Chapter 62
“Goodness, I only just heard today that he went to the Burnt area.”
A certain noblewoman burst out in indignation. She tried to appear unfazed as she gripped her teacup, but the humiliation staining her flushed face could not be erased.
Another noblewoman sitting around the tea table quickly comforted her friend.
“Surely, Lord Debert would not do anything foolish?”
“The Burnt, you say. That Burnt.”
Burnt.
Raphnel took a sip of her tea, recalling the humiliation she had faced in front of Debert’s manor. But to the other noblewomen, she appeared as calm and docile as the princess she was.
“Actually, I’ve been doing a little deal with the driver who’s always by his side.”
It was a whispered confession.
Even Raphnel found the story somewhat intriguing, as her elegantly arched brows rose slightly.
“Inform me whenever the baron goes to some dubious place.”
“Goodness!”
The exclamation of someone caused the noblewoman’s face to turn scarlet. Even she thought the shallow trick was embarrassing to share.
“Ah, my mother said the other ladies also have a confidant or two attached to their husbands.”
Raphnel watched the flustered noblewoman’s face. Her father was known to be a womanizer. She could understand the advice, even if it wasn’t truly her mother’s.
“So.”
Raphnel, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
In an instant, the attention of the tea table shifted to the princess.
“Are you saying the guests invited to Debert’s estate have gone to the Burnt protection zone, is that it?”
The question, with a slight emphasis on ‘Debert’, brought an instant silence to the tea table.
The noblewomen quickly exchanged glances among themselves. Raphnel, aware of this, sipped her tea, pretending not to notice.
There were not many in Nexus who could drop the title of duke and call Debert by name. Raphnel too, in public, addressed him as Duke Debert or Lord Cliff.
But the ladies knew she had deliberately used his name in this private setting.
Now she was making it clear.
She was the one who would become Debert’s wife, and she now had a certain degree of authority over him.
The relief of the noblewoman who had inadvertently disparaged Debert in front of the princess dissipated.
“Well, I’m not sure if the duke has left, but…”
“Not sure?”
“They say Lord Eden has gone…”
“Oh dear.”
Raphnel gently grasped the hand of the noblewoman who had spoken those words, sounding genuinely sympathetic. The noblewoman’s face flushed even redder than before.
The words of comfort or empathy she had carelessly uttered had only served to reveal the pitiful state of her own fiancé. She, who was about to marry him, was in no better position.
“Becoming a wife to a man requires one to accept many things.”
“That’s true…”
The noblewoman, about to say something more, closed her mouth. The pout on her lips suggested she was still disgruntled, but she lacked the courage to argue with the princess.
Raphnel suppressed a small smile. She knew all too well what the woman had been about to say.
Likely, they would gossip behind her back, questioning how the daughter of the imperial consort dared to speak of the virtues of a wife.
But they would never dare utter such words in her presence.
This was why Raphnel loved power. She could avoid hearing unpleasant words from anyone, and could place anyone beneath her.
“The flowers are so beautiful, aren’t they?”
At Raphnel’s words, redirecting the conversation, a chorus of praise immediately followed.
The pink wisteria vines that wrapped around the glass ceiling of the greenhouse conservatory had changed since the last time a banquet was held.
The flowers scattered on the floor were also unfamiliar, perhaps imported from abroad.
As Raphnel’s blue eyes swept over the ceiling, they settled on Ines, who was silently staring into her teacup, despite the gushing compliments.
“Ines.”
“Huh? Oh, yes?”
Ines, as if not expecting to be called, lifted her head and stammered. She quickly forced a smile at the princess, but Raphnel did not return it.
“Is something the matter? Your face looks troubled.”
“What do you mean?”
Ines shook her head.
“I was just wondering the same. Why would the face of a soon-to-be-wed noblewoman be so gloomy? Is something wrong?”
“Surely, the two of you, who seem so close, haven’t had a quarrel?”
“I can’t even imagine Count Gale getting angry. Hoho.”
The gossiping noblewomen pounced on Ines this time.
“No, no, the wedding preparations are going well. The Count is also diligently working on his rehabilitation.”
Ines fidgeted with the rim of her teacup.
Raphnel did not miss a single one of those small movements.
“Then what could be the matter?”
“Indeed, it’s not like the dowry is lacking, is it?”
“Will you remain in Wayne even after the marriage?”
Listening quietly to the stream of foolish questions, Raphnel finally spoke up.
“I’ve acquired some new jewelry pieces, but I’m not sure if they’re any good. Would the ladies care to take a look?”
Diverting the gossip was too easy.
Excited at the prospect of admiring the princess’s lavish possessions, the noblewomen filed out of the greenhouse one by one, leaving only Ines behind.
Raphnel approached the last remaining Ines.
“Ines, my dear friend.”
It was a sweet address.
“What’s troubling you? Tell me.”
