Lady Cinderella - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Lady Cinderella, Chapter 21

All the aprons she’d been working on had been finished, and since the house was overflowing with military texts, Ella finally had a chance to throw herself into a proper hobby again.
“Is there still something left to happen?”
“Of course. We haven’t wiped out all the stragglers yet, have we?”
Even before Ella had returned, the north had been nothing but trouble. Pushing the border further north would cost more than it gained, so the Emperor had even considered the extreme measure of building a wall along the frontier. Given that, a string of battles, large and small, was expected to follow one after another.
They couldn’t win every one, but at the very least, Ella wanted to prevent a few of the battles that had dealt heavy damage to the Empire. So she dug through her memory and sketched the likely locations onto the map.
“I thought you’d given up on that kind of thing, since you said you might be wrong.”
“It’s better to regret having tried than to regret never trying.”
Even as a child, she had understood how unfair Patricia was to her. Still, back then she had told herself that Patricia was her mother, that she was an adult, and so she had never managed to get properly angry, only endured it. If she had known things would turn out this way, it would have been better to muster the courage to be angry and claim her own rights. Watching Ella smile bitterly, he suddenly found himself curious. He had decided not to ask her anything until she turned twenty, but even so, the curiosity was difficult to hold back.
“Then that’s even stranger. Why me, of all people?”
Faced with the question of why, Ella simply gazed into the Grand Duke’s blue eyes. For quite a long time, she had let herself imagine. Watching her former husband, a wretched good-for-nothing who turned violent every time he drank, she had dreamed her own private dream: how wonderful it would be if a man like the Grand Duke were her husband.
“Because you’re the one who changed my life.”
And it wasn’t only this time. After she married that useless husband, the reason she’d suddenly taken up reading military treatises was that she enjoyed reading the newspaper articles about his exploits.
Ever since she had learned about him, Ella had been able to live rewarding days. If her mother had passed down embroidery to her, then thanks to Calaile, Ella had learned about the world from her desk. It hadn’t been easy for a woman to live alone in this harsh world, but because she had at least read about it in books, she had managed to endure on her own.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything so grand that you could say I changed your life.”
Watching him, bewildered and clueless, Ella smiled brightly. He would probably never know the feelings she held in her heart. She was content simply to be able to stay by his side, even for a little while. She had already told a lie about other matters, so when it came to his question of why it had been her, she had to answer honestly.
“I don’t like depending on anyone, but if I were to have a husband after all, I thought someone like Kal would be best.”
“Not the Crown Prince?”
“He isn’t really my type.”
Her flat, deadpan expression, as if she knew exactly what she was saying, made Calaile laugh before he could stop himself. Unlike the ladies who fawned over the Crown Prince, who would soon hold the imperial authority, Ella had told him without a shred of hesitation that she liked him best.
“Calaile?”
“Hm? No, it’s nothing.”
He had asked why, yet now that he had heard the answer, he felt strangely unsettled. He didn’t mind hearing that he was the one she liked more than anyone else. Somehow, without realizing it, he found himself smiling and feeling pleased.
An engagement was nothing more than a convenient pretext, but still, being someone special to another person wasn’t unwelcome. Ella’s confession was entirely unfamiliar to him. He had plenty of subordinates who flattered him, and the members of the Imperial Family all regarded Calaile as a thorn in their eye.
He had never once cared to win anyone’s favor. Still, now that she thought of him so highly, he felt as though he ought to live up to her expectations.
‘This engagement thing isn’t so bad, is it?’
With her clear, sparkling eyes fixed on him, he wanted to do anything and everything for her, if only to meet those expectations. He had no intention of marrying, but with Ella, it wouldn’t be so bad to actually go through with it. She had no powerful family for the Emperor to worry about; if anything, being the daughter of a title in name only made her no problem at all. With his heart fluttering, Calaile set the matter of work aside and left the room, holding Ella’s hand tightly.
“Wait, wait a moment. I haven’t finished tidying up yet.”
“Today’s snack is brioche, you know. You love it.”
“That’s true, but…”
Sometimes Calaile made her believe he was in love with her, as if he truly were. Ella steadied her pounding heart, telling herself she mustn’t rashly expect anything from his kindness.
“I left work halfway through because I wanted to eat together. I want the tea you brewed.”
Ella was especially bad with tea. Unlike Calaile, who sang every day about wanting a delicious cup, her skill at brewing never showed any sign of improving. Sure enough, today she sat before a cup of tea that tasted bitter and astringent for reasons she couldn’t pinpoint, and her face crumpled. Even so, Calaile drank the wretched stuff with obvious enthusiasm.
“Stop drinking it. You’ll get an upset stomach.”
“What upset stomach? Here, try this. It’s an éclair that was sent as a gift.”
Picking up a soft pastry with a sweet chocolate coating draped over a tender bun, Calaile held it out to Ella himself. Hesitating for a moment, Ella carefully took the pastry he offered between her lips.
“Is it good?”
With food in her mouth, Ella could only nod as she held the éclair in her teeth. As the two of them cooed sweetly together, Olga watched the Grand Duke’s unfamiliar expression with keen interest.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just wondering whether our Grand Duke has always smiled this much.”
Even though she had watched him all her life, his manner these days felt deeply strange to her. He had always shown a carefree side to those who belonged to him, but toward Ella in particular, he couldn’t take his eyes off her, like a boy in love for the first time.
