chapter 48
“Greetings to Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Cut it out!”
Emma, who had bent her knees toward Rozella as she entered the room, quickly lowered her head at the Empress’s irritable tone.
When she had rushed in to seek Rozella first, she thought everything was over when Claire appeared instead. But when Claire told her not to leave and to wait, she began to hope—perhaps she might get to meet Rozella after all.
But contrary to her hopes, Empress Rozella was not on her side; she was furious.
“Thrown out? What on earth did you do?!”
Rozella’s sharp voice sliced through the reception room. There was no trace of the gracious empress, always armed with elegance, that people knew. Her eyes were lifted so fiercely they seemed ready to stab.
“It’s not like that. The Grand Duchess suddenly demanded the account books…”
Emma, fumbling for excuses, finally broke into tears. She pitied herself—being pushed around since yesterday.
Whatever the case, she was the head maid of the ducal household, and with Empress Rozella as her backer, no one had dared treat her carelessly until now.
It was with that assurance that Emma had strutted around arrogantly.
Perhaps her mistake had been underestimating Eliana, who had looked at her with an innocent, clueless expression. She had never imagined she would be thrown out into the street overnight.
“You must be feeling rather relaxed, seeing as you have the leisure to cry.”
“N-no, Your Majesty.”
The tears she had hoped might earn her some sympathy dried instantly at the Empress’s scolding.
“So what happened exactly? Why would the Grand Duchess kick you out? Don’t tell me you’ve been skimming something behind my back?”
The head maid frantically waved her hands at the rapid-fire questioning.
“What are you saying? Absolutely not.”
“Then why? What possible reason could the Grand Duchess have for suddenly dismissing her head maid?”
“Well…”
Knock knock.
While Rozella was glaring at the frozen Emma, a sudden knock came. Claire rose from her seat.
Rozella pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to scream. She knew that if a cry of hers leaked through the open door, it could become the seed of some scandal.
Life as an empress was a battle.
To float gracefully like a swan, she had to fight fiercely beneath the surface.
Without the Duke of Kraiver’s wealth and Claire Raymond’s quick wit, Rozella would never have been able to hold her place between the noble faction and the imperial faction.
And yet now, as if waiting for the chance, both of their positions were shaking. A dull, throbbing headache pressed in, and Rozella bit her lip.
“Your Majesty, the Grand Duchess requests an audience.”
The eyes of Claire Raymond, who had been silently observing from behind Rozella, glimmered.
What’s going on today?
Rozella stopped glaring at Emma and rose to her feet.
“You will wait here as if you’re dead. We are not done speaking.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Emma bowed low, not daring to meet her eyes—she knew nothing good could come of provoking Rozella’s temper further.
“It might have been better to hear the head maid’s account first before meeting her,” Claire murmured with mild reproach as she followed along the corridor.
Rozella gave a derisive laugh.
No matter what, she was the Empress. She did not appreciate Claire disturbing her mood with unwanted advice.
“Claire. Just because the situation changes suddenly does not mean your position and mine have changed.”
Rozella stopped walking and stared down at her arrogantly—a sharp warning to the Claire who had been acting impertinently these past few days with veiled threats about leaving the Empire.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Claire quickly lowered her gaze and bowed.
Though she had threatened Rozella, she had not truly let go of Greddy yet. In fact, she was only pressuring the Empress to get a firmer hold of him.
Claire opened the door for Rozella.
Seeing how swiftly Claire assessed the situation and acted accordingly softened the Empress’s tightly drawn mood just a little.
“I greet the Empire’s Little Sun.”
But Rozella’s expression immediately froze over.
Her sharp gaze fell on Eliana, who curtsied lightly with her skirts in hand.
“What brings you to the Empress’s Palace when the Grand Duke’s wife wasn’t even summoned?”
Passing by Eliana, who was still greeting her, Rozella strode to the seat of honor and sat.
“I entered the palace with him, and I thought I’d pay my respects to Your Majesty while I was here.”
“Is that so? Is that really all? I’ve just heard a rather different story.”
“I heard you’ve acquired a rare painting.”
“You came because you’re curious about the painting? Or because the one who gifted it to me was the Grand Duke?”
Rozella leaned back lazily into the sofa and gestured toward another seat with her chin. Having kept her eyes fixed on Rozella, Eliana could easily read her intent.
Eliana rose and perched carefully on the edge of the sofa. The Empress, in her splendid purple gown, pressed her white forehead and glared at her.
Rozella’s mood was clearly not good—nothing like someone who had received an especially precious gift from Greddy.
“Do you mean to make a scene demanding I hand over the Grand Duke’s gift?”
“No, Your Majesty. Since he sent it to you himself, how could I dare to take it away?”
“Is that so? And yet I hear you rejected the gift I personally selected and sent to the Grand Duke.”
The pale yellow of Eliana’s dress swayed lightly with her movement. A yellow that might have looked awful on anyone with blonde hair suited her perfectly.
Pastel tones were something Rozella had not touched since she was eighteen—they looked dreadful on her. Seeing that such soft colors still suited Eliana like a girl irritated her.
“Your Majesty sent a gift?”
Eliana lifted her head, looking as if she truly didn’t understand. Her moist, clear eyes showed no deceit. Even the natural shift of her gaze from the Empress to Claire was perfect.
“Emma was someone I personally selected for Greddy, who was worrying about hiring a household manager.”
“Oh…”
Eliana let out a soft sigh. Her pure face showed genuine concern, as though she really hadn’t known—enough to soften the Empress’s fierce gaze bit by bit.
“Perhaps the Grand Duchess didn’t know much about her, being careful not to cause misunderstandings from others.”
As the conversation went on, Rozella’s voice grew calmer, her composure returning.
Meanwhile, Eliana’s thoughts had turned cold.
Rozella’s intention to use Greddy’s love to satisfy her own greed was truly despicable.
The ledgers were overflowing with records of luxuries and indulgences that had already gone far beyond excess.
And yet she can be so brazen… it must be because of his love.
As Empress, she had drained the ducal family’s wealth—something she should be deeply ashamed of—but Rozella was utterly confident.
Thinking it was all because of Greddy’s love made Eliana’s chest twinge. She couldn’t deny she was a little envious.
“I see. Since the position of Grand Duchess had been vacant for so long, it seems Your Majesty took special care.”
“Indeed. Privately, the Grand Duke and I were childhood friends.”
Rozella nodded. Pleased that Eliana seemed to understand her words, her tense mood eased slightly.
“But you needn’t do so anymore.”
Rozella, who had been reaching for her teacup with a somewhat relaxed expression, narrowed her eyes sharply. Tension flickered in her gaze.
“You’re saying I needn’t?”
“In the past, there was no one to manage the household, so Your Majesty took matters into your own hands. But now you have me.”
“…”
In the razor-sharp atmosphere of the reception room, Eliana alone remained at ease.
Unbothered by Rozella’s incredulous look, she calmly sipped the tea the maid had served.
“Does the Grand Duke agree to this?”
Eliana’s hand holding the teacup faltered for a moment at Rozella’s question.
She hadn’t had a chance to discuss the dismissal of the head maid with him because of Rodin’s sudden appearance.
While going through the ledgers the head maid had kept, Eliana had sighed repeatedly. The money funneled each month to Rozella’s family was beyond imagination.
Even as she checked the accounts, bills for the marchioness’s dresses and jewelry arrived without fail.
“…”
“Is my meaning hard to grasp? I’m asking if Greddy knows what the Grand Duchess has done.”
Rozella pressed her, heightening the tension, as Eliana’s silence stretched on.
