Chapter 23
The Grand Duchess’s First Salon (2)
Her own horrifying final image smiled at her kindly.
“After being mocked by these things and dying unjustly… are you still letting yourself be swayed?”
‘I…’
“Did you think you’ve changed now? Or are you unable to do anything without the Grand Duke?”
Dolores had no excuse to offer.
Had this life truly changed?
If it had, was she really changing it properly?
At that moment, a maid lifted her tearful gaze, meeting Dolores’s eyes.
The horrifying face she had avoided recalling until now became vivid.
“Mother.”
It was Alexis, the son of Adrian and Angelica.
The boy who, with his angelic face, had consistently tormented Dolores as if dragging her into hell.
“Please… love me.”
Her reason faltered completely.
Along with that cursed plea, her hallucination quivered before her.
“Yes, Dolores. This time, prove that it’s different.”
‘…’
“Let’s not let ourselves be mocked any longer.”
Dolores slowly turned her head toward Madame Travis.
The lady flinched mid-scowl.
‘W-what is that face?’
The Grand Duchess smiled beautifully, but her eyes were as lifeless as a corpse, and only her mouth smiled—an utterly chilling sight.
The Grand Duchess extended her hand toward the Countess.
“Please lend me that cane, madam.”
“…Huh. Very well, Your Highness. With this, I shall properly-”
“No, madam. The one to be punished is not the maid.”
“…Pardon?”
“Expose your calf. It is the inferior who ruined the salon who shall receive the punishment.”
At first, Madame Travis laughed incredulously.
She was twenty years older than Dolores, and the wife of a high-ranking official.
She was certainly not someone a newly entered young royal could treat so freely.
Even if Dolores was the Grand Duchess!
“Your Highness… you jest, surely?!”
“Do I look as though I’m joking, Madam Travis?”
Dolores answered calmly.
Her eyes remained dimly gleaming, and the smile on her lips gradually turned cold.
She pointed at the maid huddled on the floor, trembling.
“Although the maid erred against you, madam, she serves the royal household.”
“Ha…”
“If one is to be punished, it is my duty, not yours, to impose it. You have no right to strike first.”
“Hoho… my, what a world.”
The Countess let out a short, surprised laugh.
Madame Rouard had long controlled the palace, yet here was this young bride attempting to enforce discipline.
Even as a future empress, one might show some restraint… but still, she was merely the wife of a half-blood Grand Duke.
What could the Grand Duke’s feats matter?
Even if so, she felt no respect for a wife like that.
Yet Dolores still held out her palm.
She wanted the cane the Countess had wielded.
“Now. Since royal property has been marred, you shall receive your punishment.”
“…Very well, Your Highness. As you wish.”
The Countess handed the cane to Dolores.
Playing along, she raised her petticoat slightly to reveal her calf.
‘Hitting her with this arm won’t achieve much.’
Indeed, Dolores’s first strike barely caused pain.
“First: for deciding a punishment without the host’s permission.”
Thwack.
The dull sound echoed in the quiet reception hall.
The Countess let out a small groan but secretly smiled, thinking this would be the end.
But then came the second strike—then the third and fourth.
“For obstructing one who serves the royal household.”
“…!”
“For preventing the household from performing its duties to the extent that she suffered.”
“Gah…!”
“If it causes lingering injury later, further interfering with palace affairs.”
“Y-Your High-ugh!”
As the initially bearable pain repeated, her entire calf tingled.
Dolores continued to strike the same spot with the cane.
Even Madame Travis, taller than most women, was gasping.
“Y-Your Highness! Please, enough—!”
The Countess frantically searched for someone to stop the Grand Duchess, but all around were frozen in shock.
No one had the standing to restrain the Grand Duchess.
Above all, this was a side of her they had never witnessed.
Dolores Rochester had always been known as a beautiful and obedient lady…
No one imagined she could hide such a side.
“For finally leaving, you caused further loss to the royal household.”
“Your Highness, ahh!”
After this last charge, the dullest thwack of all sounded.
The Countess fell to her knees, groaning in pain.
“…Hhh, huff, ugh…”
Dolores silently observed.
Then, slowly, she released the grip of her hand on the cane.
Clatter.
The cane fell to the floor, accompanied by a drop of blood from her palm.
Dolores turned her gaze toward the women who had been watching.
Her face bore a calm smile.
“…That concludes the salon, everyone.”
The Grand Duchess spoke in a calm voice, only slightly out of breath.
Yet that very calm made everyone’s spines chill.
“I’ve prepared a gift for you to take home. I hope you like it.”
The gift was a tea set praised by all.
Yet no one dared whisper complaints, even if they disliked it.
After the Grand Duchess’s royal salon ended.
“Thank you for attending as a proxy, Miss Rochester.”
“Not at all, Madame Rouard.”
Madame Rouard and Angelica enjoyed tea together.
Madame Rouard’s parlor was lavish enough for an empress.
She had endured the emperor’s infidelities for years to raise Adrian.
Madame Rouard chuckled, noting Angelica’s eager eyes scanning the room.
‘This brat is so greedy, even lower in rank than the Grand Duchess.’
Angelica, in turn, sneered at Madame’s attire.
‘Disgusting, trying so hard to appear young.’
Yet both shared a common ally in Dolores.
“Hoho, I heard from the attendants that the salon was rather tumultuous today.”
“Thanks to your advice, Madame.”
“Oh my. Don’t mention it.”
To strike a high-ranking lady with a cane—during a salon, no less!
Yet Angelica could not relax completely.
‘Was Dolores really such a person?’
Since taking refuge at the Rochester residence, Angelica had always looked down on Dolores in secret.
A pretty, naive girl, unable to recognize when her man was nearly stolen.
But at the end of the salon, Angelica broke into cold sweat.
Dolores’s eyes radiated madness.
An intense aura twisted like a demon.
‘She must be truly insane. That explains all these reckless acts.’
Still, one thing was certain.
‘The salon is ruined. Dolores tarnished the Grand Duke’s reputation.’
Her husband would not leave such a shrew alone.
Surely the Grand Duke would try to annul the marriage with this crazy woman.
‘Adrian may want her as empress now, but he’ll lose all interest eventually.’
Either way, Angelica’s luck had never been better.
Forcing herself to smile and sip her tea, she tried to forget Dolores’s chilling gaze.
Madame Rouard smiled kindly.
“You did well in the task assigned, Miss Rochester. You shall be rewarded.”
“Thank you, Madame. But…”
Angelica narrowed her eyes and smiled prettily.
“You must call me Lady Rochester, not ‘Miss.’”
“….”
Madame’s smile froze.
‘What an audacious girl.’
To openly claim the ‘Lady’ title, usually reserved for a family head’s wife or eldest daughter, so boldly…
Yet both women hid their true thoughts and smiled amicably.
As long as Dolores existed, this alliance had to remain.
