No way. Suddenly, the memories I had been keeping under the surface burst out like a flood.
They got tangled with each other, and eventually, a scenario that I had never envisioned, or rather, never dared to consider, became undeniable right in front of my eyes. Someone is playing with public opinion against the royal family.
“Anyway, Isabella really is quite pitiable. If she had stayed in the kitchen, by now she could have been an assistant chef, right? The food she made was really delicious, it’s regrettable. Now, what will happen to Isabella?”
“She’ll figure it out on her own. She was boasting all over town that she became a maid to the prospective empress, so… Well, I’ll just call it karma. Her own doing for acting all high and mighty. To be honest, I don’t like Isabella much either.”
“It’s not just Isabella. I don’t like that lying lady either. How can someone keep their mouth shut and deceive everyone into believing they are His Majesty’s first love?”
“Alright, that’s enough. I don’t want to care about those high-ups anymore. It’s so filthy and pathetic. Besides, have you guys cleaned up the magicians’ bedrooms?”
As the maids’ conversation started to wind down, I unconsciously began to walk.
Slowly, forward. My steady steps were focused on one destination from beginning to end. The maids.
If my prediction is correct and someone is indeed playing the public against the royal family, it wouldn’t be strange for that someone to target me.
This is because, despite the Obelton family’s recovery, they have a history of living as commoners for a decade, and Ruth’s decision to push through with marrying an Obelton lady might make me appear as his only vulnerability.
Therefore, if someone with a motive is trying to shake Ruth by killing me, all the truths that have been slightly off suddenly click perfectly into place. It’s almost strange that I hadn’t seen this highly plausible scenario from the start.
Hence, it must be that someone spread rumors through a palace maid to jeopardize me, Ruth’s weakness. And the maid spreading these rumors is probably the one I saw before in the hallway and the library.
I’m not sure what they aim to achieve by shaking Ruth, but I have to find that maid.
My determination, which had been crouching behind fear, now stretched itself out.
As I was making plans and got about three steps away from where the maids were, I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. It was to calm my trembling heart.
I can do this. I can do this.
Repeating to myself like a mantra that I can do it, soon, I relaxed the tension that had been heavily resting on my shoulders. After all, there’s no reason for me to be nervous here.
I am on my way to do what’s right, and the wrongs were done by the maids, and I am far above them. So, I didn’t want to tremble unnecessarily. It’s often the case that unnecessary trembling makes one forget and unable to say what they intended.
Lastly, muttering to myself that I can do this, I slowly approached the maids who seemed to be dispersing. Perhaps because I approached with my footsteps as silent as possible, it was only after my shadow cast upon them that the maids realized my presence and their eyes widened in surprise.
“Lady…! What brings you here…?”
“That… Since we are currently working, unless it is urgent…”
“I came here because I have something to ask you, but did I perhaps disturb you? If so, I’m truly sorry.”
Like a thief feeling guilty of his own accord, I looked at each of the maids in turn, slightly using the tone I learned from Lady Sirael. It sounds elegant, but it contains a strong, unspoken power.
Realizing immediately that my apology was not genuinely heartfelt, but rather a stepping stone for what I had to say next, the faces of the maids turned pale.
If they were going to be this flustered, they shouldn’t have talked behind my back in the first place.
A sudden surge of resentment flared up, but I forcefully suppressed it. Then, I continued speaking.
“It’s not anything else, but I’ve just heard an interesting story. Listening to what you all have been saying, it appears that I’ve become a liar and an ignorant person who doesn’t know her place. I’m curious to know exactly why such a judgment has been made.”
“Well, it’s probably a misunderstanding…!”
“Oh, I’m not trying to scold anyone. Just…, it’s just not right to gossip about things that the person in question hasn’t admitted to. Of course, what you say and do is up to you.”
I cut off the maid attempting to make a baseless excuse and added more, which brought a chilling silence in the corridor. It was a silence that instilled certainty that there was indeed something amiss.
