Chapter 11
“What is it?”
It was certainly intriguing. The Duchess of Linhardt, who had been lost in thought, immediately turned her gaze toward the baroness. The woman chattered on with even greater excitement.
“I mean Lady Veldegart. As you know, the Duchess of Formier considers her quite an eyesore, doesn’t she?”
Indeed, she did. And there was an extremely political reason for it.
The Formier family had a daughter who, had nothing unexpected happened, would naturally have become the Crown Princess. She was two years younger than Shihab, and her lineage was impeccable. The Linhardt family, which could have been considered their main rival, had no daughter around the Crown Prince’s age, making her virtually the sole candidate.
She had been quite pleased with herself for a long time, expecting to become the mother of the future Emperor.
But contrary to the duchess’s expectations, Henri IV’s affection for Romian had not faded.
Far from fading…
As everyone watched, Consort Josepha stomped down from the platform. The people who had been gossiping about Romian naturally turned their eyes toward her as she disappeared at a brisk pace, leading her sons away.
“Oh my, Consort Josepha seems to be coming down in quite a fury. I suppose she intends to return directly to the palace.”
“I think even I would have difficulty suppressing my anger if I were told to sit in a lower seat than my daughter-in-law.”
“How unfortunate.”
On the contrary, Henri IV’s affection for Romian was burning more fiercely than ever.
He now cherished Romian even more than the greedy Consort Josepha, the woman who could be considered the mistress of his harem.
From a distance, the sight of Romian sitting in the seat directly beside the King—the very seat that only the King’s woman was permitted to occupy—with Henri IV holding her hand tightly looked remarkably intimate.
So it was only natural that such scandalous whispers were spreading beneath the surface.
“If His Majesty cherishes her that much, why doesn’t he simply make her his consort?”
Even in front of the Duchess of Linhardt, Henri IV’s own sister, the ladies did not hesitate to make such remarks.
Only the more experienced ladies, who had spent years navigating high society, cautiously glanced at the Duchess of Linhardt to gauge her reaction.
But the duchess merely watched the platform with an intrigued expression.
He may be my older brother, but isn’t he quite the snake?
Most people simply thought that Henri IV showered Romian with such lavish affection because she resembled Queen Nella.
But to the Duchess of Linhardt, who knew her brother’s character better than anyone, Romian’s situation looked entirely different.
A young woman from a humble family with practically no influence, incapable of threatening the royal authority. She doesn’t even have a noblewoman powerful enough to act as her shield.
Once Shihab grows powerful enough that he no longer has to be controlled by the nobles, Henri IV could simply depose her whenever he pleased and bring another woman in as Queen. And she wouldn’t even be able to utter a word of protest.
The Duchess of Linhardt twisted her lips.
And because she resembles Queen Nella so closely, she has also secured her position for a reason no one else can replace.
If Romian had occupied that position simply because of her exceptional beauty, all Henri IV would need to do was find an even more beautiful woman.
But women who resembled Queen Nella were not something one could find just anywhere.
Having reached that thought, the Duchess of Linhardt clicked her tongue.
How did that child ever catch my brother’s eye?
She would remain at the Crown Prince’s side like that, and once the Crown Prince became a king as experienced as Henri IV, he would mercilessly depose her and she would likely spend the rest of her life in some monastery.
It was pitiful.
But that sympathy was only temporary.
The Duchess of Linhardt brushed the lingering emotion away as though shaking off cigarette ash. Then she adjusted her posture and asked,
“So, what exactly is the Duchess of Formier plotting?”
Whenever the Formier faction gathered, there was one topic that invariably came up.
The Crown Prince Shihab and his fiancée, Romian Veldegart.
“Have you heard the story?”
“What story?”
At a hunting festival blessed with beautiful scenery and pleasant weather, one might expect elegant noblewomen to engage in equally elegant conversation.
But their topics were rarely as refined as their appearances.
As usual, even while attending the hunting festival, they secretly whispered rumors about the Crown Prince.
However, perhaps because this was an especially entertaining rumor, the woman who brought it up had eyes that sparkled like stars.
“I heard His Highness the Crown Prince has suddenly become kinder.”
“Could that really be true? He used to look as though he wanted to devour her alive just by looking at her.”
The moment she heard that, one noblewoman vigorously shook her head as though it were absolutely impossible.
Anyone who had ever witnessed the way Shihab treated Romian would know that the word love could never exist between the two of them.
That was how cold Shihab normally was toward Romian.
—I don’t want your congratulations.
—I don’t need it.
Even taking into account the fact that the Crown Prince was still a young boy, his treatment of Romian was far removed from the sort of teasing young boys of his age might engage in.
His rejection was cold and unmistakable.
It was the rejection of someone who genuinely disliked the other person and wanted to push them away.
Yet public opinion in high society was overwhelmingly favorable toward Shihab.
And, sure enough, someone immediately spoke up in his defense.
“There’s no reason he wouldn’t act that way. It wasn’t a marriage arranged out of love, after all. And the Count of Veldegart’s family isn’t exactly a powerful force that could benefit him. In the first place, if His Majesty the King hadn’t intervened, that insignificant family wouldn’t even have made it onto the list of potential fiancées.”
The Veldegarts had originally been a rural baronial family.
But fortunately for them, Romian caught the King’s eye and became the Crown Prince’s fiancée, allowing the family to enter the capital.
When people objected that the Crown Prince’s fiancée could not come from such a lowly family because their status was incompatible, the King had instead elevated the Veldegarts’ rank.
That was why high society looked down on the Veldegarts, calling them unsophisticated country bumpkins.
