chapter 126…………………………………….
A Bitter End (5)
Despite the great celebration of the emperor’s marriage, all banquets were canceled, and the nobles went into seclusion.
For Adele, who had believed that everything would work out once Hildegard became empress, it was a deeply depressing autumn in many ways.
Carrying freshly pressed nightclothes, Adele was on her way to the room where the emperor lay when she suddenly stopped and looked out the window. Just when the mornings and evenings had begun to feel cool, the garden had already been dyed a brilliant red. As the leaves fell, yellow and crimson foliage fluttered this way and that, dizzying the eye whenever the wind blew.
‘Even such a beautiful view only makes me feel lonelier… it really must be the season.’
Thinking of the new dresses stored away in the wardrobe, never once seeing the light of day, Adele let out a sigh. They had all been tailored specifically for this autumn season.
Though brand-new, any dress she failed to wear this time would surely be out of fashion by next spring, destined to be treated as outdated junk.
What was more, once this season passed, she herself would be classified as a woman who had missed her proper age for marriage. From then on, she would likely spend her days as a wallflower, keeping elderly ladies company, before eventually becoming the second wife of some widower.
The more she thought about this bleak reality, the more despondent Adele became, until she forgot her duties altogether and buried her face in her hands.
‘Today’s the day they clean His Majesty’s bedchamber, isn’t it?’
That was when she heard servants whispering quietly.
‘Honestly, every time I go in, I’m terrified he’ll have a seizure while we’re there. He looks like he’s on death’s door, but his strength is unbelievable. Last time, while trying to stop him from thrashing and falling off the bed, I nearly broke my arm.’
With a low chuckle, another servant joined in.
‘If that’s the case, he’s still got plenty of time left. I mean, “hanging on” isn’t even the word—at this rate, he might just jump right up.’
‘No, that won’t happen.’
‘Shh! Even so, you shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly… You’re not even a physician. What do you know?’
‘Hmph! If I told you what I saw, you’d all be nodding your heads too.’
At the confident, impertinent tone of the maid’s voice, Adele unconsciously turned her head toward the sound.
She noticed that the door to one of the many guest rooms lined up along the corridor was cracked open. The maids were busy cleaning inside, even with the window thrown wide open.
Pressing herself tightly against the wall beside the door, Adele strained to listen.
After a brief silence, as if they were gauging one another’s reactions, someone who couldn’t contain her curiosity spoke up carefully.
‘What did you see?’
A maid glanced around and noticed the slightly open door. She hurried over and pulled it shut; with a sharp click, the door closed firmly.
Adele looked flustered for a moment, then noticed a window open toward the corridor for ventilation and moved closer. It was some distance from where the maids were gossiping, but the voices—fading in and out—were still clear enough to grasp the gist.
‘You saw Her Majesty the Empress?’
‘I’m telling you! Have any of you ever seen the Empress visit His Majesty while he’s sick?’
In the silence that followed, Adele could easily imagine them shaking their heads. As far as she knew, the empress had not once visited the emperor since the wedding.
‘Couldn’t you have been mistaken? Aren’t there countless mistresses of His Majesty in the separate palace—blonde, with violet eyes? Maybe one of them snuck in out of concern.’
‘How naive… Do you know how long it’s been since those women were driven out?’
‘Driven out?’
‘Ah, I don’t know. They all vanished one day without warning. Whether they were expelled or something else, there’s no one left in the separate palace now. So the person I saw really was Her Majesty the Empress.’
Tilting her head as she listened, Adele frowned. The empress went to see the emperor? Could it be out of concern? But as far as Adele knew, the empress was not such a warm-hearted woman.
Apparently Adele wasn’t the only one who thought so—none of the maids whispering together suggested that the empress had come out of worry for the ailing emperor.
Someone lowered her voice and whispered.
‘So? What did you see?’
Afraid she might miss the answer, Adele pressed herself even closer to the wall and listened intently.
