Lady Cinderella - Chapter 30

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

Lady Cinderella, Chapter 30

Miro recalled the composed, well-mannered lady who had bowed to him so calmly. Having accomplished such a feat, she could have puffed out her chest a little without anyone faulting her. Instead, she hadn’t bragged at all; she had merely breathed a sigh of relief that the spoils had arrived safely and tried to hurry back.
“If the lady does anything suspicious, I’ll report it right away. Surely Your Grace will feel less uneasy with someone like me at her side, won’t you?”
“Miro!”
“Well, that’s true enough.”
It was a shame to hand more work to a man who had only just returned from a long campaign, but if not for Ella, the whole group would now be joining hands and marching back to the front together.
Kevin would never acknowledge Ella’s contribution, not even if he were to die and come back to life. So Calaile wrapped up the conversation quickly.
“I’m counting on you. She may look it, but she can be reckless at times, so be careful at all times.”
It would be better to keep Miro, who had the far easier temperament of the two, by her side rather than Kevin. Calaile would have liked to be there himself, but as Grand Duke, his schedule was hardly free. He had already explained the general circumstances to Miro, warning him to take great care not to touch on any matter that might prove sensitive, including Ella’s family situation.
“I’ll do as you say, Your Grace.”
As Miro turned to leave the room, Calaile gave a wry smile and added a parting remark.
“If she asks you to teach her chess, refuse. That’s something I intend to teach her myself.”
Unlike Miro, who had no idea what he meant, Kevin shuddered and said it was simply outrageous. The Grand Duke of Wellington, who had never fixed his heart on anyone, unlike the Crown Prince, had been thoroughly bewitched by love. In the way he guarded even the smallest details and clung to what was his alone, there was hardly a trace of composure left in him.
* * *
“A guardian review?”
“That’s right.”
They had said an investigation would follow if her guardian changed, but he had assumed that, since it concerned the Grand Duke, it would be quietly set aside. He never imagined it would actually happen. Worried about Ella, who was wavering, the Grand Duke had at last resorted to his final measure. Because of that, the first thing Miro reported after being appointed Ella’s personal knight was, unfortunately, the dispatch of an investigator from the Trust Fund Management Bureau.
“So, Cal is checking whether he’s a suitable guardian for me?”
“To be precise, they’re verifying whether your engagement is genuine. Baron Lloyd, your father, is insisting that the engagement is invalid, and apparently that has left them rather at a loss as well.”
“But we’ve already paid our respects to His Majesty…”
Even if her father had petitioned for it, she had believed that, since they had already greeted the Emperor, the matter was settled. Evidently Ella had assumed the Emperor’s permission meant no such inquiry would take place, so Miro spoke frankly about what he had witnessed so far.
“His Majesty is not the sort to stand in the way of things like this. They say it’s a procedural necessity, but you shouldn’t take his outward appearance at face value.”
Whichever way one looked at it, the Emperor was a sly old fox. He had smiled so kindly before, calling Ella an interesting child, and yet she never imagined he would stab her in the back like this. Recalling the old saying that there is not a single soul in this world worth trusting, Ella glared at the embroidery she had been copying, the tapestry pattern she had seen in the Audience Hall.
“What should I do?”
Since he had been appointed her personal knight, Miro had also received all the documents from Kevin. Miro, this brown-haired young man with his frank, bright, refreshing manner, was far more popular within the Grand Duke’s Residence than Kevin, who was resented as a fussy bookworm in spectacles. Ever since this Miro had been appointed Ella’s personal knight, the maids, led by Karen, were glaring with such fury that it seemed flames might burst forth at any moment. While Olga went off to tighten discipline within the household, Ella sighed and closed the military treatise she had been reading.
‘This doesn’t seem like a joke.’
Alongside the chess primer beside her, what she had been reading until now was an ancient text compiled from the conversations a feudal lord had held with a sage in seclusion after he overthrew a tyrannical emperor and opened a new era. The sage, who sat fishing with an empty hook dangling, offered countless teachings to the lord who sought his counsel. The lord had endured great sacrifice and labored his whole life, yet only in the time of his own son did he finally defeat the emperor and stand tall as master of the age.
“No matter how much I read things like this, I still can’t tell what His Majesty is really thinking.”
Ella could only laugh at that. Though she had been granted an audience with the Emperor, there were still far too many problems piled up. There was the matter of her father, Baron Lloyd, and since she had never formally accompanied anyone to a public occasion, she turned down every tea party invitation that trickled in by word of mouth.
“I’ve heard the general circumstances from Kevin, my lady. I hear you possess excellent insight.”
Since he could not openly say that they had won thanks to Ella, Miro praised her in an indirect, carefully measured way. It seemed Miro had also realized that their relationship was a sham, so Ella did not go into a long explanation and simply smiled.
“I thought that was the best I could do, but apparently it wasn’t quite that.”
“My lady.”
“It must be my own selfishness at fault. Still, at least I’ll have more freedom of movement now. Olga, I’d like to go to Rose Gold Dress Shop.”
Even though she had noticed she’d been assigned as a watcher, Ella showed no anger and instead seemed remarkably carefree. The moment her words left her lips, preparations for going out were made.
