“These days, I’m so annoyed running around everywhere.”
A maid organizing candlesticks neatly in the warehouse suddenly said irritably. Even though the statement lacked a clear subject, the other maids nodded in agreement.
“At least when Madam Thames was managing the household, we felt at ease. Just looking at her searching everywhere with those icy blue eyes makes my spine tingle…”
“Oh, what’s the point of us talking like this? No matter how much the elders object, His Grace is protecting the imperial princess.”
Despite being from the royal family, and chosen by the Grand Duke, no one in the Grand Duke’s household actually liked her. They just couldn’t speak about it openly.
Only Christine, the middle-aged head maid, was kind to her, but she was naturally good-natured. She would joke that to earn Christine’s contempt, one would need to commit a serious crime.
The other employees of the Grand Duke’s household would exchange such gossip in hidden places. While they couldn’t prevent servants from criticizing their masters behind their backs, the criticism always pointed toward the lady of the house.
“His Grace is quite unexpected. How could he fall for such a woman? If I were in his position, her very existence would be uncomfortable.”
“Come on. What fault could His Grace have? The Princess is just born with a different disposition. How could she be similar to her mother only in appearance?”
One maid said this with subtle sarcasm. It was at that moment that Sienna’s hand, which had been freely recording ledgers behind a pile of grain, stopped.
A sinister smile spread across the face of the maid who had been secretly surveying her surroundings. Slightly bowing her upper body, she lowered her voice.
“Have any of you ever attended to the Princess’s bath?”
“Why suddenly about bathing?”
“She’s quite the woman. Her body has colorful marks all over…”
Immediately, contemptuous jeers erupted from various directions, accompanied by gleeful laughter.
Sienna felt her mind go blank. She barely managed to grasp the pen that was about to fall from her weakened grip. Solving this matter was simple. If she went out and struck them one by one, who would stop her?
Originally, according to her disposition, she would have not only struck them but also slapped them.
But this is not the imperial palace. She is no longer an imperial princess.
While in the empire it might be routine for a master to discipline servants with physical punishment, for Sienna it would undoubtedly be a bad move. It would be like throwing another prey to her already worst reputation.
“Indeed, His Grace who married the enemy of his family is not normal either. If I were…”
“What are you all doing here?”
Ruben’s sudden appearance startled the maids, who immediately stood up. His cold gaze swept across them.
The mouths that had been chattering without restraint just moments ago instantly clamped shut like clams.
“You don’t seem to value your lives? I definitely must have instructed you. His Grace explicitly commanded that you must be particularly careful not to mention the Grand Duchess carelessly.”
“We, we have committed a grave offense. Head butler.”
The maids who were just cheerfully chatting turned pale. Ruben clicked his tongue as if they were pathetic and coldly warned them:
“If something like this reaches my ears even one more time, know that your tongues will be cut off.”
The maids bowed their heads and quickly fled the warehouse. Ruben, who had been watching them with a chilling gaze, eventually let out a deep sigh.
“…His Grace is quite stubborn too.”
The muttering was close to a soliloquy, but because the surroundings were so quiet, it clearly reached Sienna’s ears. Following this, an old door creaked and closed. It seemed Ruben had also left the warehouse immediately.
Despite this, Sienna remained motionless, standing still in the same spot.
She had always ruined things by losing her temper. Whether in front of her father or her half-siblings, she was always the one who hastened her own misfortune.
But this time had to be different. She could not make the same mistake with Declan.
The hand gripping the pen so tightly that her knuckles turned red eventually dropped powerlessly.
****
“A message has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
Declan unfolded the letter handed to him by the Count. The Emperor’s seal was stamped in red at the bottom.
“They want you to go to the Kelt Mountains.”
At the brief additional remark, Declan suddenly looked up.
“Isn’t that where Theodore is?”
After Declan’s retirement from the military, the Emperor had boldly installed Theodore in the vacant position.
Declan laughed as if it was absurd.
“I’ve already retired from the military. What kind of trick is this?”