“Raphnel…”
Holding the cooled teacup, Ines looked beautiful. Raphnel was acutely aware of how vastly different she was from this excessively innocent and lovely friend of hers.
Even if she were to die and be reborn, she could never imitate such an expression.
“Is it a problem related to the wedding?”
Even though she knew that was unlikely, Raphnel asked.
If she kept picking at the itchy spots, her naive friend would eventually spill the truth.
“Raphnel, do you remember when I went to the front-line hospital?”
“Hmm? You mean Duchess Molly’s hospital?”
There it was.
“Yes. There was a friend of mine there, the one who said she was the top of her nursing school.”
“Ah, I vaguely recall…”
“She had jet-black hair, and was pale, and also…”
Ines trailed off hesitantly, then carefully added,
“She was the mute friend.”
“Ah.”
Raphnel nodded, as if finally remembering.
“The one who nearly got into big trouble with the enemy, right?”
“That’s right! Beth! You do remember her!”
Ines’ face brightened momentarily, but then darkened again.
“But she’s gone missing. Disappeared suddenly, on the morning she was supposed to return to Wayne.”
“Is that so?”
Raphnel patted Ines’ shoulder. Emboldened by the comfort, Ines began to speak in a rapid-fire manner.
“It’s just so strange. Disappearing suddenly, and with no news at all since then. Professor Collins has been searching, but they can’t find a single trace of her.”
“Could it be she ran off with some other soldier, in a lover’s escape?”
“No, that’s not it!”
Ines clamped her mouth shut.
The suggestion of Beth running off with another man had made her instinctively lash out. Even if it was Raphnel, she couldn’t bear to have Beth slandered.
And a lover’s escape? Beth…
The face of Duke Debert, who had barged into the nurses’ quarters as if he would tear it apart, was still vividly etched in her mind.
Recalling Debert and Beth together in the presence of the princess felt sacrilegious, but she couldn’t help it.
“That can’t be it. Something else must have happened. Raphnel, could you possibly help me with a request?”
“Anything I can do, I’ll be glad to.”
“Could you try to look into finding Beth? After all, as a member of the royal family, you might have more resources than a mere noblewoman-”
“Ines.”
Raphnel interrupted Ines with a firm voice.
“Just your friend. A mere nurse of uncertain origins. Do you really think it’s appropriate to use the power of the Nexus imperial family to search for her?”
“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant-”
“And I…”
Raphnel lowered her long eyelashes, betraying a sorrowful expression. Her voice carried a hint of moisture.
“What power do I have in this imperial family, anyway? All I do is decorate the gardens. Everyone sees me as a joke.”
“No, Raphnel! What are you saying, that’s not true!”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help with your request, but I simply can’t.”
“I spoke thoughtlessly. Raphnel, look at me.”
Ines cupped Raphnel’s tear-brimmed cheeks.
“Don’t worry about it. Beth must have her reasons for disappearing. News of her will come soon, I was just overly anxious.”
Until the end, it was Beth, Beth.
Raphnel swallowed that name, which was the only one that tripped her up, and nodded.
“Go back to your room first. I’ll collect myself and follow shortly.”
“Alright. Come quickly.”
Left alone at the empty tea table, Belle appeared by Raphnel’s side. She was always a shadow at the princess’s side, wherever she went.
“Your Highness, a newsletter has arrived.”
Belle presented a neatly folded sheet of paper.
“So there’s some juicy gossip about Debert’s return.”
Snatching the newsletter with a swift motion, the earlier heaviness was nowhere to be seen.
Raphnel quickly skimmed through the contents.
The newsletter was printed on Nexus’s signature yellow paper. It was mostly filled with gossip about powerful nobles, or their secret financial dealings.
Whether they liked it or not, this newsletter was the one shaping Nexus’s public opinion.
Debert Cliff was undoubtedly the protagonist of this newsletter.
While he had been relatively absent during the war, since his return to Wayne, the newsletter had been actively published.
As expected.
Seeing Debert’s initials taking up the front page, Raphnel’s lips twisted wryly.
“So he’s gone all the way to the Burnt Sanctuary, searching for that lowly lover he met on the battlefield. They say she might be hiding in some Nexus protection zone or other.”
Poor, foolish Debert.
“Everyone must be in an uproar, trying to find that woman as leverage against him. Those pathetic antics are so obvious.”
Even as she criticized harshly, a pleased smile played on Raphnel’s lips.
She had expected him to throw a fit, but the satisfied expression on the princess’s face made Belle carefully broach the subject.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“Of course I’m alright.”
Beth Jane has disappeared.
And she had managed to hide herself so well that even Colonel Collins, Ines, and even Debert himself could not find her.
“I didn’t know that kid would act in a way that I would like.”
Raphnel rose from her seat.
Outside, it was frozen solid, but her greenhouse garden was in full bloom with early spring flowers.
As her pale hand touched the flower buds, the trembling petals were endearing.
“Spring is coming.”
But even those flowers could not match the redness of Raphnel’s lips.
