Chapter 56…………………………………….
— I’d Rather She Be Openly a Snob
When Millie heard that Viscount Giles’s parents, the Count and Countess Giles, were waiting in the West Palace greenhouse, she felt an inexplicable tension and ran toward the greenhouse.
The Countess Giles—holding a rose to her nose and inhaling its scent—still retained all her elegance and beauty. Beside her, Count Giles, who looked exactly like William, watched his wife with unmistakable affection.
They said the Countess had received endless proposals from noble suitors in Pritan and even from neighboring royal families, yet surprisingly she chose Count Giles, who had been ranked among the ugliest men in Pritan. There had been three suicide incidents right before their wedding, and several attempts to sabotage the ceremony on the day itself.
Of course, the Giles couple had pushed through all the obstructionist plots and married safely, went on to have three sons, and were living well. Pritan’s social circles still gossiped about her choice.
But Millie, who had come to love William—who resembled his father not only in face but in personality—felt she could understand the Countess’s choice.
“Hello, Count Giles, Countess. I’m Millie, Her Majesty the Queen’s maid. You were looking for me?”
“Oh—so you’re Millie?”
The Countess smiled kindly at Millie, quickly exchanging a glance with her husband.
The usually taciturn Count Giles greeted first.
“I heard you ran to Her Majesty and begged her to save my son. Thank you very much.”
“No, really. It was all Her Majesty’s doing.”
Millie waved her arms urgently, trying to refuse their thanks. The Countess squeezed Millie’s hand tightly.
“I was told that if you hadn’t begged the Queen, his arm might have been cut off. You’re the one who saved Will’s arm, Millie.”
The soft voice and gentle touch made Millie feel like crying.
“This is a token of my gratitude. Please accept it.”
The Countess produced a small box—a showy hairpin decorated with rubies and pearls.
“Such a precious thing—may I really accept it?”
“Of course. It’s from my household, so take it without feeling obliged.”
“Thank you.”
Count Giles, who had been watching Millie quietly, spoke up carefully.
“Ahem. As soon as Will came home today he said he wanted to marry you.”
“Excuse me?”
Millie was taken aback. She couldn’t believe he’d brought up marriage the moment he returned home!
“To be honest, it startled us. We couldn’t imagine marrying a commoner daughter-in-law.”
“I…understand.”
The Countess, who despite her age had an almost childlike innocence on her face, looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“If Will insists, neither I nor your father can stop him. He’ll try to get you to marry quickly, whether by pushing or by pressuring. But isn’t marriage something that takes consideration? Right, dear?”
The Countess sighed lightly, and Count Giles, patting his wife’s shoulder and nodding, continued.
“That’s why we came to ask a favor. We’d like you to stall for time.”
“…Stall for time?”
Millie felt as if the kindness hid a blade that kept cutting at her heart, but she could not refuse. These were William’s parents, after all.
“He’s not of sound mind right now; he won’t hear reason. But when he calms down and his faculties return, his thoughts may change. Then in the end, only you will be hurt.”
When the Count finished speaking, Millie stood in silence for a long time, staring at him.
“…Did that happen to you, too, Count? If your wedding had been postponed, would your feelings have changed?”
“What?”
Millie’s cautious yet bold question left the Giles couple flustered—after all, she was daring to challenge the pair who had caused such a stir across the kingdom with their own romance.
The Countess sighed lightly, took Millie’s hand, and patted the back of it.
“Fine, I admit it. If it were our son, his feelings might not change even as time passed.”
“My dear!”
“It’s true, isn’t it? If we hadn’t been able to marry 27 years ago, my feelings wouldn’t have changed. And you too, right?”
“Ahem.”
Count Giles frowned from displeasure but could not deny his wife’s words. She soothed him and then spoke to Millie.
“So here’s our request. Let us get used to the idea of taking a commoner daughter-in-law—if you could buy us some time. At least a year or two. We’ll use that time to mentally prepare ourselves.”
“……”
“It’s just that we never imagined this in our lives, so we’re really flustered. You can do that much for us, can’t you?”
“……All right.”
Count Giles still looked unhappy, but the Countess nodded as if satisfied.
“This meeting must be kept secret from Will. If he finds out he’ll be furious—and I don’t want that. Please, Millie.”
The Countess’s still-beautiful, innocent smile twisted Millie’s heart.
“Of course, Countess.”
Despite herself, Millie had to give them the answer they wanted.
Even after Millie had told me everything about meeting the Giles couple, the carriage was silent for a long time.
“If I think about it coldly, I can’t say they’re strictly bad people,” Millie finally said after a long pause.
“There are many noblewomen who treat maids like nothing, but Countess Giles isn’t that sort. She said she wouldn’t oppose our marriage to the end.”