“Oh, and a guest is coming tomorrow, by the way.”
“A guest?”
“Olga said she invited someone special.”
Since the guest was not especially welcome, the smile Ella had only just recovered hardened on her face once more. Olga hesitated for a moment before finally admitting the truth.
“In truth, I’ve commissioned a new dress from Rose Gold Dress Shop. The owner will be visiting tomorrow in person with samples.”
“Really? Mary?”
At her genuinely delighted reaction, Calaile gave a smug smile and even winked at Olga. As if she had forgotten all about it, Ella bounced in her seat, not knowing what to do with herself.
“What do I do? I hid my true identity from Mary.”
“You told her you were a maid, didn’t you? Now you’re in trouble.”
“Mary is my dear friend. What if she gets angry that I deceived her all this time?”
“Then why did you lie in the first place?”
Though he scolded her, he fully understood her reasons. A noble lady couldn’t just walk in and ask for work and expect to get it easily. Watching Ella fret, he eagerly fed her cookies from the plate.
“Eat first, then worry. You’re eating well.”
Given another worry to chew on, Ella, as expected, accepted cookie after cookie and began fretting over what excuse she should give Mary. Casually resting a hand on Ella’s shoulder, Calaile gently began to speak.
“It’s also a good chance to test their friendship.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve got a good idea.”
Calaile leaned in deliberately, bringing his lips close to Ella’s ear. Noticing how intently she was listening, he let out a slow breath against it. A shiver ran through her as though a chill had swept over her entire body, and Ella cried out before she could stop herself.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
“Fun. You really are fun.”
Too caught up in teasing her, Calaile ended up earning himself a scolding. As they bickered back and forth, Kevin watched the two of them with a sour expression. Ever since the diligent Grand Duke had become so absorbed in playing around with his fiancée, his paperwork had been piling up day after day.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I never should have told him to get married.’
Apart from the two of them, only Kevin knew that theirs was a time-limited engagement. The Lady had entered it to survive, and the Grand Duke had agreed out of a wish to give the Emperor a bit of trouble. The engagement would end on Ella’s twentieth birthday.
Though they both knew they would have to part someday, the two of them seemed to have fallen far too deeply for each other. The Grand Duke was a natural talent when it came to his work, but matters of romance were something he knew next to nothing about. He had seen how Crown Prince Johannes conducted himself at his side, so perhaps it didn’t show yet, but the deeper their relationship grew, the more Kevin genuinely worried about the wounds Calaile would suffer.
Should he let his innocent master be bewitched by this woman whose identity remained a mystery, or should he step in and stop it? Even Kevin, known as the Grand Duke’s right hand for his sharp mind and strategic judgment, could not reach an easy answer on this matter.
* * *
News of the Grand Duke’s engagement soon reached the Imperial Palace as well. As people passed the task of reporting it to the Emperor back and forth, the story ultimately reached the Empress first.
“Impudent wretch!”
With the crash of a glass shattering, the maids bowed their heads low, not daring to so much as straighten their backs. The Empress, who had grown to the point of threatening the position of the Crown Prince, which had already been decided, wielded tremendous power and ruled as the empress of the Imperial Concubines.
Catherine, the current Empress who had risen from a concubine after the death of the Crown Prince’s mother, the former Empress, was a woman of great ambition. Born the daughter of the Marquis Osborn house, she had nursed grand dreams and entered the Emperor’s harem of her own accord. Being the youngest of the concubines at the time, she soon won the Emperor’s favor after entering the palace, and before long she bore the Third Prince, steadily consolidating her own power.
From the youngest concubine to the seat of Empress, she had weathered countless hardships, and the one lesson she had learned was this: it is better to crush a sprout that could become an enemy before it grows. In that sense, the Grand Duke Wellington was a thorn in her side who had to be removed as soon as possible.
“Which wretched woman was so blind as to fall for such a dull man?”
“Well, that is…”
Because the matter concerned a rather troublesome figure, even the chief lady-in-waiting found it difficult to bring herself to speak. The Grand Duke’s fiancée was Lady Ella Ellades, the daughter of Count Lloyd, and at the same time, she was of the bloodline of the esteemed Marquis Ruse House. No one had ever heard of Count Lloyd, but the fact that Ella’s maternal uncle was the Marquis Ruse was a serious problem.
“That old fogey’s nephew, you say?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Their relations are said to be rather distant, but still, I’m afraid…”
“Of all people!”
With another crash, this time a flower vase shattered into pieces. Had she been from some obscure, humble family, they might have tried threatening her, but the Marquis Ruse House was a noble household of distinction, making it a difficult presence to lay a hand on carelessly. Should the Grand Duke Wellington steadily secure an heir and expand his influence in the capital, it would be a poison to the Third Prince at best, and could never be anything but a detriment to him.
“What did His Majesty have to say about it?”
“As far as I know, no one has yet dared to report to him.”
“I shall speak to him myself.”
It was Catherine who had whispered that once the Crown Prince, now of considerable age, began to gain power, the nobles might treat the Emperor as a has-been, and it was also Catherine who had sown discord by insisting that the more the Grand Duke Wellington distinguished himself, the more poisonous he would be for the Emperor.
With rumors swirling that the Grand Duke would soon bring his fiancée to the palace himself, detailed information about Lady Ella Ellades remained lost in obscurity, shielded beneath the Grand Duke’s protection.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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