Episode 18: The Princess’s Birthday Party (2)
The princess, who had been watching Ella from the terrace from the very beginning, sipped her wine with a satisfied smile.
“She seems more useful than I thought.”
“That maid, Your Highness?”
Rivier, the princess’s knight, glanced at Ella, who was standing alone in a corner, and asked.
“Yes. I thought she was just another maid with a pretty face who happened to catch the duke’s eye… but it seems she’s not just a pretty face.”
“The duke has feelings for that maid? Duke Glois?”
Rivier repeated the princess’s words in shock. If anyone else had said Duke Glois liked a mere maid, he would have dismissed it as nonsense.
The princess nodded with a laugh.
After finishing a trivial conversation with the emperor, the duke returned to the banquet hall and looked for Ella. He spotted her quietly drinking champagne in a corner— and then noticed the hem of her dress stained with wine.
“What happened?”
“A certain noble lady slipped her hand, that’s all.”
From Ella’s words, the duke immediately understood. Some lofty noblewoman must have harassed the common-born Ella. He had tried not to leave Ella’s side for that very reason, but the moment he stepped away at the emperor’s summons, something had happened. Rage boiled within him.
“Who was it? Someone with such useless hands shouldn’t keep them.”
Seeing the duke grow angry on her behalf lifted Ella’s gloomy mood a little.
“It’s fine. I spilled a whole dessert plate on her dress anyway.”
The duke, who had been angrily scanning the hall for the culprit, turned to Ella in surprise.
“So it’s fine.”
The duke nodded at Ella’s words.
“Well done. From now on, if anyone harasses you, do the exact same thing back. I’ll take responsibility for the rest.”
Ella’s heart thumped at his words. Her cheeks flushed as she looked away. The duke sometimes said things that made people’s hearts flutter without the slightest hesitation. Ella took a deep breath and reminded herself he surely meant nothing special by it.
“Duke, did you finish your talk with Father well?”
The princess approached the two as they stood in a corner of the hall. Attention was already on the duke and the commoner maid, but now that the princess joined them, the nobles pretended to chat while sneaking glances in their direction.
“Yes. It was nothing important.”
The princess laughed heartily.
“You’re the only man in the empire who would dare call a talk with the emperor ‘nothing important.’ Did Father by chance bring up the Second Prince?”
The duke stiffened, eyes widening. The princess was right — the emperor had privately summoned him and blatantly asked him to support the Second Prince.
With no legitimate crown prince, the emperor seemed intent on naming the Second Prince—born of his favorite concubine— as heir. But the elder nobles opposed installing a prince of illegitimate birth, so the emperor had secretly sought the duke’s support.
When the duke said nothing, the princess shrugged.
“Will you support the Second Prince?”
“This isn’t the place for that question, Your Highness.”
The nobles were all too far to hear, but the duke still avoided answering such a sensitive question.
“You know better than anyone what the Second Prince is like. The prince who abandoned his soldiers and ran from the battlefield.”
The duke frowned. Years ago, during a war that they were guaranteed to win, the Second Prince had been sent to the battlefield to raise his approval. But when an enemy ambush struck, the prince panicked and fled first. The duke had been left to deal with the aftermath. Had the prince not been royalty, the duke would have executed him on the spot for abandoning his men.
“And what guarantee is there that you, Your Highness, wouldn’t do the same?”
It was a statement that might easily be taken as insulting the royal family. But the princess merely laughed.
“True. Father never allowed me to set foot on a battlefield because I’m a woman, so I never had the chance to prove myself. I’ve decided I won’t wait for Father to give me an opportunity anymore. Well, let’s talk about that later. Someone will visit you on my behalf— speak with him.”
The princess left with Rivier to greet other influential nobles.
“Does Her Highness want the position of Crown Princess?”
Ella asked. The duke nodded.
“Seems so. Things will get noisy.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Ella, let’s head back. The emperor has already returned to the palace, so you may leave.”
Ella and the duke left the chaotic hall and headed toward the carriage. Once they were seated, the duke glanced at Ella’s exhausted face.
“Was it hard?”
“Yes. Very. I never want to attend another noble party again.”
“Really? That’s a shame. You looked beautiful in that dress.”
Ella turned to him in shock, but the duke was gazing indifferently out the window.
Surely… surely I misheard that.
She turned her eyes to the window as well.
After returning from the imperial palace to the ducal estate, heavy rain began pouring again. Once it started, it continued for days without stopping.
“Wow, Ella, look over there— do you see how much it rained yesterday? The roof of the stable collapsed!”
Anna said as she filled a basket with vegetables for dinner. Ella had come to help the overworked Anna for a bit. She glanced toward the collapsed stable roof.
“Oh no— did that happen yesterday? Is Mr. Roy all right?”
“Yes, thankfully it was a section they don’t use. But with this much rain, how could it not collapse?”
“If it keeps raining like this, the tenant farmers will have an even harder time.”
Ella recalled the casualties she had seen in a recent report.
“And… things have been gloomy lately.”
Anna remembered a rumor she had heard.
“Huh? Why?”
“Apparently a vegetable seller heard from the farmers that there’s an outbreak of some disease.”
Ella’s eyes widened.
“A disease? Are you sure? What symptoms?”
“They said villagers get diarrhea and then collapse with a high fever… I don’t know the details, it’s just a rumor!”
“I need to tell the duke. Sorry, Anna!”
Ella rushed off toward the duke’s office, not even wiping the dirt from her hands. If it was just a rumor, good. But if a contagious disease was spreading, they needed countermeasures before it got worse— especially with the relentless rain promising a poor harvest. Disease on top of famine would be disastrous.
“My lord, it’s Ella. I have something to report.”
“Come in.”
The duke was reviewing a report she had submitted that morning.
“My lord, there’s a rumor that a disease is spreading among the tenant farmers.”
The duke put down the report. Once a contagious disease began, with no medicine to cure it, all one could do was pray at the temple.
“Is it true?”
“We need to confirm it. But a few years ago, when disease spread, the weather was just like this— constant rain. If it’s only a rumor, that’s great, but if it isn’t, you must act quickly.”
The duke sighed deeply and leaned back.
“I’ll send knights immediately.”
He selected several knights and dispatched them to investigate, praying the rumor was false.
A few days later, the knights returned to the duke’s office with grim faces.
“My lord, the situation is very bad.”
“It is a disease?”
“Yes, without doubt.”
The duke slammed his desk in fury.
“Why didn’t the local officials and lords report it?!”
“It seems everyone was trying to hide it. A few years ago, when the disease spread, His Majesty exiled all local officials and lords for ‘neglecting their duties.’ Everyone fears the same punishment, so they’ve been pretending nothing is happening.”
The duke remembered that time vividly. The disease had caused severe diarrhea, stomach pain, and high fever, taking countless lives. The wealthy nobles had locked their gates and waited it out, but commoners— who had to work daily to eat— had no choice but to continue working even amid infection. They bore the worst suffering.
“It hasn’t reached the North yet?”
The duke worried for his own northern domain. He wanted to return immediately to protect his people, but the emperor, who feared the military power the duke commanded, never allowed him to leave the capital easily.
“No, my lord. It’s only in the central region so far.”
At those words, the duke rose and began preparing to enter the imperial palace.
