‘What the hell is going on with His Highness Carlyle? He’s not the kind of person to do something so impulsive…’
No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t make sense for Carlyle to take Asha as his real wife. He’s the one who’s supposed to be the emperor, and Asha Pervaz is absolutely not a good fit for the position of empress, which requires a lot of political calculation.
‘Is it really… an accident caused by alcohol?’
Cecilia sipped the lemonade that Angie had brought her and clicked her tongue.
‘It would be much better if there was nothing between His Highness Carlyle and that woman……. Or did I show up and make that woman feel insecure?’
Seeing how the woman, who had seemed indifferent until now, suddenly drank alcohol and went to Carlyle’s quarters, it seemed like a valid question.
Maybe she pretended to be indifferent, but she actually had feelings for Carlyle.
If you think about it that way, Asha Pervaz could also be seen as interfering in this fight to win over Carlyle.
At that thought, she burst out laughing.
‘Hah! You think you’ve got something just because you slept with him for one night after shamelessly throwing yourself at him? The final winner is me.’
Cecilia put the information ‘Carlyle is surprisingly weak to the atmosphere of drinking and getting caught’ in her head and made up her mind to fight back.
* * *
Meanwhile, Giles, who was quite surprised unlike the indifferent Dorothea, nudged Lionel’s side to try to get Carlyle to talk.
Lionel was also curious about this situation, so he waited for a time when Carlyle seemed to be in a good mood and asked him casually.
“Your Highness. Actually, I heard some very interesting news this morning.”
“Interesting news? What is it?”
Carlyle turned his head and yawned as he spoke.
Lionel and Giles asked meaningfully, thinking it was significant that Carlyle was yawning even though it was almost noon.
“Is it true that you were with Countess Pervaz last night?”
“Uh? Well, yeah, that happened.”
“…….”
“But you said you heard some interesting news just now? What is it?”
“……I already told you.”
At that, Carlyle stopped for a moment and then burst out laughing. He spoke with an expression that seemed to be savoring a pleasant memory.
Lionel didn’t know what kind of expression to make.
Wasn’t it Carlyle who had been so arrogant and merciless to Countess Pervaz until now?
“Were you that drunk?”
“Just a little.”
“Then you’re saying you weren’t drunk, but you still thought of doing that with Countess Pervaz?”
Next to Lionel, who was asking the question, Giles, who was struggling to hold back an expression, nodded his head violently as he waited for Carlyle’s answer.
Carlyle glanced at Giles and smiled to himself.
‘My tutor has quite a strange greed. He knows very well how much of a failure I am as a son-in-law.’
When I was young, I briefly thought about how nice it would be if he were my real father. He was so devoted to matters about me.
However, seeing him willing to sacrifice his own daughter for the position of ‘father-in-law of the Emperor’, it doesn’t seem like being his real child would be so happy.
‘Maybe I can use Countess Pervaz to make my tutor give up on that ridiculous dream.’
Carlyle spoke with feigned dignity to the two whose necks seemed to grow longer with curiosity.
“Leo, even though you are my close friend… it’s a bit awkward explaining my bedroom affairs in detail, isn’t it?”
Lionel was flustered at those words.
“Ah! T-that’s right. I apologize.”
I’ll explain the whole story to Lionel later after Giles leaves, but for now, I decided to enjoy his flustered face a bit.
Giles went back, having gained nothing but deeper worries.
Anyway, thanks to everyone including Lionel and Giles conveniently misunderstanding the matter between Carlyle and Asha, by the time the harvest festival ended and the castle’s warehouse was filled with crops received as taxes, the atmosphere in Pervaz was a little different from before.
“Your Highness! Her Highness requests an audience!”
“Let her in.”
When Asha visited Carlyle’s room, the servant who opened the door guided her more politely than before.
The title used to address her had also changed from ‘Countess Pervaz’ to ‘Her Highness’.
Seeing this, Carlyle desperately held back his laughter.
“Come in.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
The two also exchanged greetings that were somewhat awkward but also had a certain shy feeling to them rather than their usual stiff greetings.
As the door closed, Carlyle showed his true colors.
“How did the rumors about our relationship spread? The attitude of the servants on the second floor towards you has noticeably changed.”
“They’re suddenly so formal that I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“Hahaha! It’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t a bad thing for Asha either. Thanks to this, the attitude of the servants from the capital towards the people of Pervaz Castle also improved considerably.
But it wasn’t just a good thing for Asha.
“I seem to have gained some points with the servants of Pervaz Castle as well. They used to be all stiff, but these days they even smile at me subtly? I wonder who’s in charge here…”
At this, Asha’s ears turned bright red.
