Chapter 133
Chaude let out an awkward smile.
“No, it’s not like that. I’m just telling you to have a look. Just look for now… I mean, it’s free to look with your eyes, right?”
He took a key out of the drawer and held it out to Erika.
“This is the key to the jewel vault. It’s connected to the treasure repository, so you can go take a look whenever you’re bored.”
“Hm.”
Erika accepted the key.
Along with the cold metallic touch, she felt a faint sense of puzzlement.
Was the grand ducal treasure vault normally open to outsiders?
What was this—some kind of museum?
Such absurd thoughts crossed her mind. Chaude’s nonchalant expression and the smooth, natural way he handed over the key made everything seem far too casual.
Erika felt a bit confused by all this.
“……”
But that was nothing compared to the state of mind of Descartes, who had been watching the entire scene.
The High Regent of the Northern Territories was now almost mentally paralyzed.
The golden key had once belonged to the former Grand Duchess.
‘What in the world…’
His gaze swung back and forth like a pendulum.
The golden key hanging loosely in Erika’s hand.
His Grace the Grand Duke resting his chin on his desk, staring only at Erika.
‘……’
Only then did Descartes truly grasp the seriousness of the situation.
Commoner-born.
That meant a lowly birth with no lineage to speak of.
Descartes pulled himself together.
From what he had heard, she wasn’t just any commoner—she was base-born even among commoners.
An orphan with no parents, raised among rough mercenaries in her childhood.
She had awakened her aura by sheer luck and become a Teneuar, but judging by how she still mingled casually with those beneath her, her lack of pedigree clearly hadn’t gone anywhere.
Such blood could never mix with the most noble lineage.
‘How dare she—this is the House of Aragon.’
It was unthinkable.
‘If nothing else, I must keep my head straight.’
And so Descartes made up his mind.
Even if the heavens split in two, he would never allow a Grand Duchess of commoner origin.
For that to happen, the first thing she needed was to become aware of her own position.
“……It seems Miss Erika likes spending time with girls her own age.”
He probed his lord with a casual tone.
After finishing the usual report on ducal affairs in the study, he made the suggestion as if it had just occurred to him.
“I hear Lady Roche will be hosting a tea party soon.”
Carefully concealing his true intentions, speaking as though it were light conversation.
“I thought it might be nice to send Miss Erika there to spend a few days enjoying herself…”
“Who’s Roche?”
“……”
Descartes nearly pressed his fingers to his forehead.
That marquis’s family had pushed their granddaughter into the grand ducal castle dozens of times, using every excuse imaginable, insisting she should become the Grand Duchess.
He must have seen her face dozens of times—yet he couldn’t even remember her name.
“She is the cherished granddaughter of Marquis Nigelius, your first vassal.”
Descartes kindly explained for his lord, who seemed to suffer from a peculiar form of memory loss limited to women.
“Then the tea party will be held in Marquis Nigelius’s territory.”
“That is correct.”
Roche’s name could be learned later.
It was enough for him to recognize that she was the granddaughter of Marquis Nigelius.
“Then that won’t do. Marquis Nigelius’s territory is too far.”
“……”
Descartes didn’t understand why distance mattered, but he wasn’t in a position to press the issue.
For now, this proposal had failed.
It had been a perfect chance to show that clueless woman named Erika that she lacked the qualifications.
The plan was to throw her into a tea party of Northern noble ladies.
A former mercenary rabble who didn’t even wear dresses and wandered around bare-faced would surely shrink back in such a setting.
She would realize her place among the young ladies and be unable to dream of anything beyond it.
Lady Roche’s tea party had been the perfect opportunity, and Descartes felt regret.
“Bring them here.”
That was why he didn’t immediately react to his lord’s words.
“Pardon?”
“It’s true Erika likes spending time with other girls. She’ll enjoy it. Let’s hold the tea party here.”
“……?”
“Send invitations to all the other vassal families as well, including the House of Nigelius.”
Descartes was utterly flustered.
Yes, the plan had been to give that uninvited woman who had appeared in the grand ducal castle a bitter taste of reality.
But the idea had been to send her off to another territory, dealing with the matter easily.
“……Your Grace, you mean the tea party…”
Never—absolutely never—had he planned to invite the treasured daughters of vassal families to the grand ducal castle itself.
“……Here, at the grand ducal castle?”
How this would be interpreted politically across the entire North.
How many letters the heads of vassal families would send, probing his lord’s intentions.
Just thinking about it made his head spin.
Things had grown far bigger than expected, but Descartes had to take responsibility for the situation he himself had initiated.
The grand ducal castle was bustling.
From early morning, it was filled with energy, and the servants were constantly on the move.
It had been a long time since they had officially hosted external guests.
They had been cleaning and decorating for days, yet when the morning of the event arrived, there were still things to fix.
The gardeners of the glass greenhouse, the pastry chefs in charge of desserts—everyone reviewed their work once more from dawn.
Being perfectionists, the servants allowed not even the smallest flaw.
‘Hmm, everyone’s busy again today.’
Amid all that, there was exactly one person who was completely at ease.
Erika wandered around leisurely, looking at everything. She wanted to help, but no one would even let her touch anything.
Though everyone had looked busy for days, Erika had assumed it had nothing to do with her.
Of course, Chaude had explained the tea party to her.
A social gathering of the daughters of Northern vassal families.
There would be lots of girls her age, and she was welcome to join them and have fun—that was all.
For Erika, the queen of socializing, there was no need for mental preparation.
‘I just sit there, eat desserts, and hang out, right?’
Sounds fun.
She hadn’t given it much thought.
“……No! Wait a second!”
That was, until she was suddenly dragged away by the maids.
“Joselyn, wait a moment… this really doesn’t feel right…”
Erika had already resisted about thirty times.
She even deliberately sniffled and launched watery-eyed attacks, but none of it worked.
“I think I’m about to sneeze!”
“Please endure it, Miss Erika.”
Pow, pow—powder was being patted onto her face, and it was genuinely shocking.
Makeup! Me, wearing makeup!
“This is so itchy… I want to wash my face.”
“We’re only doing the basics, so it will be over soon. You’re naturally so beautiful that there’s hardly anything to do for your face.”
“Do you know how many times you’ve said ‘soon’ already…?”
“Makeup really does finish quickly.”
“No, earlier you also lied about it being quick when you put me in the scented bath! Today was the first time in my life I’ve bathed for three hours! Wow, I’m still in shock! Total shock!”
“Head maid, Madam Kelly has arrived.”
“Let her in at once.”
Erika froze. It was a familiar name.
The owner of Kelly Salon, who had once visited with dresses.
“Sally, now you’ll attend to Miss Erika’s clothing.”
“Yes.”
As Sally approached gently and clung close, Erika’s anxiety became reality.
“Miss Erika, shall we remove your outer garments first? I’ll help you with the buttons.”
“Sally, wait—no, Joselyn! I clearly said I’m not wearing that!”
“Miss Erika. Sally’s wrists are very delicate. If you move like that, she could get hurt.”
“Gasp…”
Erika’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
“……”
The wrists of Sally, who was undressing her, really did look thin enough to snap.
Knowing her own monstrous strength, Erika realized that if she lost control, the maids might get hurt. All the tension drained from her body at once.
It felt like being surrounded by chicks.
One wrong step and it would be a disaster!
Despite being the strongest person in the room, she didn’t know what to do among these fragile women.
She couldn’t bring herself to push away the maids who gathered around her one by one.