Intentionally, I waited for the maids’ response with a wide smile, just like a character in a novel who offers poisoned tea without any intention to harm. Although my heart was engulfed with an ominous anxiety, it had become easy to not show it outwardly.
How long had it been? Shortly, one of the maids began to step back timidly, and then, with a heavily laden voice, uttered each word distinctly.
“We, that is, we too…, we’ve only heard it through rumors as well. A malicious rumor that the lady has been deceiving both His Highness and all of us. At first, we didn’t believe it, but as more people believed in the rumor, we, knowingly or unknowingly, started to waver. And then…”
“So that’s how it has come to be?”
“Yes, that’s right. I am really, really sorry. Somehow we got… I truly do not know what to say to the princess….”
“It’s enough now. Thank you for letting me know.”
Once the floodgates were opened, the maid poured out her words as though they couldn’t come fast enough.
I stored only what seemed to be the truths among the maid’s mixture of excuses and reality, scrutinizing each one to enhance the credibility of the scenarios I had constructed.
Now, if I just find out who this maid is, the identity of whoever is targeting Ruth will naturally come to light.
I posed another question to the maids, trembling as if mentioning an immutable rule, eliciting as much sympathy from me as their situation did.
“May I ask just one more thing, if that’s okay?”
“Yes, yes! Anything! Please ask anything.”
“Where did you hear that rumor, or from whom? If you cannot remember, it’s unfortunate but can’t be helped.”
“Ah, that’s….”
This time, with a bit of reluctance to answer, the maids showed their hesitation openly. Then, after a lengthy contemplation, one of them spoke up, unraveling the tangled thread.
“I was told by Derena.”
“Oh? I also heard it from Derena.”
“What? You heard about it from Derena too? I’m a Derena as well. This is an amazing coincidence.”
“…Maybe it’s not a coincidence. I’m also a Derena.”
The fact that all four maids referred to the same person as Derena was quite paradoxical. It wasn’t entirely impossible, but neither was it realistically feasible.
Derena.
I tried tracing the unfamiliar name with my tongue as it came out of their mouths. Just calling the name made the hairs on my forearms stand up a bit, but it wasn’t enough to form an emotional arc, so it was fine.
Having remembered the name Derena for the time being, I put on a gentle smile to not add any more substance to the rumors until the very end.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll be leaving now. Have a great day, everyone.”
“Th-thank you! Have a great day too, Lady.”
“I’m sorry once again. Sorry, and sorry again…”
“We won’t speak of this again. Thank you for understanding. Have a great day!”
The maids quickly brightened up in response to my farewell, each of them greeting me cheerfully. My heart burned with frustration, but acting was easy enough. Especially if it was for the benefit of Ruth and me.
***
On the night I found out that a maid named Derena was the source of the rumors, I asked Isabella to find out who she was. It was torture having to explain the situation to Isabella, who asked why, in a rather vague manner.
After much effort from Isabella, when I obtained information about Derena
, I internally celebrated. Her timing of entering the palace coincided with mine, and despite having to move to the laundry room in the detached palace after finishing her apprenticeship, there was evidence she had managed to stay in the main palace.
This almost certainly confirmed that the manipulation of public opinion might be the clue to this whole affair.
Though Ruth told me to rest, I couldn’t help but feel proud of having accomplished something unintentionally and looked forward to meeting Cedric soon. The end of this long journey seemed to be in sight, and I was thrilled by the prospect of finally being able to reveal my true identity to Ruth once everything was over.
A few days later, Cedric finally came to see me after taking care of urgent family matters.
“Miss Obelton. It has been a while.”
“I’m glad to see you, Sir Cedric. Did you manage to settle your family affairs?”
“Yes. Thanks to your understanding, everything was taken care of. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Cedric, whom I hadn’t seen in weeks, looked healthier than before. I thought he had been buried in paperwork, but it seemed he had also managed to find time to exercise.
After exchanging formal greetings with him, I glanced at the ticking clock and then gently softened my gaze. I wanted to meet Duke Dright as soon as possible.
“So, shall we now go down to the dungeon?”