“……”
“She politely asked for time so they could accept the situation.”
Millie covered her face with both hands and sobbed. Tears streamed down quickly.
“If only she were blatantly a snob like the Marchioness of Uzkal, I could curse her at ease… sob….”
Among the noblewomen Millie and I knew, the Marchioness of Uzkal was certainly the worst. Yet Millie’s comment—that she’d prefer the Marchioness to Countess Giles—was hard to argue with.
I was discovering that candor, lack of malice, and purity could be combined in a way that made a person feel utterly miserable.
“So did you refuse Sir William’s proposal because of their request to stall?”
“Not entirely.”
“Then?”
Millie wiped her tears and turned to me with a resolute expression.
“Do you remember Chelsea—the one who used to serve the Queen’s bath?”
“Yes. I think she still works in the West Palace?”
“That’s right. Chelsea’s cousin is a knight who was born a commoner, and because he did great service, he was made a baron four years ago.”
“Really?”
“And Sir Freddy says there have even been cases where a maid in the Queen’s service received a minor barony.”
Millie’s eyes sparkled with determination as she spoke, then grew firmer.
“Queen, I’ll earn a title by my own deeds. I’ll make Countess Giles insist on a noble daughter-in-law!”
I was speechless, looking at Millie.
It’s easier said than done—earning a title by service as a commoner woman in Pritan wouldn’t be easy. But—
“Just watch. I’ll stand proudly at Sir William’s side.”
I wanted to cheer for stubborn, lovable Millie with my whole heart.
“Oh! I still have one wish right from Lord Miklock. If I asked him to grant you a title with that wish—”
“No, absolutely not!! Even if it takes a lifetime, I’ll earn it on my own.”
Her stubborn refusal—refusing shortcuts, determined to fight fate and keep love—made me love and admire her even more.
William might grow impatient to death in the meantime, but that couldn’t be helped. I vowed to be her steadfast support.
Early that morning, Hans, the butler of the Stone household, found an unusual envelope while sorting the mail. There was no sender listed, but “Personal letter to Viscount Robby Stone” was written across the front in thick letters.
Judging by the high-quality paper, gilded edging, and faint perfume scent, it was no ordinary letter. Hans hurried to Robby’s room.
“Master, a letter has arrived.”
“Who sent it?”
“Well…”
Hans handed over the envelope without answering. Robby took it with a puzzled look. The gilding and the faint rose scent told him the sender was Hailey.
“Thanks, Hans. You may go.”
“Y-yes…”
Hans left with curiosity about the sender, but he had to obey his master’s instruction.
Only after Hans had left did Robby open the envelope. As expected, it was from Hailey—but the message inside was odd.
<Find out discreetly about Lord Pallet’s whereabouts.>
She hadn’t contacted him even once since that night; now she asked him to secretly learn about Lord Pallet’s condition. It was utterly out of the blue.
An unnameable sense of foreboding skimmed the short sentence, but Robby—trapped like a fly in a spiderweb—could not find the courage to refuse.
Lord Pallet had been their fencing instructor; he retired to his hometown when Robby and Lea turned eighteen.
‘Lord Pallet’s hometown is in the Coslan region, right?’
It was a small town about two hours by carriage from the capital. If he had to do it, better to get it over with quickly. Robby dressed in his traveling clothes and looked for Hans.
“Hans, I’m going out. Prepare the carriage at once—something small and inconspicuous if possible. Hurry.”
Hans was puzzled but said nothing further.
“Your Majesty the Queen! You came here in person… Pritan’s royal family hasn’t abandoned us after all.”
When I arrived at the emergency shelter in the northwest village, the village chief and elders and the physicians dispatched by the palace were waiting.
The doctors had expected my arrival, but the chief and elders seemed half in doubt.
When I stepped out of the carriage emblazoned with the royal crest, the villagers of the northwest, with tears in their eyes, bowed deeply to me.
I quickly helped them to their feet and asked the physicians.
“How are the patients?”
“The most critical are two girls, ages five and seven. If we don’t amputate their legs immediately, they likely won’t survive.”
“And the others?”
“While their conditions are somewhat better than those two, eighteen people have severe frostbite with necrotic tissue, and thirty more are in milder condition.”
There were far more patients than Duke Zenon had told me. My expression hardened.
“Let’s treat the two most critical children first today. Prepare a space.”
“We’ll prepare it right away.”
The doctor hurried into the shelter. The chief, wiping his tears, said,
“May the goddess Vestea have mercy… Still, with Her Majesty the Queen here to see them off, the parents and the children will be comforted.”
“I didn’t come to see them off to the afterlife.”
When I said that firmly to the sobbing chief, he looked at me in surprise.
“I intend to save the children. Lead the way to where they are.”