When Calaile learned that, the moment he had sent Miro off and received permission to go out, she had rushed straight to Mary, his expression grew darker still.
“Your Grace.”
“I know. I understand, so stop there.”
He didn’t like it, not one bit. From the deepest part of Calaile’s heart, a dark shadow reared its head with a jolt. If anything were to happen to Mary, the one she depended on so deeply, where would she end up, left without anyone to lean on?
‘What am I even thinking?’
Calaile crumpled the document he had been reading without realizing it and gazed out the window with a deeply stiff expression. The white carriage prepared exclusively for Ella was conspicuous even from a distance, just as he had intended.
“El.”
No matter how he looked at it, the papers simply would not hold his attention, so he rose from his seat and gazed at the receding back of the carriage. Even after it vanished into the distance and out of sight, he could not bring himself to leave his spot.
* * *
In response to the visit notice sent from the Grand Duke’s Residence, Mary personally received Ella. At the appearance of a snow-white carriage bearing the Wellington banner, a rarity to see at all, and one that drew every eye, even passersby stopped in their tracks to gaze at its grandeur.
“My lady, pardon the intrusion.”
Escorted by Miro, Ella donned a veil that concealed her face and entered Rose Gold Dress Shop. Soldiers from the Grand Duke’s Residence stood guard, and the shop’s staff, too, had to be thoroughly searched for anything suspicious.
“He’s terribly overprotective, isn’t he?”
“I’m so sorry, Mary.”
“Don’t be. He’s taken such a sweet girl like you away, so I can understand why he’s so anxious.”
Mary, unaware of the true circumstances, spoke in a way that made it all the harder for Ella to smile. It stung her so badly it was almost painful. She thought about trying to tell Mary the truth once they were alone, but with her own suspicion hanging over her, she could not drag Mary into it carelessly. With Miro there as her watcher, that was out of the question, so Ella gave up on the idea and turned to the business at hand. As luck would have it, now that Ella had come, Mary clapped her hands and shared some happy news.
“Speaking of which, did you know we had a surprising visitor?”
“A surprising visitor?”
“You went to the palace, didn’t you? A messenger from Her Majesty the Empress came to our shop.”
“Huh?”
Hearing that the Empress’s woman, who had been nothing but spiteful toward her all along, had come calling, Ella turned deathly pale. Even as much as she despised them, she prayed the sparks would not fly over to Mary. Seeing the frightened look on Ella’s face, Mary waved her hand and said it was nothing of the sort.
“What are you thinking, silly girl? The Empress said she was quite fond of the dress you wore, especially the embroidery, and wants to commission one of her own.”
“Really?”
“Really. Just in case, I didn’t mention that you were the Master Embroiderer. Good of me, wasn’t it?”
Whoever wears a garment, so long as it’s beautiful, is all that matters, so there was no reason to ask who made it unless it was a famous artisan’s work. Still, it was rather ironic that someone who had been so two-faced in front of her would turn around and come to commission a dress like this behind her back.
She was a woman of divided loyalties, yet she was generous in the way only an Empress could be, so Ella accepted the job with a light heart. Mary supplied all the materials, so Ella only had to focus on the work and receive her labor fee. As Mary handed over the thread, tools, and fabric piece by piece, she let out a sigh.
“To have a future Grand Duchess this busy doing work for me. I’m sure I’ll go to hell when I die.”
“What are you talking about? It’s nothing like that at all. Who knows what might happen later? I really need the work.”
“Has something troubling happened?”
Right about now, she should be drowning in the Grand Duke’s overflowing affection, sweet as honey, yet Ella stayed stubbornly gloomy and pessimistic the whole time, not at all like a girl who had only just begun to be loved.
“You never know how things will turn out. If His Grace ever happens to throw me out, will you promise to hire me as a live-in servant, Mary?”
“Goodness, that’s not something that should ever happen.”
“Still, I’m begging you. Please.”
Ella’s expression was far too earnest for Mary to dismiss as idle talk, so she reluctantly agreed, but something about it felt off. There was no one to carry word of it, and the knight standing behind Ella seemed to know something as well, for he kept silent.
“Has something happened?”
“We had a bit of a quarrel.”
Assuming it was the aftermath of their fight, the two of them went on discussing their schedule ahead. Even after Miro stepped away for a while, the others kept a close watch on Ella’s every move. Mary, who had assumed it was simply because the Grand Duke’s affection ran deep, began to notice small oddities here and there.
‘Am I being watched?’
As she wavered over whether to mention it, suddenly a commotion broke out in front of the shop.
“Get out of the way!”
“What’s going on?”
“Excuse me, but the lady has a visitor, aah!”
One of the staff members hadn’t even finished his sentence before he was sprawled on the floor. The person who had barged in without a shred of decorum was, without doubt, a face Ella knew too.
“Mother…”
Her stepmother and stepsisters, who had always tormented her for not being a true child of the household, and who had even deceived her at a dinner appointment. Before Ella could even realize why the very people she most wanted to avoid were suddenly standing here, Patricia fixed her with the same hypocritical smile she always wore.
“I came to see my own daughter, and those people wouldn’t let me in. Won’t you tell them to step aside yourself?”
“I…”

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