‘You know I was on cleanup duty behind the laundry last week, right? One day, after I finished my work, I realized I’d left a small pouch there. You know, the little pouch I always wear on my wrist. Yes, this one.’
‘And?’
‘Those few cosmetics inside are all I own—what was I supposed to do? I went back to look for it before washing up. But the pouch wasn’t where I thought it would be. So I thought it over carefully. That day, the only places I’d been were the laundry, this room, and His Majesty’s bedchamber. I clearly remembered it hanging from my wrist while I was in this room. That left only one place. It was late at night, and even though His Majesty is bedridden, his bedchamber still gave me the creeps—but I figured I’d just grab the pouch and leave quickly.’
Without realizing it, Adele swallowed hard.
‘I thought if I ran into a guard, I could explain the situation—but there wasn’t anyone guarding the room at all. So I decided to hurry in and out. But the moment I opened the door and stepped inside, I got a strange feeling. You know the kind? That cold sense that something bad is about to happen. I spotted the pouch in the corner of the small antechamber before the bedroom, but I couldn’t go anywhere near it. I heard someone pacing around inside the bedroom.’
‘Gasp!’
Someone sucked in a sharp breath.
‘I quickly crawled under a table and hid. You all know what happens if someone of our status enters His Majesty’s bedchamber without permission or reason, right? And with the atmosphere already so tense because of the emperor’s poisoning, getting caught up in something would’ve been disastrous.’
‘That’s true.’
‘And there she was—Her Majesty the Empress. Want to know what was even more shocking?’
‘……’
‘This really isn’t something we should ever tell anyone.’
‘You’re killing me—just say it already!’
‘After pacing around the bed for a long time, Her Majesty poured something into the bottle of water His Majesty drinks.’
‘No way…’
‘That can’t be right. You must’ve seen it wrong. Even if Her Majesty had ill intentions, she wouldn’t personally do something so dangerous, would she?’
‘That’s what I thought too. But then… what exactly did I see?’
‘No, think about it—who would she order to do such a thing? Even if she’s a close attendant, she’s only known Lady Adele for barely two months. She couldn’t have entrusted something like that to her. Or maybe she did, but the results weren’t satisfactory, so she stepped in herself. Lady Adele is… how should I put it… a bit lacking in meticulousness, isn’t she?’
At the sudden mention of her own name, Adele jumped and pulled away from the wall. It was shocking enough that she was being named as the culprit who poisoned the emperor—yet now the real culprit was being suggested to be the empress herself!
She heard the maids inside the room moving closer, reacting to the noise she had made.
Panicking at the thought of being discovered eavesdropping, Adele quickly gathered herself. If those sharp-tongued maids realized she had heard everything, who knew what kind of rumors they would spread among themselves?
Just then, she spotted the captain of the guard approaching from the opposite direction. Adele swiftly composed her expression and dipped her knees slightly in greeting.
“What lovely weather we’re having, Sir Frances.”
At her words, the captain’s gaze shifted toward the dim sky beyond the corridor. As had been the case lately, the overcast sky alternated between rain and brief pauses. Though it wasn’t yet cold enough for the season, the air was chilly enough to make one crave a warm cup of tea.
It was far from good weather, but Sir Frances was not the kind of man to pick a quarrel with a lady over trivialities, so he simply nodded.
“Indeed. Lady Adele. Are you on your way to His Majesty?”
“Yes. The more unwell a person is, the more one must pay attention to hygiene, don’t you think?”
As Adele finished speaking and smiled softly, Sir Frances extended his arm.
“Allow me to escort you to your destination.”
After confirming that the approaching maids had stopped, Adele gladly placed her hand on Sir Frances’s arm. The maids were likely hiding somewhere inside the room, peeking out to watch the situation unfold.
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Not at all. It’s an honor for me to escort such a beautiful lady.”
With one hand resting on Sir Frances’s arm and the other holding the emperor’s nightclothes, Adele walked forward with graceful steps.
She could feel the maids’ gazes burning into the back of her head.
