The official ban on the Duchess of Monde from entering the royal palace was a tragedy for the Monde Duchy, which already needed to frequent social circles to raise money to pay off debts. For everyone else, it was merely a headline decorating the society gossip column.
What an exciting story! My goodness, right after the announcement of the Grand Duke of Lusenford and Princess Ostein’s marriage, interesting events keep happening!
The marriage itself was already intriguing, but then the Duchess of Monde ignored Princess Ostein’s greeting in the morning and got banned from the palace in the evening!
Crania’s social circles, while pretending to hide their vulgar voyeurism, more actively held events to gather the latest news. When events are held, people gather, and when people gather, new stories naturally emerge. Who would refuse that?
“I heard that the Duchess of Monde had already gone to the Grand Duke of Lusenford and had an argument with him before. Is that true?”
Pretentious gentlemen asked questions they already knew the answers to, just to bring up the topic again.
“Who doesn’t know that? Her voice was so loud it echoed through the palace corridors. It was so noisy that His Majesty the Emperor couldn’t have missed it.”
Elegant ladies eagerly fueled the topic and fanned the flames. It was a common sight in Crania’s social circles.
“Well, Monde should be squeezed a bit. Without Lusenford, they don’t even have the ability to pay off their debts. They’ve even torn down their castle to sell building materials, and now the marriage is off. What do they have left?”
“Even so, ignoring the greeting of the princess young enough to be her daughter? Does that make any sense? Where did she leave her age? She should be ashamed.”
Elderly ladies and gentlemen shook their heads and added more blatant comments. Their age allowed them to speak more colorfully, using it as a shield. The more stubborn they were, the more direct their words became.
“It’s a marriage ordered by His Majesty the Emperor… She can’t complain to His Majesty, and the Grand Duke of Lusenford is a soldier, so she can’t reason with him. Princess Ostein is the easiest target, isn’t she?”
“She’s always been extravagant even while drowning in debt, and now she can’t even distinguish between a mere duke and a member of the royal family?”
Words become sharper after just a few rounds. This was also why the Ostein family remained completely silent. People were talking on their own, so they didn’t even need to mention the Duchess of Monde.
The Emperor had settled the matter, and society naturally followed the Emperor’s order. As a result, only the Monde Duchy was inevitably shrinking.
“What on earth is this, Mother!” Beatrice Ravalley, the flower of society, burst out in anger at the Duchess of Monde.
“Mother, don’t you have any tact? You should do such things where no one can see, how could you do that in public!”
“The pillar was blocking my view, I couldn’t see! Do you think I would have done that if I knew? Of all people, Ciner had to be there!”
They were caught red-handed by Countess Ciner and two other ladies-in-waiting to the Empress.
The Duchess of Monde, being a friend of the Empress and her chief lady-in-waiting, not to mention her position of looking after the Grand Duke of Lusenford, wielded considerable influence even in the royal palace. That influence was her lifeline. The money Beatrice brought in from social circles was also enormous.
But despite their massive debt, the two women living only for the glamour of social circles ended up spending as much as they earned, so it all amounted to the same thing. The speed at which their debt was being cleared was painfully slow.
“Ah, stop it! You’re making me lose my mind too!”
“How can I go out when you’ve been disgraced, Mother! Don’t you know how important social circles are?”
“You think I don’t know that?”
Shouting filled the Monde Duchy’s townhouse in Crania, which they had recklessly purchased. The maids kept their distance from the reception room.
“How dare you disrespect your mother? Do you think you could have come this far without me?”
Beatrice rolled her eyes, looking exasperated by her mother’s yelling.
“What have you done, Mother? I achieved everything by struggling at the bottom!”
“Just listen to you talk!”
“If you were going to make such a fuss, you should have gone to congratulate Peon! You should have at least said congratulations on the marriage!”
“You try it!”
In truth, Beatrice’s personality would never allow her to offer congratulations either.
Even though she didn’t see Peon as a man, it was a matter of pride. But now that things had come to this, she was just blaming her mother. Blaming others is something anyone can easily do.
“After giving birth to you and supporting you all this time, you think you did everything yourself and act so arrogant? How dare you behave so rudely! Is that how I taught you?”
“It’s true that you acted stupidly, Mother! Do you know what they’re saying outside? They’re laughing at how the Duchess of Monde dared to treat Princess Ostein like that! After what you did, what does that make me in front of that girl!”
Kaela! Honestly, Beatrice felt dizzy when the marriage was announced. It felt like the Emperor was telling her, ‘Know your place.’
Kaela de Chasser, who had always followed Peon around like a puppy despite her higher status, was now paired with Peon. While Kaela seemed ridiculous when the three of them were together, to outsiders, Beatrice was clearly Peon’s mistress.
She didn’t want to be that. Her dreams were set higher. She had clawed her way up to this point, but from the moment Peon’s marriage was announced, things weren’t going the way she liked.
“Don’t you know how important it is for us to access the palace? We’re banned for three whole months, and do you think you’ll be able to keep your position as the Empress’s chief lady-in-waiting after those three months?”
“Who said they’re taking that away? It’s just three months of self-reflection because I’m the chief lady-in-waiting. And stop making such a fuss. I can still go everywhere except the palace.”
“Stop saying such stupid things! What’s the use of going anywhere else if you can’t go to the palace?”
The Duchess of Monde had the privilege of being close to the Empress, whom the Emperor rarely showed to others, setting her apart from other nobles. But now, with the Empress collapsed and palace access forbidden, the losses were severe.
“You really have no respect for your mother! Did you give birth to yourself and raise yourself alone? Huh?”
“You’ve made such a mess of things, and you still can’t grasp the situation, Mother! Right now, everyone is laughing at us, and next, they’ll be gossiping about how luxurious Kaela’s wedding dress is!”
It meant losing attention. Beatrice, who had lived off that one thing – attention – always satisfied her desires by looking down on and ignoring Kaela.
It’s naturally irritating when someone who quietly sits, calmly embroiders, reads books, and foolishly dedicates herself to Peon suddenly pops up like this. It’s because there’s nothing she can do about their status.
Regardless of her feelings for Peon, Beatrice decided to pay Kaela back properly for this. Kaela had always been trampled by her without a peep, so she shouldn’t think she can climb up just because she’s marrying the man of her dreams.
****
“I can’t imagine how upset you are about this, but all I can say is don’t worry about it.”
Adeo took off his glasses and opened his arms to his daughter. Kaela calmly hugged her father back.
“I’m fine, really.”
“No, you’re not. To blatantly ignore a greeting like that is unacceptable. It’s insulting and unforgettable.”
But both father and daughter knew that for the sake of status, honor, and dignity, it was better to ignore such low behavior.
Even if Kaela meets the Duchess of Monde again, she’ll greet her with the same smile. That was the Chasser family way.
What could she do? For Kaela, the fact that the Emperor himself had intervened was more significant than the Duchess of Monde ignoring her greeting. There was no way out of this marriage. The Grand Duke of Lusenford probably felt the same way.
“She’s not worth worrying about.”
A rather merciless statement came from Adeo, known for his gentle personality. This was also why he had survived in the brutal social circles with his gentle nature.
“Seeing how she treats someone who’s young enough to be her daughter, it seems impossible to deal with her using common sense. So don’t worry about it at all. His Majesty the Emperor has taken care of it, hasn’t he?”
