his hand to stop them. Their faces turned pale. If they stayed, they would become the immediate targets of Calista's wrath.
As Daphne tried to say something, Viscount Turbul spoke.
"There's no need to take responsibility for those who didn't follow their mistress to the end."
At his words, Daphne nodded. She thought it was obvious.
Once they were a suitable distance away from Calista's group, his footsteps halted.
"Why did you just take it lying down?"
"Pardon?"
Daphne made a puzzled face at the sudden question. Viscount Turbul scanned her face as if she were strange.
"You're a woman His Majesty cherishes. If His Majesty permits it, you could have simply declared as much and left."
"......"
"Why didn't you defend yourself?"
Why was this man asking such a thing? Daphne stared straight at Yohannis's face and said.
"Was I allowed to do that?"
At her words, Yohannis looked at her in disbelief. Daphne didn't know. Could she really have escaped by name-dropping Asherad?
But how was she supposed to know that? He had never told her it was okay.
Moreover, Asherad was on friendly terms with the Empress Dowager. Close enough to kiss her. Could she, a mere maidservant, really tattle on such a noble lady?
"Why not?"
"Because His Majesty is on Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager's side."
"So?"
"So even if I said something, it probably wouldn't work. And if I tried, it would likely lead to even greater trouble later."
Viscount Turbul furrowed his brows at Daphne's words.
"But, my lord, who are you?"
At Daphne's question, Viscount Turbul finally seemed to realize and said.
"Yohannis Turbul. Viscount Turbul."
Ah. No wonder he had the name Turbul—he must be the eldest son of the Turbul family.
As a noble from a ducal house, rather than seeming arrogant, the man appeared sturdy. He shared the duke's stern atmosphere but showed almost no emotional expression.
The reason was simple. He didn't look down on Daphne.
He scanned her up and down, then crossed his arms and said.
"You have grace, but it seems you don't know how to conduct yourself in the imperial palace."
At his words, Daphne shrank back. She recalled how Duke Turbul had once tried to kill her. Naturally, his son from that family would disapprove of her as well.
"Don't cower at every little criticism like that. They won't see you as servile, just pitiful. Hold your head high and stand tall."
At his advice, Daphne straightened her back and lifted her head. Yohannis watched her with a cold expression.
"If you wish to remain by His Majesty's side, become a woman worthy of it."
What if I want to leave his side? Daphne thought to herself. But she had enough sense not to say it aloud.
"Um, Your Lordship, His Majesty is..."
Daphne hesitantly voiced the question that had been nagging at her since earlier. This path wasn't leading to the imperial palace where Asherad would be—it was in a completely different direction.
Yohannis acted as if he had just remembered.
"It was a lie."
"Pardon?"
So he had impersonated the Emperor's orders just to pull her away from the Empress Dowager?
How audacious a treason that was...
The man who had committed treason so casually left without looking back.
* * *
"Weak."
Yohannis muttered. The Daphne he had seen in person was far too fragile and delicate.
It showed in her appearance. Even among nobles, there were plenty who looked frail but devoured those fooled by their looks like carnivorous plants or pitcher plants.
But Daphne was the same inside and out. Hair like a strand capturing the warm sunlight. Even tied up carelessly, it sparkled like golden rays. If he pressed his nose to those locks, he imagined they would fill his senses with the scent of warm sunshine.
Her tanned skin was just right—not as pale as noble ladies—and the flush on her cheeks from shame lent her a fresh, appealing glow.
The woman was undoubtedly beautiful. She had blossomed so gorgeously under Asherad's touch that no one would believe she had once been an ordinary maidservant he had passed by a few times.
But was it truly blossoming?
A cowering expression that couldn't properly look people in the eye. Faded blue eyes shadowed with worry. A gloomy face. Red lips pressed tightly together. A precarious fragility that seemed ready to shatter without resistance if someone set their mind to it.
It was far too ill-suited for Asherad. If she had a tough personality, they might have fought and clashed, turning it into their way of life.
But this woman was so weak she might as well die on the spot. Was it the fluttering chiffon dress? Or the face that seemed to have given up on everything, feeling no shame?
She was too weak to be Asherad's match.
If that woman broke under Asherad's touch, what would become of Asherad then?
Yohannis blankly thought of the fragile woman of summer. Like a flower wilting in the summer sun, leaving behind only a piercing, final scream of fragrance.
* * *
"Cheer up, Daphne."
Sara gripped Daphne's hand tightly. Daphne smiled faintly. At least she had someone to comfort her, so she felt like she could go on living.
"What a wicked woman."
Sara spat out the curse. What would she have done if even Sara had turned her back on her? Looking at Sara's gentle face, Daphne let out a sigh of relief.
"Were you very embarrassed?"
Daphne shook her head. She sometimes felt a distance from Sara, but she was still her friend. She was grateful that Sara was by her side.
Not everyone had abandoned her. At least her friend Sara remained.
So this was enough.
"Thanks for listening. I'm not embarrassed anymore."
"What did His Majesty say?"
Daphne nodded. Asherad, of course, said nothing about Calista's outburst. He hadn't even told Calista not to approach Daphne.
"He must know."
Daphne's heart sank with a thud. Her heart began to race anxiously.
"......"
"He's such a strange man. If he cherishes you, he should cherish you to the end."
At Sara's grumbling, Daphne nodded. The corners of her forcibly raised mouth began to tremble slightly. She knew it, but hearing someone point it out hurt her heart.