This is because she had witnessed many times people gossiping here and there saying, “Isn’t our lord really going to become the wife of His Royal Highness?”
Even Della came with two maids who were married and had more than three children, and talked for a long time about how babies are made and what to do before and after sleeping together, and then went back.
Even just for silently enduring that embarrassing situation without a sound, I deserved to be praised.
“The guests who came from Zyro seem to find this rumor quite interesting. Perhaps as soon as they return, the rumor will spread throughout the capital’s social circles?”
“Will this really deceive even Her Majesty the Empress?”
“She will suspect it. The important thing is that we show we are maintaining a married relationship. So she cannot thoughtlessly nullify this marriage.”
Asha sighed and nodded her head.
To this extent, it was not even a difficult thing. If it’s just about enduring a little embarrassment, that’s all.
‘But why do I feel this stuffy mood?’
Since the day that was an ‘accident’, as time passes, something feels like it might be remembered, but no exact memories come out, yet strangely the nape of my neck heats up and goosebumps rise on my back; this feeling is really strange.
Therefore, I am a little worried whether this process of ‘pretending to be a couple’ with His Highness Carlyle will return later as an unexpected landmine.
‘Well… what kind of trouble could there be?’
Asha decided to fold away her thoughts about the completely unpredictable future. Because even just pretending not to notice the strange expectations of the servant she faces every day is already overwhelming.
***
The news that Asha and Carlyle became a ‘real couple’ also struck the heart of another person.
That person was none other than Nina, Asha’s dedicated maid.
‘It’s fortunate, truly fortunate.’
Around the time Cecilia and Dorothea entered the castle, the servants on the 2nd floor were already treating Asha as a ‘deposed princess.’
Before, there were no open insults because Carlyle made remarks about cutting off tongues and punishing them for disrespecting royalty. However, whenever they saw Nina, the servants would glance at each other and snicker.
Even while trying to ignore it, there was no way she couldn’t know that this was a derision directed at Asha.
‘Our lord is also pretty! Even though she’s not delicate like those young ladies, she’s a very charming person!’
Nina thought Asha’s outstretched limbs, straight posture, and toned body without an ounce of flab were very beautiful.
It’s much nicer to look at than someone who seems like they’d collapse at a single touch.
‘But certainly, our lord doesn’t put any care into her appearance. Of course, that has its own coolness, but it seems like those people don’t understand that charm…’
It’s none of her business if other servants don’t notice, but it wouldn’t do for even Carlyle to overlook it.
‘I must reveal our lord’s charm!’
Up until now, she barely intervened with Asha’s beauty or adornments with consideration to Asha’s tastes, but from now on Nina solidified her will to do things differently.
The first thing she did was scour the weed-choked ditches and fields to collect wild herbs said to be good for skin beauty.
‘The lord has white, healthy skin, but since she doesn’t manage it much, it’s rough and has some blemishes.’
After drying the collected wild herbs, Nina made a lotion by soaking some in alcohol. She also ground some into powder, mixed it with oat flour and a small amount of honey, and applied it to Asha’s face and neck once every three days.
Not long ago, it would have been painful to think of putting things people couldn’t get even for food onto the face for a few tens of minutes and washing them off. However, after thinking that the young ladies staying on the 2nd floor must be applying even better things, it became bearable.
“Nina, what in the world is this?”
“It’s a folk remedy that’s good for health.”
“…Putting something like porridge on my face?”
“Yes.”
Asha couldn’t ask anything further in response to Nina’s short answers and her attitude of acting like she was doing something obvious. She had no choice but to lie still and let Nina proceed.
Nina’s efforts continued into her bath.
“Hey, Nina? Why are you suddenly doing this?”
Up until now Nina just poured hot water and handed Asha a towel. Asha was flustered by Nina suddenly putting a pouch with what seemed like dried grasses into the bathwater, neatly cleaning her fingernails with a rough cloth, and even applying something like thick jelly to her hair.
“The herbs steeped in the bathwater are said to prevent colds. Cleaning fingernails prevents annoying things like athlete’s foot. The substance put on your hair is for headaches! It’s said to be good for preventing headaches.”
“Is that so? You’re suddenly paying a lot of attention to my health?”
“You’ve always overworked yourself. I feel like I was careless, so I’ve reflected a lot.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve been taking care of me well, did Della say something?”
Nina was touched once more by Asha’s attitude of worrying that she might have gotten scolded by her superior.
Nina 🫶🏼