“They hope you’ll go as an advisor. The war seems to be dragging on longer than expected…”
The Count’s voice was clearly tinged with oppression and fear. Yet he inwardly hoped the Grand Duke would follow the Emperor’s command, likely because of his brother struggling at the frontline.
Given the geographical characteristics, it was a battle where the Empire had an absolute advantage. As the Count said, it wasn’t a battle that should be drawn out. Nor was Theodore, who was appointed as commander, an incompetent knight.
Though he had long served as an imperial princess’s escort, he was a knight who had genuinely passed the elite test of the Order of the Imperial Knight. The tactical direction he had heard in passing wasn’t bad.
If that was the case, the answer was obvious.
“Has the Emperor intervened?”
The Count did not answer. Declan asked again with an unsurprised expression.
“Officially positioning Theodore as commander while secretly giving orders from behind – is that the Emperor?”
“There’s no one else who can resolve this but Your Grace.”
“You know this isn’t a problem that can be solved that way.”
Declan going to the battlefield wouldn’t solve the issue. The fundamental cause wasn’t his absence.
Though the military’s head had been replaced, the body was still composed of those who had roamed the battlefields with Declan.
The Emperor didn’t trust the military without Declan. He seemed to view the military as a rabble of lowly classes. He would have overconfidently believed he could command it himself.
Issuing a summons to him at this point meant the situation had already become uncontrollable.
However, rushing in would compromise Theodore’s honor. Hadn’t he always valued his knightly honor like his own life?
Even after the Count left, Declan couldn’t easily make a decision.
His aimless walk through the garden stopped when he reached near the terrace.
“Such a pity to cut it down, isn’t it?”
A low voice without a prominent tone caught Declan’s ankle.
“A tree that sprouted from a seed blown in the wrong place should be cut down. Moreover, if you plant a flower with such a strong fragrance, it will overshadow the cypress tree’s scent.”
“Oh my.”
Sienna sighed as if it was unfortunate.
“Does the Grand Duke perhaps like cypress trees?”
“It’s not quite that…”
Christine hesitated, trailing off.
“The previous Grand Duke loved them. That’s why the previous Grand Duchess planted them all over the garden.”
Sienna nodded in agreement. Still, she looked regretful about the trees being cut down. As she stared blankly at the gardener cutting the trees, she suddenly spoke.
“Give them to me instead of throwing them away.”
“But they’ll wither soon.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
When the gardener looked at her with a puzzled expression, she clicked her tongue slightly.
“It’s a pity to discard them when the flowers are still blooming.”
The gardener hesitated and glanced sideways at Christine. Christine swallowed a sigh and nodded. Only then did the gardener politely hand the branch to Sienna.
Staring down at the flower branch in her hand, a smile slowly spread across her face.
“What a wonderful fragrance.”
It was an unusually bright smile. Not only Declan was staring at her in a daze. The gardener, who had also been standing blankly, blushed and bowed his head deeply.
He broke off all the branches with remaining flowers and offered them to her.
“I present these to Your Highness.”
The gardener’s face was red as he bowed. Sienna accepted them with a clear laugh.
“Thank you.”
This smile was different from the one of superiority she might have worn at a party.
Declan stared at her absentmindedly, having forgotten the thought of even approaching her. Sienna standing in the peaceful Monferrato landscape was bizarrely unreal, yet simultaneously fulfilling.
As if making the serious deliberation he’d just gone through meaningless, her appearance made his conclusion surprisingly easy.
He wanted to remain by her side. He knew it was a selfish thought, but there was no reason why he shouldn’t.
Less than a week later, the spot where the cypress trees had stood was filled with lilac trees.
Declan sent a polite letter to the Imperial Palace refusing his deployment.
And then he continued his daily life. Truly peaceful and incredibly indulgent times flowed endlessly.
Though their hasty marriage undoubtedly had unstable aspects, they were both immersed in the sweetness before their eyes, lightly ignoring the dangers lurking at their feet.
Not long after, Sienna became pregnant. Not only the servants but also Declan, who was usually reserved in expressing emotions, was extremely happy.
But happiness did not last long.
Shortly thereafter, a letter arrived from the military.
The news was that Theodore had been killed in action.