They could never even dream of being included in gatherings such as this.
“But this time, Countess Veldegart herself has been going around talking about it. Apparently, His Highness Shihab has finally taken an interest in her daughter.”
“Oh?”
For nearly ten years, Countess Veldegart had never once dared to confidently claim that the Crown Prince favored her daughter.
The fact that she was now going around saying it herself was certainly intriguing.
The ladies smiled with their eyes and gently waved their fans.
After all, there was nothing more entertaining than a love story when you were certain you had nothing to lose from it.
One of them spoke in a malicious tone.
“Why don’t we stop talking amongst ourselves and invite the girl herself?”
“Would she actually come? She’s so timid that she hardly ever attends social events.”
Contrary to the terrible reputation of the Veldegart family, Romian herself was not particularly disliked.
More precisely, she simply had too little presence to pose a threat to anyone.
She was always quiet and composed.
Nor did she participate in enough social activities to inspire either favor or hostility in others.
Her parents, however, were different.
“Lady Romian may be like that, but if it’s Countess Veldegart, all we’d have to do is provoke her a little, and she’ll immediately bring her daughter here. She’s desperate because we refuse to include her in our gatherings despite the fact that she’s supposed to become the mother of the Crown Princess.”
“Oh, honestly. Even if I am curious, do we really have to invite such a vulgar woman?”
Countess Veldegart was extremely hot-tempered and melodramatic.
She could not stand it if she was not the center of attention, and to nobles who had dominated the central political scene for generations, her behavior—swaggering around simply because she happened to have a daughter who was the Crown Prince’s fiancée—looked utterly pathetic.
Still, it seemed worth investigating what sort of change had occurred.
The Duchess of Formier, the central figure of high society who had remained silent until now, finally parted her lips.
“She is the future of our Baudelaire, after all. Let’s see for ourselves.”
And so, the invitation to Countess Veldegart was decided.
The duchess slowly added,
“And the young lady must be bored. Let’s have her play an entertaining game as well.”
Henri IV returned to the castle early, claiming that he was tired.
He had been suffering from illness for several years already.
There was nothing particularly unusual about it.
But with the King—the only shield protecting her—gone, Romian felt as though she were sitting on a bed of thorns.
“It’s been a long time, Lady Veldegart.”
“Are you nineteen this year? You’re at the perfect age to be beautiful.”
“I’ve heard there’s been some good news about you lately.”
Ladies from some of the most prominent families in high society gently waved their fans as they each offered Romian a few words.
Their voices were exceedingly kind.
But every word had a barb hidden beneath it.
—You’re going to become the Crown Princess. Why don’t you ever attend social events? You’re at the age when you should be at your prettiest, so why do you look so shabby? Still, I hear you’ve had some good news lately.
My stomach hurts.
Listening to them smile sweetly while deliberately getting under her skin made Romian’s chest feel heavy, as though something were lodged inside it.
Yet perhaps unable to sense the subtle malice at all, Romian’s mother suddenly burst into laughter and joined the conversation.
“It makes me so happy to be invited to such a gathering. Thank you, ladies.”
Her tone sounded almost as though she were a superior speaking to her inferiors.
Countess Veldegart genuinely believed she was superior to them.
As a result, Romian’s shoulders only hunched further and further.
Mother, can’t you feel all these piercing gazes?
The suffocating, sticky malice seemed to cling to her from the tips of her toes upward.
They were sitting around a long table spread out across the hunting grounds, holding beautiful teacups and making pleasant conversation.
Yet Romian felt as though a black fog were slowly crawling up her legs and wrapping itself around her body.
My stomach hurts. But I can’t show them an opening.
Romian stiffened as though she had been seized by an invisible monster.
She straightened her back and mechanically lifted her teacup to drink.
A faint smile, barely visible, rested at the corners of her lips.
Years of practice had taught her how to wear that expression.
Naturally, it was not a smile that came from her heart.
A few meaningless pleasantries passed between them.
Countess Veldegart, meanwhile, was positively ecstatic, behaving like a fish that had finally found water.
Eventually, the Duchess of Formier grew tired of watching her and aimed directly at today’s objective.
“I heard His Highness the Crown Prince has been unusually affectionate toward you lately.”
She said it while sitting elegantly with her teacup in hand, casually striking the most sensitive point as lightly as a passing breeze.
The opening had been made.
Immediately, Viscountess Lope, who usually acted as one of the Duchess of Formier’s closest followers, smiled and spoke.
“I’d love to hear the secret behind how you captured His Highness the Crown Prince’s heart. Or perhaps there was some particular occasion that brought about the change. Sweet love stories are always a delight to my ears.”
“I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can tell you.”
Romian was not an easy opponent.
She was only nineteen.
But ever since she was nine years old, she had been subjected to vicious scrutiny and endless gossip simply because she was the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
She was like a tree covered in countless rings.
A tree that had grown by enduring wounds was naturally stronger.
Romian wrapped herself in the armor of perfect etiquette and bowed her head deeply.
“What am I, that I could possibly capture His Highness the Crown Prince’s heart? I can only be grateful if His Highness simply looks upon me kindly.”
It was a flawless answer.
For a moment, boredom appeared around the eyes of the seasoned noblewomen.
At least, this was not the sort of thing they had wanted to see when they invited the Veldegarts.
And, exactly as they had hoped, Countess Veldegart proceeded to shatter all of Romian’s painstaking efforts with her excessive enthusiasm.
“Oh my, Romian. Aren’t you being too modest? Of course, I taught you that modesty and humility are virtues a Crown Princess should possess, but you shouldn’t distort facts that are right in front of you.”
